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It’s time to build good and sustainable habits. While setting goals is exciting, it takes more than just dreaming and writing your wishes to actually achieve them. Successful people do not accomplish amazing things by chance. It takes commitment and discipline to improve your results and create significant improvements in your life. Here are a few tips to help you form and build good and sustainable habits.
So, last year, I had as an objective to get fit and healthier. This one was a goal of mine for many years in fact. I realized that for me to make it work, I needed to make changes to my daily life meaning changing change my habits in order for me to actually reach that goal. This is how I did it:
1. First of all, I defined my goal more clearly. What means to be fit or healthy? Is it losing a specific number of kilos? Or to fit in specific clothes size? So for me, it was about feeling more energetic in my daily life and being able to run long enough without being out of breath: 30min.
So the first thing you need to do is be as specific as possible and quantify your goal. You want to make more money. Then how much more money and by when? You want to read more books? How many a month?
2. Think strategically. What daily action you can take that will make a significant change in your life? For example, if you want to start waking up at 5 am every day, a significant step for you would be to go to bed early – 10 pm or so. For me, to be able to run consistently and feel energized, I needed to run 3 times a week. Once or twice a week is not enough. So 3 times is what would bring me the results I am looking for.
3. Create the right environment. While you’re forming a new habit, you need to be supported While we cannot always ensure that we’re surrounded by the right people, it’s good to be in an environment that will inspire us to stick to our new habits long enough until they become natural habits. For example, if you want to quit smoking, then you might have to stop hanging out with that smoker friends, at least until you successfully form your habit. If you want to drink less sodas, then start by banning yourself from bringing any soft drinks at home. +use technology (reminders, alarms etc)
4. Schedule it. If it’s not on your calendar then it’s not gonna happen. For me, I made sure I scheduled my runs every other day first thing in the morning. It was the only way for me to ensure I was actually going to do my workout. On days where I delayed my workout because of work, I didn’t actually exercise at all. One hint from my mom was to upon waking up, putting sports gear on so you don’t have to debate with yourself whether or not you should work out on that day. So put it in your calendar and set specific days for your new habits to happen.
5. Associate your new habit with something that you already do naturally. For example, when you go to bed each night, you will read at least 5 pages. That way you will develop the habit of reading. Going to bed will be associated with reading. For me, I developed the habit of dropping off my kids to school and then going for a run. Make sure to associate your new habit with an existing one.
Remember that less is more. Start with one habit at a time. Make sure you are committed and that you’re enjoying the small improvements. If you want a healthy and fit body. It won’t happen overnight. If you want to become a superstar, it won’t happen overnight. If you want to become a millionaire, it takes a lot of work, commitment and discipline. Your daily habits reflect the path you’re on.
Let me know what habit you want to build in 2020 and what will you associate with? Comment below!
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Let’s all grow in 2020 and make each moment of our life another step towards our better selves!
