Making and Breaking Habits
It’s now the start of a new year, and people start to think of new goals. They may start to think about the new habits they want to create to achieve their goals. Thinking of losing weight? It would be best if you built habits which will allow you to lose weight. Want to write that book? You need to try and enforce writing habits which will allow you to complete your writing goal.
However, most people never think about the habits they need to build. Most think about an end goal but never think about how to achieve that goal. Building habits is more important than your end goals because it will help you achieve them.
How do I start making habits?
Start by thinking about the habits you need to build. Do you need to write more? Should you write daily? Etc. These are the thoughts you need to think about to create habits. Write your habits down, they could be between 5 and 10 habits, and you can build on these as time goes on.
Make building these habits as easy as possible. If you need to write, have a pen and paper in the places you want to write. It could be on your bedside cabinet, a desk or even on your sofa. Place it anywhere where you think it can help you. This can be the same if you want or need to write on a computer. Buy an iPad or cheap tablet that will allow you to write, and place it somewhere, within easy reach.
A personal example of mine… I wanted to floss more, and at first, I would have to think about this habit because my floss was always in my bathroom cupboard. I made the habit easier to remember by putting the floss in-between my toothbrush and mouth wash. This way, when I finish brushing my teeth, I am reminded to floss.
Simple actions to help promote your habits will make it easier to do. This is something none of us thinks about, but we should always be thinking about it.
Don’t forget about breaking bad habits
Everyone also has bad habits. If you want to lose weight, then it’s likely your bad habit is overeating. For instance, I’ve built up a habit of having coffee before CrossFit. If I don’t wake up in time for my coffee, then I will go back to bed and skip CrossFit for the day. This is a terrible habit, and it’s taken me a while to realise it’s negative implications.
I want to work out more and stick to a 5 day-a-week schedule. To do this, I shouldn’t be so reliant on coffee. To build my workout habit, I must first break my coffee habit. My routine will now be to wake up, make and drink coffee if I only have time. Otherwise, I will skip making coffee and go straight to CrossFit. My coffee habit can wait until after my workout.
There are two resources you can use to help further educate yourself on the subject. First, there’s the book called Atomic Habits, and second is a YouTube video on building habits.
What habits are you looking to make? What habits are you looking to break?
