Where Are Those New Year’s Resolutions Now?
july 15, 2021 | WORDS BY GABE YANEZ
We are deep into 2021, which means that for most people, their New Year’s resolutions have come and gone.
Building sustainable healthy habits isn’t easy. It takes effort, consistency, and patience but if you do something enough to make it a habit, you can create real, long term change that will stick and make you feel good.
According to a recent study, habit forming depends on the repeated performance of behavior that is in line with a long term goal. In other words, goal setting and consistency are key.
When it comes to changing our behaviors so that they are more in line with optimizing our health, we often think that willpower and discipline are at the crux of making those changes.
Saying no to that second (or third) glass of wine, cooking a meal instead of ordering in, getting some intentional movement in each day—these are all examples of things we know we should be doing, but oftentimes it is easier said than done.
The solution? Start a habit tracker! It can be an app, a journal, a sheet of paper on the fridge. There is no right or wrong way to do it. The important thing is that you have a way to track, see, and celebrate progress and small wins.
According to several studies, the reward of seeing small wins is one of the most powerful positive feedback loops to reinforce habit building.
Having a habit tracker also helps you focus on the journey, instead of the destination. New research suggests that many people fall off their new habit building routines because they are so focused on the end goal and not so much on the day to day journey that gets them there. A habit tracker changes that, and therefore makes it more likely that those healthy habits will stick.
DOWNLOAD THE NCFIT HABIT TRACKER HERE.
