Start absurdly small: Normally, when people pick-up a healthy habit, they go all crazy and commit to stuff which is totally impractical. People who are used to having takeaways for dinner every single day suddenly decide to cook at home and simultaneously work out for an hour regularly. This comes along well until one day it all crashes down and the same old routine is back. Instead, go to the gym twice a week. Start cooking at home on alternate days. And then gradually you can raise the bar. I started off with just 5 minutes of yoga every morning. And as of today, I can proudly say I complete my 45-minute workout every day. Yayyy!
Pair a new habit with an existing one: It is very easy to forget these new habits. Enter the pairing trick. You can decide that every time you get up to pee, you’ll have a glass of water on your way back; or you will complete 50 jumping jacks before your morning coffee. A very high chance you will end up doing it.
Replace bad habits with good ones: This is an amazing trick and one of my favorites too. It takes care of your good and bad habits both at the same time. For example, a colleague of mine needed to smoke a cigarette every few hours. She also was perpetually dehydrated. So she swapped her smoking break with a water break. It wasn’t easy, but it worked out quite well in the end. It was done in assistance with nicotine replacement therapy, chewing gums and a few other quitting strategies.
Pick-up habits that are easy to follow: You need to realize that you are adopting these new habits as a way of life; and not as a temporary change. Go for something you enjoy, and you will be able to stick to them in the long run. Do not take a gym membership if you hate indoors. You might as well start going for a run every morning, or join a football club.
Learn healthy habits as a family: Everything becomes so much better with the family in it. Be it an exercise or a healthier meal plan. Involve your siblings, spouse or even children for that matter. You will not only be healthier and happier but closely knit like never before.
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