Why Habits Are So Important

The Importance of Positive Daily Habits

How do you guarantee that you are going to be as productive as possible to get you closer to your goals?

You set habitual tasks for the day, habits that will move you forward, and never backwards.

However, there's a difference between a habit and a goal, a goal is something that you want to work towards, it can be a short term goal, or a long term goal.

Habits are daily actions that we undertake to move us closer to our goals, habits are tasks that you need to complete on a regular basis.

For example, a habit would be "exercise", a goal would be "bench press 60kg by the end of the month".

Start with Small Changes

Big changes can be overwhelming, although stopping or starting things cold turkey can work for some people, it doesn't for the majority.

It's better to start small, identify one or two habits that you want to develop and focus on these until they become a natural part of your routine.

For example, if you want to improve your health, start by drinking more water each day. Once this becomes a habit, add another small change, like a daily walk or eat one more fruit.

Consistency is Key

Consistency is crucial when building positive habits, it’s not about making a big effort once in a while, it's about doing small things every day. 

Making minor adjustments to your daily routine leads to exponential growth over time, as the habits you form when starting out resets your baseline and starts to become a part of your identity.

Track your progress to stay motivated, use a journal or an app to record your daily habits.

Once you start seeing your progress, this can encourage you to keep going and move towards bigger and better things.

Overcoming Challenges

Always visualise potential setbacks, roadblocks and challenges as this is a part of everyday life, as they will always arrive when you're trying to improve.

If you forsee these barriers before undergoing a task or the start of a new habit, you will be better equipped to deal with it once it arrives, as it is no longer a surprise.

Once the challenge does appear, pause and think, then think of a way to overcome it immediately, and try your best to get back on track, never dwell on it or let it defeat you permanently.

If you relapse on a smoking habit you're trying to remove, understand you can't change what's happened, and think about the trigger and ways to eliminate it, this makes you more intelligent after every setback.

The Power of Reflection

Take time to reflect on the progress you have made at the end of every week, ask yourself - "Am I in a better position than I was last week?".

Acknowledge and appreciate the small improvements that you've made, are you more knowledgable of a vice that you have? Have you identified the trigger of an urge to do something? Have you done something positive this week that you didn't do last week?

All these are questions you can ask yourself, and if you have seen that you have changed and improved something about yourself from the week before, then you have improved.

Imagine just one positive change a week for one month, then it accumulates into one positive change a day, now you're on a regular path of progression.

To keep up to date with more regular blog posts like this, keep an eye on my LinkedIn profile here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kian-richards-bba519272/