BUILDING NEW HABITS TO REACH YOUR GOALS
Differentiate between goals and habits. Goals are outcomes (e.g. “I want to get
healthy”). Habits are actions and the steps taken to achieve the goal. For
example, eating vegetables every day with each dinner is a step toward “getting
healthy”.
Start with small changes. Make incremental changes toward the behavior you
want and work your way up from there. Even if you improve at something only
1% or 0.5% every day, week, or month, avoid beating yourself up and remind
yourself that small changes accumulate over a long period of time. Habit
formation takes time. A lot of it.
Update your environment. Making changes that encourage new habits and
discourage unwanted ones is the key to this. So, try keeping a bowl of carrots
easily visible in the fridge instead of crammed away in the back of the crisper.
Hide the candy somewhere that it will be harder to access, instead of just
grabbing it from the cupboard.
Tie the new habit to other activities. Plan using the format: “After , I will .”
For example, “After each meal, I will read for 5 minutes.” The smaller the step
the easier it is to do and may promote memory for the habit every day and
encourage consistency.
Remember that some practice is better than no practice.
Tell someone else the new habit. You want to create accountability. So, tell
someone that will encourage you and check in on a schedule that works for you.
Avoid someone that might get in the habit of shame blaming. You want
encouragement and support with the gentle nudge of a challenge from your own
internal coach.
Try tracking the habit. Keep a journal, make dots on a calendar to represent
completion of the habit. Use a spreadsheet. You want to be able to look back to
see the work that you have done and accomplished. Just like the apps that keep
your streaks alive.
While the habit is forming, reward yourself with small rewards. Habits take a
long time and small rewards can help with this. For example, after completing 20
minutes of homework, spend 5 minutes browsing social media (if that’s your
thing), but remember to get back to the habit.