How do you expect to live your life’s vision with the same tired habits you have failed with year after year? Nothing will change unless you make daily changes. You will continually fail to live your life’s vision if your daily habits do not change.
The truth about habits
For years I have heard and read that it takes twenty-one days to create a new habit. If you can just fight through the frustration and fatigue of forming a new habit for three or four weeks then you have it made. If you have ever struggled to form a new habit that lasts more than a couple of weeks then you know there’s more to the story.
Sitting down writing for at least thirty minutes a day is more routine for me now. I hardly have to think about it. But, it took a lot of perseverance and determination to form this new habit. I can tell you that it took longer than twenty-one days to form this new habit.
I began to do some research into how to form a new habit that lasts. I found an interesting article about research at the University College of London that tracked people attempting to form different types of new habits.
They found in their research that it took an average of sixty-six days for new habits to become routine. And in some cases it took as long as 254 days.
It turns out the twenty-one day “rule” is a myth with practically no scientific basis. Forming new habits is hard. It requires daily action that maybe longer than 21 days.
Seven steps to form new habits
The promise of rewards will drive you in the beginning. But if you don’t remain consistent and committed, after a couple weeks, your drive will fizzle out and you will return to business as usual. If you want your new habits to stick, believe you can change, and take action.
Here are seven simple steps to help you form new habits and make them stick:
- Know your why– Internal motivation is the key to forming a new habit. If you don’t know your why, you will struggle with creating a habit that has real meaning. A compelling why will prevent you from getting frustrated or losing interest and quitting. It is much easier for you to form a new habit if you’re clear on why you want to add that particular habit to your life.
- Write the benefits–Writing down the benefits for forming a new habit makes it clearer and focuses you on the end results. When I desired to lose weight, I wrote down the benefits of daily exercise and diet. Listing the benefits is a strong motivator that helps you to laser focus on achieving your new habits without giving up.
- Take small steps– Don’t try to completely change your life in one day. It is easy to get overly excited about making changes that you take on too much. To walk a mile, you must take one step at a time. So if you have a new habit you want to implement start with small focused steps and build from there.
- Remain consistent– Consistency is essential for success in forming a new habit. Activities you do once every few days are difficult to lock in as habits. The more consistently you perform your new habit the easier it becomes your new routine. Change takes time and patience. What often happens is that we fail to give ourselves the time and space that is necessary to create new habits that result in effective and lasting change.
- Connect with an accountability partner– Find someone who you can count on to keep you focused and motivated on living your new habit. One of the best ways to get through the temptation of giving up on creating a new habit is an accountability partner. Most any journey is improved with someone to walk with. Having a friend to walk with you can help reinforce positive behaviors, share burdens, and encourage progress.
- Be imperfect– Don’t expect all your attempts to change from a current habit to a new habit to equal automatic success. You will hit some roadblocks and detours. There will be times that you get it wrong. If you don’t get it right the first time, re-calibrate and start again. You don’t have to be perfect in working towards a new habit, but you must persevere and have patience to make your new habit a reality.
- Remove temptation– Restructure your environment so it won’t tempt you to stay locked in an unproductive habit. Remove junk food from your house if you are trying to lose weight. If you want to stop watching hours of television every night, put the television away. If you don’t get rid of the temptations that you allow to keep you from living new productive habits then you will never live above your current circumstances.
These seven steps are playing a significant role in my life in changing from stale habits to new life transforming habits. I admit the transformation has been difficult, but I am up for the challenge. I know if I keep doing the same tired habits over and over again then I will keep getting the same tired results. If you are tired of your current results then you must implement new habits to get different results.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle
Question: What new habit can you begin to implement that will have a positive effect in your life?
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