5 Ways to Form Good Habits in Life

“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement” – James Clear 

In my opinion, you can have a plan and trajectory for your life, but what ultimately takes you in that direction are your habits.

Treat your lifestyle like a plant. If you want that plant to grow you need to consistently water it, fertilize it and make sure it gets enough sunlight. Those positive factors have allowed for growth. We cannot expect growth without the consistency of those factors and that repetition in our life comes from our habits.

Forming those habits will take effort, time and practice, so here are a few of my favourite ways to ease that journey:

1.Design your environment

This is about literally becoming an architect of the positive triggers around you. If you want to learn a new language, but find yourself procrastinating on your sofa every day, place some flashcards with vocabulary words next to the sofa to trigger the thought of practice. If you want to work out every day but struggle to find the motivation to get ready, have all your clothes and equipment laid out the day before.

Decision fatigue is something that can easily take over your life without you even realising.

2. Use PDA: Public Displays of Accountability

When promises for action go out on public record, the person making those promises would naturally feel a sense of responsibility rather than if no one knew.

Having people around you which positively motivate you to keep up with a habit can be very beneficial. This can be though telling friends or family about something you’re trying to keep up with. On the days you feel like backtracking, they can be there to give you that extra push.

When I first started writing, I made a promise to myself to write every day but that became harder and harder and I soon fell complacent with barely writing. But, once I told my friend about this goal, I automatically felt a sense of responsibility to essentially make them and myself proud.

Get the word out there that you’re serious about change.

3. Thinking addition, not subtraction

Montel Williams once said: “It’s not so much what you take out of your diet, it’s what you put in instead”

Taking something out fo your life can be difficult especially if it’s been embedded within your nature. But what if we don’t think of it has to remove something from our life, but rather adding something.

If you want to be more healthy, don’t first think about removing all the junk food, think about adding in more healthy food and exercise. Want to read more? Don’t start by removing that 15min TV break to read, add an extra 15min to read.

4. Use Competition

We’re naturally a very competitive species, having a friendly competition with your peers can very much motivate you to maintain a habit until it’s fixed.

I’ve decided I wanted to read a lot more during 2021, however, sometimes it’s easier for me to put on Netflix an hour before bed instead. Therefore, my friend and I, who had the same goal, decided to have a competition on who can read more books by the end of the year.

Having that competitive spirit lingering with you can really fuel your desire.

5. Celebrate

Forming habits can be hard and often seem very exhausting. You should always make sure you are giving yourself enough time to relax and celebrate your achievements. Promise yourself a nice pot of gold when you reach the end of the rainbow.

Have a great week!

~Abdullah