Everything in life is dictated by your current habits, where you are now is an outcome of your daily habits. If you don’t like where you are, chances are you most likely built not-so-great habits that need addressing. As James Clear perfectly said, every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become. But let’s be honest, It’s easier said than done. We often struggle with consistency, motivation, and discipline which can lead us to give up. That’s why the article is here to help. You’ll find ways to create habits that will help you become the person you want to be.
What Are Habits?
Habits are the small decisions and actions you take every day until they eventually become your norm. You start to operate on autopilot. As I mentioned before, your current situation can be traced back to the habits you’ve developed. Unhealthy diet? A result of your bad habits. Successful business? A result of your good habits.
Whether your goal is to become a writer, be stronger at the gym, quit smoking, or just become a responsible adult, habits will make that happen for you. Well then if it’s that simple, why don’t we just build good habits? The thing is, when people start something they expect to see results right away which is a big mistake. Just like with money, in order to be able to buy a house you need to save enough, which won’t happen in a day or even a year.
Research shows that on average, it takes 66 days to fully build a habit. What’s interesting is that after those 66 days pass, the habit will remain with you for an extended period, and becomes unforgettable. So, for example, if you practiced driving a car consistently for 66 days, you will not forget that skill for years to come. Therefore, building good habits is the ultimate hack to transforming your life.
Routines Vs. Habits
The main difference between habits and routines is that habits are literally done on autopilot, meaning they’re performed without even thinking. So an example of a habit that we probably all have maybe brushing our teeth, and while we’re doing it our minds are probably elsewhere. Using social media as a form of distraction can also be a habit that you developed over time. On the other hand, routines are steps you consciously and intentionally take. Think of your evening routine: maybe you meditate, read a book, take a bath, and eat dinner. Routines need deliberate practice, and if you don’t make an effort to maintain them, they will eventually die out. So, how can you tell when a routine turns into a habit? Well, that’s when you start doing it effortlessly, without any thought.
Examples of Good Habits
The definition of good habits may differ from one person to another, but if you want to know whether you have good habits or not, ask yourself this question: Are these habits leading me to where I want to be? One habit might be perfect for you but not that great for someone else because it just depends on individual goals. Nevertheless, here are some good habits that are universally agreed upon and that I believe would make a great impact on your life:
- Waking up early
- Working Out
- Meditating
- Journaling
- Staying Hydrated
- Practicing Affirmations
- Investing Regularly
- Reading books, or articles
- Fixing your Posture
You’ve probably noticed from the examples above that making a change in your life doesn’t always require building massive habits. It can be as simple as fixing your posture. And as you continue to build these habits, you will have compounded a series of good habits that will create big changes over time.
Exercise: What is your keystone habit? Meaning, what is the habit that you think will literally put your life into place? When you find that answer, make it a challenge to practice that habit for 66 days straight.
How To Build Habits
Remember, building habits takes time and consistency, it won’t happen overnight. So here are a few ways you can start building better habits:
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Identify Your Goals
The first step to building habits is to identify your goals. When setting goals, it’s important to be realistic and don’t go all out. I want to add that goals don’t have to be starting something entirely new, like waking up at 5 AM. Your goal can be as simple as breaking an existing habit, like smoking. After you’ve set your goals, think of the habits that you need to build to achieve them.
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Start Small
Humans are generally impatient, they want to see results as soon as they make a change. Habits need patience and consistency, so don’t try to pressure yourself into expecting overnight changes. Instead, focus on getting 1% better every day, and aiming to make small changes. Over a year, these improvements will accumulate, resulting in a remarkable 365% overall progress. Remember, trying to get everything done in one day will only overwhelm you and cause you to give up.
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Create Triggers
Our minds are really good at making associations which is something we can use to our benefit. Let me elaborate. For me, my mind associates coffee with productivity, because I always have my mug right beside me when I work. As a result, my mind correlates coffee to work, serving as both an association and a reminder. You can apply the same method to your goals. Let’s say you want to go to the gym more often, you can create a trigger by having your workout clothes and protein shake ready in advance, for when you wake up.
Similarly, to break bad habits you can avoid and eliminate bad triggers. Using the gym example above, identify what usually acts as a barrier to gym sessions, it might be the temptation to scroll through social media. As a solution, you can put your phone in a different room, ensuring that when you wake up you only come across the good trigger (workout clothes and protein shake) that motivates you towards your goal.
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Be Consistent
Make it a goal to practice that new habit every day, after all, habits need an average of 66 days to form. So focus on integrating it into your routine, because the more you repeat it the more of a habit it will become that you perform effortlessly. Additionally, performing the habit every day at the same time can be helpful. For example, if you want to start meditating, you might choose to incorporate that into your morning routine right after you wake up. Remember, the more you practice something, the more likely it will become a habit.
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Reward Yourself
This method is used for everything and everyone, it’s employed in businesses to keep employees motivated. It’s also used with dogs to help train them. And guess what? It works. So, what can you reward yourself with when you successfully perform the habit you’re trying to build? The answer obviously depends on your personal preferences. For example, I find motivation and satisfaction in rewarding myself with a bag of spicy noodles when I complete my workout. This link between exercising and the satisfying result of eating spicy noodles keeps me motivated to maintain the habit. My mind now associates working out with a delicious experience.
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Measure Progress
Tony Robbins always says that progress is happiness and I 100% agree. Stacking up your small wins every day is daily proof of your potential. I find great satisfaction in simply checking off tasks from my to-do lists. It’s physical proof of my daily productivity and allows me to visualize the person I’m becoming and aspiring to be. You can even write in your journal what wins you’ve made today, further emphasizing your wins and serving as a source of inspiration.
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Have An Accountability Partner
Research has shown that sharing your goals with someone gives you at least a 65% chance of completing them. However, it’s important to note that picking the right accountability partner is key, you need someone that really wants the best for you, and pushes and supports you to achieve your goals.
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Practice Self-Compassion
It’s normal to fall out on your habits from time to time, we’re human after all. It’s important not to expect yourself to just have it all figured out on the first try, and definitely don’t beat yourself up if you don’t achieve the results you wanted on that day. I want to reassure you again that it’s okay if that happens. However, that doesn’t mean that you should give up. If things didn’t work out as planned today, simply try again the next day, and if needed, even the day after that.
Exercise: Audit the actions that you take every day. Next to these actions, write down all your goals, anything from financial to personal. Ask yourself honestly, will the actions I’m taking right now help me get to those goals? If not, what habits can you build or eliminate? Use the steps above to help you.
Breaking Bad Habits
A more successful approach to breaking bad habits is to replace them instead of eliminating them. Think about it, let’s say you want to break your habit of playing video games whenever you get stressed, instead of suddenly stopping altogether you can start taking walks when stress comes up. This way, you still fill up your time but in a healthier, and more productive way. As you consistently repeat this new habit, it will slowly transform into an automatic response that you without thought or effort.
Here’s another scenario to help you understand this approach better: say your goal is to have a healthier diet. Instead of immediately cutting off junk food and throwing the candy jar, consider this method. Replace the jar of sweets with fruits and other healthy foods. By doing this, you don’t only substitute unhealthy choices with healthy ones but also eliminate the triggering element we discussed earlier, reducing the temptation and reminder to an unhealthy diet.
Key to Lasting Habits
The key to building lasting habits is to shift your focus from solely achieving your goals to creating your new identity. Let me elaborate. Often, we’re so fixated on our goals and future, such as how it will feel when we make the first million or achieve big milestones. While that’s good motivation, it’s good to remember that motivation isn’t enough in the long term. Yes, it’s possible to push through challenges when there’s no motivation, but it gets exhausting. Hence, for us to enjoy and maintain this process, we need to change the underlying beliefs that have shaped our past behavior, aka our identity.
If you consistently repeat to yourself that you can’t quit smoking, there’s no way you will break that habit. Unless you change those beliefs that led you to where you are right now, change is less likely to occur. Take a moment to reflect: what do you keep repeatedly reinforcing that creates a barrier between your current and desired self? James Clear says that whatever your identity is right now, you only believe it because you have proof of it. Therefore, changing your identity comes down to 3 things:
- Identify the results you want
- Describe the person who already achieved those results (their values, habits, and actions)
- Prove that you are that person by stacking up small wins
Conclusion
Let’s recap, habits can help us achieve all of our goals no matter how big or small they are. I gave you examples of good habits that you can develop to improve your life. Additionally, we talked about the process of building and maintaining them. I want to emphasize that habits will never work without consistency, since it was through those consistent behaviors of yours that they developed. Yes, consistency is hard but the rewards are worth it. I believe in you, now go develop those habits and change your life.
Note: If you want to know more about habits, I highly encourage you to read Atomic Habits, I’ve personally learned a lot from it and used it to share my knowledge here with you. I will definitely be digging deep into the strategies of the book in a separate blog post, so stay tuned!
So, how was that? Were you inspired to take action into creating your habits? Let me know how the exercises benefitted you. Also, tell me what you thought in the comments and share it with your friends if you think it will help them break or build a habit. I’ll always be here cheering you on!