Creating New Healthy Habits
Here are tips to creating new habits:
- Know your Habits
- There are several things that you may do in your normal routine that became habits. Make sure you understand which habits are healthy or unhealthy. That way you know which one to focus on and which one to make changes to if needed. Understanding about what triggers your unhealthy habits can make it easier to change it. If you discover those triggers or patterns in your habits then you are capable of developing new ones and making smart changes.
- Make a Plan
- It might be good to plan out small and reasonable goals that you can work towards to help you develop or change habits. For example, “if you always walk by a vending machine and buy an unhealthy snack maybe try to switch up your route to avoid the vending machine or you could bring a healthier option from home.” During your planning process, make sure you are well prepared for any obstacle that could derail you from having a healthy habit and living a healthy life.
- Stay on Track
- Staying on track can be difficult since there are so many issues that could pop up and change the course of your habit and take you down a road that is not healthy for you. When you face those obstacles, and figure out how to avoid or change them, then you can stay focused more on each new healthy habit and keep yourself in a positive mindset to achieve your set goal.
- Think about the Future
- It is important to think long term, when it comes to creating healthy habits. Having a long term healthy habit can continue to improve your health as you get older. There are several habits that can cause complications in your future, like smoking. Remember to think about your future when you form a new habit, because certain habits can pose a risk to your life and health. Your future is very important so you want to create habits that can help improve your life and health.
- Be Patient
- When you decide to change a habit, or create a new one it is important to take your time and have patience. Having patience will come in handy when you are struggling to make a change or break an unhealthy habit. You don’t want to rush the process and make the wrong change. According to a NIH behavior change expert, “Change is a process. What’s important is to keep moving forward.” Everything will work out in the end and your habits, you create, will be the best for your healthy lifestyle.