How to Build New Habits and Stick to Them

_ WHY DO YOU FAIL TO BUILD A NEW HABIT?

– When you do something new to you, you feel uncomfortable, and so, you constantly postpone doing it. And you say to yourself “Maybe I’ll start tomorrow”. And every day you feel and act the same. That’s why you don’t change.
– Habits are good because you don’t have to think in a focused manner when you perform a habit. So, they save energy and allow us to free our minds for other types of activities.
– Habits can be good and bad. So, we always want to build good habits, break bad ones, change some, and stick to ones that we think could improve our lives. It is a process that we all go through all the time. So, we should learn the techniques that will make this process easier and help us build and break certain habits.

– HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR A HABIT TO FORM?

– According to a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, it takes 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit.
– Habits make us who we are. Tell me what your habits are, and I’ll tell you who you are. So, in order to change as a person you need to change your habits. Now, we know that change is hard for all of us. And sticking to new habits can be challenging. But by following the tips in this article, you will be able to build new habits and stick to them.

1- Replace Bad Habits With Good Ones:

Instead of focusing on the habit you want to break, focus on the habit you want to build. Because you end up doing whatever you are thinking of and focusing on. For example, instead of focusing on stopping drinking coffee first thing in the morning, focus on drinking lemon water first thing in the morning. So, replace the first habit with the second one. What happens is that when you wake up the next morning you will remember drinking lemon water because your brain has been focusing on that action. Your brain hears the words you are saying in your head whether it’s something you want or not, whether it is something negative or positive. And then it triggers you to do what you are thinking of.

2- Put Meaning Into What You Do:

You need to have a meaningful reason to stand behind your actions. And your reason is the creator of your motivation, and it is going to give you the energy you need to do what you do and to stick to the new habits even if they seem and feel hard at the beginning because you are excited about the results that will come after following those habits. And then after a while, you start enjoying your new good habits because they are benefiting you and allowing you to create a good lifestyle. And of course, the habits you enjoy performing are easy to stick to.

3- Start Slow:

When you’re trying to build a new habit, it’s best to start small and take small steps. Normally people do not stick to new habits because when they first start they get excited and they overload themselves with tasks. They either want to do it all so perfectly, or give it all up. Getting ourselves exhausted doing something will make us end up stopping doing it. Especially, when you first start practicing a new habit. You want to give yourself time to love what you are doing and get used to it. Make small changes but be consistent. What you do daily is going to add momentum later. And what you do consistently you’ll stick to it easily. So, make a plan which you can follow on a daily basis or 4-5 days a week. Take small steps every day. Change can not happen overnight. So, be patient and consistent.

4- Be Flexible:

In order to form a habit you need to be consistent with what you do and to be consistent, you need to be flexible.
We can not always stick to the same routine every day because there are outside circumstances that force us to change our routines. Sometimes life gets in the way. So, don’t get frustrated about it, and do not give it all up for missing a day or not sticking exactly to your schedule. Just be flexible. If you can not read 50 pages a day, read 10 pages for example, then get back on track soon. What really matters is to be consistent. Do not have the mindset of “do it all perfectly or do not do it at all”.

5- Be Disciplined:

Discipline is the key to achieving anything in life. Let’s all agree on that. Being disciplined means not depending on your feelings to do your tasks. Do what you have to do even if you do not feel like it. push yourself to follow the new habit, push yourself to take that action, or do your tasks. Forming new habits is difficult. So, be disciplined and be ready to endure the pain that comes from change. At first, you need to put an effort to remember and think about the action you want to take until it gets stored in your subconscious mind and becomes all automatic and easy.

6- Reward Yourself:

The reward system is one of the most powerful tools to form new habits. A lot of studies show that rewarding yourself after taking an action is going to motivate you to repeat that action. And repeated actions turn into habits.
How does the “reward system” work? Neurons that release dopamine are activated when we expect to receive a reward. Now, when dopamine is released we feel motivated to take the action or complete the task that will lead to the reward we are waiting for. And we keep repeating the same action to get the reward again. And as we said before that repeated actions turn into habits. This is how you form habits.
The reward could be completing a task, learning a new thing, or any kind of reward you love. I always prefer internal rewards because they last, while external rewards might lose their value, and might not motivate you forever. For example, you get yourself a treat for taking a certain action but it might not sound enough later, and you will not feel fulfilled anymore and then you search for another reward that motivates you. While internal rewards mean you need to find joy in the effort process. The satisfaction you get for taking a certain action will last and always motivate you to repeat the same action.

_ Good habits mean good life. So, make sure that you build good habits to have a great life.