Tips for Forming & Keeping New Habits

We all have our own personal aspirations to become better in some way, whether it be following through on your fitness goals, eating more vegetables, or whatever else. The thing is, trying to form habits is an incredibly difficult thing to do. You start out strong, but within a week, your discipline begins to falter, or you burn out, leading you right back on square one. Thankfully, there are some strategies you can use to stay strong through striving to form new good habits. Check em’ out.

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Be Strategic

No matter what you do, having a strategy before diving head is really important for habit forming. Try to set up a timeline or a system of accountability to keep you on track when it comes to your new habits. This could include a reward every time you hit a milestone, or deciding what to do if you slip up and miss your marks. Another good idea is to develop a support system that will keep you on track. Friends and family are great for building a support network. 

Don’t Fall For Temptations

Say your goal is to go for a walk every evening after work. You start off strong, but one evening, it’s colder than usual, and the little voice in the back of your head is telling you: “Well, it wouldn’t hurt to take just this night off.” You will face many temptations on the road to forming new habits, and the best thing you can do right off the bat is to stop that voice dead in its tracks. The struggle is worth it in the end, and to persevere through any hardships will only sweeten the victory when you make it. 

Mindfulness & Responsibility are Key

Developing further on the support network mentioned above, there will be times when your busy life gets in the way, and that support network may not be able to help you push through. Maintaining a strong sense of mindfulness will have a synergistic effect on your responsibility as well. By following through on your goals and fully committing to them, you will become more mindful of how your daily actions are affecting your goals. 

Visualize The Entire Process (Not Just The Result)

When creating our goals, we often visualize what we imagine it will be like when we reach them. While this can be a powerful motivational tool, it is important that it is done right to maximize its potential. Instead of just visualizing the end product, try to visualize the entire process of the habits you are trying to form. Visualize yourself working hard through the adversity and any challenges you may face.

Stay Consistent With Your Actions

One of the strongest ways to cultivate new behavior is it to create sequential action chains when forming a new habit. If you want to run more, try to set up a time every day where you go on a run, instead of running at different times on different days. This will help your mind associate a certain time with a certain behavior, which in turn will result in strong habit formation.