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How Long Does It Take to Create a New Habit?

U.S. News

“There’s wide variation across people and the complexity of the action – habits can take months to form and become stable,” says Katy Milkman, a behavioral scientist at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the book “How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.”

Tie your resolution to a set of actions you can take on a daily or weekly basis, including when and where you’ll do it.

“As soon as you get into the details, you improve your chances of following through,” Milkman says.

It’s also a good idea to frame the resolution positively. Research has found that people who set approach-oriented goals (“I will do X”) for their New Year’s resolutions are more successful than those who set avoidance-oriented goals (such as “I won’t do Y”).