Every time you try to adopt a new habit, can't you keep it for more than a week? Some psychological skills can help you acquire new habits.
Last update: 23 November 2020
We are approaching the end of the year and we often set ourselves new goals such as going to the gym, eating healthy or starting to meditate. Yet when it comes time to start, our motivation only lasts two weeks. Adopting new habits is always difficult.
To avoid failing to do so, it is necessary to take into account four psychological abilities that we will explain in the following lines. They will allow us to know from the start whether we will be able to make the new habit our own or if, on the contrary, we will abandon it like many others.
4 psychological skills to adopt new habits
Is it in line with our wishes?
To adopt a new habit, we must first consider whether we really want to include it in our life or not. Maybe we don't really want to go to the gym, but since many people do it, we decide to do it too without thinking too much about it.
Before setting any goal, we must take some time to understand if it is in line with our wishes. Does it fit our lifestyle? Do we want it or maybe only others want it? If you can't clarify, you could write the pros and cons on a piece of paper.
When we strive to adopt a habit that we don't really want, we waste our time.
Analyze thoughts and feelings
What thoughts and feelings come to the idea of ​​adopting a new habit? Some can be laziness, fatigue, and even fear. Although we don't know how to perfectly identify our emotional world, we feel an unpleasant sensation that prompts us to throw in the towel.
To adopt new habits and not abandon them, we have to stop, feel the emotion and maybe describe it in a diary. So, we'll have to find a way to appease it. Maybe watch TV? Eating instead of going out for a walk?
This point is very important, because it will allow us to detect the traps we fall into to postpone the pursuit of the set goal.
Take action, without excuses, to adopt new habits
Now that we know the habits in line with our desires, but also the traps we usually fall into for not putting them into practice, it is important to take action. There is no need to linger and want to want to do something which in the end does not come true.
Despite all the emotions that can push us to stay at home instead of going to the gym or putting off the alarm that warns us that it is time to meditate, it is important to take action.
Let's remember the reasons why we want to include this new habit in our life. We read the paper in which we wrote because we want to adopt it. And now, let's take action. We will be inundated with a pleasant feeling of well-being.
“The real decision is measured after taking action. If there is no action, there is no decision. "
-Tony Robbins-
Fail to learn
To acquire new habits, patience and practice are required, so don't be too hard on yourself and punish yourself for failing. We are human and we learn from our mistakes - we will try to do better next time. In many cases, we will have to make several attempts before adopting a new habit.
Adopting new habits: conclusions
Taking into account these psychological skills, the habit that seemed so difficult to adopt will begin to be present every day in our life. If we can keep it long enough, that is, for a month, eventually it will become an integral part of our day and we will do it automatically, like brushing our teeth or hands before cooking.
Adopting new habits is always difficult because we are habitual; when we try to include something new that will at least partially change our routine, the mind does what it can to avoid it. Nonetheless, we must persevere. How many new habits have you already managed to adopt?
