![]() What makes the habit stick – both good and bad one – is automation. #3 Create systems to automate the good habit and stop the bad one Or put on noise cancelling headphones (or ear plugs) if noise is what distracts you. To stop the unwanted behaviour, look for external stimuli you can minimize or remove (even for a while) to avoid triggering a specific habit.įor example, clean up the desk if clutter prevents you from focusing. Others not so much, like message notifications that force people to interrupt focused work and check their phone. Some are good and productive, like stopping at red lights or wearing seatbelts when in a car. Often habits are triggered by external stimuli or the environment itself. Don’t take the public transport if you need to travel less than 2 stops away.Use a standing desk to work and have ‘walking’ meetings.Instead, it’s best to start small, focus on one thing at a time and ‘build as you go’: But where one should start? Doing all possible activities at once will leave a person tired very quickly. It’s a great habit and it’s super healthy to be active. Big life and behavioural changes can be very intimidating – it’s much less stressful to focus on something small. If possible, make it as easy as possible for yourself by splitting a habit into smaller steps. View Advertisements #1 Cut the habit into smallest pieces and focus on one piece at a timeįocusing on one thing at a time is the best way to ensure consistency. These can work as standalone practices, yet are more powerful when combined together. Scroll down for strategies on how to effectively develop good habits and/or break bad ones. So, how to develop good habits? Where to start? How to make them stick? emotional) that requires some work on self-awareness. In fact, often a habit is only a result of a deeper problem (i.e. It requires patience, discipline and persistence. ![]() Strategies to develop good habits & make them stickĬhanging habits or developing new ones is not a quick process. ![]() Low energy levels, tight muscles & muscle atrophy, extra weight & fat – all gone with just one habit change.ĭrinking more water, waking up early, meditating – all of these are great habits to start leading the healthy lifestyle. Those who move a lot (walk, exercise or even practice yoga) have a faster metabolism which slows down ageing processes and everything associated with it. Moving more for instance, is a great example how habits can improve the quality of life. Adding more movement to the lifestyle (like frequent exercise) is one of the healthiest habits one can develop. Without much additional effort – habits will make it automatic. Those who have the discipline to develop good habits once can significantly improve the quality of their lives down the road. In other words, healthy living is built on good habits. While everyone has their own idea of healthy living, it’s nothing more than a set of small consistent actions people do on a daily basis. ![]() Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Which is why we tend to procrastinate important decisions & actions, get addicted to something, revert to convenient, but unhealthy food options. Our reptilian brain likes automation, but willpower generally runs out by lunchtime. The issue is that relying on willpower to make healthy choices in life is not very sustainable. It doesn’t like change – it’s designed to save as much energy as possible and keep the body safe. The oldest area of our brain – appropriately named the reptilian brain – is responsible for our primal instincts. I continued to play around with other habits and suddenly found my lifestyle to be much healthier than I ever though I could manage. Surprisingly, that led to waking up early and having time for a morning run or writing in a training diary. I tried going to bed early to get more sleep and recover for training sessions. As an experiment, I tried substituting sugary snacks with fruits and quickly noticed that headaches I sometimes experienced at the end of the workday went away.Īnd the snowball just started rolling. I remember a while ago I was reading about how refined sugars and insulin sensitivity cause energy and mood swings.
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