How Much Do You Know About Building a Habit? 习惯养成知多少？

The number of days it takes to form a new habit depends on the habit， on you， and on what strategies you’re using to build and maintain that habit. So how long do you really need to build a habit？ And what can you do to build a habit faster？

养成一个习惯所需的天数取决于什么习惯、你自己以及你用来培养和保持该习惯的策略。那么，养成一个习惯到底需要多长时间？如何才能更快地养成一个习惯呢？

A popular answer is 21 days—a figure that can be traced back to Dr Maxwell Maltz， a cosmetic surgeon and author of Psycho-Cybernetics. In his book Maltz reported that his patients needed a minimum of 21 days to change the mental image of how they looked.

Since then， many people have applied the “21-day” time frame to all habits. However， not all behaviors are the same and some may need more than three weeks to become automatic.

“It is easy to see why this figure appeals，” Mark Vahrmeyer， a psychotherapist and founder of Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy in England， told Live Science， “It is both concrete and makes building a new habit seem very achievable. The truth， however， is that it’s more complex and on average it takes far longer.”

一个流行的答案是21天——这个数字可以追溯到整形外科医生、《精神控制论》一书的作者麦克斯威尔·马尔茨博士。马尔茨在书中写道，他的病人至少需要21天的时间来改变他们的心理形象。

由此开始，许多人将“21天”法则应用于所有习惯。然而，“21天”法则并不是所有行为习惯的养成都适用，有些可能需要三周以上的时间才能养成。

心理治疗师、英国布莱顿和霍夫心理疗法创始人Mark Vahrmeyer在接受《生命科学》杂志采访时表示：“不难看出为何这一数字令人很感兴趣。它既具体又让养成新习惯看起来非常容易实现。然而，事实是养成一个习惯更为复杂，平均而言需要的时间更长。”

The science of habit formation

习惯养成的科学原理

The “habit loop” concept， popularized by journalist Charles Duhigg in his book The Power of Habit， is often used to explain the science of habit formation. According to the theory， there are three stages to automating your behavior： cue （or trigger）， routine （or behavior） and reward.

For example， a stressful situation （a cue） may lead some people to respond with overeating （the routine）， which is an activity that can temporarily bring some comfort （the reward）. When a behavior becomes sufficiently repetitive， the brain starts viewing the cue as an opportunity for the reward. The cue will prompt you to perform the same action to seek pleasure.

How long it takes to establish a habit may depend on what the cue and the intended routine is. According to a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology， habit formation may take anywhere between 18 and 254 days. The average amount of time needed for a behavior to become automatic is 66 days， the researchers found. The researchers noted that different actions required a different level of effort too. For example， those who had been asked to develop a habit of drinking a glass of water at breakfast tended to be more successful than participants who were instructed to do 50 sit-ups each day.

记者查尔斯·都希格在其著作《习惯的力量》中普及了“习惯循环”的概念，这一概念经常被用来解释习惯养成的科学原理。根据该理论，习惯自动化分为三个阶段：提示（或触发）、惯例（或行为）和奖励。

例如，一个让人有压力的环境（提示）可能会导致一些人暴饮暴食（惯例），而暴饮暴食是一种可以暂时带来一些安慰（奖励）的行为方式。当一种行为重复足够多次时，大脑就会开始把提示视为获得奖励的机会。提示会促使你做出同样的动作来寻求快感。

养成一个习惯需要多长时间，可能取决于提示和预期的惯例是什么。根据2009年发表在《欧洲社会心理学杂志》上的一项研究，习惯的养成可能需要18到254天。研究人员发现，一种行为变成习惯所需的平均时间为66天。研究人员指出，不同的行为还需要不同程度的努力。例如，那些被要求养成早餐喝一杯水的习惯的参与者往往比那些被要求每天做50个仰卧起坐的参与者更容易成功。

How to build a habit faster

如何更快地养成一个习惯

A review， published in the journal Health Psychology， suggested that self-efficacy could also be key to developing and maintaining habits. Self-efficacy is a belief in your ability to complete a task or achieve a goal. Put simply， a person who is convinced they cannot maintain new behaviors will be less likely to keep their habit. Higher self-efficacy has been linked to improved outcomes in many different health interventions， according to a review in the journal Health Education & Behavior. Participants who exhibited this trait tended to be more successful at giving up smoking， losing weight， reducing alcohol consumption and increasing physical activity.

Vahrmeyer noted that the way a person makes a goal more attractive can also be important.

“If the process of building your habit involves nothing but self-sacrifice with no reward， you are unlikely to stick to your goals，” he said.

He advised making the process as easy as possible. For example， if the goal is to go to the gym three times per week， a person should pick a gym with a convenient location.

发表在《健康心理学》杂志上的一篇综述指出，自我效能感也可能是培养和保持习惯的关键。自我效能感是一种相信自己有能力完成任务或实现目标的信念。简单地说，一个人如果坚信自己无法维持新的行为，那么他就不太可能保持自己的习惯。根据《健康教育与行为》杂志的一篇综述，在许多不同的健康干预措施中，较高的自我效能感与改善的结果有关。表现出这种特质的参与者在戒烟、减肥、减少饮酒和增加体育锻炼方面往往更成功。

Vahrmeyer指出，如何让自己的目标更具吸引力也很重要。

他说：“如果养成习惯的过程只涉及自我牺牲而没有回报，你就不太可能坚持自己的目标。”

他建议尽可能简化这个过程。例如，如果目标是每周去健身房三次，那么应该选择一个位置便利的健身房。

Word Bank

concrete /'kɒŋkriːt/ adj. 确实的；具体的

I had no concrete evidence.

convince /kən'vɪns/ v. 使相信；使信服

You’ll need to convince them of your enthusiasm for the job.

trait /treɪt/ n. 特性；特点