Building Good Habits
Having positive habits are important in all facets, including our professional lives. However, it’s no secret that planning, executing, and maintaining good habits can be a very big challenge.
So how can we add and maintain positive habits in our personal and professional lives, when the track record for doing just that is so low? In his article 7 Secrets That Will Make You Build Good Habits, Eric Barker outlines some tips on how to build and stick to new patterns and habits that can improve your personal and professional life. Below are some of our favorite points:
- Take small steps: This might be the most important point of all. When we set a really big goal to start a positive habit, it can be very hard if not impossible to reach that goal. This is because big goals can be intimidating and leave you wondering where to begin and how to start. Barker recommends breaking that overall habit you want to build into much smaller habits. Small habits are easy to consistently maintain, and maintaining these small habits will give you the confidence to move on to bigger habits to keep. Start small and build your way up!
- Remember why you’re doing it: When you’re having a hard time maintaining the habit you wish to keep, remember why you started this process to begin with. Remembering the overall goal and your reasons for having that goal will motivate you to keep going. Remember how this new habit will positively impact your life.
- Find good role models and other sources of support: When you find someone who has been through this before, you can ask them what worked best and use those practices yourself. Additionally, you have someone to talk to who can relate to what you’re going through, and offer first-hand perspective. Having a support system around you is key in making positive change and can provide you with additional insights you might not get on your own.
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