Stick It!

The follow thru …

Creating new habits can be hard. Check out these tips for making it stick:

Start small and build gradually, as we did in our example for Suzi. If you haven’t exercised in years, start with a five minute commitment, on a regular basis. When it becomes part of your lifestyle, grow that to 10 minutes. 

Schedule it. Put your workouts on your calendar and mark them ‘done’ when completed. Write out a weekly menu and put it on your fridge or bulletin board in the kitchen. Put reminders on your phone at various times of day to do breathing exercises or a quick meditation. 

Make it easily accessible. For instance, if adding more fruits and vegetables is part of your nutrition plan, keep a bowl of your favorite fruit on the kitchen table, buy individual packs of baby carrots and keep them in your office refrigerator.

Assume your (new) identity.  Consider yourself already there, and make it a part of who you are. When we are invested in our identity, we’ll work harder to sustain it. Instead of saying to yourself or friends, ‘I can’t eat sugar’, say, ‘I am a healthy eater’.

Make it social.  Habits stick better when paired with our social life. Join groups in which your new habit is part of the norm. For instance, join a hiking meetup in your area. Find co-workers who like to walk during their lunch break. Or start a meal prepping group for busy moms in your neighborhood.

Make it rewarding. The rewards can come in different ways. 

For some, the satisfaction of following through is enough. Or maybe the encouragement and affirmation of your friends keeps you going. But there may be days when some external rewards help.

For instance, in my former client Suzie’s example, for every new workout she finishes, she can ‘waste’ 10 min on social media. Or, for each week she is consistent with her new system, she can splurge on a message. 

Just don’t make your rewards contradictory to your goals (ie: I’ve worked out 30 minutes today, I can reward myself with a brownie sundae!)

Brainstorm rewards that would work for you and use them.