To form or build any new habit one requires a deep desire to change or grow along with a lot of determination/will power.
Is forming a new habit easy or hard:
Any kind of habit we want to form requires a belief. A belief that ‘I can do this’ or ‘I can achieve this’. Having a belief is not the only thing which will build a new habit, however, having these kinds of beliefs brings a positive attitude and perspective which ultimately supports you on this new journey and makes it look, see, and feel easy. A strong belief will help you to pursue your journey with an awareness that there will be challenges along the way and you are prepared to face them.
Without having those belief brings an uncertainty and doubt about your abilities to be able to form a new habit. ‘It’s hard’, ‘it’s not easy’, ‘it’s not possible ‘are a few examples of those limiting beliefs and self-talk. Having these beliefs makes it easy to push that particular task away, to give up and procrastinate.
Know your purpose:
It’s important to spend some time in understanding why you want it? What’s the purpose behind the new habit you want to form? Example: someone wants to start getting up early. It’s a desire. Realizing your purpose, why you want to get up early will give you a reason to work on that desire. Purpose could be as simple as: getting up early will enhance my productivity, it will give me a few extra hours during the day, etc.
Design a detailed road map:
Sit down and analyse is it a new habit you want to develop or will this be a replacement of some old habit. Example: if you have a habit of getting up late then forming a habit of getting up early is a replacement of old habit for new. In this case there is an existing trigger and in response to that trigger you perform a certain act. So, you first need to find that trigger and link it to the new behaviour/habit you want to form.
Example: if you are not into reading and now you want to start reading regularly, then this is a new habit not a replacement. In this case these is no existing trigger and you have an opportunity to set your own trigger.
Make a list of some conscious efforts required to make it achievable:
Write down few things which you consider are important as this brings an awareness that it’s achievable and secondly it helps you to design a plan to achieve your goal. By breaking a goal into smaller chunks, you can pick one particular task from the list and work on that which will bring you closer towards your ultimate habit goal.
Example: I will use that same example as above ‘getting up early’. A few important things to consider could be: what time to set the alarm, what time will you be going to bed? any modification in diet required? any changes in your surroundings required? who is my accountability partner? and what will I do after I get up at that time?
Once you have refined your list to bring you the clarity around what is required, it’s time to filter out the tasks in the list which are most challenging to you and then take that task and work around it first. This will help build your confidence to then tackle the easier tasks.
Plan for your potential challenge/failure before they come: (be ready with plan B): Bring some creativity and explore some different approaches to achieving a task. Example: ‘wake up early’ – it might happen that you turn the alarm off once it starts to buzz. If this is the case, you can place the alarm where you will need to get out of bed to turn it off. If you are not able to sleep when you want to, be creative and think of various things you can do to feel sleepy – it could be light music, reading a book, meditation, foot soaking etc.
Connect some pain with looking back:
This is a one of my favourites, which means there is no looking back – not leaving yourself with any choice of going back to your old pattern. Associating pain with going back gives you a push which sometimes is required to stay on track.
Example: once you start getting up early, after a few days you might feel like taking a break. If you link pain with that thought – how will I look after my health if I don’t get up early? My productivity will go down which means a loss of income, and my friends will make fun of me etc. it will provide you with the motivation to continue the new habit of getting up early.
