Building New Habits
We are taking stock this week of the past year and looking ahead to January. Are you a person who makes resolutions every January? When the new year hits, the clean slate feeling can be quite intoxicating. We dream up big goals and feel like we can tackle anything. But for many of us, a few weeks in, our motivations can wane and if we’re not feeling the immediate results, we might give up and let our goals go. We’ve collected some of our favorite tips to ensure your goals for the new year aren’t forgotten by February.
Start Small
Simplify your goals. In order for something to become a habit, it needs to be easy. Instead of saying you will exercise for an hour everyday, start small. It might be as simple as saying, “I will put on my work clothes in the morning.” or “After breakfast, I will walk outside for five minutes each day.” Simplify your goals to small, doable actions you can do as often as possible.
Go Visual
Tying a visual to a habit you are trying to build is a great strategy to try. Think about using your Year at a Glance 3 page to record your daily habit. Color in the box or jot down a note each day. Another fun visual is to place an empty jar in a spot you will see everyday. Each time you complete your habit, place an item in the jar like buttons or paper clips. Seeing a visual display of your hard work build up will help motivate you to keep going.
Stack Habits
Think about stacking habits together. Consider a daily habit you already complete and add something to it. Brush your teeth and complete some squats. While you brew your coffee in the morning, jot down something you’re grateful for. After you make your bed, complete a one minute meditation. While you do the dishes, listen to an audiobook. Get specific with the time and place you will complete a habit.
Change Your Environment
Modify your space to make your habit as easy as possible to complete. If you want to workout in the morning, place your workout clothes, shoes, and water bottle in an easy to reach space. If you want to write in your planner each morning, place your planner and a pen on your table or kitchen counter. Habits will be easier to complete each day if they are easily within reach.
External Rewards
Some habits give immediate feedback, like a cleaned room or brushing your teeth. Other habits take longer to provide results, like exercise goals or spending less money. Consider simple rewards each week to provide incentive towards completing your habits and reaching your long term goals. A relaxing hot bath would be a great reward at the end of a week of meeting exercise goals. If you opt to skip the takeout or shopping trip, transferring the saved money to a fun vacation account is a great incentive for meeting the goal of spending less money.
A Little Bit Everyday
Big goals are achieved by tiny changes. Make small, achievable goals an everyday habit and before you know it, the big goal will be in reach. If your goal is to run a race, there will be days when running is a chore and your motivation is lacking. Shorten your goal and you may find you’ve overcome the motivation hurdle. Instead of going out to run the two miles on your training plan, tell yourself you only need to run for five minutes and can return home. You may find after five minutes you’re ready to run for ten minutes or longer.
Make it Fun
Pair habits you don’t enjoy with a fun element. Exercise with a friend. Fold laundry while listening to a favorite podcast. Use a favorite notebook and pen for budgeting. Turn on upbeat music while doing chores. Choose a fun water bottle to make it easier to up your water intake.
Check In & Look Ahead
Choose one day each week to assess your habits, your progress, your small victories, and the challenges you face. Look ahead to the person you want to become and think about the little steps you will need to take to get there. The small daily habits add up to big changes.
We want to hear from you! What goals do you have for the new year? What habits do you hope to add to make your goals a reality?