Creating Successful Habits… and Making Them Stick This Time!
Every January 1st people seem to go crazy with new goals. They post pictures of inspiring quotes and state “New Year, New Me!”. While the start of a new year is a great time to set a goal and try something new, it can also be extremely challenging.
Here at Vitality, we understand the value of small consistent habits done over time. We know there is no quick fix to anything, yet in our over-stimulated brains we want things right now. We expect our goals to happen immediately and when they don’t, we are disappointed. So, we thought we’d help make this new habit stuff a little easier to grasp.
First is to keep it simple. Do not make your new habit harder than it needs to be. Have you ever heard the phrase K.I.S.S.? If you haven’t, it stands for Keep It Simple Stupid.
Making changes to your habits is challenging because you are attempting to change a routine that you have done day in and day out for likely more than a decade. Be patient with yourself. Some days you will be super motivated to take action and other days you will barely be able to get yourself to do anything. This is why keeping it simple is so important. It must be something that you can do even on the days you don’t want to because motivation will wane. When the motivation isn’t there is when most people give up. Why do you think 80% of New Years Resolutions don’t make it past January? We tend to make big audacious goals for ourselves because at the time we are excited. Then when the excitement wears off, we don’t want to go workout for an hour at the gym 5 days a week…DUH!
Second is to keep it small. In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear explains that “if you can get 1% better every day for one year, you will be 37 times better by the end.” I did the math and 1% of your waking hours is 10 minutes a day. When it comes to creating new habits to better your life you only need to commit to 10 minutes every day. I also like to think of this as an average. Some days I meditate for 4 minutes and some days I meditate for 15 minutes, and some days even more. No matter what I am meditating every day!
This leads to the third tip – be consistent!
You want your routine to become a part of your life, a habit you do every day without thinking about it. Eventually you will get to the point where not taking action will feel weird. If you don’t do the thing (walk, run, meditate, etc.) you find that you must in order to feel complete in your day. This is the magical place you will get to in time. Remember this will take time so please be patient and kind to yourself on this journey!!
Like any part of our growth though, creating new habits isn’t linear. Our consistency and motivation with creating a new habit will wax and wane. Your job is to stay with it.
When I first started meditating in 2017, I was extremely inconsistent. I would meditate here and there, and then I went months without meditation. Instead of giving up completely, I made a commitment to bring meditation into my daily routine. I told myself I would meditate for a minimum of 5 minutes Monday through Friday for 1 month. And I did it!! I kept this going for years, still missing here and there (because life happens!). It wasn’t until a few years later that I stepped into a new commitment to meditate every single day for a year. I almost made it to a full year of daily meditation too. I got to day 308 before missing. So, what did I do? The next day I got right back into it. In an entire year I missed only one day of meditation! It’s not perfect, but it’s consistent and I never gave up.
Life happens, but just like you get up and brush your teeth every morning - you can make your new habit that easy too! It takes time and dedication. Keep at it, keep going and love yourself along the way knowing you are making great changes for your successful future self!
Want to learn more about creating successful habits and how your nervous system can help propel you to maintain your momentum? Join Dr. Jess and I on Tuesday, January 16th for an in-person workshop with tools and tips that you can take home with you and put into action right away!