Creating Habits: 3 Things to Think About
I could fill the room you’re in right now with crumbled up sticky notes I wrote goals and habits on that I never actually stuck to. Stretching, eating well, reading often, the list of goals I didn’t stick to could go on for pages. Have you been in the same boat? Well, if you have you’re in the right place because today we’re talking about how to stick with something. If you set a goal for yourself at the beginning of this quarantine, but you quickly let that goal fall by the wayside you are not alone.
Oftentimes we don’t end up sticking with our habits because we aren’t realistic about how we plan to implement them. If we desire to run a marathon, but we wheeze when we run a mile we have to accept it’s going to be a slow steady progression to accomplish that goal. If we don’t have that mindset shift, we will give up on day 4. When it comes to choosing our habits, there are three things we need to keep in mind:
1. Make them feasible
If your goal is to write a book, choosing to write a chapter a day is probably not feasible if you’ve never written a book before (just guessing). However, writing 200 words a day is something you can do. Start there, that’s feasible.
2. Make them sustainable
If you want to stick with a habit for an extended period of time, you need to make it sustainable. For example, working out for one hour seven days a week is probably not sustainable if you are currently only working out a couple times a week. Start with 30 minutes for 5 days. Start small to stay on track.
3. Make them specific
This one is pretty straightforward, but you need to identify specific routines in tasks if you want to apply them. Creating a habit to “be a better friend” is not going to give you an action step to achieve it. However, creating a habit to check in with your friends once a week is an action step that is specific.
This idea of creating habits is the second step in my habit guide. First you need to lay the foundation of who you are striving to become. I frame it this way
“I am ______________ so I will _______________.”
Let me give you some examples from my life:
“I am an athlete so I will train 5 days a week.”
“I am a child of God, so I will read my Bible everyday.”
“I am a life long learner, so I will read a new book every month.”
My habit guide is free and it’s ready for you to dive in and start setting these feasible, sustainable and specific goals! Navigate to the merchandise page to grab yours!