How to Form Good Habits

Forming good habits can be difficult, but it will be well worth the effort. Having many good habits can help you improve your overall health or accomplish a larger goal. Some steps you can take to form new habits include identifying your motivations, establishing cues, and tracking your own progress. If you have a bad habit, remember that you may need to take steps to eliminate the habit before replacing it with a better one.

Table of Contents

Planning

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Goal Setting. Before you can start building a new habit, it’s a good idea to start thinking about your goals. Investigate in detail what you hope to achieve. Forming SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic and Time bound to increase chances of success. ^{[1] X Research Source} Consider the goal you want to achieve in as much detail as possible. Here are a few questions that may help you.

Specific means that the goal should be clear rather than too broad and/or vague. What do you really want to achieve and why?
Measurable is a goal that needs to be quantified (numerically). Which number will link to your goal? How can you use these numbers to measure your goals?
Action bias is about turning a goal into something that you actively strive for and control. What specific actions do you need to achieve your goal? How often do you have to do them?
Being realistic means making your goal something that you can actually achieve through available resources. Is your goal something that you can afford and the resources to achieve? Why and why not?
Time-based is a goal that has a start and end point or a specific deadline so you can stick to it. When will you start working on your goals? When is the deadline that you need to complete the goal? What if you succeed? And vice versa?

Identify the habit you want to build. Having a good habit that aligns with the goal you want to achieve can help improve your chances of accomplishing it. ^{[2] X Source of Research} After you have established a specific and detailed goal, proceed to identify a habit that is part of that goal. Consider and ask yourself what good habits can help you accomplish your goals?

For example, if your goal is to lose 4.5 kg in 6 weeks, you will probably need to get into the habit of going for a walk every day at 7pm.

Consider your engine. Once you’ve identified a specific goal and the new habit you need to build to accomplish it, it’s a good idea to take a moment to consider your motivations. Motivation is the reason you want to form this new habit. The right motivation can be the deciding factor in the success or failure of a new habit, so take the time to consider it. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Ask yourself: What are the potential benefits of this new habit forming process? How can this habit help improve my life?
Write about your motivation so you can go to it whenever you need encouragement.

Start with small steps. Even if the habit you want to build is something big, you can start by making small changes to increase your chances of success. If the changes are quite drastic, you will have a hard time keeping up with them. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

For example, if you want to stop consuming fried, high-fat and high-sugar foods, you may have a hard time stopping these foods altogether at once. Instead, you may find it easier to start by eliminating them one at a time.

Give yourself time. Building new habits can take time. Many people are able to form a new habit in as little as a few weeks, while others take months. ^{[5] X Source of Research} When trying to develop a new habit, you should keep in mind that it will take some time before it becomes automatic. You should be patient with yourself during this process.

Anticipate obstacles. In the process of forming new habits, you will often face a few obstacles. Understanding this will help you overcome challenges and keep working on building habits. And you should also remember that, even if you fail, it doesn’t mean you will fail. ^{[6] X Trusted Source PubMed Central Go to Source}

For example, if one day you don’t want to go for a walk as planned, don’t be discouraged. Just know you’ve had a bad day and you can go for a walk tomorrow.

Achieve success

Give a hint. Creating cues can remind you to do a new habit each day. You should make an already existing part of your routine a suggestion, such as taking a shower in the morning or making coffee. For example, if you want to develop the habit of flossing every time you brush, you should make the brushing process a cue for flossing. Regularly floss after brushing, and you will make this behavior gradually happen automatically. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

If you can’t think of a cue that fits the new habit you’re looking for, you can set an alarm on your phone to remind yourself it’s time to do something.

Change the living environment. You can increase your chances of achieving your goals by making changes in your environment. Think about methods you can use to change your environment so that you can easily build new habits. What changes in your environment will help you form better habits every day? ^{[8] X Research Sources}

For example, if you want to establish the habit of going to the gym every morning before you go to work, you can have your gym clothes ready the night before and put your gym bag by the door.

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Pay more attention. Part of the reason why some people have such a hard time forming new good habits is that they often allow themselves to go into “automatic” mode and not think about the action they are taking. presently. But by being more mindful of your own behavior, it’s easier to build good habits. Ask yourself the question of unconscious behavior that may be preventing you from implementing good habits. ^{[9] X Research Source}

For example, if you want to establish the habit of going to the gym every morning, think about what’s stopping you. What is your usual morning routine? How do you spend your free time when not going to the gym? Why would you want to spend your time this way? How does this process make you feel?
The next time you become aware that you are on autopilot and reverting to a bad habit, question your own behavior and emotions so you can break out of the cycle of unconsciousness. This.

Share with everyone. You can increase the responsibility of building new habits for yourself by sharing your goals with others. Consider asking friends to help you stick to your new habit. Perhaps someone among your friends is also hoping to establish better habits for themselves, and you can repay them by helping them out. ^{[10] X Research Source}

Make sure the friend you rely on has a way to keep you on track with your new habit-building goals. For example, you can give them some money and ask them to never send it back to you until you have practiced the good habit over and over again. ^{[11] X Research Source}

Track your own progress. Tracking your progress in forming new habits can help you stay motivated and strategize when things don’t go as planned. Use a diary or app on your phone to track how often you do good habits. You can even share your progress on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Publicly reporting your progress will help you stay motivated to continue the process of forming good habits. ^{[12] X Research Source}

Reward yourself for following the process of forming good habits. You can keep yourself motivated so you can continue to build good habits by rewarding yourself. Choose a reward to give yourself every time you complete a goal. Simple things such as rewarding yourself with a new set of clothes after losing 10 pounds can make a huge difference in your motivation to stay on track with your goals. ^{[13] X Research Source}

You should make sure you choose healthy and pocket-friendly rewards to give yourself. When you complete a goal, remember to reward yourself right after.

Overcome bad habits

Enhance cognitive ability. It will be difficult for you to break bad habits because they are ingrained in you and become automatic behavior. To get over a bad habit, the first thing you should do is be more conscious of it. You can increase your awareness of bad habits by taking notes every time you do them. ^{[14] X Research Source}

For example, if your bad habit is snacking before a main meal, you can put a check mark on your notepad every time you notice yourself doing this behavior. You should do this method for a week to see how often you do this habit.
Being conscious means ‘observing’ actions and patterns formed from bad habits rather than blaming yourself. Research has shown that you’re more likely to make old mistakes or stick to old habits if you beat yourself up. Bad patterns and habits will fade if you are conscious of them.

Take preventive steps to stop bad habits. Once you become more aware of your habits, you should proceed to take a preventive approach. Try to distract yourself so you don’t get into the bad habit. Make sure you keep a journal of when you wanted to engage in bad habits as well as when you were completely able to resist them. ^{[15] X Research Source}

For example, if you have a craving for snacks between meals, you can drink a glass of water or go for a walk.

Reward yourself every time you succeed in fighting a bad habit. It’s important to reward yourself for being able to resist the urge to engage in a bad habit. Rewards will help motivate you to continue to stop doing bad habits. Make sure that the reward you give yourself is one that doesn’t encourage you to engage in a bad habit but rather directs you towards doing something more enjoyable. ^{[16] X Research Source}

For example, if you’ve been able to resist the temptation to snack between meals for a week, treat yourself to a book or a hair salon session.

Advice

Please be patient. Changing behavior will take a lot of time and effort.

Warning

If you’re having a hard time with alcohol or tobacco, you should see a professional so they can help you replace this bad habit with something better. Talk to your doctor or mental health professional for help.

Steps

Planning

Achieve success

Overcome bad habits

Advice

Warning

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