How to Stick to a New Habit
In my last post I shared my cure for ‘stuck-in-a-rut-itis’. If you missed it, I highly recommend reading it here, as today’s post is a continuation of that one.
If you’ve ever tried to implement a new habit like starting a regular meditation practice or exercise program or gratitude journal, but ended up falling off your plan after a week, I got ya covered.
Today I’m sharing exactly how I add a new activity to my self-care routine with ease. Here goes…
The first step is to figure out what new activity you want to honor. (This is why Part One is so important. In that article, I ask you questions to support you in coming to a clear plan with new actions.)
The key point about this first step is to note I said: to figure out what new activity – NOT activities – you want to honor. This process works best when focusing on one new action at a time. I do not recommend trying to add two or three new activities. One is plenty. It is enough.
Remember, when it comes to self-care habits, the goal isn’t more. It’s consistency. (Tweet It!)
Once you’ve determined what new action you want to add to the mix, next you’ll want to determine the length of time. For example, do you want to do it every day for 30 days, or is a week enough? What about 3-4 times a week instead? You get to decide that.
Now, comes the fun part. Get out some markers and paper – or my preference, a big white board (cause your self-care is that important!) – and get to work.
1. Title your project.
2. Make boxes on the sheet for the amount of time you’ve selected and fill in those boxes with the corresponding numbers.
3. Decorate your sheet – as much as you like. (Mine is a little lacking in this department, but it still works!)
4. Place this paper in an area you will see it every day. [This step is really important. You have to see it in order to bring it into your consciousness – to remind you to do it. You know the saying – out of sight, out of mind. Well, you don’t want that here.]
5. Mark off each day you complete your action.
See my example below:
You’ll see, I chose to honor a 30-Day Meditation Practice – as a step to making this practice a daily habit. I meditate once in the morning and once in the afternoon for 20 minutes each. You’ll notice on my chart I use one slash inside the box for morning time and one slash for evening time. An “X” means I did both.
You’ll also see that I made some personal notes on some of the days too. Things that I wanted to pay attention to—like when I got a headache or had bad allergies. That’s actually something really cool about the big white board. There is plenty of space to make notes.
This tracking process is great if you like to mark things off your list. It’s also really great because it supports you in creating measurable results. The byproduct of measurable results is more confidence, self-esteem and joy.
Now, it’s your turn. I invite you today (or sometime this week) to create your own tracking chart AND share it with me! You can tag me on Facebook or on Instagram.
I can’t wait to celebrate your progress.
With loving,
Amber