Healthy habits are the cornerstone to a healthy life. They help you to create a routine in your life that allows you to find balance between your responsibilities and reaching whatever goals you have.
But if you have lost your way and need to get back on track, it is about finding that inspiration again.
Create the Healthy Habit Without the Rules
When you lose your inspiration for keeping up with healthy habits, it’s a lot harder to pick them up again if you start off with a long list of rules. You need to put all those rules and restrictions aside, and just focus on the habits themselves.
For example, if you want to start being more active again for your physical health, don’t set a time limit or a goal of walking a specific distance every day. Just get out there and walk for however long feels good in that moment.
Habit Stacking
Habit stacking is a great way to add on to current habits you have, and have a type of trigger for the new one you are trying to implement. To start habit stacking, you have two categories to consider: the habits you have right now that you want to keep, and habits you want to implement. You are then going to combine new habits with old habits, but only if they make sense during that routine.
Take your bedtime routine for example. You might currently brush your teeth and wash your face before bed, and you know you want to start a new self-care routine. This is the perfect time to add an extra step to that night time routine for a little self-care.
Fit New Habits Into New Routines
To make something a habit, it needs to fit into your routine. Sometimes, new habits require a slightly new daily routine to make it fit and give you the right feedback loop. If you tend to only have a short amount of time in the morning to get ready and get out the door, then adding in a workout is probably not going to work. Instead of fitting into your current routine, adjust it or create a brand new one.
Ditch the Reward System
The reward system really only works for short-term goals, so if you are building lifelong healthy habits, the rewards aren’t going to work. Now is a good time to let those go and focus on other ways of praising yourself for keeping up with these habits.