There’s a popular theory that it takes 21 days of repetition to create a new habit, but that’s a bit of a myth that came out of a 1960 self-help book. In a 2009 landmark study on habit formation, researchers found that it can take people anywhere from 18 to 254 days to reliably establish a new habit, with the average falling at 66 days. Regardless of how long you need to make a change, you can give your vocabulary a boost by calling it a new habitude. It’s just a slight change in the wording, but elevating your lexicon may give you extra motivation to make those changes stick. “Habitude” is a synonym of “habit,” but it has a slight nuance in that it suggests a state of mind or attitude. Rather than trying to change a lot of little habits, consider adopting a new habitude and making it a lifestyle.