Since quarantine began, I’m sure you’ve heard of a million different healthy habits to start to get you in the best shape of your life. I’ve found myself staring at this long list of healthy habits I’m somehow supposed to adopt into my life feeling extremely overwhelmed. Once I have my list of healthy habits to start, how do I decide which ones are actually going to benefit me, and which ones will just add more stress into my life?
I wanted to touch on how we build healthy habits that lead to our success. Not just healthy habits that will help you lost five pounds or finally get that six pack, but healthy habits that will leave a lasting impact on your daily life. I’m here to help you discover which habits are helping and which habits are actually unhealthy.
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Don't adopt habits, create healthy habits
The keyword in the title of this post is build. I don’t want to share with you how to adopt healthy habits or which habits to adopt, but I want to teach you how to build healthy habits that work for you!
If you want to create habits that lead to success, you can’t get there by looking up healthy habits on Pinterest. For example, I stumbled upon a post that had 101 healthy habits for women. I don’t know about you but that’s a little more than I can handle.
Tip number one is to stop showering the internet for habits you need in your life. Instead, I want you to sit down for a second and think through a few things.
- What healthy habits do you already that are working well for you?
- What areas of your life have you established healthy habits? (ex. financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically)
- What areas of your life are lacking healthy habits?
- Are the habits you have in place leading to your success?
- Do any of your habits cause you stress? Is there enough time in your day for these habits?
- How did these habits come about? Did you create them, or did someone tell you to adopt them?
Once you’ve journaled through these questions, you’re ready to start building healthy habits. These questions are meant to help you narrow down what things are already working for you, and what things aren’t. You probably have some pretty unhealthy habits in your life you didn’t even know about! Habits that lead to success are formed in all areas of our lives. It’s important to take a quick note of which areas are lacking before we begin creating much needed healthy habits.
Start with the good
As humans, we have a tendency to jump straight to the things we’re doing wrong, or the areas of our lives where we aren’t “measuring up”. Let’s break that cycle here today and start by focusing on the things we are doing right in our lives. Before we try to build healthy habits, let’s look at habits that have already been built.
I’m sure many of you have some daily habits already in place. Maybe you start the morning by reading the Bible for 10 minutes. Perhaps, you have a workout routine that works well for you. I want you to focus on those habits for a second. Think about why they work so well for you. How did you establish them? Why do you prioritize them?
Focusing on the good habits we already have allows us to see we’re already good at building healthy habits. These good habits that are working for you can tell you a lot about how to build healthy habits in the future. Take some time in your day to focus on the good habits, and use that to fuel your desire to build more.
Now, asses the bad
Now that you know what is already working, you can clearly see which areas are in need of some major work. We all have those areas of our lives we’ve been talking about changing for years. For me, it’s a healthy lifestyle. I’ve been wanting to adopt more healthy foods into my diet, along with an exercise routine I love. Maybe you can relate, or maybe you are struggling with adopting habits for financial success, success in relationships, better grades, or a number of other things. Those of you who aren’t as skilled at creating healthy habits may need some help in more than one area, and that’s okay!
What’s most important about all of this is recognizing a need for change. Realizing you have a problem and wanting to do something about it, is the first step to success.
Start small
Once you’ve assed the areas of your life that need some help, it can be easy to want to try and fix them all right away. The best advice I can give is to slow down. Pause here and take a deep breath. You are going to reach those goals, and you will establish healthy habits that last, but you can’t do that unless you start small.
Start by choosing one area that could use the most work:
- Do you want to work on financial success?
- Are you looking to create healthier relationships with people in your life?
- Do you want to work on getting better grades or overall academic success?
- Is it time to start creating habits that lead to starting your own business or pursuing a new passion?
- Do you want to get better about spending time with the Lord?
- Are you wanting to create a fitness routine you love and can stick to?
Once you have that one area narrowed down, it’s time to create ONE, yes I said ONE, healthy habit that will lead to success. For example, if I’m looking to spend more time with the Lord, I might make my healthy habit: I’m going to wake up 10 minutes earlier each day and dedicate those 10 minutes to reading my bible.
Do you see how easy that was? My step towards success in my spiritual wellness began with only 10 minutes. I changed one thing in my life to start building healthy habits. That’s the key, my friends, changing one small thing in your life is going to lead to years of successful habit building.
When we focus on one thing, we are able to dedicate time and energy into making it happen. See, habits don’t just form by doing a task one time. Healthy habits form over time through repetition. Once we have done something enough, it becomes second nature, therefore, a habit. In order to do that, it’s best to choose just one thing you can change. Once you’ve truly adopted the habit, you can begin creating a healthy habit in a new area of your life.
Prioritize your new habit
This is so, so important for creating healthy habits that last. In the beginning, your habit isn’t going to come naturally. Most likely it’s something new you’ve adopted in your routine, and unless you make the time for it, nothing’s going to change.
Leave sticky notes around the house so you don’t forget. Put reminders in your phone. Tell your friends and family about your new habit. Set yourself up for success. If your goal is to wake up earlier, don’t stay up late watching Netflix. It’s as simple as making an effort to put this new habit first.
Celebrate your success
More often than not, we choose to focus on the one day out of seven we happened to sleep through our alarm and miss our time with Jesus. Building new habits is tough and you have to learn to give yourself grace. It’s okay if you miss a day or two or three. Instead of focusing on all the times you messed up, try to focus on all the ways your life has changed for the better.
Make a checklist and at the end of the week celebrate those days you did get up early! Even if it’s just one day. No matter how small your success are, they are worth celebrating. If you really want to build healthy habits, you have to start believing that you can. That begins with a positive attitude, a willingness to forgive yourself, and a voice that only encourages.
Purchase items to help you
Find a planner, an app, or another item that is going to help you stick to your goals. A few of my favorite items for keeping track of my goals and creating healthy habits are:
These are a few of my favorite products from Jane.com that help me keep track of my healthy habits.
Share your healthy habits
This community at Dear Little Sis was built to help lift people just like you up! I want to be your encourager as you begin to build healthy habits. Not only do I want to help you succeed, but I want to hear about your successes. Share how you’ve built healthy habits that have lead to success in the comments!
Share some of your healthy habits in the comments!