How to acquire good habits?
To develop a really necessary habit, answer yourself as honestly and in detail as possible to the most important question — why? Why do you need such a habit, how will you live, when you have this habit, what will change? If you are very serious about the desired habit, write it all down.
The smaller the parts of the whole, the easier it is to carry them out and control the result. Break down your desired new habit into the smallest possible parts and create for yourself a draft of a complete and as specific as possible description of the desired behavior. For example, to create the habit of getting up early and having time to do more things in the morning, you need to:
- to finish things no later in the evening …
- turn off the TV and computer in …
- before going to bed reading no later …
- wake up in the morning after 1 wake-up call at….
- charging (mat, music, headphones by the bed) … minutes
- contrast shower … minutes
- breakfast, coffee, listening to audio lessons
- write here your important business for the morning hours
- leaving the house at … hours.
Working on yourself will bring positive emotions, if you have the opportunity to achieve success every day, set feasible tasks. In the first week, successfully complete the first component of the new habit and enjoy your own strength of mind, this will be a good incentive in the second week to add the second component, and so on — until looking back, you will notice that you have acquired a new good habit.
The main thing to remember is that good habits are developed faster if you repeat the actions associated with them regularly. Achieving your goals without excuses or exceptions is the key to successful habit formation. Even the smallest subtask must always be completed. William James observed that forming a new habit is like winding a ball. The longer we can wind the thread without dropping it, the further we will move. If we drop the ball and the thread unwinds, we will have to start over.
But: everyone has the right to make a mistake! Old habits that you have lived with for many years tend to come back in situations of stress or fatigue, and if something doesn’t work out, don’t give up, keep going. In this process, as in a round dance, you can enter anywhere. Life did not end at this hitch, let’s move on!
Additional hints
- What is written with a pen, do not take it out with an ax.
Any plan, as long as it is only in your imagination, is only a dream. Write down your plans and they will turn into a goal! Also — celebrate your successes and achievements, in any convenient way highlight what has been done and achieved — this will be a good incentive and reward.
- Anywhere is more fun together!
Tell your loved ones about your project — it will help in the case when you want to give up on everything, and in the case when you want to understand how far you have come.
For other helpful self-organization tips, see →