How Micro-Habits Can Change Your Life
Disclaimer: I am not a professional advisor. Nothing in this post should be used as professional advice. I am simply sharing my personal experience and what I have observed in regards to wellness. Please contact a professional advisor if you are in need of further advice.
Real Talk
Forming good habits is hard, but breaking bad ones is even harder. A good ole cliche we have all been told one time or another. Even if it’s a phrase that more than likely seemed like an annoying and repetitive blurb to our young minds, it’s one that reveals a helpful tool and a naked truth throughout our adulthood. Habits can disclose a lot about ourselves. They can tell us what goals we are reaching, but also reveal which areas of our lives that need improving. If you are looking to implement more self-discipline into your routine and become a better version of yourself, the best way to do so is by using the concept of Micro-habits.
Why are Habits Important?
Let’s first discuss what habits are and the difference between the good, the bad and the ugly. A habit is a learned tendency that is practiced by an individual regularly. Some examples of a good habit are getting some form of exercise often or meditating everyday. Habits form when they are practiced on a regular or daily basis. Whether you are looking to watch less TV at night, eat healthier, or get to bed earlier, you have to take the initiative to practice that habit every single day. Just like forming good habits, bad habits can also form by being practiced daily. These tendencies can range anywhere from going to bed late, leaving dirty dishes in the sink, or procrastinating any other important tasks for days on end. In order to get rid of these unhealthy patterns we have to replace them with healthy ones.
So how do micro-habits fit into the equation? Micro-habits serve as the stepping stones into creating those big and helpful tendencies that will make you the best version of yourself. You can consider them to be the small daily behaviors that encourage you to improve your routine and the specific areas of your life that lack your focus. An example of one of these small behaviors is one that I tackled as soon as I heard about this concept. It’s making your bed every single morning! This is something I never did as a kid. My parents never explicitly worried about my bed being made, so it never really concerned me either. Simply making my bed every morning as an adult, however, has symbolized a stepping stone that allowed me to create a morning routine. Once I got up and made my bed every morning it led me to brushing my teeth right afterwards. Those two practices then led me to making a healthy breakfast…and so on and so forth. Start by choosing something small and slowly implement it into your routine!
How do I get started?
Maybe you are someone who needs some kind of reward in place in order to motivate you to complete your goals. Maybe rewards mean nothing to you, but removing temptations or distractions that might be in the way of your goals is important for you to get to where you want to be. Whatever the case may be, it is important to first check in with yourself and understand what works for you and what doesn’t. Once we become aware of our minds and how they work, we can build our mental strength and become more self disciplined.
Just like I started using this process by making my bed every morning, it is best to start small and simple. Find something small that you would like to implement into your daily routine…(this could be as simple as drinking a glass of water as soon as you wake up every morning). If you can’t seem to get it done or if you are having trouble remembering to do the task daily, make it easier on yourself! Simply write it down on a sticky note and stick it on your mirror or set an alarm for the specific time you’d like to complete that task each day. It may also be helpful to complete each task with a friend or family member, so you can keep each other accountable. Once you incorporate one small step into your routine, work to implement other tasks in as well. It may not look perfect in the beginning but practicing these small tasks - or micro-habits - every single day will help you get on the right track to reaching your goals.
Soooo what was all that yapping about?
Lets sum up the steps it takes to incorporate micro-habits into our lives.
Start small and simple! Find a task you would like to start completing.
Become aware of what motivates you to complete your goals.
Remind yourself to complete the goal by writing it down, setting an alarm or completing it with a loved one.
Once you feel you have turned that task into a habit keep implementing more tasks or restart the process with another task!
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