Apparently, it takes 66 days….

…..for a new habit to form.  Of course, that’s an average number which varies according to the person, the behaviour and the circumstances but it seems about right to me.

Whether it’s a daily walk, social media scheduling or meal planning, we can’t expect overnight success and we have to stick at something before it becomes ingrained.

Now, as you may have guessed, I’m not a real expert when it comes to habit formation.   I only made it to week 4 of Couch to 5k before falling off the wagon (back on it this month I hope!) but today I can most certainly direct you towards a few books if you’re looking to improve your habit-making skills! Whilst the books I’ve read haven’t helped my commitment to running (to be honest, I’m not sure what could ever help my commitment to running!) they have certainly helped me stick to other habits – I have read at least 20 books a year since 2018, I’ve managed to do 45 minutes of exercise every day for over 7 months straight and my commitment to Cadbury Double Deckers in now into its third decade!

Anyway, here are a few of those book recommendations:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear - a practical and proven framework for creating good habits and shedding bad ones. Drawing on scientific research and real-life examples, it shows how tiny changes in behaviour can result in the formation of new habits and help you achieve big things.
  
• The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins – perhaps a little bit more about stopping procrastination than habit forming but very useful nonetheless
  
• The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen Covey – an oldie but a goodie and with lots of valuable lessons.
  The habits are:
  Habit 1: Take Initiative
  Habit 2: Envision the Life You Want
  Habit 3: Prioritize Important Over Urgent
  Habit 4: Seek Mutual Benefits
  Habit 5: Listen and Understand the Other First
  Habit 6: Collaborate to Create Possibilities
  Habit 7: Practice Self-Renewal
  
• High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard – if I’m honest, I think I need to read this for a second time before it can all sink in but I rated it 5 stars on GoodReads and can see it has enormous potential to be extremely useful.

Do you have any hints, tips or book recommendations that you can share with me to help with positive habit formation? I’d love to hear them.

Until then, take care,

Anna