Reach your goal in 1-2-3(4-5)
Have you tried time and time again to start exercising, quit smoking, or make healthier choices, but for some reason you always fail to achieve your goals? Most people feel exactly like you. It’s not that you’re weak-willed or that you “don’t want it enough”. Unfortunately, we are built in a way that make old habits hard to change, especially if the habit triggers the reward system in your brain. Candy, sigarettes and TV make the reward center in your brain light up like a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Dropping these habits in favor of better ones is very challenging! Still, there are some people who manage to make lifestyle changes and stick with them. And you can do it too.
Do this to reach your goals!
- Have you set yourself a goal? Today is the day to start! If you’ve decided to make a change, start now. Not on Monday. Not when you’ve eaten the left over chocolate in the drawer, when you’ve bought new training clothes or smoked the last sigarette in your pocket. Every single time you do an action, you reinforce that action as a habit. Every time you smoke or postpone exercise, you increase the likelihood that you will do the same action next time. Get started now instead of reinforcing the old habits you want to quit!
- Every day is a new chance. What can you do today that reinforces the habit you want? It doesn’t matter that you reinforced a “bad” habit yesterday, if you can reinforce the better habit today. Every time you make a choice that supports your goal, you will be one step closer. Too many people beat them selves up for “failing”, because they make a choice that doesn’t support their goal. You can’t get it right every day. The goal is to build a new and better habit, and that’s not done in a day. It’s more likely than not that you will make the “wrong” choice some times along the way, the habit isn’t set yet. Making the wrong choice every now and then isn’t failing, it’s part of the process. You don’ have to “start over”, you’re still on the right path, so keep walking.
- Planning helps you make the right choices. Before you go to the store, plan both what you are going to buy, but also what you are going to avoid buying. When you go to bed at night, think about tomorrow. What little thing can you do that fit’s in your time schedule, that will support your goal? Is there something that needs to be arranged so that you can exercise after work, for example placing your gym bag in your car so it’s ready when you leave in the morning? Pack a banana so that you’re not hungry right before exercise! Are there any specific times or situations when you smoke? Can you fill those situations with something else? Don’t leave your change up to chance. If you want to reach your goal, you have to plan it into your daily routines.
- What you see often influences your choices. This is why advertising and content placement is so effective. How can you make sure you are reminded of your goal? And can you do something to see less of the things you want to avoid doing?
- Make it easy for yourself. Some people manage to turn around in a heartbeat and make huge life-changes that last. Those people are rare. Most of us will benefit from starting small. This brings us back to reinforcing habits. Something as small as walking for 5 minutes every day is sufficient to create a habit of going for regular walk. You don’t have to start where you want to end up. If you start with small and easy tasks that you can build on gradually, you’re more likely to stick with them, creating strong habits that get part of your daily routine.
Better health with 3 minuttes of exercise? Yes, it’s possible! Read more here!
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