How To Create The Right Habits And Make Them Stick

How to create the right habits and make them stick. Not all habits are equal. You must pick the right habits that helps you become the best version of you. I will show you how changing the way you see your habits will improve your chances of making them stick as I know it’s one area that most of us struggle with. Is this true for you?

For years I have struggled with sticking to a routine of some sort and I would start with all good intentions and hype, then over a few weeks, motivation would fizzle out and I would slowly slip back into my old ways. Does any of this resonate with you?

Understanding Habits

First we need to understand our habits a bit more. What are habits? Why are they important? How are they developed? Only then can we gain an advantage in order for our habits to stick.

What are Habits?

So what are habits? Habits are performed automatically without having to think. They can be daily actions we take or they can be the way we respond or react to situations, for example when things go wrong you may have a habit of looking for someone to blame. They are created by repetition where neural pathways in our brain are formed. Our brain wants to complete as many tasks as possible without wasting energy thinking about them.

It’s important to know that you can change your habits by making conscious decisions. When you repeatedly practice a new behaviour, you are teaching your brain to learn a new step and you must keep doing it. During this time you need to be more conscious of your actions until the new behaviour is thoroughly learned and only then does it become a habit.

Why are they important?

Habits are important because when repeated every day they become your behaviour. Your behaviour is who you are and becomes your identity. If you have healthy habits, you are a healthy person. If you have lazy habits you tend to become a lazy person. Your habits form your mental attitude and that’s who you become. Knowing this, you have the power to become who you want to be by choosing the right habits. So who is the person you want to be? What habits will help you achieve the goal and maintain the lifestyle you want.

Thinking of your habits as part of your identity is an empowering thought. Embrace the person you want to become. Every action is a vote for the type of person you want to be and becoming that person could be a project, like becoming the best version of you.

How to make habits stick

Many of us find sticking with a habit for lasting results a struggle. The problem is we rely on motivation, which gets you started, however motivation does not last. What about the days you just don’t feel like it. To make habits stick you must keep repeating it. It’s all about consistency. OK we all know that. So think about how do we make sure we do it every day? That takes a lot of willpower and effort.

OK, so how about we make the habit small and easy, so that it requires little effort to do each day? This is what I learnt from James Clear who wrote the book “Atomic Habits”, and another great resource is “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg

Every action we take, is a vote for the type of person we want to identify with. Declare who you want to be. For example “I am a writer”. So the small task you could do every day is write a sentence for your book every day. The task is so small you will do it with little effort. Tell me this though, when you sit down and start writing that sentence, what is the likelihood of you writing a bit more? Very likely, right! So this is about taking the pressure off completing the task. As long as you write one sentence that’s OK, you have been consistent still. Repeated daily till this habit is thoroughly learned, only then will it become automatic.

Make the habit easy by lessening the effort

• If you want to workout in the morning, make sure your gym gear is laid out ready for you the night before.
• If you want to read every day have the book near where you sit to remind you.
• If you want to start a habit of journaling have your journal and pen out ready.
• If you want to drink more water. Fill bottles of water and leave them at different places where you might need them, eg. coffee table, bedside table, office desk.

Results come after the struggle

All changes are hard at first, remember this point and you will reap great results. When you embark on new behaviours and new habits you must go through 3 stages. The first stage is where you are all fired up and full of motivation with a new regime or routine. Then you get to the messy middle stage and this is where you need to build stamina. This will be the hardest part where you will struggle and this is where most of us give up after a few weeks. However lock it in that you are not one of the many who do this, but one of the few that will push past this barrier and reach the third stage where you will see great results.

“Nothing worth having comes easy”

Mindset Shift

Adopting a new habit requires conscious effort at the beginning, however will reap beneficial rewards. Instead of thinking about the effort it’s going to take, start shifting your thoughts to why you want to create better habits,. When I shifted this way of thinking and how it shapes who I am and want to be, it was a game changer for me. What do I mean?

For example, for years I have struggled to get up early. I went through sporadic phases of getting up early and then not for a while. Then when I shifted my thinking to “why” I want to get up early that’s when it all changed for me. My “why” was the reason I got myself out of bed. I wanted to get up early so I get time to work on project “ALWK” (Ageless Lifestyle with Kath), which means a lot to me.

So how can you use this? Why don’t you try it? Use this following phrase……..

” I ________ (Habit you wish to create), so that I _________ (why you want this habit)”

” I get up at 6.30am, so I get time to myself and work on my ‘ALWK’ project”

Another example, ” I exercise every day, so that I get fit and healthy to be able to play with my grandchildren“

Be more mindful

Most of us are wandering around in a trance. We go through our daily routines without a thought. Our brain tries to make things easy for us so we that we have to think less. If we start being more mindful and self aware of what we do daily and assess how this affects our lives, the habits we create will be good ones. Be more engaged in what we do, our attitude will change. Thinking about our actions rather than just seeing it as a task to complete, makes what we do have more meaning and purpose. Our attitude behind our habits and daily routines make an difference.

Giving yourself grace!

Last but not least, be kind to yourself. Give yourself grace! Don’t be too hard on yourself when you have a minor blip. Do not put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect. Leave room for mistakes. This is life, what is to become a lifestyle change must have room for times of brief lapse.

To Summarise

Pick the right habits for the person you want to become. Do them consistently until your actions become automatic. Always be prepared for the struggle ahead, and know that it is beyond this hard bit where your reward is waiting for you.

The main game changer in all this was when I started to shift my way of thinking. Remember if you want to change, you must do things differently.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results

Albert Einstein

Think of it like a project, project “best version of you”. Do your best, enjoy the process, be excited. Any change signifies growth and learning. So go on, go and create some habits and become who you want to be!

Keep living agelessly!

Kath xoxo