“We all are slaves to our habits”,
Right?
So why not become slaves to good ones..!!
Of course, developing and sticking to good habits is not a piece of cake but keep in mind, where there is a will, there is away.
Habit is something which you do unknowingly on a routine basis.
Sometimes, preferably many times, when we look at several people, a thought wanders in our mind, how is he so fit
How can she get up so early?
OMG! She does yoga daily? Etc.
Well, if you try, someone else may look at you and think the same way about you.
It’s entirely upon you to get addicted to something good.
Let’s see how we can change from ‘I wish I could’ to ‘Yuhuu!! I did it / Yeah; I do it daily’.
The very first thing you must pin in your mind is ‘PATIENCE’.
Remember ‘Rome was not built in one day’; similarly, great things take time.
You can’t expect to form a habit overnight of anything, not even the most straightforward thing like drinking 8 litres of water daily.
On an average, it takes approximately 66 days to form a habit (may vary from person to person), but there is a system or rule which can help you develop a habit in 21 days itself.
It’s called the 21-90 (twenty-one ninety) rule.
The system is simple, whichever habit you want to get used to, continue with dedication for 21 straight days, without giving any excuse.
You can prepare a chart of 21 days and tick it right on the day you do it.
Believe me, though we are adults ticking your aim will satisfy you for sure and a small joy will loiter for the whole day in your mind.
Next day you won’t be at peace until you tick it.
You can say this as the second step, the constant ‘URGE’ to do your thing.
After 21 days repeat the same procedure for 90 days, and very soon you will do your thing unknowingly as a habit.
‘STRUGGLE’ – The third and utmost important factor to develop a new habit.
Watch a child of maybe three years, for him, brushing teeth is also tricky, but gradually it becomes a habit.
Similarly, in the beginning, we face a lot of pains to adopt change.
These pains may pull you back from your goal, but all you need is a constant struggle to overcome them.
Drive yourself towards your new habits; you can motivate yourself for the same.
Initially, you can start small changes in your routine instead of trying the whole evolution of habit.
E.g.–
You want to switch from regular tea to green tea. If you directly start consuming green tea two times a day, you are going to hate it, and pretty soon you will get back to regular tea. Instead, you can have green tea in the morning and regular tea in the evening.
Memorize ‘haste is waste’.
Starting a habit is one thing and holding onto it, is another.
‘Hold on‘ to the new habit as if it’s your duty towards yourself.
It’s for your betterment.
No one else can look after you better than yourself.
Pat your back and reward yourself if that’s what will keep you going.
If that doesn’t work there’s another idea, tell people about your new habit, this way you will have their eyes watched on you.
If you don’t continue your habit, they will want to make fun of you.
This peer pressure may want you to achieve your goals and prove yourself right.
Another way of developing an unknown good habit (maybe as a resolution) is to check your ‘INTERESTS‘.
Understanding your interests, dislikes and necessities is an outstanding manner of knowing what you want and which habit will enhance it.
E.g.-
If you aren’t active in mathematics, but also you are lazy, you can start a habit of solving five sums daily and learning a few multiplication tables.
In no time you will notice that your number of daily sums has increased without even taking extra efforts.
Apart from all the above, one more important aspect is ‘Time management‘.
To form anything into a habit, you can do the same thing daily at the same time.
This way our body gets used to it and automatically our brain knows it’s time to do the thing.
To sum it up, by heart the mnemonic ‘PUSH IT’, i.e.
P – Patience
U- Urge
S- Struggle
H- Hold on
I – Interest
T – Time management.
Strive for the betterment of yourselves and also let us know in the comments section which new habit you want to build off from ages.
Also read: 5 Scientific Ways To Build A Habit That Sticks
– Written by Rutuja Daphale(Intern at Boldblush)
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