When you get into your car, you automatically put on your seat belt. You don’t think about doing it or why you do it because it is automatic. It is a habit

Your brain likes habits because they’re efficient.

When we’re looking to make changes in our lives and those changes come at the cost of some long-established habits – it can be a bit overwhelming and for some, easy to file in the “too hard box”.

If we allow ourselves time to embed these changes in small bites, they can be less daunting and more easily part of our day-to-day lives. We set ourselves up to win and sometime in the following 18 – 254 days, your new habit will be automatic.

“Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become,”

James Clear, Atomic Habits

When we set ourselves up to win, it’s important to understand what is holding us back from achieving the results or the change we are searching for. We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Something must give, and it needs to be achievable and rewarding for it to take.

Remove any barriers you’ve identified and introduce support mechanisms to ensure your success. Be sure to

• make it achievable
• make it measurable
• make it rewarding (otherwise, why would you do it?)

James Clear says it’s not just about little habits. It’s about believing something new about yourself. True behaviour change is identity change.

• The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader.
• The goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner.
• The goal is not to do a silent meditation retreat, the goal is to become a meditator.

If we use the example of setting yourself a goal to complete a 10km charity fun run when you haven’t done much more than walk to the mailbox for the past few years, you know that it’s going to take change and effort to achieve that. Start small, set yourself up to win and make it easy. Set your alarm half an hour earlier and begin by going for a 30-minute walk before you get into your day. Be sure to take out any barriers to this success, and have your clothes and shoes ready to put on when you get up, no excuses. Once you’re in the habit of getting up and your body is getting used to moving, it is easier to build up to your goal.

It may not be the 10km run in your sights, but whatever it is, set yourself up to win.

Go well

MA