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？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？

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。

21天法则

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。”

习惯养成的科学原理

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。