Photo: An Organised Life

You know that old saying that it takes 21 days to form a habit? It’s a loosely fact-based line that’s flippantly quoted across the internet and conversations, and it has lead many of us to believe you really could turn things around in 2015, if you just stick to the new activity for 21 determined days.

Sadly, it’s not so. Sorry to be the grinch who ruined New Year’s, but the 21 day rule isn’t always the case, and you’re probably going probably going to have to work at your resolutions for much longer if you want them to become a habit (rather than a chore.)

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New York Magazine’s The Science of Us unearthed a 2009 study by University College London psychologist, Phillippa Lally. It found people took an average of 66 days to turn a behavior into a habit, which would mean you’ll be working at your resolutions until March. You may as well go ahead and buy a value pack of those personal training sessions.

The good news, though, is that the amount of time can vary pretty massively according to the habit trying to be achieved and, of course the person. Some study participants took a whopping 254 days, while others formed the habit in just 18.

Lally’s study was published in the European Journal of Social Psychology and monitored 96 participants as they tried to form a healthy eating, drinking, or exercise habit. Volunteers were asked periodically whether they’d managed to stick to their health goal, and whether the new habit came to them automatically or if it felt forced.

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Results showed that, at least for the majority of participants, “automaticity” increased steadily over the days of the study, suggesting that simple repetition over time really is the best way to make a new habit.

Cruelly, Lally also found that the hardest health habit to adopt was to increase exercise. So if that’s your goal for 2015, remember that patience is a virtue, and persistence pays off.