If You’re Feeling Blue, These 50 Pics Might Brighten Your Day

Of course, trying to do everything all at once to completely overhaul your life is a tad overwhelming. The key here is to commit to making very small positive changes in your life until those behaviors become habits. However, there’s no single magic number when it comes to forming habits. How long it takes for a behavior to become automatic depends entirely on its type and complexity.

Broadly speaking, simpler habits tend to form faster. Something like learning to wash your hands more often can take only a week or two, CNN reports. But getting into the habit of going to the gym can take months and months, depending on how fit you already are, what kind of support network you have in place, and how motivated you feel.

It’s not just basic fitness habits that we should cultivate, though. Researchers have found that the main thing that makes us happiest and healthiest is the quality of our relationships. Having lots of positive relationships in our lives makes us more resilient to the stress that life throws at us.

So, we ought to be proactive and put in the time to deepen our connections with the people we care about the most. At the same time, it might be worth reevaluating how much time you spend with people who leave you feeling drained, dreary, and disappointed.