[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #71CCD5;”] Y[/dropcap]esterday we looked at why habits are so important.
And the basic components of how habits work.
We did an activity to identify the key habits you want to develop or change.
Today we’re going to look specifically at how to form healthy habits.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY:
- How to Form Healthy Habits
How to Form Healthy Habits
1. Start as small as possible.
The smaller and easier the change, the more likely it is that the habit will stick.
Once we’ve had one small success we can build on that to make the next tiny change. And the next.
I recommend changing one habit at a time to set yourself up for success.
2. Identify your trigger.
One of the biggest reasons I fail when trying to change my habits is I forget to do the new habit!
So you need an obvious trigger to remind you to do the habit.
Sometimes setting an alarm on your phone can work.
But my favourite way is to ‘stack’ or link the habit to an existing habit you’re already doing.
So if I want to start doing a weekly shop and I already go to yoga on Saturday mornings, I could decide to do my weekly shop after yoga.
So going to yoga becomes the trigger.
Another option is to change your environment to make the trigger more obvious.
Example: If you want to start weighing yourself every day, move your scales somewhere prominent in your bathroom so you see them every morning.
3. Define the details.
In ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear he mentions a study were two groups were encouraged to develop the habit of exercising every day.
The first group were just told to exercise every day.
The second group were encouraged to write an intention statement saying when and where they were going to do the exercise. eg. I’m going to walk for 30 minutes every day after I eat my lunch.
The group who wrote down when and where they were going to do the exercise had a significantly higher achievement rate than those who didn’t.
4. Choose your reward.
Rewards are what make habits fun. The more intrinsically rewarding a habit is, the more likely it will stick.
For example, I love cooking and see my time in the kitchen as a chance to relax and unwind.
It’s easy for me to cook dinner every night because I enjoy it.
Is there a way to re-frame the activity in your habit as something you enjoy?
If you want to build the habit of exercising every day, choosing an exercise you enjoy like walking outside is a much better option than going swimming if you hate the smell of chlorine.
If you can’t make the reward intrinsic, it’s OK to pair a reward with your habit.
For example, treating yourself to a coffee when you sit down to review your meal plan for the week.
Or buying yourself a bunch of flowers when you do your weekly shop.
Another reward option is to track your habit. The reward is seeing your progress.
An example of this is the meditation app I use tells me the length of my ‘streak’. ie. The number of days I have meditated in a row. I’m highly motivated to keep increasing my streak – I know if I skip a day I’ll have to go back to zero.
5. Make a public commitment.
This is about public accountability.
I don’t know about you but I break promises to myself all the time. But promises to other people – I do everything I can to keep them.
Lets use this natural human instinct to our advantage.
It can be sharing your habit goal with your partner, your coach or your best friend. Or you can do it on social media or in the comments below.
Just make sure it’s public enough to motivate YOU.
6. If you fail, keep trying.
Making changes is tough. There will be setbacks. The good new is you only ‘fail’ when you give up.
DO NOT use ‘failure’ as an excuse to quit.
Use it as an opportunity to learn and to ‘double down’ on your commitment to reach your health goals.
SUMMARY
Here’s what we’ve covered:
- To develop healthy eating habits you need to start small, identify the trigger, define the details, choose a reward, make yourself accountable and keep trying.
ACTIVITY
Create Your Habit Plan.
STEP 1. Review your list of all the habits you want to change.
STEP 2. Decide which habit you want to go after first. You could map out the next 6-12 months focusing on one habit each month. But you don’t have to.
STEP 3. Identify the trigger.
STEP 4. Write an intention statement defining where and when you’ll take the action.
STEP 5. Choose your reward.
STEP 6. Make a public commitment.
But what if you have a bad habit that you want to break?
Hang tight!
We’ll be digging deeper into them tomorrow 🙂
With love,
Jules x
ps. Even though you might be tempted to do more, focus on one habit at a time. Or at a maximum 2. This is really important.
The secret to making changes in your life is to set small goals and take baby steps.
By setting ourselves up for success, we gain the confidence and the motivation to persevere and keep making changes, one after the other.
