Try This Proven Trick to Help You Create a New Habit
Are you ready to make a change in your life and start a new habit? Or, have you tried to reach a goal, but for some reason, you can’t stick with it?
If you answered yes to either question, you need to try this little proven trick to help you out.
Find Your Why
Here’s the trick to build new habits that stick and create lasting change: find your why.
It seems so simple, yet finding your why is essential if you want to build new habits that last. Habits are important because they’re the building blocks of your daily life. They organize behaviors that will either help you reach your goals and desires, or not.
Small changes can have a big impact. Here are just a few examples of small lifestyle habits that can positively affect your life over time:
- A moment of daily gratitude can lead to greater contentment and optimism
- Drinking more water can improve your energy, digestion, and overall health
- A daily walk can lead to lower stress, increased energy, and improved health
- Small changes in your diet can have a significant impact over time
- Developing a morning routine can have a positive domino effect on your entire day
Consistency is Key
If you know that adding a new habit is going to improve your life, why can it be so hard to stick to it? It likely comes down to the concept that you haven’t really considered why it matters to you.
Why is it important for you to implement that specific habit? What do you really want?
Let’s look at an example. Maybe you want to take a daily walk.
At first, you’re excited about your new goal and wake up a little earlier to walk in the morning. When you don’t get your walk in before work, you make sure to take one after dinner. You’re consistent for a few days, maybe even weeks, but then the newness of your goal wears off and life gets in the way. You don’t wake up early enough, and you’re tired after work, or it’s raining out, and you don’t take your daily walk consistently anymore.
Does this sound familiar? Digging deep and considering what you really want can significantly increase the likelihood of achieving consistency and creating real change.
How To Find Your Why to Build Healthy Habits
It starts with the simple question, “Why do I want to do this?” Or, “Why does this habit matter?”
Keep asking cascading “why’s” to get to the true bottom of why you want to have your new habit in the first place.
It may feel uncomfortable at first, but take a minute, and really ask yourself why you’re trying to make the change. In the walking example, if you were to ask yourself why you want to walk each day, it may come down to a deeper desire for greater health, more energy, or loving your body.
If you’re more of a visual person, try writing down your reason for building new habits. Journal about your reasons. Post it up somewhere you can see. Your reason for a habit may be just one thing, or it may be multiple things.
Finding your reason can help you better live your life with direction and intention. Your why is your compass.
Your mind is powerful. When you discover your why, it will be able to help you stay on course to create new habits and reach your goals. Visualize and affirm what you want, and you’ll likely attract more of it into your life.
Setting Intentions vs. Setting Goals
If you aren’t sure what your habits or your goals are that you want to set, work backwards and think about your intentions first. The broader the better. Think of an intention as something that gives you focus and direction.
A goal relates to a specific action. It’s a means to an end. On the other hand, an intention looks at the bigger picture. Intention is often related to a feeling.
An intention and a related goal might look like this:
- Intention: I want to feel peace. Goal: I will start my day with a gratitude practice.
- Intention: I want to feel energized. Goal: I will go to bed at a certain time each evening.
- Intention: I want to be more organized. Goal: I will spend 5 minutes decluttering each day.
Understanding what you value can lead you to find the best goals and habits that will help you get what you really want. In taking the time to find your why, you might find different habits that will better serve you. Be open to making adjustments along the way.
What is Motivating You?
External motivation can only take you so far. In fact, feeling like you have to do something to avoid a negative consequence or receive a reward doesn’t create lasting change. Internal motivation is more effective, by far.
It’s possible to develop more internal motivation – the motivation to do something because you enjoy it or because it challenges you.
- Find ways to make your goals fun
- Find meaning in your goals by connecting them to your values
- Look for opportunities to serve others
Research shows that when you connect to a deeper purpose for doing something, you’ll be happier and more successful. Internal motivation provides its own incentives. External motivation relies on outside forces, which can eventually lead to burnout and failure in the long run.
Live Your Best Life
It’s a simple trick, but it really works. Before you jump into creating new habits, take a moment to consider why you want to do it.
When you know your why, it will be easier to push through when unexpected obstacles come your way, or you just don’t feel like doing that thing. Because, we all have those days. You will be able to pivot, try again, and stick with your habits that will help you create lasting change and the life that you really want.
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