Habit Maker

Sep 20, 20213 min read

Updated: Apr 18, 2023

Have you ever wanted to live a healthier life? Have you ever wanted to expand your knowledge? Have you ever wanted to sleep better, read more, get fit, keep your house tidier, practice meditation?

At some point in our lives we have all wanted to be able to do things different. Get rid of the bad habits and replace them with the good.

So what stopped you? Or is still stopping you?

Habits are hard to form and even harder to break. Here are a few tip for you that can help you get rid of the old and bring in the new.

Start Small

A huge mistake is to try starting with something big or time consuming. That's never going to work if it takes too long or too much effort it's going to feel that a chore and you are only going to stick to it for a few short days before something will undoubtedly get in the way.

Break your habit down into a smaller or shorter tasks. Something easy to implement with the least amount of effort so you don't even notice you are doing it. Once that has become part of your daily routine then you can start to up the ante.

So you want to meditate each day? Start with a 10 minute session at the begining or end of your day. You want to eat and drink healthier? Start with a glass of water first thing in the morning or replace just one unhealthy food a day for something healthy. What about keeping the house tidier? Make your bed in the morning or do the dishes just before you go to bed. Get fit? Do a 10 minute Hiit session on your lunch or break. Read more? Get up 10 minutes earlier and spend it reading or turn the TV off 10 minutes earlier than usual and read before bed.

Your new habit no longer feels like a chore and before you know it you are doing it automatically without even thinking about it.

What Is Stopping You?

What exactly is the reason you have never started this habit before? Or started it but failed to stick to it? The answer might surprise you. It might not be the habit itself that is the problem and identifying the reason you can't stick to it could also lead you to a solution.

Maybe you want to exercise more and although you think you don't like exercising when you really look at it you realise it's the hassle of coming home, getting changed, going to the gym, coming home again and getting in the shower. Maybe instead join a gym near to where you work and take your gym gear to work with you so you don't have to travel. Or join an online exercise community and do it from the comfort of your own living room. Maybe your work has shower facilities in that case why don't you buy a bicyle get up a little earlier and ride or even run/jog to work and shower when you get there and your exercise is done and dusted for the day.

Make A Plan

What happened last time you tried to start a new habit or stop an old one? If it failed did you just stop and give up? You need to recognise that you are only human, we all are. So make a plan for what to do if you stall or faulter. A plan will help you get back on track and can make or break your mission.

First of all promise yourself you will let go of the guilt. Okay so the idea is supposed to be drinking one less beer on a Saturday or going straight home instead of past the take away. But who's perfect? I know I'm certainly not and I'll bet you aren't as well. So stop beating yourself up for falling off your waggon of choice and instead recognise it went wrong and pick yourself up off the floor, tomorrow is a new day where you can start afresh.

The mantra never miss twice is your new friend. Make the desicion that if you miss getting up 10 minutes early on one day you will make sure to do it the next. You went to bed without doing those dishes, again, tomorrow is a new day. Start again and make sure to do them the next day. Never let yourself keep missing as that leads to the rabbit hole of giving up and quitting.

Slipping up is going to happen, it's normal and in fact you may have to face failure many times before you achieve your goal of an effortless new habit, but if you have a plan in place you can recover from it and be on your way to success!