Force of Habit

A habit is a regular action that is difficult to quit. There is no escaping it, we are habitual creatures. What habits could you create that keep you goal-directed and allow you to thrive? Given that habits are great contributors to determining the extent of success we have in a day, it is important to be aware of what our habits are, how to disrupt and suppress the bad ones and how to entrench beneficial ones. Here are some tips to ensure that you remain on track to achieving your goals, with supportive habits.

1. Identify

Be clear on the habit you would like to create. Know the purpose of your habit. Be sure that it is a productive habit for your day or goal. Eg, if there is a specific task at work that you should do, but always put off, how do you create the habit to ensure you do not procrastinate? The longer you procrastinate, the more the pressure builds around doing what you need to. The pressure won’t go away until the task is done, so try do it first thing in the morning. This will remove one of your stressors early in the day, making the rest of the day easier or more relaxed than it would have been.

2. Pay Attention

Focus your attention on deliberate action, until you reach a point where the deliberate action becomes a habit. A habit is an almost unconscious action (depending on what habit it is). A mechanism or system should be put in place to ensure that your action or task is completed in the required time and manner on a regular basis. This reminder could be on your phone or pc, in your diary, from a supportive colleague or partner or any other way that you can think of. In keeping with the example above, to create a habit of completing a difficult task a work, in the morning, set a reminder and ask a friend to hold you accountable.

3. Positive Feedback

We are heavily influenced by our emotions so it is important to create positive feedback for the new habit. There’s the expression that we are either led by the carrot or driven by the stick. Positively reinforcing a habit is a preferred method, because it will always be associated with pleasure rather than pain. Think of a prize or gift to reward yourself with, for having completed your task. If the desired habit is to complete the task early in the day, for example, then the habit isn’t just about completing the task, but also doing so early in the day. The deadline here is key. There shouldn’t be any compromises around creating this habit. It is not sufficient to just complete the task. The reward should only be earned if the task is completed in the desired time. The reward should also be something meaningful and exciting. If you enjoy eating a small chocolate or sweet and the habit is a daily task, the reward should only be earned if you complete your task in its entirety. That is to say, even if you complete the task, but it is late, you have not fulfilled the conditions to create the habit. If you don’t complete the task in the way you would like your habit to look then you forfeit any chocolate for that day.

4. Repeat

It is essential to repeat your behaviour consistently and deliberately for at least 3 – 6 weeks to entrench the habit into your regular actions. It should feel a part of you to the extent that if you don’t do it, it feels like something is missing. A daily habit would require smaller, daily or weekly rewards, but perhaps after a week or two, you can give yourself a slightly bigger reward only if you haven’t slipped up in that time. After having completed 3 consecutive weeks of no slip-ups, you could reward yourself with something bigger and after two months you could reward yourself with something even bigger. All of this gives you something to look forward to, which is motivation to stick to the process and the goal of creating the good habit. After 3 months of deliberate action where you haven’t slipped up, you should feel comfortable enough to do away with your reward system and test how entrenched your new habit has become.

Entrenching good habits requires discipline and the rewards make the challenging process sweeter. I wish you success on creating your daily habits that will support you to achieve your goals and dreams.