Struggling to stick with habits is common among society. New methods are written and spoken on by people from all walks of life. However, researching efficient methods can be frustrating. Luckily for you, I’ve meddled in this area, watched many videos, read plenty of articles and blogs, and encountered the life-changing ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear.
Growing up I always quit before any improvements were apparent and too impatient to remain on a steady progressing path. It’s definitely not a walk in the park to follow through with creating good habits. Desired habits such as drinking 2 litres a day can be forgotten after 15 to 30 days after implementation, as it varies from person to person. The myth of 21 days to form a habit can be debunked by looking at most peoples’ lives.
There are numerous methods I could list and explain. However, I will be listing 2 ways that should save you time from researching, allowing you to apply everything promptly.
Habit stacking
Of all techniques I’ve explored this is the most effective, it involves pairing your new habit with a current habit.
At 9 PM every day, I enter my room, sit up against my headboard and read my book followed by journaling immediately after. To this day, I don’t think I’ve missed a single day of journaling if I’ve managed to read. Such a small change can stop you from procrastinating. You could create a stack of more habits.
Before reading my book at 9 PM I eat dinner and prior to dinner, I work on my blog. Ideally, I would like to create another habit in between dinner and blogging, since my creative side is present. The habit I wish to create is to brainstorm strategies for my business. The effective implementation is by placing a sticky note on my keyboard with the words ‘set a timer of 1 hour and type “business strategy work” in my phone’. I’m a forgetful individual however, this method will work 100% of the time. Apply it yourself and see.
Frequency
A study in 2009 was carried out by Dr. Philippa Lally, a health psychology researcher at University College London. The study involved 96 volunteers over a period of 12 weeks. They were required to choose an eating, drinking, or activity behaviour to perform daily and report whether they were successful or not.
We have all heard and read that it takes 21 days to make a habit stick, but it is so vague. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as that. That’s why I’ve labelled this section as frequency. Thankfully, the experiment proves this. In Dr. Lally’s study, it took anywhere from 18 to 254 days to solidify a new habit.
Frequency is pivotal in the early stages of forming a habit. For it to become a part of your life we cannot generalise and say 21 days since we are all different. To truly develop and remain consistent, we must perform the task regularly and not take any days off, even if that means little increments day by day.
Know yourself
Derailing off a habit is easier than maintaining. If you don’t give yourself a reason to commit or how it will help you then failure to stay consistent is inevitable. Learn to understand yourself in order for habits to remain. As previously mentioned, every individual is different and when we figure out how our minds work and the way we learn skills, that’s when we will start to improve.
Observe your past habits and find out how they came to fruition. You can apply your own methods along with the ones I’ve provided to you today. The journey to forming great habits is rewarding but cannot be done without being mindful of your actions, the excuses and delays you make will only further inhibit success.