8 tips to build lasting HABITS
Are you tired of trying to build a habit, but it’s just NOT sticking?? Keep reading for 8 tips to get those habits to stick. Remember, no one can do it for you, it’s up to YOU.
It’s January & a large majority of people make New Year’s resolutions. Some people prefer to set monthly goals, or to make a vision board, or to choose a word to focus on for the year…all of which are great things to do as well. Then there are people who do none of the above and that’s okay too. But this post is going to be about habits & tips to help you to get them to STICK. I always say, goals are awesome to make and great to have, but if you don’t have a way to support them, then it doesn’t really matter. Meaning, if you set the goal, but then don’t work on behavior change to form a habit around that goal, then it will always be temporary and fleeting. If you haven’t read the book, Atomic Habits by James Clear, I highly recommend it. Many things in this blog post will be things I learned from reading that book. Let’s dig in…
What is a habit?
According to Webster’s dictionary a habit is a usual way of behaving: something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way.
A simple example is brushing your teeth. (At least I sure hope this is a habit for you by now) Most people do this without really thinking about it at this point. You’ve been brushing your teeth for decades now and you know it’s something you do at least twice per day. People’s WHY might be somewhat different, but basically people do it because they know it’s good for their health (and breath) and it’s a learned behavior that your parents (or whoever raised you) probably taught you when you were a very small child. This is something you do without question and you perform it daily.
So the question is, how do you form a habit with something you want to do daily/regularly but don’t currently do now? Let’s take exercise for an example since that is another behavior that we all know is important to do regularly but some people do not include in their lives.
We all know exercise is important and most of us know the benefits of exercise. I won’t go through all of that in this blog post as I’ll keep the focus on habits but if you’d like me to write a blog post on the topic of exercise, let me know and I can make that happen.
Here are EIGHT tips to help you to form lasting habits:
1. Small habits make a big difference.
Often times, people set HUGE goals and expect to make HUGE changes overnight. This isn’t reality. Start small, make small changes and commit to those small changes, this will make a new behavior, which will set you up for long term success. We seem to dismiss small changes because they don’t seem to matter much in the moment. All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a tiny decision. As that decision is repeated, slowly the habit is formed.
2. Forget about goals; focus on systems.
Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results. Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress. If you simply set a goal and put no system in place, it’s not going to happen. Systems are CRUCIAL, especially if you want to form a habit. You don’t rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.
3. There are 4 laws of behavior change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying.
So many times I see or hear of people setting goals and trying to make changes by literally punishing themselves into it. This isn’t the best way to go about making a habit. It doesn’t have to be miserable.
4. Use this template I will {BEHAVIOR} at {TIME} in {LOCATION}.
Here is an example with exercise: I will exercise at 10 AM for one hour at my gym. There is no wishy-washy stuff about this statement. It’s a statement and it’s specific. It’s not “I will exercise more this week”. That leaves a lot of room for error/lack of progress. If you want real results/changes, make measurable and specific goals for yourself.
5. Habit stacking.
This is my FAVORITE tip for creating habits. So habit stacking is when you do your new behavior after an already established habit. Let’s take brushing your teeth as the already established habit and exercise as the new habit you want to form. After you brush your teeth, do 20 squats. Again, this may not seem like much, but remember small changes make a big difference over time. Template: After I {CURRENT HABIT}, I will {NEW HABIT}.
6. Motivation is overrated.
Yes, you read that right. Motivation is overrated. You will NOT always be motivated. This is why systems are so important and setting your environment up for success is equally as important. Staying with the exercise goal here, if you are going to exercise in the morning, lay out your clothes the night before. If you are going to exercise after work, keep a packed gym bag in your car. This is taking the questioning out of it. You are ready and prepared, keep going, and show up.
7. Just start.
If you don’t know where to begin, just start doing something. Action precedes motivation. You must DO something before a habit/goal will stick. This sounds obvious, but let’s take exercise for an example. Say you really don’t feel like exercising today (not because you need a rest day, but because the motivation just isn’t there). Tell yourself, okay, I am going to exercise for 10 minutes and if after that I don’t want to continue, I will stop. MOST of the time, once you show up and get started, you will stay. Some days you may not, and that is okay. It’s the behavior change that matters and will eventually turn into a habit. Once you continually show up for yourself, you will start to build confidence in yourself as well.
8. Have a support system in place.
This could be a coach, a spouse, a partner, a friend, a sibling, a parent, a dog. It can be literally anyone that will help you to hold yourself accountable. When things get hard, this person will be there to remind you why you started and to keep going. A support system/animal/person will help TREMENDOUSLY! I mentioned a dog because a pet can be a GREAT way to help you to exercise more regularly and dogs are always supportive ;).
This was a quick blog post on habits, I can go into more detail if you’d like and always feel free to contact me if you’d like me to write a blog post on a particular topic. I’m always open to suggestions and feedback. And remember, take things SLOW when trying to build a habit. Try ONE of these EIGHT things first, don’t try to tackle all eight at once. Small changes, big difference.
If you are ready to learn more about behavior change, habits, healthy lifestyle changes and what works for YOU, please email me or contact me on IG if you are interested in health coaching.
XX,
Sara
