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As you're drafting your New Year's resolutions, you may think that it takes 21 days of repeating an action for that action to become a habit. So, you set out to go to the gym for 21 days, thinking that by day 22 heading to the gym will feel automatic—maybe even fun.

However, that 21-day estimate isn't true. A habit expert Wendy Wood found that this falsehood came from a self-help book in the 1960s and actually described how long it takes to get used to your new appearance after plastic surgery. It's important to note that getting used to something is not the same thing as forming a habit, and perhaps the two concepts got confused along the way, giving rise to the term today.

To figure out how long it actually takes to form a habit, Phillippa Lally, and her team did a series of research.

They recruited 96 people and asked each person to choose one new habit and report each day on whether or not they did the behavior and how automatic the behavior felt. Some people chose simple habits like "drinking a bottle of water with lunch." Others chose more difficult tasks like "running for 15 minutes before dinner." At the end of 12 weeks, the researchers analyzed the data to determine how long it took each person to go from starting a new behavior to automatically doing it.

The study found that it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic—66 days to be exact. And if you want to set your expectations appropriately, the truth is that it will probably take you anywhere from two months to eight months to build a new behavior into your life. Interestingly, the researchers also found that "missing one opportunity to perform the behavior did not affect the habit formation process." That is to say, it doesn't matter if you mess up every now and then. Building better habits is not an all-or-nothing process.

So, for those who wish to form certain habits, persistence is king. To form a good habit, we need to pay more energy and effort.

Johannes Fritz, an Austrian biologist, needed to come up with a plan again if he was going to prevent his rare and beloved birds from going extinct.

To survive the European winter, the northern bald ibis needs to migrate south for the winter over the Alps. But shifting climate patterns have delayed when the birds begin to migrate and they are now reaching the mountains too late to make it over the peaks, locking them in an icy death trap. Determined to save them, he decided to teach the birds a new, safer migration route by guiding them himself in a tiny aircraft. He was confident that he could succeed in this daring, unconventional plan.

Some 400 years ago, the Europeans hunted these birds without stopping and devoured the last in the wild, causing the birds to disappear entirely from the wild. When Mr. Fritz was born 56 years ago, the northern bald ibis could be found in Europe only in captivity（圈养）.

Mr.Fritz has spent his career reintroducing the birds into the wild. Through years of trial and error, he learned to fly like a bird. He modified（改装）a lightweight aircraft so it would fly at speeds slow enough for the birds to keep up. In 2004, he led the first flock from Austria to Italy, and has since led more migrations. But the route he originally taught the ibises does not work successfully. With climate change warming the area where the birds summer, they now start their migration at the end of October instead of the end of September. The trip is expected to take about six weeks, "Still, we're optimistic that it'll work," said Mr. Fritz.

His family and colleagues witnessed the risks he was taking. "But the unavoidable risks are necessary," Mr. Fritz said. "It's not so much a job, but my life's purpose."

A family cruise（乘船游览）offers a convenient and cost-effective alternative winter vacation. Here are appealing at-sea vacation ideas to consider this winter.

Tour Australia with Princess Cruises

For a faraway family vacation, consider exploring Australia aboard the Princess. Leaving on Dec. 17, the Princess will take passengers to the Whitsunday Archipelago and the Great Barrier Reef. And on the ship, little ones can enjoy a wide range of onboard activities, from dance classes to volleyball classes. In the evening, parents and their kids can enjoy kid-friendly movies.

Explore Asian Metropolises with Regent Seven Seas

Regent Seven Seas' ships take visitors to world-class destinations across Asia. Departing on Dec. 17, this 12-day cruise offers plenty of outdoor activities. Kids will enjoy the waterfalls of Miyazaki and the legendary street food scene in Hong Kong. As for onboard food, families can choose from a variety of dining options, from fast food to an Italian eatery.

Discover Patagonia with Seabourn

The amazing journey to Antarctica and Patagonia aboard the Seabourn Quest departs on Nov, 29, and includes a jam-packed agenda. Animal lovers can admire penguins, seals and other fascinating wildlife up close via daily Zodiac boat trips. Back onboard the ship, kids can take baths, watch shows, play board games and curl up with a book at the library.

Cruise to the Caribbean with Disney

Disney Cruise Line's four ships offer plenty of bells and whistles for kids. Besides, there are plenty of family-friendly stateroom category options that cater to budget-conscious families. Depart from Port Canaveral, on a four-night cruise aboard the Disney Dream for a fun adventure through the Bahamas, with stops in Disney's privately owned island.

Back in 2007, Uruguay had a serious problem with no obvious answer: The economy was growing very fast, but there wasn't enough energy to power the rapid 1 ．

Then Ramón Méndez Galain, a physicist, started 2 different potential paths for Uruguay's energy future．Finally, he wrote a plan that Uruguay could almost entirely 3 renewable energy．There would be less 4 and it would be the most economical choice Uruguay could make in the long run．

Méndez Galain's plan was built around two simple 5 about his country．First, while there wasn't a domestic（国内的）supply of coal or oil, there was a great deal of 6 ．Second, that wind blew over a country that was known for 7 grassland．His plan for Uruguay's energy future was to 8 the empty grassland into hundreds of wind farms．

To solve the problem of how to pay for all those wind farms, Méndez Galain came up with a variation on a（n）9 used by some electric plants in neighboring Brazil, in which state-owned power plants handled energy generation, while 10 companies were in charge of power distribution and customer service．Méndez Galain's plan changed the relationship to the 11 , so that private companies would be in charge of setting up and 12 the wind farms, while the state-owned power companies would distribute that energy to its customers．

The strategy worked 13 well．Just within a few years, Méndez Galain had 14 what he had set out to do: 98% of Uruguay's 15 comes from renewable sources．

Moments ago, a seal was resting on a piece of floating ice deep in an Antaretic channel．Then three hungry killer whales appeared．When the seal noticed them, it was already surrounded．

On this sheet of sea ice, the nearly thousand-pound seal would be unreachable for most of his enemies in nature．But these killer whales had mastered a hunting technique called wave washing: working together to turn water into a weapon．

Having identified their target, the killer whales formed a battle line and started rushing toward the ice．Just before reaching it, they rolled to their sides in a single, synchronized（同步的）motion．The wave they created was so powerful that it flooded the ice sheet and washed the frightened seal close to the edge of the ice sheet．Slowly and methodically, they repeated the attack．At the third time, the wave sent the helpless seal flying into the sea．It struggled to climb onto a piece of ice, but then disappeared from view．．．

"The level of intelligence that went into making each wave was staggering ． They solved the problem with very complex teamwork．They used water as a tool," said wildlife filmmaker Bertie Gregory, who had spent a decade tracking those killer whales, known as Bls．"I rarely saw failed hunts．This behavior was not what they were born with．It was learned and mastered over decades．Every time they made waves, it almost felt like more of a teaching experience than hunting．It was terrifying to watch．"

But as Antarctica warms and sea ice disappears, seals are increasingly staying on land, out of killer whales' reach．

"I've found Bls are losing about 5 percent of their population every year．Whether this subgroup will go extinct or just adapt their behavior, I don't know," said Gregory．"But with fewer opportunities for the killer whales to wave wash, I'm seeing an extinction of a culture．"

If you're hoping to follow your ears to your next vacation destination, but haven't yet found a festival that calls your name, we've got a list of some of our favorites to help you plan your escape．

Guěa Trumpet Festival

The trumpet is a part of daily life in Serbia—present at births, celebrations, and burials．And the annual event has been going strong for more than 50 years to celebrate the instrument and its cultural significance in this country．

Positiv us Festival

Positivus is the largest music festival in Latvia, attracting big-name stars across all major genres and giving new artists a chance to shine．It's also one of the most accessible music festivals in the world, even for families with small children．Other pluses? Ticket prices are reasonable and the beautiful coastal location means you can swim in the water or hang in the cool shade of the forest on the same day, all while listening to live music．

Alfa Future People

Held in the Russian countryside, six hours east of Moscow by car, Alfa Future People is more than a massive electronic dance music（EDM）festival, with exhibitions on the latest related technology and athletic opportunities like a volleyball tournament and gymnastics classes．

Mysteryland

If you're into EDM, you won't want to miss Mysteryland．Not only is this Dutch festival a bellwether（风向标）of EDM, its grand stage setups will blow your mind．What's more, this is also one of the most sustainability-focused festivals in the world．In addition to readily available recycling stations and organic eats, attendees can plant trees to reduce their carbon footprint．