Better Year, Better You: Ways to Build New Habits and Make Them Stick

Since the year 2020 has finally come to a close, it’s time to think about your goals and resolutions for 2021. From eating healthier to achieving success, your goals will help you navigate the year ahead and transform you into your best self. However, achieving your plans requires creating and maintaining good habits. So, how do you develop good habits that will help you reach your goals? Here are ways to help you build new habits and stick to them.

Create a list

List your goals for 2021 and break them down into habits or activities that will help you achieve them. Creating a list will help make your plans or ideas more concrete and prioritize them. For example, if you want to be a better online English teacher, list down habits such as starting lessons on time or attending more training sessions. 

Listing habits will not only set your direction but also remind you to stay in that direction. Ultimately, ticking off habits on your list gives a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that will encourage you to maintain your habits. Create daily habit lists and complete them at the end of each day until these habits become natural for you.

Take small steps

Once you have listed down the habits you want to make, take another look at your list and ask yourself: Are these habits concrete and doable? When creating habits, people often become ambitious, setting the bar too high. If you want to lose weight, you might think of eating an extremely low-calorie diet starting tomorrow. However, the drastic change can take a toll on your body and may even demotivate you because the change is too difficult and sudden.

Take note that building habits takes time and practice before they become routines. To make a new habit stick, start with small steps such as gradually decreasing your food portions and adding more vegetables to your meals. Build on and master these small habits and, soon, you will realize that you have already achieved your goals.

Link a habit to a trigger

Triggers help start a habit. For example, if you want to drink more water, your trigger could be drinking a glass of water every time you take a break from work. Common triggers include using time, location, and preceding events to build and maintain a habit. Just make sure that your triggers are specific, consistent, and natural to make it easier to incorporate new habits into your lifestyle. If a certain trigger doesn’t help you establish a habit, then find a trigger that does help you become more consistent with your new habit.

Find a role model

Often, the most successful people are those who learn from the successes or mistakes of others. Role models are visual proof of who we aim to become. Having a person to look up to impacts the way we think and behave. After all, our brains are wired to imitate others and that’s how we learn and change. By observing your role model, you can pick up desirable habits or traits that you are aiming to build.

Reward yourself

Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back after developing a habit or reaching your goal. Rewards are important to satisfy you and reinforce your newly learned habit, so you can repeat it. Your reward could be reaching your goal itself such as losing weight or buying yourself a new set of clothes. Once you make your habit a routine, however, you won’t need rewards anymore because the habit will come naturally to you.

Consistency is key

No matter what habit you want to build in the year ahead, remember that consistency has to become a vital part of creating new habits. It takes 18 to 254 days to establish a habit, so be patient. Just keep the tips above in mind and you will be on your way to developing better habits and reaching your goals this year.

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