5 Tips to Building Healthy Habits
With a new year upon us, we are inundated with ads for “New Year New You!” promotions and can feel a lot of pressure to make changes very quickly. One of the most common questions I get from students and friends this time of year is how to build healthy habits. This is a challenge for many of us and the answer lies somewhere in that sweet spot of determination and compassion. The following tips have helped me over the years, hopefully they help you too.
Define Your Goals First
The best way to create healthy habits is to choose a good habit that directly relates to your personal goals. For example, maybe your goal this year is to practice self care. What are some things that define self care for you? It could be as simple as taking 3 extra minutes to lather on lotion mindfully instead of slapping it on in a hurry. Maybe it means a surf set class once a week after work. When we set a goal we get to define what that goal looks like in our every day life. Take time to think about how you are defining your goal. Come up with two to five healthy habits that will help achieve that goal throughout the year.
If you create good habits that directly relate to your personal goals then it’s easy to build them into your daily schedule and as a result, your quality of life improves.
Add To Your Existing Routine
Now it’s time to execute those healthy habits. The best way to get healthy habits to stick is to add them to an existing routine, and if possible to the most important routine of your day: the start.
It’s worth noting here that the start of your day doesn’t have to be 6:00am. I am an early morning person, but I have friends who function much better rolling out of bed at 10 or 12. According to a recent article by BBC approximately 1 in 4 people are morning people, 1 in 4 are night owls, and the rest fall somewhere in the middle. Whenever your day starts is what we’ll call your “morning” routine.
The morning is when we are naturally most productive and when we have more time to reflect in a quiet setting. Most importantly, the morning is a time when we set our intentions, create energy and get into the “mindset” to tackle our day. Setting healthy habits around your existing morning routine sets the tone for your day, prioritizes your goals and ensures we accomplish the tasks we have set out to achieve.
Clear Your Clutter
We all have clutter in our homes that distracts us from feeling as though we can accomplish anything of substance. Take time to clean your home and keep it clean. Your home isn’t just a place that you lay your head or keep your clothes, it’s your sanctuary. Start thinking of your home as the place you come to at the end of a long day to heal, recharge, reset and feel safe. Invest time into making it a feel like a place you can’t wait to come back to. Some common places of clutter in our homes are
- Unmade beds
- Cluttered mail/tables
- Unsorted laundry
- Messy kitchen
- Trash that needs to be taken out
Most of these can be fixed in a matter of minutes, yet when we ignore them, they sit in the back of our minds for the rest of the day (and sometimes can become giant undertakings!) Take care of your clutter and you’ll not only see a dramatic decrease in your levels of stress but an increase of energy to dedicate to your goals and healthy routines.
Buddy System
One of the easiest ways to accomplish something is the buddy system. Accountability is a great motivator! Having someone to work out, meditate or simply check in with every day (or week) is one of the easiest ways to stay on track. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a friend and create healthy habits together that benefit you both. You don’t have to have the same goals. Your goal may be to practice self care and your friend might want to be more social. Rock climbing might satisfy both your goals (exercise, quality time with friends and meeting new people, confidence booster, etc.). If you aren’t into the same activities, check in with each other each day and create a support system. My husband has friends that live in different states, so they share a group chat where they check in each day with their physical activity. It helps them stay accountable but also provides support when they are feeling down. As the saying goes “If you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.”
Be Kind
This one is so important. On the road to reaching goals, setting good habits and healing, this thing called life happens. We have kids, move, get sick, get caught up with work, we have family responsibilities, we fall in and out of love, get injured, adopt pets, celebrate and mourn.
Setbacks are inevitable. Remember that moments of failure are not a reflection of you as a person. The presence of failure doesn’t mean you are a failure. Failures are unavoidable parts of life that exist as reminders that we are human. Be kind to yourself and to others in these moments. Pick yourself up, call friends who remind you that you are valuable and wonderful and magical and start again. Success is not a stream of constant celebrations. True success is getting up when you fall, giving yourself time to heal and reflect, and trying again. As Aliyah once said, if at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again, try again.
What are some things that have helped you succeed in building healthy habits and reaching your goals? I’d love to hear in the comments!
