养成一个习惯，“21天法则”真的够吗?

新的一年已经到来，你是否给自己设立了2024年的小目标？很多人都会做一份新年计划，希望在新的一年做出一些改变，培养良好习惯，比如早睡早起、多做运动、少玩手机。但是做计划容易，能坚持下去的却是少数。都说习惯成自然，那么养成习惯需要多长时间呢？

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. Scientific estimates have ranged from 21 days to eight months or more. Let’s look at why that range is so big, and what you can do to build habits faster.
养成一个新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。科学估计，养成习惯需要21天到8个月或更长时间。让我们来看看为什么这个范围如此之大，以及如何才能更快地养成习惯。

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.
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。

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.
从那时起，许多人将“21天”法则应用于所有习惯。然而，并不是所有的行为都适用，有些行为习惯可能需要三周以上才能养成。

"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.
心理治疗师、英国布莱顿和霍夫心理疗法创始人马克·瓦尔迈耶告诉生命科学网："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，平均而言需要更长的时间。”

Dr Maurice Duffy, a mindset coach and visiting professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Sunderland, England, told Live Science that habits play a central role in determining our actions.
思维教练、英国桑德兰大学创新与创业客座教授莫里斯·达菲博士告诉生命科学网，习惯在决定我们的行为方面起着核心作用。

"Habits are the small decisions you make and the actions you perform every day," he said. "Your life today is essentially the sum of these habits."
他说：“习惯是你每天做出的小决定和采取的行动。你今天的生活本质上就是这些习惯的总和。”

Repetition is critical to habit formation. "Habits are formed through a process known as habituation," Alyssa Roberts, an eating disorder researcher at the University of Minnesota, told Live Science. "Habituation occurs when a behavior is repeated enough times, and the brain adapts to the routine by making the response automatic."
重复对习惯的形成至关重要。明尼苏达大学饮食失调研究员阿丽莎·罗伯茨告诉生命科学网：“习惯是通过一个称为‘习惯化’的过程形成的。当一种行为重复足够多的次数时，大脑就会适应这种常规，使反应自动发生，从而形成习惯。”

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.
记者查尔斯·杜希格在其著作《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，行为自动化分为三个阶段：提示（或触发）、惯例（或行为）和奖励。

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 trigger will prompt you to perform the same action to seek pleasure.
例如，一个紧张的情境（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）的活动。当一种行为重复足够多时，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。

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.
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。研究人员注意到，不同的行为也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人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。

A 2016 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 2016 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.
2016年发表在《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2016年的一篇综述，在许多不同的健康干预措施中，更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 noted that the way a person makes a goal more attractive can also be important.
心理治疗师瓦尔迈耶指出，如何让自己的目标更具吸引力也很重要。

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

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.
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捷的健身房。