Form healthy habits and make them stick

Lifestyle modification and behaviour change are simple in theory. Helping clients stick with their plans, however, is often the biggest challenge. I laser focus on behaviour change, not on weight loss because behavioural change is essential for lifelong weight management.

Habit is more dependable than inspiration. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit is persistence in practice. Inspirations rely on extrinsic motivation, habits are automatic. They literally rewire our brains. 

In this article, I will suggest you a systematic approach to behaviour change strategy.

Start with an incredibly small habit

When most people struggle to stick with a new habit, they say something like, “I just need more inspiration” or “I wish I had as much willpower as you do.” This is the wrong approach. 

First, forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable than inspiration. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit is persistence in practice. Inspirations rely on extrinsic motivation, habits are automatic. They literally rewire our brains.

Solve this problem by picking a new habit that is easy enough that you don’t need inspiration to do it. Rather than starting with 5 km running per day, start with just 30 minutes walking per day. Make it easy enough that you can get it done without motivation.

Automate as much as possible

“Sapna, I get it, but I still struggle with that first step each day, for some reason I just can’t bring myself to do it.” Remove emotion from the equation. Automate your habit as much as possible so you don’t even have to think about it.

For example, if your goal is to exercise every day after work, pack your gym bag BEFORE going to work. That way, every morning you already have a bag to throw in your car or bring with you. As soon as 6 pm hits, you are in your car or on your way to the gym. No questions asked.

If you tend to let emotion get in the way, automate your habit-changing process as much as possible. That way, you won’t have to ask, “should I skip this or should I not”. You just DO things because that’s what you’re supposed to do.

Hold yourself accountable

We all have excuses that we use to make ourselves feel better about doing something or not doing something. What if excuses were no longer an option? What if you decided right now that you are no longer allowed to use excuses to shirk your duties? 

Suddenly, your decision to do or not do something just got a whole lot easier. “No” isn’t an option. So you might as well do it.

Create some sort of accountability system that keeps you on target. For example, every time you skip gym this month, you will bear the cost of movie tickets for your friends.

When you fail, get back on track quickly

Top performers make mistakes, commit errors, and get off track just like everyone else. The difference is that they get back on track as quickly as possible. 

You shouldn’t expect to fail, but you should plan for failure. Take some time to consider what will prevent your habit from happening. What are some things that are likely to get in your way? What are some daily emergencies that are likely to pull you off course? How can you plan to work around these issues? Or, at least, how you can bounce back quickly from them and get back on track? You just need to be consistent, not perfect.

Be patient. Build momentum. Stick to a pace you can sustain

Learning to be patient is perhaps the most critical skill of all. You can make incredible progress if you are consistent and patient. Patience is everything. Do things you can sustain. Build momentum. For example: you have been exercising for 30 minutes every day this week! Next week you can do 45! And the week after, 60!  As I always say to my clients, “Never underestimate the power of momentum.”