Our Ways to Gain Healthy Living Habits

Every new thing is a great source of inspiration and motivation to make new beginnings in our lives. Some of the decisions we make and what we want to do are undoubtedly made up of our habits. Some of us are looking for ways to feel better physically, mentally and spiritually by getting rid of their bad habits, while others add healthy living habits such as sports, healthy eating, meditation and yoga to their lives. However, just like getting rid of a bad habit, acquiring a new habit is a very challenging process that requires slow and careful steps with certain strategies.

According to the results of a comprehensive study, our habits make up about 40% of our behavior in our daily life. Understanding how to develop new habits and understand the patterns in our current habits is extremely important for us to lead a healthier life, increase our happiness level, and be successful in what we aim for for ourselves.

Is 21 days enough to form a new habit?

There are hundreds of different views on how habits are formed and maintained. The most well-known of these is that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. However, studies agree that doing any behavior regularly for 21 days is not enough alone, and a much more comprehensive roadmap should be followed for habit formation. Although different approaches answer the question of “How to acquire a new habit?” in different ways, the strategies to be followed in all approaches in general point to the same points: Starting with a habit that is easy to implement, moving forward with simple and accessible goals, maintaining your momentum as you progress; last and most importantly to be determined, consistent and patient. Let's take a closer look at all these strategies.

1. Start your target habit as it is easiest to implement

One of the things we all need most in the process of building a new habit is motivation. As you try to form a new habit, you may find yourself saying things like 'I wish I had a little more motivation' or 'I wish my will was a little stronger.' However, what we call willpower or motivation, just like the energy in our muscles, can decrease with overuse. Motivation, which can wear off over time as it is used, can sometimes be high and sometimes low in our lives, with a fluctuating pattern called the 'motivation wave', in the words of BJ Fogg, a Stanford University researcher.

In order for the fluctuations in your motivation level to affect your determination and habit formation process as little as possible, you can start by determining a habit that is so easy and simple that you do not need motivation in the first place.

For example, if you aim to maintain an active lifestyle and add sports to your life, you can start with an exercise program of 10 minutes, not 1 hour, in the first place. If your goal is to spend 30 minutes meditating every day, you can get started with just 1 minute of meditation. In summary, you can start with activities that do not require high motivation and whose difficulty does not change depending on your motivation.

2. Increase the dose and frequency of your actions as slowly as possible

You may want to progress rapidly in the process of acquiring a habit that you started with great motivation and desire, and you may want to place this habit in the center of your life quickly. However, as we said above, motivation and willpower can differ from day to day. You should consider this fluctuation in your motivation in order to maintain the same behavior and maintain your consistency and routine even on days when your motivation is low. For this reason, instead of waiting for miraculous results at the beginning, taking small steps and increasing the dose of your behavior in a controlled way, even if it does not satisfy you, is one of the most important requirements for developing new habits. Seeing that you can continue your behavior with perseverance and determination even in the most difficult times will help you increase your willpower, increase your motivation and establish a stronger bond with your habit.

3. Try moving forward by dividing it into parts

When you follow the above steps consistently and decisively every day, you may realize that you have come a long way in 2 or 3 months at the most and your behavior has turned into a habit. When you integrate every habit you want to acquire into your life in a reasonable way, you can maintain your momentum and easily perform the behaviors you want. For this reason, in addition to gradually increasing the frequency and intensity of your behavior, you can work on the final goal you have set by breaking it into parts, 2 or 3 months after you start the change process.

For example, if the habit you want to gain is to meditate for 30 minutes, you can start with 1-minute meditation practices as the first step, gradually increase your meditation time to 15 minutes over a 2-3 month period, and then do two 15-minute meditation practices during the day, which is your ultimate goal of 30 You can complete the minute. Similarly, it will be much easier and more practical to divide your exercise routine, which you target as 50 minutes a day, into sets and perform 10 sets of 5 minutes each.

4. Keep moving forward without giving up when you miss the end of the rope

We all make mistakes, are tested by incessant challenges, or fall far behind the performance we expect from ourselves. The most important thing that distinguishes successful people from others is not to make any mistakes or to be lucky, but to be able to quickly recover and continue where they left off for their goals despite all difficulties and mistakes. Studies show that missing any habit or behavior that is intended to be converted into a habit for once has no measurable long-term effect. Therefore, we need to learn to pick up where we left off, without having to have perfectionist expectations in the process of acquiring a habit, without acting with the idea of ​​'all or nothing'.

Of course, this does not mean that you have to expect or accept failure. However, it is very important to have a plan B that you can activate in case of a possible failure, so that you can continue your habit from where you left off. Therefore, while trying to acquire a new habit, give yourself time to review the environmental or individual factors that may prevent you from gaining this habit. What obstacles might stand in your way? Which of your weaknesses do you succumb to the most when you are stressed or nervous? What are the events or situations that could easily lead you astray? What can you do to overcome all possible obstacles that may come your way? How can you quickly get back to your routine and stay on track despite the challenges you can't overcome? Remember, you should focus on being consistent, not perfect, on this journey.

5. Be patient

Being patient and advancing with an acceleration that you can easily maintain is a must in this process. What is more important than being consistent, willpower or motivation in the process of creating a new habit is to be patient. As long as you're patient and consistent, you won't believe how fast you've progressed. Patience is the key to sustainability.

In summary, new habits, especially at the beginning, should be so simple that they do not require motivation, and so easy to implement. As long as you are consistent, determined and patient, you can find that your habit integrates easily into your life without making any extra effort. Remember, gaining a new habit is much more difficult than developing that habit and requires different skills. Hope the above steps inspire your change and transformation process!