Tips for Building Better Habits
It’s nearly one month into the new year, and chances are, if you were working toward a New Year resolution, you might have started to struggle with sticking to your new habit. The good news is even if you’re feeling like you're falling off the resolution wagon, it’s not too late to hop back on and start building better habits for the new year.
Start Small with Actionable Steps
It’s great to have ambitious goals, but it is hard to tackle them when goals are too big. Instead of broad resolutions like “to be healthier” or “to spend more time with family,” break those ideas into more tangible goals. For example, if you want to lead a more healthy lifestyle, make a list of three to five actions you can take to have a healthier life. You can plan to take a walk two mornings a week, make at least one dinner that’s all fresh ingredients, or go one day a week without dessert.
When listing your action steps, keep them simple, start small, and be realistic with yourself. It may sound nice to walk every day, eat nothing but fresh home cooked meals, and never have dessert, but if you try to take on too much too fast, you’re going to have a much harder time sticking to your new habits. Instead, be honest with yourself about what you can commit to doing. If that’s one walk and a healthy meal each week, that is okay. Simple steps will be much easier for you to build into a true habit.
Stack Your New Habit with An Old One
When you’re starting a new habit, one of the easiest ways to build it into your routine is to stack the habit before or after something you already habitually do. For example, if you want to be more proactive about your oral health, build a dental care routine into your morning. Before you shower, brush and floss your teeth as soon as you wake up. Waking up and showering are two habits you’re already doing consistently, so adding tasks you want to complete between those two activities makes it easier for you to remember to do them.
Keep Track of Your Progress
Some days it may feel challenging to stick to a new routine, but having a way to see how far you’ve come can motivate you to stick with it. Keep a small calendar on your fridge or in your purse, and make a mark when you stick to your new habit each day. It’s okay if you don’t have a mark every day, but the calendar gives you a visual representation of how well you’re doing and can help hold you accountable. Then, on days when you’re feeling unmotivated, take a look at your progress and know that even if you miss a day or two, you’ve still made some achievements.
Celebrate the Small Wins
Starting and sticking to new habits takes time, so don’t forget to celebrate your progress along the way. If you’re tracking your progress, you can see when you hit milestones such as sticking to your new habit for a whole week, month, or three months. When you notice the progress in your habit, celebrate it no matter how small. The celebrations make the experience more rewarding and remind you to be proud of your accomplishments.
How Visiting Angels Can Help
If you’re ready to start building better habits this year, the team at Visiting Angels can help. We have a compassionate team of trained caregivers who can help with various nonmedical tasks such as light housekeeping, personal grooming, medication reminders, meal preparation, mobility assistance, transportation, and more.
Our Powder Springs office serves those in Marietta, Austell, Powder Springs, Dallas, and the surrounding Georgia communities. If you’d like to learn more about our services, you can complete this form online or call us at 770.222.7388.