How to Establish a Habit (from personaldevelopmentwisdom.com) Phillippa Lally

The following is extracted from: http://personaldevelopmentwisdom.com/phillippa-lally-how-are-habits-formed.html Phillippa Lally – How Are Habits Formed

How to Establish a Habit

Based on the research:

1. Clarify what habit you want to establish. For example, “I want to increase my vegetable servings to 5 a day” or “I will walk 30 minutes a day.”

2. Commit to repeating the behavior every day for 66 days. If you already know you’re taking a vacation in 3 or 4 weeks, now might not be the time to work on forming a habit.

3. Consider what will be your cue. Will you see some object at home or will there be a time of day when you do something already? Just trusting yourself to remember to do the new behavior during your busy day may not be effective. Cues are potent reminders to help you as you work on bettering yourself.

4. Think about the location. The location at which you perform the behavior matters. Will you be at home when you do the new activity? At the office? If you can stick with the same location, at least until the habit forms, you’re more likely to be successful.

5. Be consistent. Refrain from skipping the behavior during the time of establishing the habit, if you can.

6. Notice when the activity becomes automatic. You’ll know a habit has been formed when you’ve reached the point where your day seems lacking if you don’t perform the behavior. Success, at last!

Now you have science to apply when you want to establish a habit. No more guesswork! Just 66 days of dedication and reminders, and you’ll be well on your way to a better you.