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It takes 21 days to break a habit. You have probably heard this in one variation or another.

At Alpha Lifestyle Center we use “21 Days” to assure customers who are quitting smoking that the “habit” of smoking will fade, with time. In other words, the thought, desire or compulsion to smoke during daily rituals (upon awakening, with coffee, while driving or after a meal) will go away, but it will take some time.

While doing some research, I discovered the story behind the 21 Days thing:

Maxwell Maltz was a plastic surgeon in the 1950s when he began noticing a pattern among his patients. For example, he found that it took a patient 21 days after a nose job to get used to seeing their new face. Similarly, it would take a patient 21 days after a limb amputation before the sense of a phantom limb would subside.

Dr. Maltz also observed that it took himself about 21 days to form a new habit. He was later quoted in a blockbuster book, Psycho-Cybernetics (1960), “These, and many other commonly observed phenomena tend to show that it requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to jell.”

Maltz’s work was very influential in the field of “self-help.”  His theories were not substantiated scientifically. But, the theories evolved into an illusion of scientific fact.  We know this because of the familiarity and use of “21 Days,” particularly among self-help Guru’s like Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar.

Behavior change is complex and different for every person. Quitting smoking is complex and different for every person. Suffice it to say that, with each passing day, the burden of a habit will lessen until, eventually, it is no burden at all.

Don’t believe me? Ask a former smoker!