Dr. Tara Swart

You could create that habit in two weeks.

If it's something like improving your emotional intelligence or your intuition, that's going to take at least nine months.

I mean, I actually talk about the neuroplasticity process for a profound change as literally like the gestation period of a baby.

So the amount of time it takes from fertilization for a baby to be born, because you are literally becoming a new person if you change something that fundamental about yourself.

It's like going through the birth process.

And then, you know, let's use the analogy of language because it's a very tangible one.

Jonathan, if you and I both decided to learn Spanish and I used the Duolingo app and kind of just did it myself in my spare time, but you went for Spanish lessons once a week and you had an exam at the end of six months and then you had a trip planned to Mexico, right?

You would be much better at Spanish than me.

So it's also the intensity of the effort that you put into learning something new or changing a habit.

And those are the same things.

Changing a habit is basically learning something new for your brain.

Yeah, that's absolutely true.

So if you have a vacation coming up, then it's definitely much more likely that you will do what you need to do to get into shape than if you don't.

But we're talking about New Year's resolutions specifically because it's that time of year now.

But September is also a time, the kind of school year start, that people might think about changing something.

You could pick your own birthday as a time to start something new.

Apart from this, like you said, the time of year and whether there's an actual tangible reason at the end of it.

It's not so much to do with dates as it is to do with your motivation and your willpower.

So for example, before my wedding, what I did to get into shape, I would never, never have the motivation to do now.

You know, there was a very, very clear goal.