Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones · chapter 13 · id atomic-habits-c13-02-lally-et-al-2010-found-that-si

“Lally et al. 2010 found that simpler behaviors form habits faster, with drinking behaviors reaching automaticity in about 20 days while exercise took much longer.”

holdsconfidence: high⚠ extracted by pipeline, re-audit pending

Receipts

Lally et al. 2010, European Journal of Social Psychologypaywalled — manual check queued

Exercise behaviors took approximately 1.5x longer than eating/drinking behaviors to reach automaticity. Simple drinking behaviors could reach near-automaticity in ~20 days.

Gardner, Lally & Wardle 2012, British Journal of General PracticeDOI registry: valid

Simple behaviors in consistent contexts develop automaticity faster. Context-dependent repetition is the key driver, not just time elapsed.

This claim is a stable, citable object. If you can falsify a verdict, tell us — corrections are loud here.