Top 4 Fridays! 4 Ways to Make and Keep a Habit

4 Ways to Make and Keep a Habit

It’s that time of the year where everyone is making some sort of resolution and has vowed to make their life better in some format. If you have ever tried to start a new habit, you quickly realize over the next few weeks how difficult it becomes to keep it. Maybe you even had a great habit for a whole year, but then life happened that took you off track and now you are trying to get back on but have a variety of obstacles in your way.

I have read a lot of books and articles about human motivation and habit formation, and the one that always comes to mind when recommending to anyone who wants to build a new habit is the book “Atomic Habits” written by James Clear. His rationalization begins with the idea that an atom is the smallest particle on our earth, yet when put together creates our very own existence. Similarly, by beginning your habit with small steps and slowly adding on can result in a big behavior change over time. So this week I cover James’ four simple steps to create a habit and next week I will go over his four steps to break a habit.

Making a Habit by Cameron Faller

Make it Obvious - You have to make your habit noticeable every single day. Write it down, set something by your nightstand table to remind you, make alerts in your phone; do whatever it takes to keep your habit on your mind.
Make it Attractive - The more appealing your resolution becomes the more enticing it will be to accomplish it. Try it out with some friends or make it something that is very meaningful for you to do.
Make it Easy - Going all in can be a lot to accomplish all at once, so instead start your habit off by making it easy. Make it something you can do every day without any resistance in the way.
Make it Satisfying - Reward yourself with something that is important to you. Celebrate your goals with loved ones. Try to avoid rewarding yourself with the very habit you may be trying to break (i.e. ice cream after exercising for 45 min), but give yourself something to celebrate when accomplishing small goals.

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