Like waking up in the morning, brushing your teeth or getting ready in the morning all these activities are all part of a routine.To successfully adopt a new habit you need to go beyond willpower and saying you want to change. A tendency or a habit doesn’t become a characteristic or instinctive unless you train it, so here are the four things I want to share with you, that has worked for me.
Break it down and start small.
Most people want to make big changes as quickly as possible, and more often than not they overwhelm themselves with huge unrealistic goals. Of course, this is possible, but it requires a tremendous amount of willpower and in most cases, it doesn’t happen. Figure out the objective you want to achieve, break this down into small actionable steps.
Commit to it.
Unfortunately, there is no autopilot mode you can switch on in your brain to initiate your commitment to the new habit. Committing to it really means committing to it, and being conscious about this. If you can successfully remind yourself on a weekly, daily or even hourly basis of what you’re trying to achieve, soon enough you’ll be committing to it naturally and it’ll be second nature to you.
Celebrate small wins.
We’re human, we love rewards and we possess something in our brain called the pleasure reward circuit – an area in the brain that can be triggered by rewards or in other words, “wins”. Not only is this activated when we receive the reward, but also in anticipation of the reward.
Remember to enjoy the micro wins, by doing this, it will drive you to keep going and stay motivated. By doing this it will keep you motivated and as a result, you’ll work even harder, looking forward to the next celebration!
Remind yourself why you started.
A little while into your commitment, it’s always good to stop sometimes and think why you started this change.This is great as a reminder to yourself of what you’re trying to accomplish, and also a good time to track your progress, and evaluate how far you’ve come.
Habits don’t develop overnight it takes willpower, dedication, and an action plan!
Got a question? The team at ProWorkflow are happy to help!
