building new habits

yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine about good habits. I shared with him the new good habits I have been trying to make and what habits I wanted to start in the future, and he asked me how I start a good habit – what reminds me to do it until it actually becomes a habit.

one great way to help kickstart a new habit is to attach it to an already established one

like when I decided I was always going to wash dishes in the morning if there any in the sink from the night before (yes…. I do let them sit overnight sometimes!). I was already making morning smoothies for us and then to wash the blender you just fill it halfway with hot water and a drop of soap and then run it for about 30 seconds.

well I was just dumping the soapy water out when I was done and rinsing it and on I went. then one day I thought – wait a second. I’m pouring perfectly good soapy water down the drain when I can be using it for these cups sitting here. so I attached a new habit to an existing one and I’ve been doing it ever since.

another great way to help start a habit that is hard to start is to do it incrementally

I’ve always wanted to be that person who could get up early in the morning and workout. always! and I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried… and every time I have failed. because every time it was a chore and the last thing I wanted to do was a) get up early and b) workout. but I didn’t see them as two separate efforts. it was a goal I was trying to achieve all at once: get-up-early-and-workout.

but then finally I started getting up at 5:30 as its own habit. I wanted more time for myself – to do Bible study, to read, to make smoothies. so I started that habit as a separate goal to accomplish. and I began to enjoy it – I was getting in some much needed me time. and I was reading the Bible and spending time in prayer. and I got used to it and just did it every morning – joyfully!

then AFTER I was established in an early morning routine and liking it, THEN I added the workout component. and it wasn’t just any workout, it was running. something I learned through working out at crossfit that I actually enjoy. by separating it into two separate entities it made it easier to make the leap. and I find myself on the nights before my running that I’m excited about getting up the next day!

another thing that helped was seeing the habit as a means to an end

instead of looking at it as the task of running, I was looking at it as the accomplishment of building body endurance. I started a boxing class with my brother – which I LOVE, but I couldn’t (still can’t) get through a whole session without stopping. so I wanted to build up my body endurance in order to last through a whole class without stopping. my boxing class is tue and thu. so I wanted to do something i could do on mon, wed and fri.

I just happened upon a couch-to-5k program that has you running/walking three days a week, building you up to where you are running more than walking and then eventually running a whole 5k. I thought – how perfect! I enjoy running and want to get better at it, and I can use that to help build endurance for my class. it became my means to an end. and focusing on the result rather than the task has completely changed how I see it and how I feel about it.

mindset is a powerful thing.

so… tips to building better habits:

1. attach it to a preexisting habit
2. break it into several new habits and conquer them one at a time
3. develop a results-based mindset

and then don’t give up

4. clear your mind of can’t