In this study published by the European Journal of Social Psychology, group members chose one of three behaviors which they personally desired to create new habits around:1) drinking, 2) eating and 3) exercising.
- Half of the group did not perform the desired behavior consistently enough to achieve habit status
- Sixty-six days was the medium time required to develop a new habit
- Consistent practice resulted in better mastery in shorter time
- The most complex activity (which was exercise), took 1.5 times more effort to achieve than did the simpler goals of establishing new eating or drinking habits
Dr. Caroline Leaf teaches that focused effort for seven minutes a day is adequate time to master the habit of a new godly thought process.
- The overall idea of Caroline Leaf's 21 Day Brain Detox™ program is to do the Switch On Your Brain 5-Step Learning Process® each day in 7-10 minutes for 21 days. This will wipe out the toxic thought and build in the healthy new thought.
- After 21 days, the new healthy thought is small and needs to grow. Whatever you think about grows. In order to stabilize the new way of thinking and to avoid reverting back to the old way, you need to consciously practice using the new thought you have built for at least 2 more cycles of 21 days. This will total about 63-66 days of conscious practice and will result in the new thought being "automatized". This means the thought moves into your non-conscious mind and drives your conscious thoughts, words and actions without you consciously thinking about it. It becomes implanted (James 1:21).
Personal Application
I have always believed and said that it takes three months of intentional focus to discover and practice a new godly discipline which brings about meaningful changes in your life. That is why we have designed all our manuals, CDs, DVDs, and courses as three-month training experiences. It is nice to see the confirming scientific evidence.
To fully implement God’s truths in your mind, you want to use His process of scriptural meditation to successfully complete the process. So take Scriptures and meditate upon them for two to three months, so that the revelation God is asking you to walk in becomes fully yours!
When you renew your mind, you are removing treelike substances from your brain and growing new treelike substances in your brain. Watch these two amazing online videos and get excited about the science, simply explained, concerning what takes place within your brain as you renew your mind by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So the question for each of us now is, "Am I prepared to put in daily practice for two to three months to develop a new godly discipline which leads to life?"
Ask the Lord what new habit He wants cultivated in your life or thought process, and then pursue it!
I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live! (Deut. 30:19)
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