We are what we repeatedly do.

"We are what we repeatedly do." - Aristotle

Awesome run today! It was supposed to be a rest day but I had a really strong urge to run. I was tired and couldn't stop yawning at the end of work, but the closer I got to the apartment the more I wanted to "just go." That's when I know it's starting to become a habit, and I will really start seeing results- both aesthetically and in my running performance.

I did a little bit of research on how long it takes for something to turn into a habit, and I found that each one mentioned the common believe that the answer is 21 days. That's it. 21 days of doing the same thing and it will become a habit. Kind of strange that anyone, or anything for that matter, would give such a firm number that is meant to stand for every single person. Shouldn't we through in "an average of 21" or a "minimum of 21" days? As it turns out, I found an umber of articles that mentioned that "21 days" had become somewhat of a myth when a plastic surgeon by the name of Maxwell Maltz published a paper stating that "it took a minimum of 21 days" for his patients and himself to accept certain changes and to make certain actions into habits. Over time, the public took out the word "minimum" and it became exactly what most believe now: 21 days. Each of the articles also quoted from a 2009 publishing of the European Journal of Social Psychology  that it takes anywhere from "81 to 254 days" dependent on the person and the habit that is trying to be formed. That's a pretty wide range. Another article I came across mentioned some of their own research where their average was 66 days, and while there was no correlation to the sex of the person, consistency was key. Individuals that were not consistent with the activity were not successful in creating a habit, but those that did so methodically each day showed significant improvement with the task becoming easier to complete without thought or without having to make the specific effort to complete.

What's my point? No I'm not saying that my running has turned into a habit. I would be fooling myself if I was. When I take 2 days off now, the last thing I want to do is go for a run on the third day. What I am saying is that it's getting easier, and today was the first sign of that. I actually wanted to go, I didn't think about how hard it was during the run, and I didn't have "I can't wait until this is over" running (no pun intended) over and over in my head the entire time.

As you're starting to implement exercise, healthy eating, or a new habit into your life, try to pay specific attention to how you feel each time you're about to start it. Do you still fight yourself in whether to do it or not? Do you look forward to it? Do you get excited about the opportunity? Does it feel like it's a part of your every day activities? Are you making excuses so you don't have to do it? Know that it could take a while for it to become a habit for you. Don't rush it, or start self-sabotaging yourself into thinking that it's a waste of time because it's taking longer to latch on than you had hoped. Keep at it. You'll get there.