Overcoming the Knowing / Doing Gap

There is something known as the knowing-doing gap, which many entrepreneurs will experience during their careers. This phenomenon occurs when we know we need to do something to achieve a desired outcome, but we do not do it. Today we will discuss the science behind developing positive habits.

In 1960, a plastic surgeon named Dr. Maxwell Maltz published a book called Psycho-Cybernetics. In the book, Dr. Maltz wrote how he noticed it took his patients – on average – 21 days of repetition to form a behavior that becomes automatic.  However, there was no scientific evidence supporting this statement.

It is not uncommon for misconstrued research to get re-stated so often it’s reported as fact. This is one of those facts that gets shared a lot without a basis for truth. While the intention is positive…the evidence is underwhelming that people generally develop a habit it 21 days. Yet, people do develop positive habits. So, is there a magic number of days?

In 2010, British researchers launched the first scientific attempt to determine how long it takes to develop a positive habit. Their findings: It might take as little as 18 days, or as many as 254 days to form a positive habit (depending on the complexity). On average, it takes 66 days of repetition to ensure a behavior becomes automatic.