Are you struggling to maintain habits that will improve your life?
Whether it’s exercise or health habits, results don’t always come easily. Many individuals who set new year’s resolutions quit within the first half of the year.
But don’t worry if you fail initially; you’re not alone. Failing doesn’t make you inferior; it just means you could be approaching habits and goals the wrong way.
So what are you doing wrong? How can you improve your habit-building ability to help you achieve success?
1. Visualize the Results
Figure out why you want to create your habit in the first place. Visualize how you and your life will change for the better if you can achieve this one goal. Think of all the benefits you’ll enjoy 5, 10, or 20 years down the line.
Achieving goals can be challenging, but is possible with the right attitude. By focusing on the benefits instead of the obstacles, you’ll develop the mental strength to keep pursuing your goal without complaints or excuses.
2. Prioritize Your Goals
When starting on your goals, don’t try to make such drastic changes to your lifestyle at once. Being too ambitious can backfire on you and cause burnout. If you can’t even run a mile, don’t force yourself to run a marathon in one month. Additionally, don’t try to start ten habits when you haven’t even mastered one.
It’s not a race, so take it slow and steady. If you try to rush, you’ll only be discouraged at the results and give up prematurely. Only raise the stakes when you see some progress. Set goals that are achievable and focus on the most important ones first.
3. Stay Consistent
Make sure you attempt to do what you say you’ll do every single day. I can guarantee you that by sticking to your daily habit for three months, you’ll have no trouble maintaining it.
The more you do what you say you will, the more reliable you’ll view yourself. Even this simple belief will encourage you to stay true to your word. If you mark your streak on a calendar, you’ll feel compelled to keep it going whenever you see it.
4. Take Breaks
Do you have a difficult time keeping up with your habit every single day? Allow one cheat day per week to complete half of your tasks or skip it altogether.
You’ll enjoy the flexibility without feeling guilty about not completing your task. Guilt can cause feelings of worthlessness that may discourage you from personal growth.
5. Allow Room For Mistakes
Don’t beat yourself up over forgetting your task one day. Unexpected things pop up and change our priorities. If your habit allows for it, compensate by doubling your efforts the next day.
Forgive yourself for little mistakes so you can move forward. While it’s okay to leave room for error, don’t actively find excuses to skip out on your habit.
6. Find Reasons to Stick To Your Habit, Not Skip It
Finding reasons to skip on your tasks will cause you to find more reasons not to do them. Your brain is good at finding excuses to skip activities that require effort.
Instead of making excuses, find reasons to check off your habit from your to-do list. Do you have some free time? Get started on your work and use that momentum to reach your goals.
7. Set Up Your Environment for Success
Most people set a goal but create an environment that isn’t conducive to achieve it. If you want to build better habits, set up your workspace to promote positive behaviors.
For example, you’ll have better weight loss progress if you keep a fruit basket on your desk instead of a cookie jar. If you want to be more productive, don’t work in a room where the TV is. All you have to do is set it and forget it.
8. Have Others Hold You Accountable
When you want to maintain a habit, find an accountability buddy. You’ll have to check in with this person every day to let them know that you’ve done what you said you would.
Even better, find someone with similar aspirations so you can feed off of each other’s success. It would be pretty embarrassing to make some bold claims about aiming for a goal, only to have made no progress. Stick to your habits by finding friends that also want to see your success.
9. Positive Reinforcement
Train your mind to associate completing your goals with positive feelings. You can do this by treating yourself when you complete a task.
Tell yourself that rewards only come when you reach your goal. Then reward yourself proportionally to the extent of your accomplishments.
10. Negative Reinforcement
On the flip side of the coin, negative reinforcement works better for some people. Every time you fail to check off an item from your task list, punish yourself. What do you dislike more than anything? Use this punishment to ensure you stick to your goals.
Want some ideas? How about having your accountability buddy hold onto $100 for you? If you don’t check in with the completed task, they get to spend your cash on anything they want. If you can’t bear the thought of losing that money, make sure you stay on track with your habit.
Conclusion
If you’re serious about improving your life, adopt the habit-building mindset outlined in this post.
It’s easy to hold off on personal growth due to the amount of effort required. But using these tips can drastically improve your chances of success and make your effort worthwhile.
What are your tips for building habits successfully? Let me know in the comments below!
Back to top