Is This Going To Be THE Year??

Is this going to be the Year?

Is this coming year going to be the year that you finally tackle a healthy habit or a goal that you’ve always wanted to accomplish?

YES YOU CAN DO IT.  Even if you’ve failed multiple times'

Here is one way to vastly improve your success:

Do not  set your goal in a vacuum.  

One of the main reasons people abandon a new year’s resolution within 2 weeks is that they never took into consideration that Real Life is going to step in and interrupt things.   Guaranteed.   A change in schedule. An unexpected illness; a vacation; your favorite dessert from childhood that your Mom made just for you–or an extremely stressful day– anything like these can throw us off track.    

What happens next? 

Most of us have grown up in an “All Or Nothing”    or “Winner take all” culture.  So when we get interrupted by Real Life, the negative bias in our brain jumps right in and says, 

“I’ve failed.  I just don’t  have enough willpower. I’ll never be able to do this; I might just as well quit.”

Here are some things you can do to avoid the “all or nothing” pitfall.  

First, break that GIANT goal down into the tiny behaviors that will create success. For instance, instead of a goal “that I will walk 10,000 steps every day”, create some tiny habits, such as “When I go to the grocery store, I will park my car at the end of the parking lot.”  Or, “When I finish breakfast, I’ll put on my walking shoes.”   These are the tiny behaviors that will move you toward your goal.

When attached to a specific action prompt, these tiny behaviors will become habits– they become automatic over time.

These tiny habits become your home base; your starting point.  

Now, when Real Life comes along, and you get interrupted, instead of thinking “ Oh no!  I’ve blown it!  Now I have to get back to 10,000 steps and I don’t feel like it; it’s too much! I just don’t have the self discipline!”

Just go back to your starter step.  “When I go to the grocery store, I will park my car at the end of the parking lot.”

Ten thousand steps is overwhelming– especially if your progress has been interrupted. Parking at the end of the lot or just putting on your walking shoes is not nearly as overwhelming!

And finally, become your own cheerleader.  

Start congratulating yourself every time you did what you promised yourself you would do.  ALL the time!  It is amazing how keeping little promises to yourself and acknowledging that you really took action on those promises will build an amazing amount of self-confidence and self esteem that will get you to your goal in spite of interruptions.

Want to get the full scope of how advances in the field of neuroscience can assist you on a path to healthy habits --and also create and practice some tiny habits skills for yourself?  

In January, I’m facilitating my workshop “Crack The Code: How to Build Healthy Habits Without Willpower or Self Discipline” at the  St. Louis OASIS Clayton location.  It is a 3-session workshop.  For more information or to Register, just Google St. Louis OASIS or call (314)862-4859.

Under the heading “Classes” look for class number 1003 Crack the Code