“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”-Aristotle
Greetings 2016!
How are you?
What do you have in store for us...?
At this particular point in reading this blog, how many of you have already made New Year’s resolutions…?
And, how many of them have already been broken?
Yuuuuuup, same here. I am guilty as well.
BUT, this does not mean we give up and stop trying.
P.S. For those of you who have stayed steadfast with your resolutions, seriously GO YOU. I applaud you.
According to a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, Lally et al. examined the amount of time it takes to form a new habit. The recent hype of it being 21 days has turned out to be a myth.
Sorry folks, research indicates that certain habits could range between 18-254 days but on average it takes 66 days.
Two months.
This study revealed, “it could take us over two months of daily repetitions before the behavior becomes a habit. And, while this research suggests that skipping single days isn’t detrimental in the long-term, it’s those early repetitions that give us the greatest boost in automaticity” (Dean 2009).
Although some of us may have already forfeited or simply forgotten our resolutions for this year, we still have time to re-implement them.
It is only January.
YOU can do this.
I can do this.
We WILL do this.
Behaviors usually become habits when we no longer need to think about them. They become automatic. In addition, it becomes hard NOT to do them.
A simple example would be our social media and cellular usage.
How many of you find it difficult to NOT check your phone for a text, email, notification, etc.?
It has become a habit for many of us.
How can we integrate habit-forming tactics with healthy actions?
My personal approach is called the S-Strategy:
Small and Simple
In order for behaviors to become habits, they must fit into our daily routine and schedule. When modifications become too overwhelming or drastic, we often give up. For example, diet and exercise is often a common New Year’s resolution. Just ask the sales reps at 24-hour Fitness and Weight Watchers ;) Often times, many of us decide to make large and dramatic changes like giving up all carbohydrates and committing ourselves to working out seven days a week. Realistically, that may be highly unachievable for many of us, at least initially. If it were that simple, it would already be a part of our every day schedules. Instead, start off small. Rather than cutting out ALL carbs from your diet, make the choice to remove it from at least one meal a day. Once that becomes a habit, implement it into another meal and build from there.
Specific
My resolutions usually sound fairly vague or broad.
I want to be healthier.
I want to save more money.
I want to manage my stress better.
But what does this actually look like?
Although those goals are common and well advised, they are also easily overlooked because they are unclear. The more specific we are with our resolutions, the more attainable they become. Specificity encourages us to be more aware of our habits. In addition, creating categories can promote explicit behavioral change. This year, I have broken up my resolutions into 5 categories: physical, social, spiritual, financial, and emotional/psychological.
Physical-I will attend barre and kickboxing classes at Enerji Barre 4-5 times a week. I will sign up for the classes in advance so they appear in my calendar which forces me to schedule other activities and obligations around my exercise routine.
Social-I will only commit to two social activities per week. It can either be once during the work week and once on the weekends or both on the weekends.
Spiritual-I will join a community/small group at church and attend these gatherings at least 2 out of the 4 weeks in a month. Ideally, it would be every week but I want to start out small and go from there.
Financial-I will cut back on my Amazon shopping to only twice a month. I am an obsessive user of Amazon Prime. Come on, how can you NOT be with their free two-day shipping?! I will only allow myself X amount of $$$ a month for frivolous (dining out, clothing, manicure, etc…) spending. Pick the amount that is doable for your income but also allows you to tuck away extra money for savings.
Emotiona/Psychological-Every other week, I will take one day for myself to recharge. I will turn off my phone and social media and literally spend the entire day not doing any work or socializing. I will disconnect from the world and simply rest and engage in self-care. For each one of us, this may look very differently. I know for my personal disposition, allowing myself a “Judy” day, keeps me sane and re-energizes me for the upcoming couple of weeks. Give yourself a personal gift by scheduling a “me” day.
Screw the “Screw-It, I Give Up” Mentality
This mentality is probably one of the main contributors of the demise of our New Year’s resolutions or any of our life goals. At the first sign of adversity or failure, we often think “screw it, screw this” and we lose motivation. We simply give up. We regress to old unhealthy habits. We begin to wallow in a negative mental script of “I CANT.” This is where we are mistaken.
Because you CAN.
We all CAN.
When we choose to think we can’t, we are choosing to fail.
We are choosing to be our own worst enemy.
I am not sure how the rest of you function, but when an opponent of mine tells me I can’t do something, guess what I am motivated to do? I am motivated to prove them wrong. I will do everything in my deepest being to accomplish the very thing they doubted me in. So when your own voice tells you that you can’t do something, tell him/her to shush it and continue to tenaciously pursue your dreams. Prove yourself wrong.
New Year, New Habits
Be excellent.
Hugs! -Judy
Brea, CA