We, humans, are the result of our habits, therefore developing good habits should be simple and obvious – right! Well, not always.
The problem is that we, as natural humans get very comfortable doing things the same way each and every day. We often subconsciously stick to a daily routine without considering the consequence of it on our well-being. So you might ask, Why change?
Unfortunately, not all of our habits are healthy, or good. For example, If we are in the habit of coming home after work each day and getting your hands on an alcoholic drink to relax instead of getting on the treadmill to let off steam, it will adversely affect our health.
Or, for instance, while watching television in the evening we tend to snack on chips and drink soda pop instead of munching on veggies and sipping on fruit juice, which is a healthy choice, it will ultimately lead to the consequence of poor health.
Similarly, If we are in the habit of smoking to relieve stress/anxiety, or over-eating, or taking our frustrations out on others, we must recognize these as the bad habits worth changing or eliminating.
There we are. So, if you are really stuck on those bad habits, here are some of the tried and tried tips to get rid of those bad habits and develop good ones.
Key tips to develope good habits in your life
1 – Start with Small, simple steps
The mindset to achieve everything in a single day ends up getting them nowhere. Instead of going for fixing everything in a small amount of time, it is better to make small, calculated but effective adjustments so that your mind can handle these gradual positive changes in a proper way.
For instance, if you want to lose weight then the best way to do it is not to start straight away with a healthy diet overnight because this can cause various health issues, done with care.
The reason behind this is the fact that it takes quite amount of time, willpower, determination, interest, knowledge, and practice to develop a new habit, and if you use all you try and do it all overnight, you are most likely to get tired of it and lose interest in developing that good habit. So, it’s better to start small.
2 – Be Positive
Whenever you decide to develop any good habits in you, one of the key element for it’s success is to stay optimistic. Positive thinking not only helps you overcome negative feelings but also helps you to deal with stress-related issues in an effective manner.
But remember that positive thinking doesn’t mean ignoring all the things and continuing with your daily activities but it’s about reacting positively to all the unpleasant things that you come across.
If your thoughts are mostly negative about changing your bad habits, then it will be very difficult to adopt the new good change in your life routine. Whereas, if your thoughts are positive towards it, it becomes easy for your mind to accept it.
So, be positive and let go of the negative thoughts. You can do anything if you put your mind to it!
3 – Fully commit to your decisions
Well, it is easier said than done. Commitment is not only a promise that you make with yourself to achieve something, but it’s also the dedication to give your time and energy to a specific job, enthusiastically to achieve it. Never procrastinate!
If you stay committed to practise good habits, then the chances of success increase greatly. Yes, you would face obstacle and challenges but they will come and go but you will have to stay determined and manage all the challenges with a positive attitude. Keep your focus on your main goal which is to make that good habit a part of your life.
4- Create a Plan to Succeed with Failure in Mind
Whenever you would work towards building a new habit, don’t expect to succeed in it in just a few days without any hassle. In fact, it is quite possible that you might have to deal with failure many times before successfully become comfortable with that good habit.
If you feel guilty about your failure, then you might end up giving up on that good habit. However, if you have a solid plan then you can quickly get back on track.
But always remember that slipping up on a good habit is normal, not a failure. What makes the real difference between people who adopt good habits and those who give up is a good plan to deal with failure, if any. So, make sure that you don’t start building a good habit without a plan.
7 – Get Support from your friends and family
Your friends and family have a lot to do with your change in Habits, that you might not think. If you let them know regarding which habit you want to build, then they can lend you a supporting hand that can make things easier for you.
For instance, if you want to take sugar out of your life because it can increase your belly fat. If you tell your friends and family about it, then they will try their best to keep you away from all the tempting food that increases your craving for sugar. They would serve you as a reminder. It not only makes the process of adopting good habits easy but also enhance your confidence, thanks to their moral support helping you reach your ultimate goal.
8. Your enviornment matters
You can never deny the significance of the environment in developing a good habit. In my opinion, it’s very important. Suppose you have decided to eat clean, but when you open the door of your fridge, you find all the junk food in it. How hard it will be for you to resist all that? Of course, very hard
Therefor, if you will not focus on changing your environment, then it can be a bit of a challenge to get rid of your bad habits and replace them with a better ones. So, better to make the right changes to your environment that are in concordance with your goals.
10 – Builde a Routine to develope good habits
Keep this in your deep mind: If you want to add a good habit in your life, then you must focus on doing it on a daily basis because once you do that regularly, then you will not need further to practice that habit more, but it will become a part of your daily routine.
Charles Duhigg, a best-selling author, once said: “The key to victory is creating the right victorious routines.”
For instance. Suppose you want to quit smoking. The major reason why it is difficult for many is the fact that it is an intrinsic part of their daily routines which is so difficult to get rid of. So, in order to cut this habit, you need to mold your daily routine and add something better, replacing this habit.
11 – Make a Journal to List your Wins and Mistakes
Journaling is commonly considered a good habit, because it does not only help you know about the wins and mistakes of your whole day, but it helps you to improve your skills to convey your message.
Whenever you practise a good habit in your life, you are highly likely to achieve many victories towards the way along but you would definitely make some mistakes. If you create a journal and list all your wins and mistakes in separately, then you can easily look back at all the mistakes at one glance that was not in concordance with your strategy to develop a certain habit.
Next, it can help you minimize these mistakes, so you can remove hurdles in developing that good habit and you want to replace it with a bad habit.
Doing this not only helps you identify the roadblocks but also enables you to accelerate your progress in developing a good habit.
12 – Give Yourself Some Time
Forming a new habit is a time-consuming process. If you are thinking that when you start working on a good habit, then the next day or week it becomes easily adaptable to you like a daily routine, then you should stop dreaming because this is never going to happen.
The reason behind that is because habit formation is a long-term process. So you need to give enough time to your body and mind to get normalised to it. You need to be patient and persistent once it becomes a regular activity of your life, otherwise; you will not be able to build good habits and it would remain a mere unfulfilled wish.
