How often have you thought of developing a brand new habit? It can be reading more, exercising frequently, or sleeping on time. Thinking of building habits is straightforward than truly getting around to try and do, therefore. I have been struggling with learning a way to build habits since a while currently. I have tried reading books, articles, research paper, and watching Ted talks. Some things worked and the other somehow made things harder. After so much trial and error, I came up with a list of six things that worked for me.
1. Set small goals
People tend to set vague goals such as "I'm going to read more" or "I'm going to exercise more" But these targets don't tell you exactly what to do. Try setting goals like "I will read one page of this book for next week" rather than being vague. That objective tells you what to do and when to do it. This reduces the thought process on what to do when you look at your goal
2. Use existing habits to build a new one
Everyone has a set of habits they've been following for quite some time. Even the most common things, such as brushing your teeth after you wake up, or washing your hand after you eat, are habits we develop unconsciously. Use these habits to bring forth new ones. For example, if you were to develop a regular habit of doing yoga, you could say "I'm going to do yoga for 10 minutes after I brush my teeth" Saying so connects something you do daily to something you want to do every day. Such links are easily understood by the brain and act upon making the process smoother.
3. Use technology
You probably remember the contact number that is used every day. Why is that? It is just the mind's response to you using or seeing that number every day. Seeing a task due every few hours would work in the same way. Set a reminder on your phone or laptop. When you keep getting constant notifications, you will not be able to blame your busy schedule for not being able to develop that habit. Furthermore, you can also use mobile applications to track these habits. When you have a week full of those tick marks next to the habit, you would not want to break the streak.
4. Reward yourself
This gives your brain a reason to carry on with the task and not drop it once. After working on a task for a week, you can reward yourself with a day with friends, or just watch that TV show you've been thinking about. It could be anything just to make your brain feel that these efforts have some short term benefits as well.
5. Look for motivation
Sometimes when other people are doing the same thing I find it easy to work on something. If I wanted to read more, I could join a book club, or a gym if I wanted to exercise regularly. Such social commitments make it difficult for us to shy away from things. On a plan that you have made for yourself, you are more likely to cancel than a plan made with friends or colleagues. Use this simple psychology to your benefit. You could join online classes or challenges or clubs, anything that suits your needs.
If you are looking for a motivation to build a habit of practising yoga, you can try out one of our live yoga classes at Cityogini by clicking here. Also, you can click here to participate in any of our competitions to help you stay inspired.
As James Clear wrote "Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement", every little thing we do today adds up to out tomorrow. So, just remember why you started working towards this habit, and what output did you imagine getting from it in the future. You may not be able to see the change overnight, but with patience and perseverance, those little efforts will add up to the future you want for yourself and the people around you.