Good Habits Guide

Did you know that around 40% of everything we do on a daily basis is habitual?

This means that a big part of our lives is almost entirely on autopilot!

There is a famous quote about habits..

“A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time.” -Mark Twain

I agree it’s really hard to build habits. Most people will start a new habit, but will often give up a few days later.

The secret to building new habits is to follow a process that focuses on small, incremental steps.

7 Steps to a new habit

1. Make a decision

Decide clearly that you’re going to begin acting in a specific way 100 percent of the time.

2. Never allow an exception

Don’t make exceptions to your new habit pattern during the formative stages. Don’t make excuses or rationalizations. Don’t let yourself off the hook.

3. Tell others

Inform people around you that you’re going to begin practicing a spe­cific behavior. It’s amazing how much more disciplined and determined you’ll become when you know others are watching you to see if you have the willpower to follow through on your resolution.

4. Visualize yourself

In your mind’s eye, see yourself performing the desired behavior. The more often you visualize yourself acting as if you already had the new habit, the more rapidly this new behavior will be accepted by your sub­conscious mind and become automatic.

5. Create an affirmation

Repeat the affirmation over and over to yourself. This repetition dra­matically increases the speed at which you develop the new habit.

6. Resolve to persist

Keep practicing the new behavior until it’s so automatic and easy that you actually feel uncomfortable when you don’t do it.

7. Reward yourself

Most important, give yourself a treat of some kind for practicing the new behavior. Each time you reward yourself, you reaffirm and rein­force the behavior.

21/90 Good Habits And A Great Life

One popular method to build habits is called the 21/90 rule. The rule is simple enough.

Commit to a personal or professional goal for 21 straight days. After three weeks, the pursuit of that goal should have become a habit. Once you’ve established that habit, you continue to do it for another ninety days. If you can keep up something for three weeks and then ninety days, then it should become a permanent lifestyle change.

Forming positive habits can feel overwhelming, especially when you think about replacing the bad ones that have been with you all your life.