66 Day Countdown To Your Next Habit … Starts Tomorrow!

Across the world, fans of The ONE Thing – the recent book by our Co-founder and Chairman Gary Keller with Co-Author Jay Papasan – are taking on the 66 Challenge. What is the challenge and why is it 66 days, you ask?

The 66 Day Challenge is a disciplined approach to building a habit. The habit can be  personal, like eating healthier, or it can be professional, like lead generation for your real estate business. According to the book, most people fear the word “habit,” yet, research says discipline and habit are essential to achieving what you want out of life.

In 2009, researchers at the University College of London asked the question: How long does it take to establish a new habit? They asked students to take on exercise and diet goals for a period of time and monitor their progress. They found that the point of “automaticity” came when participants were 95 percent through the power curve and the effort needed to sustain it was about as low as it would get.

The results suggest that it takes an average of 66 days to acquire a new habit. The full range was 18 to 254 days, but the 66 days represented a sweet spot.

If 66 days is the magic number, then tomorrow is a very important day. If you guessed the start of the 66 day countdown to the end of the year, you’re right!

On Tuesday, Nick Cameron, team leader of the Bellingham (Wash.) market center, pointed out on Facebook that “If you want to have your new habit take affect by Jan. 1, 2014, you must start on Friday!”

Here on the KW Blog, our goal is to provide you with valuable content to build your business so that you create business habits that launch your career to new heights.

So tomorrow, in observance of the last 66 days of the year, we’re posting Craig Reger’s 90 Days to 90 Listings. If you haven’t heard about Reger’s 90 Days in 90 Listings, you can read a synopsis from Mega Agent Camp here.

Like the students in the university’s study, different habits take different amounts of time. Ninety days, as it turns out, was Reger’s sweet spot. (His team also challenged themselves to call 100,000 expired listings … but more on that tomorrow.) Tomorrow’s post will be even more specific, leading you through Reger’s plan so that you (or you and your team) can begin building a powerful lead generation habit that will get your more listings and earn you more money.

We all want to kick off the New Year with a powerful new habit, but what if you got started now? What if you had a special strategy that allowed you to beat out the 88 percent of the population who give up on their New Year’s resolutions?

Whether you implement an exercise regimen, acquire healthier eating habits or commit to Reger’s lead generation plan, today is the day to jump start your 66 Day Challenge! And if you’re on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, tag your journey with #66daychallenge!