A few amazing people make the most of their days and achieve much more than others. They exercise religiously, work regular hours and eat healthy. Some are avid readers while some play a sport every weekend. Some others even undergo regular de-addiction procedures at detoxification centres in India! These are the people who form good habits and are more productive than anyone else.
But why do the rest of us struggle with our own goals and objectives? Why are we unable to form good habits that lead to our long-term personal development? Even if we do manage to form good habits, the change is often temporary. So when we deviate from our newly-formed routine – as we often do – it becomes a de-motivating experience with painful feelings of discouragement and guilt taking over our psyche. Over time, it becomes an uphill task to get back on track so we ultimately just give up.
How can I build good habits?
The older you get, the more unsettling and nerve-racking change can be. But a positive and strong-willed mindset can create wonders. Therefore, in order to change something in our life – whether it’s your personality (anger management), lifestyle (start a month-long de-addiction programme at one of the detoxification centres in India) or habits (exercise for 30 minutes every day) – you first have to believe in yourself and your ability to change. When you have self-confidence and faith, you will easily come up with ideas to create new, positive habits.
Here are a few suggestions to get you started!
1. Identify your goals and create an action plan
Identify the good habits you wish to develop or the bad habits you wish to eliminate. Be very clear on what you wish to achieve and why. Try to set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound) habit goals to give yourself the greatest chance of success. Once your goals are set, you can list all the actions you need to take to build good habits. For example, if your goal is to detoxify your body, signing up with one of the detoxification centres in India can be part of your action plan!
2. Discipline Yourself
Discipline and motivation are essential for implementing any goal and even more so for developing good habits. Identify the real barriers preventing you from building good habits or keeping you stuck in bad ones. Once you know yourself better, you can then start looking for suitable solutions. Focus on your goal, prepare a schedule, take action and track your progress. But don’t judge or underestimate yourself if you fail. If you do make a mistake, resolve to get back on track and do it – immediately!
3. Start SMALL
Nothing big can happen overnight but it will happen sooner or later. The same goes for your habits! The small changes you make today can convert into the great achievements of tomorrow. So keep taking baby steps and you will achieve your target very soon. Just keep going!
When it comes to good habits, it’s usually better late than never. Don’t give up!