It’s a new year, and of course, this is the time that many of us set aside to make lofty goals and set “New year resolutions”. Which is fine, but many of our goals and resolutions fall by the wayside after a couple of weeks–mostly because we never took sufficient action.
Do this experiment: Go to your local gym and observe how many people are there right now.
On January 21, go there again.
See the difference?
If past years are any indication, there will only be half the number of people working out at any given time 3 weeks into the year than there were at the start of the year.
It’s true.
But why?
It’s because those people (and I have been one of those people, by the way) never made working out a habit.
Here’s a nifty article from Lifehacker that speaks to this habit-making.
Strategies for Forming Good Habits
- Make Sure Your Life Is In Order–if you’re stressed out about things or your life is a wreck, it may be very hard to construct a good habit. Better to get your life in order first, then try to establish a good habit.
- Focus on One Good Habit–Forming good habits is hard. It’s easier to do one hard thing than ten, right? So focus on one good habit. Establish it, then start another.
- Work Yourself Into It Gradually–I hate the term “ramping up” but the experts suggest that this is the right thing to do with respect to establishing a good habit. If your goal is to hit the gym every day, don’t expect you’ll be able to do it right out of the chute. Work up to it.
- Piggyback it With Other, Already-Formed Habits or Routines–This is super-powerful! Say you want to begin practicing yoga after your daily weight workout or run. Take your mat with you. That way you can’t forget–it’s always right there, ready when you are!
- Get an Accountability Buddy–Back to the gym! The best way to be consistent in the gym is to get a workout partner. Odds are, when you don’t feel like going, your gym partner will be ready to go and he or she will convince you to go. And when he or she isn’t up to it, you’ll be able to motivate your partner. This works for any habit.
- Give It Time–You’ve heard the statement, “It takes 21 days for a habit to form.” But that’s not true. Sometimes, it takes a lot longer. A habit is formed when you don’t even think about it any more–it’s just something you do. As you keep doing the activity, it will become not only easier but more ingrained in your psyche. So just give it time. Be persistent. The habit will form.
Read the entire Lifehacker article here.