4 Steps to Lifelong Habit Shifts

In order for us to change our behavior, we must change our habits. Habits are something we do on a regular basis, and typically are hard to give up.

We all have habits. Some are the things that keep us healthy like brushing our teeth or exercising, others are habits that we have developed over time and struggle to change like staying up too late, negative self talk or drinking too much caffeine.

Imagine today making just a 1% change in the direction you want with ONE habit. The toughest part is going from 0-1— once you move the needle you will face some resistance but with practice, you will create the discipline to have lasting healthier habits.

There are lots of great books on habits, here are TWO I highly recommend now:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear and
• Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg.

In both of these books, the authors remind us that in order to change anything we must focus on the most granular steps.

Let’s think about habits for a moment. Imagine if you had to think through EVERY single decision you made each day:

Do I enjoy this cup of coffee?
Do I want to workout right now?
Do I actually feel like going to happy hour?

Oftentimes we do things on autopilot. Today we are going to work on mentally shifting to bring awareness to our current habits and see where we can make minor adjustments.

Habits are formed in small, incremental shifts over time. There is a system when it comes to habits:
Cue, routine, reward. (according to James Clear, Atomic Habits). The cue is our trigger which causes us to crave something give a response and then get a reward. Then it loops back to the cue. In order to change this cycle we need to understand all 3 parts.

The best news is you can change your habits at any point in your life. If there is something you do habitually and become aware that you do not want to do that anymore, you can change.

That’s right. Whatever brought you here to read about habits means that you are interested in changing or modifying something, and let’s celebrate because you CAN.

Let’s say you want to eat healthier— start by doing ONE thing to bring you close to that, like instead of eating five pieces of pizza; you only eat four… then three… and eventually you may even be satisfied with just one or two.

To create or change a habit, we will use the WAVE system to break it down.

What Are The Four Habits?

Part 1 - What Does This Behavior Change Mean to You?

First, you think about a habit you want to change, and we will use regular exercise as an example. Let’s say you want to create a healthy exercise habit in your life. First, we will start with defining what that means.

What does it mean to be WELL to you? When it comes to exercise, does it mean daily exercise? Does it mean signing up for a marathon? Before jumping into a new habit, define what that means to you.

WHY is it important to create this habit into your routine?

If you are a parent or have a pet, you know that feeling of doing ANYTHING for your kids? That is WHY power. We get this deep belief and follow through with actions to be GOOD parents. Maybe today is a day we can look at small ways to reparent ourselves with that same WHY power. 🙂

Part 2 - Where are you now?

Awareness is essential with everything we do. Often we run around going through the motions without really even being aware of WHY we are doing what we do. It’s just a habit, good or bad, we do it.

So let’s pause here to bring awareness to where we are RIGHT now in terms of exercise. Do you exercise at all?

If so, bring awareness to how much. If you don’t bring awareness to a time in your day that maybe you can squeeze 20 minutes in for your physical self-care.

Part 3 - Picture Yourself Healthy

VISION is KEY to creating change in our lives. What we think we believe, what we believe we become. Whether you think you can or you can not is true because that is what you are telling yourself.

Once again I repeat You are WHOLE and worthy at this moment wherever you are on your journey. You are worthy of health and happiness just as am I. Now without guilt or shame, I want you to imagine yourself healthy.

What do you feel like? What do you wear? What do you notice when you imagine yourself well? Paint the most crystal clear image of you exercising regularly. (Remember that is the example we are using for this one).

What are some healthy things you can reward yourself with? Often times we think of the reward as a cookie or fancy dinner but rewards can be anything! Start to think of some healthy rewards you can gift yourself for making tiny shifts.

Part 4 - No Excuses Just Action

To make this vision become a reality, it's time we put our warrior suit on and get moving, literally.

Now that you know what it looks like, what you can do in your life, and what it means to be healthy through exercise - it is time to take ACTION.

This is my favorite part of the WAVE system. It also becomes a steady discipline when we use this model to break things down. There are many things out of our control, but there are also many things we can do regardless of whatever else is going on around us.

One of those things is, in this case of exercise. Start moving. Create an action plan. What can you commit to realistically? 20 min 5 times per week? Everyday stretch? A daily walk between work calls?

What is ONE thing you can commit to for the next 6 weeks or more to increase your exercise wellness bank? Remember the places we put our energy into are going to be where we see results and this goes both ways!

Also, the environment is KEY. Set yourself up for success by creating some TOOLS within your home to feel rewarded for the good things you do.

Many of my clients map out their week ahead of time on the weekend to know what days they will exercise and how.

Some even layout workout clothes the night before the gym and an accountability partner who can keep them going even when motivation wears off.

It takes time, in fact, the old saying of 21 days to make or break a habit is not 100% true.

However, if you are doing something like exercise for 21 days, you will start to feel and reap some benefits, making you want more of the feel-good hormones.

According to the most recent study, the actual time takes us anywhere from 66-204 days. James Clear has a brilliant article about here: https://jamesclear.com/new-habit.

If you haven’t picked up his book “Atomic Habits,” I highly suggest grabbing that or listening to it on audible. It is easy to digest and packed with tangible action steps you can take TODAY to make lasting changes.

Some Other Good Articles on Forming Habits

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mental-health-2022_l_61cb81f6e4b0bcd2194ea1e9

https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-science-of-forming-healthy-habits