Building Strong Habits

When it comes to success in any activity, investing in habits is a great way to getting more done. Think about the last time you thought about brushing your teeth or even washing your face in the Morning when you get up. you probably think that its customary to wash your face immediately you get out of bed but it’s not; you got so used to doing it, you think its procedure.

The great thing about habits is that they need less thought to get things done. Thinking about doing things or making decisions leads to decision fatigue. Decision fatigue is the state of mind where you’re so tired from thinking all day, you can’t think about anything else. For most people, decision fatigue is experienced in the evening after a long day of work.

With habits however, the situation is different. Since with habits you need to think less, it means that at the end of the day you will have done a lot of work and will still be in a position to get some more work done. But habits are not just about what we do on a daily basis but also how we can add new activities into our day. The less we think about an activity, the easier it will be to do.

The thing that’s challenging, however, is forming a habit. It’s easier said than done. It’s easy to want to go to the gym but harder to actually go. It’s easier to want to read but harder to actually take a book and read. One of the reasons this may happen has to do with how we start. Imagine  going to the gym and starting with the heaviest weights, or reading three chapters of a book for the very first time. Remember, first impressions matter, and if you perceive a new activity as hard the first time you do it, it will be harder for you to do the same thing next time.

A better way to go at it is to first start small. If you want to go for a marathon, start with a few laps on a field, for a book start with one chapter. Don’t do too much of the activity the first time so that you may have energy it for later. Make it fun and enjoyable and  get creative by finding different ways of doing the same thing. Finally try as much as possible to enjoy the process instead of focusing on the end  result. For example, why do we brush our teeth? For better dental health. But dental health is not a static state, it’s a continuous process.  So in the same way, when forming a habit, don’t be motivated by an end result, enjoy the process and learn from it. Remember, the more you do something  the better you will get. While reading fiction may not help you get certified or make any money, it will help keep your mind sharp which will help you study more effectively when the time comes.

Building habits is a great way to ensure you are constantly growing  and although the building process may be hard in the beginning, when you get through it, there will be more for you to reap from the whole process.

Have a good day 🙂