What Does It Take to Form a Healthy Habit?

Forming new healthy habits is a respectable journey that can improve your present and future if executed and implemented correctly. There are a few steps to undertake in this process, and result in success.

Identify the Behavior You Want to Change

In beginning to form a healthy habit, you must first identify what is motivating the change. It is essential to focus on one behavior at a time to avoid becoming overwhelmed and to increase the likelihood this new habit will stick. Once you have identified the behavior that you want to change, next, set a goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, if your goal is that you want to start exercising regularly, your SMART goal could be to exercise for 30 minutes three times a week for the next three months.

Make a Plan

Once you have established your SMART goal, your game plan toward achieving it is the next step. This plan should include specific actions you will take to achieve this goal, your new habit. You can take actionable steps to keep up with the exercise example, joining a gym, hiring a personal trainer, or finding a workout buddy.

Track Your Progress

Next, you need to track your progress. Tracking your progress keeps you motivated and focused. Keeping a journal, using a fitness app, or setting up reminders on your phone are ways to keep a measurement of your progress.

Reward Yourself

The final step is to reward yourself for your progress and achievements! Humans are neurologically wired to do what feels good, and we're drastically more likely to repeat behaviors that lend us to feeling this way. Therefore, you must take the time to reward yourself for all of your efforts! These celebrations will help you stay motivated and committed to your goal. The rewards do not need to be excessive or extravagant, but they do need to make you feel good!

What Challenges Do We Face?

Forming new habits is difficult. It may take at least two months for a behavior to become a habit, and there are several challenges that we may face along the way. One of the biggest is breaking the existing habit before our new goal can replace it. Our brains are wired to repeat behaviors that have worked for us in the past, even if that means meeting just the bare minimum with the least amount of effort. Are brains are hardwired to get us by, not necessarily to make us excel.

Facing Temptation

Another challenge we face is overcoming the temptation to give up. Feeling discouraged when things are not going as quickly or effectively as we would like tempts us to drop the effort altogether. However, it is important to recognize that this is part of the process, and even a plateau in progress does not mean the effort is not working. You must stay committed to the process and remember why you started in the first place.

Eliminate Distractions

Finally, avoiding and eliminating distractions is necessary to give yourself the most room to succeed. Distractions come in many forms, whether it be social media, negative self-talk, or voluntarily being in environments that are not conducive to your habit; it is important to prioritize your goal and stay focused on your plans.

How Do We Overcome These Obstacles?

You can employ a few strategies to overcome the challenges of forming a new healthy habit.

Start Small

The first is to start small. Changing too much at once or trying to make unrealistic progress in a given amount of time will surely overwhelm you. Start with a small change and build on it as you go. Also, once you have developed a healthy habit, you can employ another strategy called "habit stacking," in which you use one healthy habit as the anchor from which you stack on other habits- for example, every night after meditating, I will immediately read a chapter of my book!

Finding a Support System

Another strategy is to find a healthy support system. This could be a friend, family member, coach, or online community that helps provide motivation, encouragement, and accountability.

Practice Self-Love

Finally, practicing self-love is significant, as allowing yourself grace and kindness. Nobody is perfect, and setbacks are a natural part of the change process. When these setbacks occur, it's essential to avoid negative self-talk and instead focus on the progress you have made so far and what you can do differently in the future.

The Results are Worth It!

Forming a new healthy habit can be such a significant step and potentially drastically impact your life in the future! In seeking to live better, forming a new healthy habit can be both difficult and accomplished by being committed to the process and keeping your persistence through the obstacles that may arise. Being kind to and patient with yourself is key; ultimately, your success will be worth the journey!