New Year New Habits
Did you make some resolutions for 2023? The truth is that studies show that choosing new habits at the turn of the year is one of the least effective times to do so. I think one of the reasons is because we try and do too much at once. We might decide to start exercising more frequently, eat more consciously, start a gratitude journal, learn a new instrument or language, organise our work and personal life with a new app, limit our time online so we can spend more time outside or be present with friends and family. These are all great intentions but when we try to do them all at the same time it inevitably becomes overwhelming and our chances of success diminishes.
Let's say your new goal is to go to the gym five days a week. That's a great habit on so many levels. But if you haven't been going to the gym at all then that's a big commitment. You may start the first week well, and maybe the second. But chances are that stuff comes up and you end up going just three or four times the week after. The thing is, going three or four times is still fantastic, it's still a great achievement. But because it fell short of the ambitious goal you set, you may feel like a failure. Your internal dialogue will become 'I can't do this', 'I'm just not a gym person', 'I'll start again next month'. It's even worse if we've piled on a load of habits in other areas of our life that have been too challenging to sustain as well.
The trick is to start small and simple. Aim to go once a week. If you end up going three times because it felt so good than brilliant. You got a win. And when we create wins for ourselves we start to feel like a winner. It builds momentum and the self-belief that we can do more. So next week or even next month, try going twice a week and build on that slowly and in a way that you're likely to be able to continue doing. You'll start to believe that small change is possible in other areas of your life too.
Research shows that when we start with something small and achievable we're more likely to grow that habit and ingrain it into our lifestyle. So my simple goal this month is to drink a pint of water with a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of pink rock salt first thing every morning. It's really easy and the benefits of hydrating this way are huge relative to the time and effort it actually takes to do.
So what small changes would you like to introduce into your life?
