In this article, I want to share with you 7 powerful tips to build new habits that stick.
We hear left and right, how it is important to set a goal and commit to it. But the miss point is our goals are focused on the performance. That’s why it is too difficult for people to hit their goals.
This kind of mindset has some negative consequences on our process changing. We tend to fail to reach our goals many time, so it hurts our self-esteem, and we end up by giving up.
But don’t worry. I fell into this trap of setting goals and don’t achieving them. That’s why I believe goals are inadequate way to start.
The trick is to chip away your goals at small steps without setting a deadline.
Building a habit, it’s a process, not a result. Bellow you’ll discover 7 easy steps to form a new habit and make your goal achievement easier:
Tip #1: Focus On One Habit At Once
That’s something a lot of people struggle with. Oftentimes we have the excitement to change our life, but the problem is we want to change all our habits at once.
What happen is our supply of willpower fades away too quickly. Instead of spreading out your energy on multiple habit, pick just one habit and stick with it.
That’s going to lead us to the next step.
Tip #:2: Commit To Your Habit At Least For One Month
Some people say that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, and others claim that it takes up to 66 days.
But in reality the length of days differs from habit to habit and from person to person. Some habits are easy to form, and others require some effort.
So, I recommend to pick one habit and commit to it for at least one month.
Another tip to help you stick to your habit is to carve it out throughout the day if you noticed that you make some effort to complete the habit.
Tip #3: Anchor Your New Habit To a Established One
Another great trick to build easily a habit is to link it to an existing one. Don’t rely on motivation to start doing the habit.
Instead, you can use implementation/intention strategy based on a statement [After/Before].
Let’s say you want to start reading before you go to bed. You can for example: “After brushing my teeth at night, I will read for 5 minutes”
The bottom line is to take a habit that you already do consistently and anchor it to the new one.
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Tip #4: Take Tiny Steps
The key to develop a lasting habit is to make it ridiculously small that you can say no.
By taking baby steps, it’s very easy start a new habit because you don’t use any motivation, and that’s the trick.
The danger about relying on motivation is it doesn’t last. When we are not in the mood, the odds are high to procrastinate if you use motivation as a fuel to start off.
The goal is to create a micro-commitment, and don’t miss a day.
Once the habit becomes a part of your routine then you can scale it up with one percent improvement.
Tip #5: Make a Plan For Obstacles
Every new habit has obstacles. Knowing in advance the upcoming obstacles, your odds are high to stick to the habit because you’ve made a preventive plan to overcome them.
The common adversities are:
- Weather
- Time
- Money
- Space
- Pain
So, to prepare your yourself to these obstacles, you can use intention/implementation strategy [If/Then] as it mentioned in step 3. Here are some powerful examples:
Example 1: Walking for 5 minutes in the morning.
“If it’s raining, then I will walk in the treadmill in the gym instead”
Example 2: Jogging after coming out from work.
“If I feel tired, then I will jog for 2 minutes”
Tip #6: Create An Accountability For Your Habit
Making public declaration about your goals it’s a powerful tool to help you stick to your habit and track your progress.
By creating accountability for your habit, it’s easy to commit to it because you get social approval from others.
You can get support from an online community in Facebook by sharing your updates related to your habit, or you can use coach.me to track your habit.
Tip #7: Celebrate Your Small Wins
Oftentimes, we underestimate the importance of rewarding ourselves once we hit a certain milestone.
A reward doesn’t have to be spending a lot of money to treat yourself and have fun. You could enjoy a night out with your friends, go to a restaurant and enjoy your favorite meal, or you can do something you love.
Also by rewarding yourself you’ll activate some brain patterns responsible for a feeling of accomplishment, that will help to stick to your habit in the long run even if things go tough.
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