Creating healthy habits is important – it should be part of our physical, mental, and emotional self-care routine.
If you’re trying to create new healthy habits, I hope these five quick tips will help you to be successful. But remember, there is no failure, only feedback. In other words, if you’re not successful the first time, don’t give up! Work out what went wrong, and try again.
Making a big change all at once is a huge challenge, no matter how much or how little you have going on at the moment. Our minds and our bodies find big changes overwhelming, whether that’s a big change to thinking, diet, exercise, or stopping bad habits in favour of more healthy ones. So, tip number one?
Start with baby steps
When you decide to create a new healthy habit, it’s important not to do it without a plan. As they say, to fail to plan is to plan to fail. Set a goal for each day, schedule time to ‘do’ your new healthy habit, and stick to it. Work out what time of day you are likely to be more successful. For example, if you know you need to start exercising more but aren’t keen on the idea, it’s easy to sabotage your own goal by leaving it to the end of the day. Get up, exercise, and it’s done! The rest of the day is ahead of you and you can feel great about achieving your goal. So, tip number two?
Have a plan!
A great tip to help you stay motivated is to keep track of what you have achieved. Keep a note of your diet progress, or use an app to track your steps, your exercise etc. You could also find healthy ways to reward yourself too. For example, if you’re off to the gym in the morning, arrange to meet a friend for a juice or a coffee afterwards. Or, perhaps even better, invite them to come along for your morning walk too. So, tip number 3?
Find ways to stay motivated
Talking of friends, and family too, they are both a great way to stay motivated and accountable, but also a great source of support, tell a trusted friend what you are planning to achieve, and by when. Choose someone with a positive and encouraging outlook on life for this – it’s important that they don’t inadvertently encourage you to stop chasing your goal for any reason. An online coach is often a great way to go. Tip 4?
Find yourself an encouraging friend or coach
And finally, set yourself up for success right from the start. If you exercise one day, but then skip a day because something more enticing came along, it’ll be harder to get back to it the next day. I’m not saying you can’t treat yourself to ‘off days’ but in order to be successful you have to be consistent too. Stick to your plan, and when your plan becomes a healthy habit, you’ll be able to afford more flexibility too – in fact the ‘off days’ will be less appealing in the end. You know you have been successful when you simply want to ‘do’ your new habit, and it’s no longer something inconvenient that you have to fit into your day. Tip 5?
Consistency is key
Setting up new habits, whether they are ways of thinking, eating, or exercising, takes time. It’s possible to enjoy that journey, and possibly learn a lot about yourself in the process too. The most important thing is to enjoy the journey, look forward to the results, and aim to create new healthy habits that will not only last you a lifetime but perhaps inspire others to do the same.
