Let's Talk Habit Building and the Most Sustainable Ways to Get Started

Building habits, in short, is basically what the phrase suggests—to literally build habits. However, the process of effectively building habits and maintaining them is a lot more nuanced. James Clear, the author of “Atomic Habits,” has perhaps the most famous take on this process, and from him, we can all learn a thing or two. Other experts have reiterated the rule of thumb that it takes 30 days to form a new habit. Well, to ensure your success, here is a breakdown of actionable steps you can take to not only get through the thirty days but to do so in a way that is manageable and fun. 

Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor will the routine of your dreams. When imagining the kind of person you would like to be, whether that is someone who works out every day, regularly gets up at five in the morning or meditates daily, it is better to think one step at a time. Trying to tackle too much at once or going from zero to 100 is a recipe for burnout and lack of sustainability. Instead, start with one habit at a time; maybe for the first couple of weeks, you prioritize waking up at five, then you implement a daily workout regimen and finally carve out 10 minutes of meditation per night. The trick to becoming the kind of person with these habits is to not decide one morning to do everything but slowly ease into each habit. 

Sometimes when we crave significant changes but start far from our goals, the barriers can seem insurmountable. Even more, without another person to hold us accountable or a means of checking ourselves, it is easy to get derailed and discouraged. Understanding the parameters of what we need to achieve goals is crucial, and the best way to maintain accountability is through habit tracking (at least for the first month). Maybe you track your exercise and workout routines through an app or a fitness tracker. If you want something a little more old school, try purchasing a journal and writing out your habits and checking them off for every day you complete them.

Habit stacking will most likely come around after you have established at least one or two regular habits. Habit stacking is a process in which you combine more than one habit to complete them as one task, or you only allow yourself to enjoy something while doing something less pleasant. An example would be drinking your greens every morning before going to the gym. And if there is a new show you have been loving lately, you can only watch an episode every time you walk on the treadmill or when you do your weekly home clean. Stacking habits or tying them into one another creates a system of discipline and makes for more time efficiency.

Everyone has been guilty at least once of making unpleasant daily responsibilities less gruesome by indulging in a regular vice. It could be that you only get work done after you buy yourself Starbucks or go to a happy hour every day after work. We're all for Starbucks and a nice happy hour and believe you should enjoy those things; however, when focusing on habit-building, establishing a reward system for something you want to do daily will perpetuate an unstable foundation for habits. You should get a Starbucks if you feel like getting one but associating it with getting work done compromises your natural drive to do work. In other words, make a habit because you want to improve, not because you'll get an immediate reward.

Finally, that brings us to our last point, that you have to want it at the end of the day. Point. Period. Blank. If you build habits you think you should have, like drinking celery juice every afternoon, but you hate it, it won’t work. In that vein, if you love meditating but constantly put it off for “tomorrow,” you’ll continuously push your goals into some distant, unattainable future. Pick your goals and decide to want them more than the discomfort of getting them.