What is it about Jan 1st that makes everyone feel they are Superhuman? We have a ton of new goals we plan to achieve for the year. We all start out with the best of intentions. I don’t know about you, but I want to make lasting changes. So, in order to do that I start small, what some may feel is super small. Hey, it works so I continue.
Let’s set ourselves up for long-term success. Below are three tips to help you tackle your new year with a reasonable and sustainable approach.
- Look at your habits, not your goals. Wait, what? Yeah, look at your habits and how you plan to change one habit. Habits help us achieve goals. Most people are good at identifying a goal, but not the small changes that need to happen to achieve it. Building habits little by little help make the larger goal more achievable and sustainable. By focusing on ONE habit at a time will help you create sustainable change, not just momentary change. I like to call this “chipping away at the mountain”.
- Now that you have identified your one habit, how will you make it a habit? How about by habit stacking? Habit stacking is where you take an already established habit and add a new one to it. For example, there is not a day that goes by when I do not have a cup of coffee. When I needed to add more water to my daily routine, I decided to add one cup of water to my routine of making coffee (the already established habit). In the morning when I prep my coffee maker to brew my coffee, as soon as I push the button, I then grab the glass (that I keep right next to the coffee maker (…a visual cue, I need visuals, you might too). I then fill up my glass of water and drink it before my coffee is done brewing. I find that by drinking this one glass of water, the rest of my day’s water intake is so much better.
- Pick a new habit each month to build upon the last to help you make lasting changes.
What habit will you choose for January? Bonus: Write out one habit for each month, so when life happens and it always does, you can remember how to stay on track. It is the small changes that lead to bigger changes. This way, come March, you will have chipped away at the mountain of your goal and achieved lasting change.
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