Any worthwhile goal is inherently difficult to achieve. People don’t just wake up one day wanting nothing more than to run a mile, thus making it a habit they perform for the rest of their life. Making changes in your life takes time, effort, energy, and sacrifice. With a small amount of initial discipline and strategy, you can create habits that stick.
Create Habits That Stick By Only Skipping ONE Day
Here’s the deal, it’s okay to skip a day - but don’t skip two.
Once a habit is solidly ingrained in your routine, you’ll be able to take a few days off then jump back on the horse. But in the beginning, you’ve got to be sure to skip no more than a day at a time.
Just like an athlete, you’re training for something too, a lifestyle shift that can change your life for the better.
Once you miss a day, all alarms should go off to make sure you don’t miss that second day. If you can, double down on day two, then don’t let yourself slip up again!
Come up with a plan for what to do IF you must skip a day.
Create Reminders
After a week or so of engaging in a new habit, sticking to your commitment can be easy to forget.
Place reminders around your house, office, and anywhere else you frequent (like the calendar on your phone) to stay on top of your habit.
Remember, if you miss too much, you defeat the purpose of setting a habit.
Create Triggers
The Pavlovian theory is a learning procedure that involves pairing a stimulus with a conditioned response. Ivan Pavlov found that objects or events could trigger a conditioned response in his dogs, and you can use the same idea to train yourself into a habit.
Find or create a ritual to use right before executing your habit.
If you’re trying to become a morning person, this might mean waking up and performing the same three tasks first thing.
If you’re trying to quit smoking, you might snap a rubber band on your wrist every time you feel the urge to pick up a cigarette.