Often when one decides it is time to form a new habit, they take the approach of jumping right in and doing random things that they think will yield the results they are looking for without a plan of action. This can prove to be quite consequential and even costly depending on the habit you want to achieve. This regimen guide will give you quick tips on how to develop goals that lead to success.
When you create a plan, you have planned for success. Even if your plan fails, you have a record of everything that you did and how. You can easily go back to the drawing board to revamp your plan until it yields the results that you are looking for. Let’s get started with the steps of developing a habit.
Step One: Say it Outloud and Write it Down
There is something about declaring what you want to achieve out loud that solidifies it in your mind and spirit. Writing your goal down, especially in a place you can see it, keeps the motivation going to achieve it. Declare your goal out loud every day!
Step Two: What is Your Why Statement?
You must have a why that is authentic and heart-centered. If not, you will find once it gets challenging to complete your habit you will find it easy to give up. Your why must be meaningful.
Step Three: How Practical is Your New Habit to Achieve?
It is great to want to achieve a new habit, but how practical is the habit that you want to achieve. For example, if you wish to save half of your income every month but you must spend 70% of your income to live on, this goal is not realistic without life-changing sacrifices. Are you ready to make the commitment required to see your habit through?
Step Four: What are the Short Term and Long Term Rewards of Your Habit?
What will be the reward for seeing your habit through? Don’t just think about the long-term rewards, what are the short-term rewards. It is important to understand both your long-term and short-term rewards. They are the fuel that helps you to keep going when you want to give up!
Step Five: What Outcomes Will Your New Habit Create in Your Life?
What are the final outcomes of you achieving your new habit? This is much different than the rewards. Often people do not count the ways that their lives must change to accommodate a new habit. For example, when parents decide to change their eating habits, the eating habits of the entire household will change too. For example, we decided to cut sugar out of our household in favor of sweeteners like monk fruit.
Subsequently, our children do not like the taste of several of the baked goods that they used to enjoy, while everything tastes close enough to normal for us. Experimentation with other sweeteners like maple syrup or honey, flavors the kids were familiar with had to be used to create a dessert that was equally as enjoyable for the kids. Think about the unintended consequences of your new habits.
Step Six: Congratulations, Time to Get Started on Your New Habit!
If you have made it this far, your new habit has passed the test of sustainability. Now that your checklist is complete for developing your new habit, it is time to put in the work required to achieve your habit. Make sure you keep your checklist handy so you can cross off your milestones as you achieve them.
