Anyone with a little life experience knows that the process of change is complex. Sometimes you'll hear or read something that inspires you and you'll think: I've got to try this. But when you're confronted with your plan a year later, you will often realize that you didn't get very far at all. Habitual behavior plays a key role in many change processes. Most of us are aware of the fact that if we display different behavior on one occasion, this usually won't be enough to achieve permanent improvements. To really change, we have to aim at creating new habits that we can maintain. But that's exactly what's so complex! Behavioral research shows that even developing very simple, new habits that you've chosen yourself - such as eating fruit at lunchtime or performing a few physical exercises before breakfast - will on average take more than two months before they become a habit. And more complex behavior will take even longer.