TO DO: Start building better habits - 5 tips to start NOW

Habits. We all have them.

Using the bathroom when we wake up in the morning.

Locking our doors before we go to bed. Kissing our significant other before leaving the house.

Grabbing a bag of chips before plopping on the couch.

We all do things, each and every day, without a second thought.

Atomic Habits, by James Clear is one of THE BEST books we’ve read over and over again. Not only is it SPOT-ON to support creating habits in your own journey, but in all aspects of life.

That’s what a habit is. A habit is a routine behavior that is performed automatically, with little or no conscious thought. Habits are formed through repetition, and they can be either good or bad.

But how do we build habits?  It doesn't happen overnight, and often - we have to break certain habits, before we can build them.  

Here’s our top tips:

1. Choose a specific habit - something you want to start doing regularly. Perhaps it’s exercise more, get more sleep, eat healthier - whatever it is. BE SPECIFIC. Instead of saying “I’m going to exercise everyday”, say “I’m going to go for a 20 minute walk, every day.”

2. Make a plan that is SPECIFIC. Take your walk a step further and say, “I’m going to take a 20-minute walk every morning, before work; outside when the weather is nice, on the treadmill in the basement when it’s not”. Specificity matters.

3. Start small. Our example of exercising more didn’t start with a 10-mile run every day - we started small. Everyone was a beginner at some point, and something is always better than nothing. Once you’re consistent for three weeks with your 20-minute walk, consider increasing it.

4. Make it easy. Remove any obstacles that stand in the way of your new habit. To better position yourself for your morning walk, lay out your workout clothes and shoes the night before, and tell your spouse, or a friend - heck, post it on social media the night before for an extra layer of accountability.  Do what you can the day before to make execution as easy as possible.

5. Give yourself grace and have FUN. If you miss one morning - so what? That doesn’t mean you give up. We guarantee you’ve gone to bed without brushing your teeth before, and you didn’t stop brushing your teeth forever, did you?

To reach any goal in life, you have to have systems and processes in place to achieve the end goal. You didn’t get your dream job overnight, and you’re not going to change your body overnight either. We all start somewhere - you just need to START.

If you’d like to work with us to establish habits, we’d love to chat! You can also sign up for our 31-Day Challenge - let’s GOOO!