Barnabas File

Life Coaching or Personal Development Coaching can take many forms.     At one point,     I was involved in a conversation with a colleague about coaching seminary students around their financial habits.     One of the things we discussed was whether a person needs to be a financial expert to coach someone about finances.     We agreed that helping a person to break old habits or, perhaps more proactively, develop new habits or behaviors was the key to financial coaching rather than financial expertise.       Developing new habits is not easy. Some suggest that, on the average, it takes more than two months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact . More realistically, how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In a study by researcher Phillippa Lally, a key finding was that it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a ne...

Life Coaching or Personal Development Coaching can take many forms.     I recently was involved in a conversation with a colleague about coaching seminary students around their financial habits.     One of the things we discussed was whether a person needs to be a financial expert to coach someone about finances.     We agreed that helping a person to break old habits or, perhaps more proactively, develop new habits or behaviors was the key to financial coaching rather than financial expertise.     Developing new habits is not easy. Some suggest that, on the average, it takes more than two months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact . More realistically, how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In a study by researcher Phillippa Lally, a key finding was that it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit. This is...

Our lives are controlled by habits.  They are the default settings that guide our behavior.  Unfortunately, it seems easier to learn bad habits that good habits.  The length of time to form a new habit has been a topic for much debate.  In  a study   conducted at University College London, Dr. Philippa Lally determined that it takes more than two months before a new behavior becomes automatic--66 days to be exact. However, the length of time varies for individuals and can be anywhere from 18 days to 254 days! In the text from Nehemiah 9:16-31, we learn that the people of Israel tended to fall into bad habits rather easily.  Although God continued to walk with them, they persisted in going their own way.  One way to look at the history of the Israelites is to see it as a struggle between God and God’s people. Nehemiah 9:28a  (NIV)  observes,  “But as soon as they were at rest, they again ...

Life Coaching or Personal Development Coaching can take many forms.   I recently was involved in a conversation with a colleague about coaching seminary students around their financial habits.   One of the things we discussed was whether a person needs to be a financial expert to coach someone about finances.   We agreed that helping a person to break old habits or, perhaps more proactively, develop new habits or behaviors was the key to financial coaching rather than financial expertise.   Developing new habits is not easy. Some suggest that, on the average, it takes more than two months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact . More realistically, how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In a study ,  researcher Phillippa Lally found that it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit. This is where coach...