How to Achieve Your Habit Goals More Easily

You’ve made a goal. You’re finally going to address that habit. You know the one. You’ve been talking about doing this for a long time now, and you feel good because now you have a deadline. You’ve got this handled.

 

Or do you?

 

Whether you’re trying to break an old habit or instill a new one, the thought has always been that if you make a positive decision toward change, that’s already half the battle. But more often than not, these lofty goals fall by the wayside in fairly short order. Why?

 

The problem with goal-setting is that we’re focusing on the wrong goal. We say we want to lose 25 pounds by swimsuit season or to stop smoking by Christmas. But without a plan in place to make that happen, nothing is going to happen, even if you have what seems like a reasonable timeline in place.

 

What you forgot was how to make a plan, a roadmap for getting there.

 

So, what can you do?

 

1. Break down the task into small goals. If you want to lose those 25 pounds, then how are you going to do it? Maybe you want to exercise more and watch your diet. So make a goal for each week instead. For this particular goal that might mean changing out a meal for a protein shake every day and going to the gym three times a week. Whatever your goal, figure out the steps you need to get there.

 

2. Put those tasks on a schedule. Now that you know what the pieces are, how are you going to make them fall into place? So if you’re planning on going to the gym three times a week, then put that on your calendar. Or create a meal plan and post it somewhere you’re going to see it.

 

3. Track your Progress. Change is slow, so having a visual cue will help you see that in fact, you are making positive strides toward your goal. Remember those sticker charts we had as children? They work on adults too. Or mark on your calendar so you can see at a glance when you’re making progress.

 

4. Don’t worry about the end date. Maybe progress might not be as fast as you’d like. The fact that you’re making progress means you’re heading in the right direction. Keep going! 

 

You can change habits with time and effort. In this case though? It’s more about the journey more than the destination. Make a solid plan and whatever your goal, you’ll get there!

 

Are Success Habits Right for You?

You have probably seen lots of articles about the habits of the highly successful or wealthiest people. It may be that you've read them and wondered if any or all of those habits would be right for you. Would you achieve success if you followed them?

 

The good news is that the success habits of these people are habits that anyone can adopt in their own lives to achieve the success that they desire. After all many of these highly successful people started out from places similar to where you are. They just took action to change their minds and their lives.

 

If you are completely happy with every aspect of your personal and professional lives, then you will probably not want to make any changes. However, it may be that if you look at yourself really closely that you will find something that you want to improve. 

 

Ask yourself the following questions. Be totally honest with yourself in your answers.

 

• Is your life fulfilling? 

• Do you feel happy and contented?

• Do you live comfortably with enough to save for retirement and unexpected emergencies? 

• Are you really happy in your job or is there something else that you really want to do to earn your living?

• Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years or even 20 years?

• Is that where you want to be?

 

If you answered 'No' to any or all of the questions above, then you are ready to change your mind and your life by developing success habits.

 

By deciding to take the initiative and develop new habits dedicated to success and change you will be able to create the life and future you want.

 

What are the success habits that you could develop?

 

Prioritization: knowing what tasks are important and doing those first. Keeping lists can help you prioritize.

 

Goal setting: identifying goals and knowing what to do to achieve them.

 

Waking early: getting up even half an hour earlier each day can help you create a more effective routine and start to your day. Many of the most successful people get up 2-3 hours before starting work each day.

 

Visualization: being able to visualize what you want and what you and your life will look like when you achieve it is a powerful habit for developing success.

 

Exercise and diet: eating healthily and developing an exercise regime is another key habit for success. The mind and body are inter-connected.

 

Self-knowledge: knowing yourself really well is an essential habit for success. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses is important. Eric Thomas, the Hip Hop Preacher, said, “Ask the real you to stand up.” By knowing yourself you can then identify the future you really wish to create.

 

Networking: meeting people who are successful in the area you wish to develop success in can help you gain knowledge, tips and insight. You will also create friendships, partnerships and surround yourself with positive role models.

 

Success habits are not exclusive to the rich and famous. They are valuable habits that can enrich your life regardless of age, gender or ethnicity. If you want a happy and fulfilling personal and professional life then you need to start cultivating these habits today.

 

Building Habits Slowly is the Foundation for Success

When I worked in New York City, I found myself getting into some bad habits. I took the train to work and got off at the station that was closest to my office. I had a checkup and my doctor was not very happy with my numbers. I needed to change my ways. She said I needed to get more exercise and eat better.

 

I did some research on diets and found that adding more fiber to my diet was a great way to be fuller and hence eat less. I started eating oatmeal frequently for breakfast and increased my intake of fruits and vegetables. I didn’t give up sweets altogether but scaled back on them significantly. But I didn’t do this all at once. I incorporated these diet changes over several weeks.

 

As for my exercise, I decided to start walking. Even here, I started out slowly. For about a week or two, I decided to get off at the train station that was a couple blocks away from where I worked (both to and from work). As I got used to the pace, I started taking the train station two stops away from my work. Since this took longer to walk, I had to increase my pace a bit in order to make sure I wasn’t late for work.

 

I continued this process of choosing train stops further away from my office until I was walking about three miles per day. I was also power walking because of the distance. Because I built this up slowly, it became a natural part of my routine and I found myself eager to walk.

 

In my next checkup, the doctor was amazed at my results and told me to keep doing what I was doing. My results weren’t just an improvement. She told me the results of my checkup were fantastic.

 

The point is not necessarily to go to work in New York City (unless you want to). It’s that I was able to build up good habits by doing so in a slow and steady manner. Had I tried to walk three miles in that first week, I don’t believe I would have been successful. By making small changes over the course of several months, it became a part of my life and something that I enjoyed doing.

 

Of course, during the times when there was bad weather, I did scale back my walking on those days. But it just made me more willing to get back to it the next day.

Contributed Article

 

Easily Make Exercising Daily a Habit

We all know we’re supposed to stay active, but how many of us have struggled with making exercise a daily habit? 

 

When we exercise throughout the week, we build our bodies, keeping our energy levels high, which makes for added productivity. But exercise is also good for us in other ways. Exercise helps you to sleep better and keeps you generally healthier as you age. Exercise not only keeps your body in top form but leads to better moods and overall mental health.

 

So how do you make exercise a daily habit? Follow these step-by-step instructions, and you’ll be on the road to building this healthy habit in no time!

 

1. Set time aside in your schedule. Being deliberate about when you exercise means that it’s more likely to happen, even when life is busy. Also, it trains your body that it’s time to move at a specific time each day. Before long, you’ll find yourself craving movement and the many benefits it offers.

 

2. Use your smartphone. Set a reminder on your phone for when it’s time to exercise, so you don’t forget.

 

3. Prepare yourself. Lay out your exercise clothes and gear the night before so you can’t use the excuse that you don’t have time to find everything. Keep your exercise bag right near the door and ready to go.

 

4. Just leave when ready. Is it time to go? Don’t overthink it. Just go whether you feel like it or not. Your body will click into gear once you get started. 

 

5. Take baby steps. By starting small, you won’t overwhelm yourself, or worse, do damage to a body not ready for a heavy workout. You can always increase your time/reps later when you become fitter.

 

6. Keep it fun and interesting. Noting screams boredom more than the same routine day after day. Mix up what you’re doing – run a new route or try a new exercise machine at the gym. Adding new types of exercise also makes sure you are working all your different muscles too.

 

7. Take a break – occasionally. As you build your new healthy habit, you don’t want to skip days. Consistency is key. However, it’s good to have the occasional lighter exercise day when you’ve recently upped your game or when you are especially tired or sick. 

 

Once you make exercise a daily habit, you’ll come to look forward to it. You won’t even think about it; you’lljust do it. With so much benefit, it’s obvious that keeping a daily exercise habit is essential to a happier and healthier you!

 

Develop the Growth Mindset Habit

When deciding what new habit to pursue, it’s easy to look at all the things we shouldn’t do as a place to begin. We want to stop smoking or stress eating. We want to learn how to say ‘no’ or to quit spending so much time on social media.

 

Have you ever considered the flipside of all that by building a habit that’s positive? What if the habit you formed was one of growth and personal development?

 

Having a growth mindset positively impacts your life in multiple ways, so it’s a great healthy habit to build into your life. What are the benefits of developing a growth mindset?

 

1. You keep learning. Learning is important as you not only discover new ways to do things, but by making a practice of constantly learning, you develop new ways of thinking, and new ideas. Learning connects you with more of the world and helps you see things with a deeper significance than you ever thought possible. But more than that, people who stop learning very quickly stagnate. Studies have shown that the practice of learning new things when you are older helps ward off problems related to dementia. In short, learning is good for your brain!

 

2. You learn perseverance. As we learn new things, we adapt and change how we think. That gives us the ability to see other solutions to problems that would have frustrated us in the past. By challenging yourself to grow, you learn how to push through obstacles and find new paths.

 

3. You learn how to embrace challenges. Growth can be challenging. But by pushing yourself to grow, that means you’re also pushing yourself to look at challenges differently. An obstacle now becomes an opportunity to learn something new and to do things in a way you haven’t before. 

 

4. You learn how to embrace failure. When you’re interested in growing as an individual, you start to see failure differently. Everything becomes a potential lesson in a way that you didn’t think would work. 

 

5. You become more open to criticism. By being willing to grow, you start to see that the input of other people has significance. You see their words not so much as something negative, but something you can use to develop as a person and learn something about yourself. You might not always like the lesson, but that’s part of growing too.

 

By embracing personal growth, you find the best version of yourself. You’re able to become more than you ever thought possible, and then you turn that around by finding out that you can become more still. You’ll find that the furthest edges of yourself are far beyond what you thought you ever could be. 

 

7 Small Habits that Will Change Your Life

It’s hard to imagine sometimes that small things can have such a deep impact. But if you’ve ever doubted the impact of tiny actions then think about how erosion created the Grand Canyon. Over time, something as small as sand, water, and rock have created one of the most awesome of nature’s miracles.

 

So too will small habits affect your life in such a way as to create lasting and significant change. Read on and find some habits you can start immediately implementing that will begin reshaping you into the person that you’ve always been meant to be. 

 

1. Get up on time. Starting the day with multiple hits of the snooze alarm sets a bad tone for the rest of the day. You obviously set the alarm with the intention of rising at that hour – why are you breaking that promise to yourself? By getting up on time, you’re putting a positive start on the day. Shouldn’t you give yourself the best odds of a good day as possible? 

 

2. Eat healthily at every meal. It’s hard to feel energized when you’re slogging along on a diet filled with fats and sugars. When you put more healthy choices onto your plate, you will feel better. Your mind will be sharper, and you'll be better energized to get through the day. Start small. Add a salad to your meal. Or replace dessert with that piece of fruit instead.

 

3. Exercise. Before you get caught up on thinking you need a lot of fancy equipment or huge time investment to feel good, think again. Start small. Try taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator.

 

4. Read more. Dedicating a half hour of every day to your mind means that you’re constantly sharpening your saw and exposing yourself to new ideas. Pick books that inspire you or encourage you to think.

 

5. Realize you’re an ‘idea’ person. Make a goal of writing down a few ideas every day. Some researchers suggest ten but even one new idea a day means that you’ve got source material to draw from when you’re looking for something with which to challenge yourself.

 

6. Become more mindful. Meditate. Even starting small has the positive impact of reducing stress, lowering your heart rate, and bringing a mind that’s running in a million directions at once back on track. 

 

7. Think about your day. When you finish the day, reflect on your accomplishments. Focus on the things you’re proud of, on the things that made you smile.

 

None of these items should take very long – even 15 or 30 minutes a day on some of these is enough to create lasting change. What you’re going to find out very quickly is that by practicing these habits you’ll not only feel better, you’ll like the person that you’re becoming. That is building ‘you’ at your best. If a small change can do all that, then isn’t it time you got started?

 

Setting Up Your Environment for Better Habits

When you are trying to develop good habits, the environment you have set up for yourself can make or break whether you succeed. You want to give yourself the biggest chance of success. It can really help when your surroundings are at their optimal settings.

 

Keep your environment clutter free. There is nothing worse than trying to focus on good habit development than having to fight through a wall of clutter. If you are looking to be more productive, for instance, it won’t help if you are spending a good portion of your day looking for where you put things. Clutter has a negative psychological effect on people. It limits your space.

 

It’s not just physical clutter that’s a problem. Virtual clutter can be just as problematic. If you are spending lots of time wading through emails or searching your disk for files that you saved weeks ago, this is just as limiting as sifting through papers on your desk. There is even such a thing as phone clutter where people spend too much time talking on the phone.

 

Organization is going to be a big help in reeling in clutter. Come up with a good system for both the physical and the virtual assets. There are plenty of books and seminars that exist to help you get a handle on the clutter problem. You can look at solving your clutter problem as developing a new habit.

 

Another important aspect of your environment is mental. If you are stressed out, this is going to take away from your ability to develop good habits. You’ll focus on what is stressing you out and it will become your central target. Without taking the proper measures to reduce that stress, it will be difficult to make any progress with your habit development.

 

There are several ways to reduce stress. The first is to take steps to resolve any situations that you have control over which are causing you to be stressed. If your bills are getting out of hand, try taking on some extra work to make that more manageable. For stress that is caused that is not within your control, consider such activities as exercise and meditation. While these won’t take away those stressful situations, it will make them much easier to manage them. Both of these activities have been proven to help your mind and body reduce the effects caused by stress.

 

8 Steps to Success with Small Habits

What if I told you that you could succeed with small habits?

 

After trying and failing so many times to create the new, more positive habits you crave, is it any wonder that by now you’re probably a little gun-shy about the process? But the truth is, most attempts at forming new habits fail, simply because you’ve tried to bite off more than you can chew. Using small habits instead, you approach your life in a new way, by taking charge in tiny bite-size chunks. Meaning that not only is change possible but so is the ability to become that person you always knew you could be. 

 

How do you create a small habit successfully?

 

1. Don’t try to change the world overnight. Start with just one new habit and then go from there.

 

2. Make a commitment. Not every habit is created equal, and some take longer to embed in your mind than others. But, one thing is true. The longer you perform the same activity day after day, the more success you will have in creating that habit. Decide right now that you’re going to give this new habit at least 3 – 4 weeks to give it a proper start.

 

3. Link the habit to something that already works. If you have a successful habit already in place, ask yourself what small thing you can attach to that habit. For example, you might already be brushing your teeth every day. How hard would it be to add flossing to that routine?

 

4. Keep it small. Knowing that most habit formation fails because you’re trying to do too much too soon, then make a point to keep the changes very small. Mini-habits have a much higher rate of success than trying to create a great big change.

 

5. Have a disaster plan in place. Knowing that things are going to go wrong from the start helps you to be ready when they do. Can’t jog today because it’s raining? That’s ok, you’ve got an entirely different workout in place as a Plan B.

 

6. Grab a friend. The only way to keep on track, especially when building habits, is to use your network. Have an accountability partner or use social media to keep you honest.

 

7. Reward yourself. Celebrate every little milestone with a reward, something that makes sense and will encourage you to keep going when you’re flagging.

 

8. Redefine yourself. Accept that this is the new you. The habits you’re building are going to change who you are – hopefully for the better. Embrace the new identity.

 

By following these steps, you not only will succeed when applying small habits to your life but over time you’ll see some amazing growth and development as a person. That’s pretty exciting, especially when you consider how little you had to do to get there.

 

Why Knowing What Success Means is Crucial to Succeeding

When you go on a journey you know where you are starting from, where you are going and how you are going to get there. If you want to bring success into your life, then those same elements are key. To create success, you must know what success means to you. Success is different for everyone so there is no 'one size fits all' way to achieve it.

 

To discover what success means to you is a simple process. Follow the steps below and you can create a plan to achieve the success you desire in whatever area of your personal or professional life you choose. You will discover the success habits you need to build into your life to achieve your goal.

 

First, you need to decide what you want to achieve (your goal) to be successful. Write it down. Be very descriptive and use the present tense.

 

Write down why achieving this is important to you. What does it mean to you? How motivated are you to achieve this goal?

 

Then, write down how you will feel when you achieve your goal. How will your life change? Again, be very descriptive and write using the present tense.

 

Next, write down your current situation and how that makes you feel. Although that is how you feel right now try writing it in the past tense. This will begin to change the way you think about your situation and move towards creating the success you want. Your mind will begin to distance itself from your current situation and begin to believe that you are moving towards your goal.

 

You now have your starting and ending points on your journey to success. Now you need to fill in how you are going to get there.

 

What needs to change to make your situation change and to get you from where you are to achieving your goal of success? Write down each step. You will find that you will need to look at your mind-set, behavior and habits.

 

Identify potential blocks to achieving your goal. Write them down and add how you will overcome them.

 

By completing the tasks above you are undertaking one of the key success habits; goal setting. You are also learning to know yourself better which is another habit for success because self-knowledge and positive mind-set will help you identify your goal, understand what success means to you and create a plan that will help you achieve it.

 

To achieve success, you need to understand what success is, what it means to you and how you will achieve it.

 

5 Hindrances To Self-Sufficiency

‘Self-reliance is the only road to true freedom, and being one’s own person is its ultimate reward.’ Patricia Sampson.

 

Nothing gives you more control over your own life than being independent. Being able to rely on yourself, without constantly seeking the opinion or approval of others, will get you very far. It helps you to be decisive and allows you to go after the things you desire. 

 

There are a lot of misconceptions around self-sufficiency, with some arguing that it breeds egotism and narcissism. Self-reliance eliminates the need to depend on others in a way that does not allow you to make up your mind without consulting them. It is about being able to carry your weight. People shun self-sufficiency because they think it means carrying all the burden of hardships on your own and not needing the company or support of other people.

 

Instead, self-sufficiency is rooted in the need to discover your strength and potential. It is about having the courage to step out and be who you want to be without being apologetic about it. It is about being confident enough to live on your terms without feeling the need to conform to the standards of other people. More than anything, it teaches you to trust yourself to make the right choices and navigate through life without being limited by what other people think of you. 

 

A self-sufficient person makes tough decisions and takes risks. They find the strength to author their own stories. They take responsibility for their life without leaning too much on other people. 

 

The benefits of self-dependence.

 

There is beauty to be found in being able to rely on your strength and abilities. To make it in today’s competitive world, you need to hold your own. Discovering your potential puts you on the path to success. 

 

You learn a lot about your strengths when you have to rely on yourself.

 

Being self-sufficient boosts your confidence. It feeds your self-worth. Independent people often have high self-esteem. They are always up for a challenge because they know their strength can carry them to great heights. Self-confidence allows you to be bold. It gives you the courage to do what no one else is willing to do, which is an ingredient for success.

 

Another benefit of being self-reliant is the ability to think independently. This gives you control over your life. You have the power to make decisions that are best for you when you are not too reliant on the thoughts and opinions of others. Many people miss life-changing opportunities because they care too much about what people say. Being an independent thinker allows you to silence skeptics. You can develop a positive outlook by being in control of your thoughts.

 

Barriers to self-sufficiency.

 

While being self-reliant is amazing and has many benefits, there are hindrances to it. If you are not wary of them, you will lose your ability to control your life, which can be frustrating.

 

There are five barriers that you need to watch out for to live an independent life.

 

Lack of confidence in yourself.

 

Low self-esteem will stop you from being self-sufficient. If you feel inadequate, you can never trust your abilities. You can never make your own decisions. Believe in yourself and what you have to live an independent life. Be sure where you want to go and what you want to achieve. The more you develop confidence in what you stand for, the more assertive you become. This will make room for you to succeed.

 

The need for validation.

 

We are all guilty of seeking approval. We care too much about what other people think of us. This leads us to do things, not because we want to, but because we believe it will get us to be accepted by society. Many people are miserable today because they live according to other people’s standards. They want to bend so much to what people say they ought to be. To live a fulfilling life, you need to know that the only approval you need is your own. You do not need other people’s permission to pursue your dreams. Rid yourself of the need to be validated.

 

Overdependence.

 

While no man is an island, there is a fine line between needing help and being over-dependent on others. If you base your happiness on another person’s actions, or fail to decide without consulting other people, then there is a problem. Being needy will not help your personal development. To grow, you need to take responsibility for your own life and make your own decisions. 

 

Clinging to your past. 

 

Everyone has a past. If you constantly look back to the failed relationships and missed opportunities, you will not make much progress in your life. You need to let go of the past to step into your future. Get over the mistakes you made when you were younger. They do not have to define who you are or dictate where you are going. To discover your potential, stop camping in the past.

 

Fear.

 

Many people live within the clutches of fear. They are afraid to take responsibility for their lives. They are afraid of making decisions and taking risks. The possibility of failure leads them to average lives where they do not go after what they want. Knowing that failure is a normal part of life allows you control over how you react to it. You should never allow your life to be limited or your potential to be thwarted by fear.

 

To become more self-sufficient, you must know the barriers that you can put up against your independence.

 

‘It is astonishing what man can do when he has no one to do it for him, but himself.’ Eric Paskel.

 

5 Steps To Self-Sufficiency

 

While it is true that no man is an island, we also can’t deny the power that lies in one’s ability to survive with little to no help from others. The quality of life nowadays is not making it easier for anyone to put their trust in any man. We are living in a fast-paced world. At face value, it would seem that everyone else around you has it all figured out. Yet, the reality is that there are carefully selected moments that are also modified enough to give spectators an idea of perfection. Everyone seems to have an idea of how certain aspects of life should work. Yet, not so many seem to care to implement any of it. The point is, our world is already complex and people have their ideas of what life is or should be. As such, you might need to find your path and be prepared to walk it alone at some point if you want more out of life.

 

Living a purposeful and satisfying life is almost impossible when what is meant to be a personal journey becomes more of a community project. Often, he who has the means controls the outcomes. Thus, the help we get from people often comes at a price. For some, this happens at the expense of their dreams and purpose. Independence protects us from such. It allows us to write our stories our way and makes it easier to repel any influence that is likely to derail us. It is rare to have people support what they are opposed to or think is against the current normalcy. Life doesn’t have to be that boring and limited! Hence, the need for individuals to be able to sustain themselves financially and psychologically as they work on their dreams. 

 

There is no doubt, however, that self-sufficiency is not something that you just wake up and start doing randomly. It is a lifestyle that requires you to put your mind to it and carefully consider how you would navigate through life once you go that route. The following can help start and maintain an independent life:

 

1.  Know what you want – the first step to starting a new life is knowing what you want and why you want it. Without a goal or reason for the life you are choosing, you will not have a reason to continue when you face challenges along the way. Knowing what you want is often a constant reminder of why you should keep going despite the hurdles you keep coming across. It also gives you direction. Thus, it makes it easier to make choices and figure out the necessary steps to take to have what you can call a successful and meaningful life. In this case, you will know what you lose every time you ask people for help. For example, you might be missing out on opportunities to grow or discover and use your strengths.

 

2.  Prepare yourself mentally – once you know what you want, you should mentally prepare yourself for that life. You should know and acknowledge that the journey won’t always be easy. Most importantly, you should also have plans as to what you will do when the journey gets tougher. Contrary to popular belief, independence has more to do with the mind than physical possessions. It is mostly rooted in knowing and accepting your situation, plans to do more with your life, and learning to live within your means. It also takes mental strength to enable you to stay focused in all of your encounters. Self-sufficiency is not sustainable without such a mindset. This applies to the rich as well because they risk losing it all and going back to dependency if they lack these qualities.

 

3.  Align your budget – this is a crucial part of an independent life as alluded to previously. If you were good at managing your finances before your journey to independence, then you need to get better. Overspending shifts from spending recklessly to include spending on important things that may not be urgent or necessary. You need to ensure that your spending allows you to save for your other plans as well as emergencies. In short, all that is required financially is that you learn to live within your means. Ensure that your lifestyle is in sync with your plans.

 

4.  Set boundaries – boundaries are everything. Set boundaries for yourself and others. You can hardly live an independent life when you don’t limit your movements and everyone has easy access to you. Limit the type of people you spend your time with, and how you spend your time. Doing that will help you stay clear of any drama while you spend time on what is more important. However, this is not the equivalent of being mean to people and not offering a hand where it’s needed. Just be disciplined. 

 

5.  Change your habits – our repeated actions, especially ones that we do impulsively, make up a greater part of our lives than we realize. They often work against our will and pull us back to the exact things that we are fighting. These include how we handle stress and certain hobbies. An independent life requires you to have habits that will help you stay focused and maximize every moment of your life. Thus, although taking breaks from your scheduled tasks is important, the activities we do for amusement should be planned and regulated. For example, if you are planning to watch TV, ensure that you don’t find yourself doing it in place of a task. The session shouldn’t last longer than planned just because the show got more interesting. Cultivating habits that align with your goals will also help get the most out of your time. You can watch documentaries and other educational shows instead of movies.