ADOPT & SUSTAIN HEALTHY HABITS THAT STICK
Creating healthy habits that stick is no easy feat for most of us. It doesn’t just happen overnight.
Adopting healthy habits that stick, takes a shift in mindset, daily practice and commitment. Research has shown that it takes a MINIMUM of 21 days to adopt a new habit, but it varies from person to person, and takes anywhere from 2 to 8 months to form a new habit.
Many people start out strong, but somewhere along they way lose motivation and drive, they get discouraged and frustrated with themselves and quit. They feel like failures, make a vow to try again and the cycle repeats itself over and over and over again (new year’s resoutions I’m looking at you).
The need for instant gratification, and an all or nothing mentality are often to blame for this painful cycle.
So what can you do to stop the insanity and finally start creating healthy habits that stick?
Here are my top tips for nurturing an sustaining healthy habits that stick, whether it be a desire to eat healthier, start exercising or saving more money, they work, so give them a try and let me know how it goes.
#1 Define your WHY
You may know what you want, but do you know why you want it?
Change is hard and when things get challenging, we turn to what we know, even if it may not be serving us anymore. Knowing your reason why, is a great way to stay focused and a good motivator to get back on track when things get tough and you feel like giving up.
#2 Shift your Mindset
Don’t underestimate the power of your mind. It can be your ally or your foe when it comes to adopting and sustaining healthy habits.
We all want to succeed when we set out to do something, and yet, many of us struggle with self sabotage. There are many reasons that we do this, mostly subconciously, ranging from fear of change, to fear of failure, self limiting beliefs, an all or nothing mentality, lack of self worth, self love and self respect and so many more.
The trick is to identify self sabotaging behaviour and thought patterns, acknowledge them, speak the them and move on. Many times, self sabotage and fear are about self preservation, and maintaining the status quo, even though deep down we know it's not what's best for us, it’s cozy. We are built to resist change and fear the unknown.
Fear and doubt are absolutely normal, they will always be there, it's how we respond to them that matters. It's important to remember that this is not a race or an all or nothing proposition. You don't have to give up if you have a blip, just remember your why, pick up where you left off and keep going.
#3 Keep it simple
One of the reason many of us can’t seem to make healthy habits stick is that we tend to overcomplicate things. We try to do too much too soon, get overwhelmed and then beat ourselves up when things go awry. With all the uneccessary pressure on ourselves, it’s no wonder we crumble.
Change is hard and the only way to make it easy is to keep it simple. Making attainable changes, consciously, deliberately and steadily until they become second nature and then building on them is a great way to keep the momentum going.
Take it one habit at a time, one day at a time.
#5 Be consistent
Take the first step by chosing one thing that you can do every day that will help you achieve your goal. Consistency is key to creating habits. Break your goal down into actionable steps that you can take daily, weekly and monthly and build these tasks into your calendar.
Having a long term vision and goals is extremely important, but repetitive daily tasks are just as essential, because they get you in the right habit forming mind frame.