We all wish to pick up new habits but, sticking to them often proves quite complicated…
We are accustomed to fast-paced rhythms that lead to equally quick results. However, this should be excluded when we talk about habits to be ingrained, as it is a process and not a one-time event.
One example: want to feel satisfied? Grab a sweet treat. But then it turns into two, and probably three or four. This is because bad habits create dependency by providing short-term satisfaction.
To create new good habits, we need to start from within. Here’s how.
How to Build New Good Habits
Explore the positives of the new habits you want to adopt. For instance, it’s not enough to know that exercise helps build muscle or reduce body fat. You need to dig deeper.
You can study the positive consequences that this good habit might bring and also the negative effects you could face if you don’t adopt it. You can even consult with those who have already adopted that lifestyle.
Stop scrolling on social media and find the right motivation to take care of yourself.
Connect the New Habit to Something Else
To solidify or establish a new habit, you can link it to another one you already have.
For example, if you want to remember to take your vitamins every day but keep forgetting, you should associate them with an action you are sure to do daily.
You could take them after drinking your morning coffee or as soon as you sit down at your desk at the office (making sure to keep them in front of your eyes, either on the coffee machine or next to your keyboard).
You’ll find it much easier because it’s like connecting that gesture to another already established action.
How Long Does it Take to Create New Good Habits?
In the past, it was said that it takes 21 days to solidify a good habit, but a later study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology (2010) highlighted that, on average, it takes 66 days to form them.
The brain, after all, prefers habits to changes and thus needs time and preferably intermittent positive reinforcements.
In short, it needs to understand that it is really worth it and learn to seek out that habit because it feels a lack of it; otherwise, it will be easier to return to the old, familiar habits.
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This article first appeared on Grazia.it – Author: Elisa Castellano
