How to finally stick to your habits

Summary

The web content provides strategies for effectively forming and maintaining new, positive habits by setting realistic goals, starting small, planning ahead, tracking progress, and partnering up for encouragement.

Abstract

The article emphasizes the importance of establishing habits that contribute to a meaningful life. It suggests that forming new habits requires being realistic about what can be achieved and starting with small, manageable steps to avoid discouragement. The author, who has conducted workshops and created courses on habit formation, stresses the need for clear planning and setting specific goals. Keeping track of progress is also highlighted as a crucial motivator, with the author personally tracking various activities. Additionally, the article points out the benefits of having an accountability partner to increase the likelihood of achieving one's goals through shared commitment and encouragement.

Opinions

The author believes in the power of starting with small, incremental changes to build lasting habits.
Setting clear and specific intentions is deemed essential for habit formation, as vague goals like "eating healthy" can lead to ambiguity and failure.
Consistent tracking of progress is seen as a key factor in maintaining motivation and gauging personal development.
Sharing goals with others and having an "accountability buddy" is considered very effective for sticking to habits and achieving goals.
The article suggests that radical changes to established patterns are less likely to succeed than gradual adjustments.
The author promotes a 1% increase method for building habits, such as reading, to make the process manageable and sustainable.
The use of visual tracking methods, like crossing out squares on a sheet, is recommended for a tangible representation of progress towards yearly goals.

How to finally stick to your habits

Sticking to new, positive habits is unquestionably one of the most difficult things that human beings are faced with. Our whole lives are based on existing systems and when we get used to something, letting go of it is incredibly hard.

I held various workshops and created extensive video courses on the topic of habits. There is already a huge amount of research done on how to form and stick to new habits that push one towards a meaningful life.

Be realistic and start small

Although I am a fan of pushing myself towards big goals and wanting to achieve the most when it comes to habits and daily goals it makes sense to stay realistic. If you can’t stick to your intention on a regular basis you will not see big changes and results. Unrealistic expectations might ruin motivation and lead to dropping the habit completely. When talking about realistic intentions the key is also to start small. Most of the time people get motivated and believe that suddenly they can change the(ir) world. In most cases, this is not true. Our lives are based on patterns and systems. Whenever we want to make radical changes we will face forces that try to push things to normality. Thus starting with small steps and continuously increasing is much more promising. Imagine starting your habit of daily reading with 10 minutes per day — this is absolutely doable for everyone, no excuses. This is such a small amount of time that it is a shame not to do it and stick to it. Once you stick to it start increasing. Imagine increasing by 1% per day. Might not sound like a lot but soon it will be a huge difference. You can increase up to the level that is possible for you and will thus reach your potential.

Be clear and plan ahead

This is probably the tip that helped me most to establish great habits. When planning ahead and being clear about what you want to achieve, how you will do it when you will do it and so on, you have a much higher chance of actually completing your task. By being clear I mean questioning your intention. Eating healthy is not clear. That might mean eating all that you ate so far and adding 2 pieces of fruit per day. It might mean reducing the number of meals and much much more. If you don’t have a plan of what you want to do, you can’t do it. Be clear about what you want and how you can get it.

Keep track

Keeping track of my progress is what keeps me going. I love tracking at all — I track my time, my money, the number of books I read, the amount of sport I do and much more. This helps me to stay focused and take control over my life. If I don’t see my progress black on white I struggle to get motivated and keep going. Whereas seeing how far I have come pushes me to continue. For reading books and doing sports I have two sheets of paper which I have put right in front of my bed. Those sheets show the number of books/ times of sport I want to accomplish per year. Each time I finish one of those I can cross out a square. This pushes me to do more. Every time after a run or the gym I feel even more awesome when I can cross that square and see my progress on my yearly goal.

Partner up and encourage

There are many studies that found out that the percentage of goal achievement rises the most if we share our goals with other people. By updating them regarding our process we can reach the highest rate of goal achievement. By sharing our intentions we oblige ourselves even more. If getting asked we want to report process so we stick harder to our habits. On the other side, a so-called accountability buddy who also shares intentions with you might motivate you as well. Not necessarily in means of competition but through the positive encouragement of each other. Habits help us to master our everyday life and to save time and valuable energy. Thus by creating meaningful habits, we can ensure to make space for further new things in our lives. Make sure to find out what your big goals are and how to reach them by forming everyday habits into your daily routines.