Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Mahatma Gandhi
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.
Your everyday habits can shape your brain and your body. Modern neuroscience tells us that human brains are ‘plastic’ – throughout your life you can change the shape, size, and connections of your brain. Every repetitive thought or emotion can strengthen pathways. Small changes repeated often enough end up determining how your brain works.
What does the science tell us?
This is all good news for developing a habit of mindfulness. Consistent practice is the key to getting started, but how long does it take to make progress? That depends.
A team at University College London studied everyday habits in relation to weight control. Their results show it is not a fixed time frame to develop a new habit – results ranged from 18 to 254 days. The average was 66 days. So, you will need anything between three weeks and eight months to develop a new habit, with an average of two months to build that habit into your everyday life.
The advantages of the longer-term view
Although this means developing your mindfulness practice may take longer than the oft quoted 21 days, taking a longer-term view has advantages:
- Learning is a process and takes time. Sometimes you will fail. That is OK – accepting this can allow you to overcome any fear of failure, and cultivate the resilience to keep going, seeing failure as part of the process.
- Developing a new habit requires patience – especially with yourself – see the learning as an adventure, one that can help keep your brain young.
- Celebrate and be grateful for the small incremental improvements. Paying attention in this way is part of being mindful.
Ways to help yourself
And there are ways you can help yourself strengthen habits of mindfulness. Having your own habit tracker, whether it is a journal, phone diary, spread sheet. Whatever works for you to record your progress. And see where blocks are occurring.
Join a support group – practice with a friend or join one of our weekly guided meditation sessions.
Kick-start your learning with a formal course. Our eight-week courses are designed to give you the skills and enough practice time.
However you choose to support yourself, remember that forming new habits takes time. Enjoy the journey and learn how to learn.
