Watch the Replay
At some point, you’ve made a resolution to get healthy or attempted to improve your life by putting steps in place to start some healthy habits around achieving goals that you may have had for a while.
You do know what to do to:
A. Get in shape – move more and eat less
B. Eat healthy – more vegetable less sugar, caffeine, alcohol, junk food etc.
C. Exercise more – get your heart rate up, do some resistance training and lift weights for healthy bones and tone
D. Start a longed-for project – get the materials, start a plan
You start out great and kick some goals n the right direction but within a few weeks you are back to your old habits. You stare into the mirror and beat up on yourself for failing.
WHY Can’t I stick to healthy habits I want for myself?!!!
It’s easier to figure this out than you think.
The three biggest reasons are:
1. You don’t fully understand how habits are built. Will power and motivation just don’t cut it on their own
2. The triune part of your brain craves instant gratification defaulting to bad habits for pleasure and reward
3. You have no systems in place to succeed
Your brain has a built-in reward system which is driven by the hormone dopamine. This hormone is part of the reason why the human race has survived. It has kept humans safe with the drive to seek rewards and pleasure by pushing us to find things that have keep the human race existing – finding food, having sex for reproduction, escaping from predators.
These days you have everything at our finger tips.
You want food now – you order it. Predators don’t even come into the picture because we are at the top of the food chain.
Dating Apps have people swiping for friends and intimate companions.
The pleasure centre of your brain is constantly on overload and everything is all out of whack! Your brain has been subconsciously wired and conditioned for instant gratification in most things we do in these modern times.
It is all around you with media and advertising images. You are being bombarded with things to do, food to eat, apps to download….the list goes on… you get the picture.
A lot of things just come to you automatically without any effort too – even Netflix will start the next episode without moving a finger on the remote.
Subconsciously your brain expects healthy habits to be the same… and this is why you get stuck.
You may tell yourself “I’ve stuck at this for a whole 2 weeks now and … nothing!!! You forget that you have NOT been living healthy for years and bad habits have become deeply ingrained into your psyche.
Then you may miss an exercise session or you eat some junk food and you get disheartened with yourself so you start reaching for comforting unhealthy food or you stop moving because you give up or stop what you are trying to achieve altogether because you start to feel that you just can’t do it.
There are some key rules around creating healthy habits that you may not know and they are.
1. Don’t try to change too many habits at once.
Be specific and focus on just ONE at a time. What is it that you REALLY want to change first? Remember, the farmer who chases two rabbits gets neither.
2. Be kind to YOU and be patient to get the results you want
3. Keep going! Look at the progress you’ve made and start from there. Don’t go back to square one. This is when you feel like you are never getting anywhere.
4. When life gets busy and time is short just do ‘something’! Reduce the time spent doing your new habit to make an allowance for the shorter time you have but stick to the new habit in a reduced form for that particular day. You will feel better for doing something rather than nothing.
Don’t rely on willpower to motivate you. This is when you will get into trouble and tend to take on more than we can handle, go out blazing too fast too soon and then get crazily overwhelmed too quickly.
Let’s look at this step by step approach for you:
Start with your WHY!!!
Have an awesome reason for wanting to change in the first place. If you don’t have a great reason for ‘changing who you are’ then there is no point.
If you think it’s because you ‘should’ change then this is a negative connotation of why you want to create the habit and you are most certainly doomed to fail.
Dig 3 levels deep and ask “why” until you get to the root cause of WHY you want to build a new healthy habit or change a bad one. Write it down. Hang it up somewhere you can see it every day.
For example:
1. I want to lose weight so I can look better;
2. Then I can fit into that outfit I bought 3 months ago that was 2 sizes too small on purpose with a dream of wearing it;
3. Then I can go out confidently and not be worried about how I look.
Learn Your Unique Cues; Recognize Your Triggers.
When identifying bad habits to avoid, it helps by tuning into YOU and becoming aware of the cue that sets the habit in motion. This is a great start to breaking the unhealthy cycle:
Whether you are trying to change/stop an old or unhealthy habit, or begin a healthy habit, the first step in the process is to recognize the cue:
For example, you want to stop drinking coffee, but feel like you need it every morning to start your day. Your brain has been wired to think COFFEE after the cue:
· Cue: I’m tired and have no energy.
Routine: I drink a coffee first thing in the morning.
Reward: Woohoo! Caffeine! Sugar! Happy! My life has meaning and now I am energised!
· Cue: When I get bored
Routine: I eat snacks or chocolate
Reward: It fills the void with a happy stomach
· Cue: When I come home from work
Routine: I hit the couch, stretch out and watch TV
Reward: It helps me forget about work
So if you are looking to break a bad habit, identify what the cues are that make you take the action that you’re trying to stop.
Train yourself to start healthy habits around the same cues and triggers. Attach new healthy habits to the triggers and I guarantee that you will feel great, proud of yourself and happy for the change.
· Cue: When I wake up I’m tired and have no energy.
Routine: I drink caffeine-free herbal tea first thing in the morning.
Reward: Woohoo! I am going to buy myself some new running shoes when I am caffeine free. I will have gain satisfaction with all the extra energy I will have because I won’t have caffeine and sugar slumps anymore.
· Cue: When I get bored
Routine: I will make a healthy snack or have some fresh juice
Reward: It fills the void with a happy stomach
· Cue: When I come home from work
Routine: I will go straight to my desk and write out a few pages of my journal for my new book.
Reward: I will watch a motivational doco on Netflix
So, whether you’re breaking a bad habit or starting a new one, it begins by recognizing the cue that triggers the habit.
Once you recognize or pick the cue, you can start working on fixing
Start Some Systems
Change your environment for success:
· Make your new routine easier by simplifying the steps to make it happen or adding steps in around the bad habit you want to stop.
Run Every Morning
Have your active wear and shoes ready to jump into first thing in the morning. Put your alarm on the other side of the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. Then you are up and ready to go.
Go to the Gym after Work
Pack your gym bag the night before and put it in the car there and then. You won’t forget it and it is there waiting for you to head to the gym on your way home.
Eat Healthier
Don’t give yourself the option of not eating healthy – throw out the junk food in your house and start preparing meals the night before. Do not order take-away unless it is from a health food restaurant with good reviews.
Watch Less TV and Check Your Phone Less
Put parental controls on your own entertainment and phone systems and have your friend or partner set the time limit and the password. Unplug your TV and don’t plug it back in at all. Start a project that will occupy your mind better than TV. Be disciplined and make it more difficult to continue old bad habits.
Track your progress daily
Make entries into a journal or a daily calendar or download a tracking app and make it part of your day.
Exercise:
· Schedule your activity ahead of time on your phone and receive an alert notification when it’s time to get moving.
Healthy Eating:
· Consider cooking in bulk. Do all the week’s cooking in one day and then pop the rest in the freezer so you can just thaw, heat and serve. This will cut down time considerably for other things and your food will be more healthy as it is planned.
Writing:
Buy a calendar, and draw a big red X on every day you complete your task. Make your singular focus every day continuing to write a few words or page of contribution to the whole task.
Need Extra Support for Healthy Habit Building:
Recruit Allies:
Find a friend or exercise group to build the habits with you. You do not have to go on this habit-building journey alone.
When your friend is already at the gym waiting for you, you HAVE to go. You won’t want to be bagged to staying home and watching Netflix.
Accountability:
When you can’t get yourself to follow through on a new healthy habit that you’re desperately trying to build, make the pain of skipping the habit more severe than the satisfaction you get from skipping it.
Fill out an Accountability Declaration, sign it and date it. Then put it up on the wall for everyone to see. This is one sure way you will stay accountable to your new habit.
Create some BRUTAL consequences if you skip your new routine and let others know so you will be even more accountable:
· Every time I skip ______________ this month, I will pay $50 to my wife/husband/friend who will donate my money to a cause I HATE.
· Every time I decide not to _______________ this month, I have to run around my house naked twice.
· Every time I do ____________ when I shouldn’t, I have to stand in a cold shower for 5 minutes.
The more uncomfortable and painful it is to skip out on your new habit routine, the more likely you’ll be to actually do it.
Never Miss Two Days in a Row
It doesn’t matter if you miss a day? Who cares! One day won’t ruin you – but two days will have your subconscious mind sending you back to ‘sabotage mode’ again and before you know it because 2 times becomes 20 in the blink of an eye.
Don’t Pick Habits You Hate:
If you hate running, don’t run! If you hate the gym, do yoga!
Make your new habit a part of your grander vision for yourself and see the habit as your investment in the future NEW YOU!
“I am exercising at the gym because I am building a kickass body so I can feel great and regain my confidence to start dating again!”
She got results because she had a BIG enough why to overcome her initial dislike of exercise until she learned to love how exercise made her feel.
If you just say “I am exercising so I don’t have a fat behind, then you are setting yourself up for failure because the reason is not focused or big enough”.
Try Temptation Bundling:
Consider combining a habit you dislike with something you LOVE, and it will be easier.
If you hate cleaning your apartment, put on your favourite music and make the broom your dance partner. You will have your house sparkling in no time.
This way of putting likes with dislikes for gain can be a powerful way of promoting enjoyable personal change
When Doing Less is the Secret to Achieving More
Pick ONE habit, make it small, and make it your S.M.A.R.T. goal for change.
Here how to do this:
Be SPECIFIC
· Want to start exercising more? Be specific about how long for and set deadlines with planning for an outcome.
Is it MEASURABLE?
· Want to start cooking your own healthy meals?
Just aim for one meal per day or one meal per week. Whatever works for you and your schedule?
· Exercising – be able to track your progress. There are lots of sports watches on the market today that can make this easy.
Is it ACHIEVABLE?
Is it in your power to accomplish your goals around your new healthy habits? Keep your goals small and simple. The smaller and simpler they are, the more likely you are to keep them.
The habit itself pales in comparison to the momentum you build from actually creating a new habit. Eg for the first week of starting to exercise, ONLY go for a walk for just 5 minutes every morning. Literally 5 minutes.
Is it Realistic?
Set a goal to create a new habit that is relevant to your life right now and the vision you have for yourself.
Is it Time-Based?
Set a deadline for each stage that you want to reach with your new habit. Re-assess and move the goal posts or start on a new habit that you want to create, have something more to reach for and keep going.
Start today: Pick Your Habit and Go
With each day of you building your new habit, you’re overcoming any self-limiting belief, building momentum, and becoming a habit-building ninja! Soon, those habits become automatic.
So today, I want you to look at just ONE habit you want to change:
· Identify the cue and triggers that surround your bad habits – Is it the time of day? Boredom? Hunger? After work? Stress?
· Identify the potential rewards – Happiness? Energy? Satisfaction?
· Identify a new routine you’d like to establish (as in the Cues section above) that results in the same “reward” from the negative behaviour…but in a more productive and healthy way.
The journey can be tough and having somebody to help you pick the right habits, to help you maintain focus and hold you accountable, and somebody to learn from is HUGE to achieve the desired outcome.
If you have tried all of the hints and tips in this article about creating healthy habits that stick or you want to take a short cut and completely clear your mind of all blocks around creating good habits, then I can help you easily get on track for results
As a Creatrix® Transformologist® and Naturopath, I regularly see women who are completely stuck and fed up with not getting the outcomes for themselves they long for.
These women have tried everything and are now ready for absolute and whole long-lasting change at a deep subconscious level (at their root cause of their issues).
I help the women to virtually unlearn their issues at the very root until they drop away and recode their way of thinking to permanent positivity, clarity and motivation with much higher emotional and mental intelligence.
Once I restore a woman’s passion for her goals and dreams, give her the accountability she needs to maintain emotional liberation, happiness and freedom, I work with her to boost her health, vitality and well-being for ultimate energy and empowerment through naturopathic therapies …and her success in my success.
