It’s a new year, which means you have a fresh opportunity to make improvements to the life and person you were last year.
However, your ability to keep making the small incremental gains that add up over time and lead to big transformative changes hinges on one important element – our habits!
A habit is what we do every day that moves us closer to our overall goal. A habit is a consistent routine or pattern of behaviour that we repeat regularly, often without thinking about it.
Hardwired to resist change
However, creating and sustaining new habits can prove challenging for various reasons.
For instance, we often experience resistance to new routines because our brains are hardwired for efficiency and prefer to stick to established routines. Introducing new habits can disrupt this familiar pattern, which can feel uncomfortable and require effort.
Sticking to a new training plan or diet always requires motivation and willpower, at least initially, which are two finite mental resources. When your willpower and motivation start to fade, it is easy to lose momentum and revert to old unhealthy habits.
Create systems
The secret to establishing new beneficial habits in your life is to create a clear plan and structure.
Start by clearly defining your goal or objective, and be precise. Instead of “exercise daily” specify your daily actions by getting a workout plan from a personal trainer or an app.
Once you have a plan, create systems that make the required actions habitual. Systems define what you do every day to achieve your objective, like establishing set times that you train, go to bed and wake up every day.
Scheduling time every Sunday to prep healthy meals for the week ahead, or scooping your post-workout Biogen Iso-Whey Protein powder into your shaker and filling your Biogen Quench Cup with water every morning before leaving for work are other examples of healthful habits.
Systems focus your efforts on the process, rather than fixating on an outcome by creating and sustaining the beneficial habits that form the foundation of your new lifestyle.
As such, creating systems in your life is the best way to establish the regular training and other habits that characterise a health and fitness-focused lifestyle.
While this takes discipline, over time these repeated behaviours become engrained in your life, making it easier to stick to your fitness plan in the long term, even when motivation wanes. Eventually, you will perform the action without even consciously thinking about it.
Support your systems
There are also various ways that you can support your systems and reduce the friction and inertia we often experience when trying to create new sustainable habits.
For example, you can remove common obstacles that prevent you from acting, like packing your workout gear the night before, prepping healthful meals over the weekend, or scheduling time in your diary to exercise and treating them as important appointments.
In this regard, a few common habits that define the lifestyles of successful people in any sphere of life, be it fitness or work, include:
- Clear and precise goal setting.
- Preparation and planning.
- Discipline – adhering to the plan, regardless of emotions or outside factors.
- Unwavering focus on the overall goal.
- Resilience and adaptability.
Small changes, big results
As you introduce new habits in your life, like going to the gym every morning at 6 am to perform your assigned workout for the day or eating more calorie-controlled meals during the week, your actions trigger small changes that start to compound over time, gradually leading to significant improvements in your overall health and fitness.
Ultimately, the most important aspect in building a habit is consistency. Even short, regular workouts are more beneficial than occasional intense sessions. Think of building a habit like building a muscle – it takes time, consistency, and the right approach.
