Creating Healthy Habits
Humans are creatures of habits, in fact approximately 40% of your daily activities are made up of these patterns or routines. When your habitual mind takes over your intentional mind, it takes control of your actions without realising. For example, this may be as simple as when you go to make your breakfast in the morning, and it is not until you are halfway through your second mouthful before you realise that you have already gone through the motions of preparing it subconsciously.
Now, this may sound all well and good, as it gives you the chance to put your mind to rest and presents an opportunity to multitask. However, these habits that are ingrained into our day to day life, may not always be healthy. It is never too late to make changes to our lifestyle routines, and you may find that subtle adjustments tend to have a domino effect on our long-term aspirations and goals. Listed below are a few main pointers that will help you take the steps necessary towards creating healthier habits.
Step one - What are your unhealthy habits?
The first step is to identify and understand your current habits and decipher which of these may be unhealthy. This means you must outline your bad habits and figure out why they are harmful to yourself and your goals. Once you have identified these habits you will then be able to understand how they make you feel.
Step two - Breaking unhealthy habits.
After you have recognised a handful of your unhealthy habits, you will then need to determine a ranking order for these. This allows you to reflect on which patterns are going to be the simplest to conquer first. It is important, that the first habits you choose must not be firmly implanted into your daily routine, as this can make it difficult to make initial changes, leading to discouragement in the first instance. Therefore, if you select a straightforward habit to adjust from the beginning, you are more likely to succeed in creating healthier routines and overall lifestyle.
Step three - Out with the old and in with the new.
Once you have managed to break your unhealthy habits there is then room for a replacement. This gives you the chance to replace your bad habits with healthier ones. Some key examples of areas in our lives that may need attention are;
Habits that impact our goals – This gives you more of a drive to make a change if you are aiming to meet specific goals.
Budgeting – Adjusting and involving more planning and prioritising within your spending can impact multiple areas of your lifestyle.
Spending – By making a conscious effort and researching what you are intending to purchase, ensuring it meets all your wants and needs. You will then be less likely to make impulse decisions.
Step four - Tips and tricks
Triggers – To stay on track, it is helpful to avoid your triggers, so you are not overcome by temptation.
Accountability – Have a family member or a friend to hold you accountable for the changes you are trying to enforce. You will then be less likely to fall back into your bad habits.
Patience – Make sure to be patient with yourself. By setting short-term goals, you will be able to celebrate our small wins.
Rewards – Set aside a guilt-free day once a month to reward yourself for the changes that you have made so far, is a great way to keep motivated.