Creating Habits

When it comes to building habits, routine is a very important factor and i feel the both link together very well.

A habit is something you do day to day without really thinking about it.

For example brushing your teeth, making a coffee and locking the front door. They are pretty much actions that you’ll do without thinking about it or having to remember to do it.

For everyone implementing new habits may take weeks, a month or even multiple months, it is completely dependant upon the individual and the habit trying to build.

Often when wanting to make lifestyle changes new habits will need to be implemented.

Such as if you want to lose weight a new habit you may start could be to walk 10,000 steps per day or go to the gym 3 set days and times per week.

Even something as simple as drinking a glass of water as soon as you wake up may be a new habit which could take months to build before it becomes an action you do without even thinking about it.

Problem many people will face when implementing a new habit is they don’t make it sustainable and realistic.

If you have never ran in your life then aim to run 3 x 10km’s per week you may be able to do it for week 1 or even week 2 but pretty soon your body will not be able to take it and you’ve hit the gas too hard.

This is why its so important when making changes and adding new habits to make them realistic, prove you can stick to it for a few weeks then step to the next level.

A great example could be do some form of exercise 2 times per week for 4 weeks. Then increase this to 3 times per week for the next 4 weeks.

By the time you know it you are 8 weeks in and may be going to the gyn without even thinking about it and its becoming the new normality for you.

Another issues i see with people when adding a new habit to their day to day life is that there can be a lack of patience with it.

If you try something for a few weeks but aren't necessarily seeing the corresponding progress that you desire with it, many people will often quit and think what is the point in this.

A simple example for this would be adding a new habit such as eating 5 fruit and veg per day and this could be done for 3 weeks but because you haven't seen the scales decrease can easily think what’s the point in this and not have faith in the process when there could be other factors as to why you haven't seen in this case, a reduction in weight.

May have gained muscle mass, be very hydrated when doing that weigh in, had a heavy meal a few hours before the weigh in etc.

Tips for helping you stick with your new habits are:

The reality of adding new habits is that to start its going to be harder, and you have to be ruthlessly consistent with doing it every time due too. Even missing just 1 day could totally put you off track and lead you back to square one.

1. Make a note to remind you to do it everyday. Put it in places that will trigger you to do it or set reminders on your phone.

2. Tell someone about your new habit and get them to check in with you to make sure you’re doing it, creating accountability can be so important to help stay consistent.

3. Always remind yourself WHY you are making this a new habit. Such as this will help benefit me losing weight and feel overall more confident.