It’s been said that you’re 30 days away from the old you. If you don’t stay consistent with your habits, it’s just a matter of time before you revert to old ways. As we approach the new year, goals and resolutions are top of mind for many people. While it’s easy to pinpoint what you want to accomplish, the hard part is following through on it. Here are three tips for habit-building that will set you up for success:
Start With One
Many people make the mistake of picking several goals they want to accomplish, and they set out to tackle them all at once. While there’s nothing wrong with having multiple goals, it’s best to ease into them one by one. If you don’t, the amount of change that many goals require can be overwhelming. If your goals and habits are too overwhelming, it’s more likely you’ll want to throw in the towel. If you focus on one goal and begin implementing the new habits it’ll take to achieve it—it’ll be easier to adapt.
Focus On It Daily
Once you establish your first goal, it’s easy to think about the big milestones you need to hit to achieve it. Whether it’s a professional or personal goal, break it into bite-size habits that you can focus on daily. You won’t hit the bigger milestones unless you do the daily work to get there. If you want to work on your people skills, you won’t just wake up one day and suddenly be a better communicator—you have to intentionally put yourself in scenarios that will require you to work on your people skills, and you’ll want to seek them out daily. This will also help your goal feel more manageable.
Don’t Miss Two Days
It’s important to acknowledge that none of us are robots. We are all human, and life can throw us unexpected curveballs. If your goal is to get to work earlier, there will be a day where you oversleep, the kids will be running late, or you will hit a traffic jam. If you want to work out during your lunch break, there will be a day when a meeting gets put on your calendar, or you will be on a tight deadline and won’t have enough time to step away. It happens. Give yourself grace, and don’t beat yourself up. With that said, though, make sure you plan accordingly for the next day to ensure you get back on track so you can execute the necessary habit. The reason for this is that often when two days go by without action, by the third day, it’s easier to give in again versus holding yourself accountable to what you’re looking to accomplish, regardless of how you may feel.
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To avoid becoming a statistic of people who don’t stick to their goals, identify your top goal, find daily habits you can hit, and stay consistent!
“If you are not in the process of becoming the person you want to be, you are automatically engaged in becoming the person you don’t want to be.” –Dale Carnegie
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