It takes 21 days
for a habit to form. This was determined by Dr. Maxwell Maltz who noticed it took 21 days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations in the amputated limb. To form a habit, brain circuits take engrams, or memory traces, and produces neuropathways and neuroconnections if the circuits are bombarded for 21 days in a row. This means our brain doesn’t accept new data and change habits unless it is repeated each day for 21 days. Maltz was also able to change his patients mindsets. He recognized many of his patients had a poor self image after surgery. He worked with the patients using the same 21 day period to create a change in their mind set and improve their self image.
(however, this study seems to be disputed, as a similar report by Nikolajsen and S. Jensen on phantom limb pain reported that 85% of amputees had pain immediately following amputation, and 61% had the same pain a year later)
