If everything were to be on autopilot right from the start then making new habits stick won’t have been such a task. But it is, especially when a new year starts, with all the resolution related sticky notes piling up on your personal journal or fridge. So here are a few tricks to help ease the process of building new habits.
1. Thirty Days is All You Need
Sustain your new habit for at least three to four weeks and after that it’ll simply become a part of your routine and your system.
2. Make it Daily
Consistency is critical and so you must practice the habit daily. Doing it once every few days will make it difficult to lock the act as a habit.
3. Start Simple & Easy
If you want to run for an hour a day then start with running for 15 minutes. Then gradually move it to 30 and then 45 minutes. Take it slow and easy. Going from no running to doing it for an hour a day will leave you drained and unmotivated. Bouncing from one extreme to another is not a good idea; the trick is to divide the journey into small achievable bits.
4. Remind Yourself
Around 2 weeks, take a review of how you’ve done so far. If not so good, then push yourself a little more, staying in the comfort zone isn’t going to do you much good. It’s often easy to forget the determination with which we started the habit. So make sure you revive it in later stage by keeping a check with yourself about the whole process and how you are placed.
5. Get a Buddy
Find someone who can tag along with you for the task. Both of you then can be the motivation force for each other and also keep checks. But make sure that your performance does not entirely become dependent on this person. There has to be something in this habit for you, something that keeps you going even if your buddy decided to skip a day.
6. Be Kind to Yourself
The change is not going to happen overnight. Expect a few bumps along the way. After all they are what make the journey interesting!
7. Find Role Models
You become what you spend time around. So find someone who has already achieved the level you wish to be at and spend more quality time with them. Learn from their highs but most importantly, stick around and learn from their lows. See how they got out of these valleys and landed at the top of the hill.
8. Do it for Yourself
Bring a new habit into your life because you (and not others) want it. Empty resolutions and guilt from others will not help much. At the end of the day, it is you who will strive hard to make this activity a habit. So it might as well be something which adds value to your life.
