Looking back over 2015 it’s provides me with great job satisfaction to see how we have helped so many people to live healthy, active and rewarding lives (which, by the way, is our mission statement).
And when I look back at the people who succeeded in making the changes in their lives that they set out to do, their ability to develop habits is the most common factor among them all.
At the end of the day, that’s the main job we have as coaches- supporting people in developing and implementing healthy habits instead of unhealthy habits.
If you do that for long enough you become a healthier person. It’s impossible for it not to happen.
Besides factors that are out of your control such as accidents, medical illnesses, etc., your quality of life and health are largely made up of your daily habits. The actions you perform on a daily basis that just come naturally to you or that are on auto-pilot.
Over time, the united power of these actions decide whether or not you will have good energy levels every day, maintain a healthy bodyweight or become very overweight or have the motivation and drive to do the things you want to in life.
They even affect the quality of your relationship, the successes you have in business and what activities you can do with your children.
I’ve seen and heard all this from clients.
So at the end of the day it comes down to whether or not the majority of your daily/weekly decisions will promote a high quality of life and great health or a poor quality of life and health.
In 2016 you owe it to yourself, your family, your employees/employer (and anybody else worthy of seeing the best of you) to start developing more of the habits that promote a great quality of life and health and less of the ones that rob you of it.
Here’s a few pointers on how to go about developing healthy habits. These have worked for me and for countless of our clients so there is no reason why they wouldn’t work for you.
- Get clear on your why
If you don’t know this then you will fail. As I keep saying, your why must be compelling enough to get you to take action.
As an example, my Why for being fit and healthy is so that I can enjoy the time I have with my family and friends, be successful in my business, have the energy and drive to do the things I want to while I’m alive and be a healthy role model for the people I support.
2. Start slow
The more things you choose to change at once the higher your failure rate is likely to be. Pick 1-2 things and stick with them until they are on auto-pilot.
3. Choose something easy
If the habit you chose is easy to develop then you’re guaranteed to succeed,. This will give your confidence a boost and set you up for success for your next habit.
On the other hand, if you choose something very difficult your chances of success are less likely and therefore a healthy lifestyle will always seem out of reach.
4. Write down your habits down
I track the habits that I’m trying to develop 2 ways.
First is I have a habit tracking sheet on my fridge which I review every morning.
Second is I use the momentum habit tracking app which I update every day. You can set alerts to remind you of your habit and see how many days you’ve been going strong for. The best thing of all is that it is such a simple app free from all complexity.
5. Keep them to yourself (maybe)
The jury seems to be out on this one.
On the one hand some people say that by telling other you are more likely to succeed as you will have positive encouragement, support and accountability from them.
On the other hand, by telling others of your plans, your brain registers their positive feed back as success even though you haven’t actually done anything. And because your feeling good about yourself your less likely to go ahead with the changes you had planned because your brain is already being told it has succeeded.
For most people I tend to opt for the 2nd option of not telling others but it really comes down to knowing yourself and what works for you.
6. Mark them off
Once you develop a habit (ie. it’s on auto-pilot) mark it off your list or app.
The feeling of setting a goal, achieving it and moving on to the next is one of the most powerful motivators you can possibly have.
When was the last time you succeeded in committing to a goal and actually seeing it through to the end?
7. Celebrate your successes
Every success deserves a little reward.
Maybe it’s a massage, your favourite cake or a trip to the cinema. Whatever works for you. Just make sure that the reward matches the effort.
Got questions or input of your own? Drop it into the comments box below.
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