How to Create Better Habits for a Happier Life

We all know it is not easy to create better habits. Yes, we can stick to a low-fat calorie diet and do it every day for a week, but eventually our initial motivation fades. And yes, we can keep up with a new exercise routine every January… until we run out of willpower and leave the gym like 90% of people.

But what about brushing our teeth every morning or taking a shower every day? Those may or may not be things we want to do, but we do them daily without thinking or needing willpower.

That’s because they have become habits. They are so ingrained in our daily lives that we do them without considering skipping a day. We don’t have to make a conscious decision each day to shower or drive to work.

Habits x Willpower

When you start to think about it, there is an inverse proportion relation between habits and will power. When you first want to build a habit, it takes a lot of will power to get it done each day. However, when you start get that established, it becomes easier to do until you don’t have to think about it anymore. Willpower then becomes each time less necessary as it starts becoming a habit.

Just being aware of this process helps us keep it up. We know we won’t always have to make such a big effort to go work out once it becomes a habit. We know there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Eventually it will become habit to go out for a run first thing in the morning, or eat something healthy for breakfast.

How can we make it easy while we’re in that transition from willpower to habit, though? There are things we can use to make it easier, such as:

• use a productivity planner to organize your daily tasks
• set reminders/timers to help stay on track
• find an accountability partner. When you have someone else to check on you, you can motivate each other after the first enthusiasm wears off
• get prepared ahead of time. Laying out your exercise clothes the night before will make it a little easier to go out to the gym in the morning

Do what you can to keep your willpower for as long as it is needed until you’ve made a true habit out of the new behavior. After that it’ll become much easier and you will have created a new lifelong habit.

The importance of routine and habit filled days

Have you ever noticed it gets harder to make decisions toward the end of the day? You’re too tired to figure out what to have for dinner or to get your kids to bed in time. Also known as “Decision fatigue“, this happens because there are only so many decisions we can make in a given day.

Knowing that helps us set our priorities. We can save a lot of time by eliminating decision making when we incorporate habits in our daily routines. That way we save room for the important stuff, freeing brain space for more creativity and productivity.

Creating new routines to simplify our lives and make us happier

Routines are a great tool that simplify our lives and cut out a lot of our daily stress.

You probably already have some kind of routine, like a morning routine. You get up to your alarm, make breakfast, have coffee, check social media help your kids before heading to work.

If you use our example above of setting up what you’re going to wear the night before, you eliminate one more decision you’d have to make in the morning before you can get going with your day.

What other routines could you implement into your day?

Meal planning is one that comes to mind. It helps you figure out in advance what meals to fix and eat. A cleaning schedule makes sure you stay on track with your household chores without you having to spend any extra valuable decision making energy.

Also, create a bedtime routine. That not only helps when you’re too tired to make the right decision, but may also help you fall asleep more easily. They say routines work for children, but guess what? They work for you as well.

You could do that by scheduling a few chores that will make the next morning easier. For example, getting the kitchen clean and ready and organizing your work area is a great example.

Add a winding down routine that help you slow down and get ready for sleep. Read a book, listen to some music and turn off the screens leading to your bed time.

Set some time aside today and think about what activities you can make into routines. List them and add them to a daily planner to help remind yourself until you’ve established these new habits.

6 Steps to Creating New Habits

We all wish we could intentionally change our behavior for the better and create new healthier habits for ourselves. This could be eating healthier and drinking more water. Or it could be being more active and helping our kids with school. Or it could be work , or financial, or business related… there are many areas in our lives that can be improved and made easier if we create new habits and routines.

Getting into the habit of doing something is often easier said than done. We seem to acquire bad habits seamlessly, but getting into a “good” habit takes more of a concerted effort. It is definitely worth it, though.

Here are some tips to make the process easier for you.

Determine what you want to turn into a new habit

The first step is to decide what you want that new habit to be. Be as specific as possible. Instead of telling yourself you want to exercise more, establish you will go for a 30 minute walk every single day. Deciding what new habits you will adopting and when and how you’re going to do them is half the battle.

Schedule it in

The first days are the easiest. You’re motivated and excited to get this done. Sticking to your new habit isn’t an issue. But a few days in you’ll notice that the initial motivation starts to fade away.

Maybe it’s cold and you don’t really want to go out and walk. Or maybe you just got busy with other priorities. This is where a daily alarm (set it on on your cell phone, for example) comes in handy. Set it up on your phone or add the new habit to your daily planner (but make sure you check it!). Use this until the new behavior becomes a habit. I have alarms set for daily reminders that I will always need, like taking my vitamins.

Piggyback on habits that you already have

It takes some time before a new behavior becomes a true habit. Until then, making it part of a routine will work to your best advantage. Before the new behavior becomes a habit, associating it with some other existing daily routine will help you get it done.

For example, make that daily walk part of your before breakfast routine. Or, change from grabbing breakfast on the drive-through in the morning to preparing a healthy one the day before right after dinner.

Be accountable

Tell family and friends about what you are trying to accomplish. They will call out on you and help get you back on track if you don’t stick to it.

You may even go as far as sharing it publicly on social media or writing a blog about your new journey. Knowing that others will read it might be just enough to keep you going when you feel like throwing in the towel.

You could also find someone with the same or similar goal. This could be an accountability partner you meet with weekly or do things with together. That helps you keep track of each other’s progress and motivate you to keep going. It will be more difficult to skip on a morning exercise if you know someone else is waiting for you to be there.

Create a group challenge

If one accountability partner is good, a group is even better. Find a supportive group online and challenge each other to stick to a new common habit for the next 30 days or so. Not wanting to be the first one to give up will keep all of you going until you establish that new habit.

Make slipups cost you

Here’s an idea a lot of people swear by, which is to put a money value to each time you slip up. They say it gives you an extra motivation to stick to it. For example, put a money jar on the kitchen counter and put a dollar in it each time you slip back into your bad habit or forget to stick to the new one. You could, for example, donate it at the end of the month. It will quickly help you remember to skip that unhealthy breakfast and motivate you to go out for that walk.

How long does it take to create a new habit?

Some say it takes 21 days to create a new habit. Some say it takes longer. It really depends on what type of habit we want to create, and the individual’s ability to get it into a routine.

If you have a habit of eating dessert before going to bed and you switch from regular ice cream to a low sugar frozen yogurt, it’s probably not going to take you very long to make that new habit. Giving up ice cream altogether or cutting out all sweets on the other hand might be a lot harder to pull off and take longer.

The reason we want to know this is: we want to know how long do we have to tough it out before it gets easier. In other words, when will this new behavior become a habit and we will no longer need to use will power?

While it is not a straightfoward answer, there are a few things to keep in mind.

First, it’s easier to make a new habit than to give up on an old one. It will take a lot more to stop checking your phone every 5 minutes or having desserts every night if that’s what you’re used to doing. Whenever possible, try to replace an old habit with a new one. For example, if you’re wanting to give up coffee, try replacing it. A cup of tea whenever you would usually reach for your cup of coffee could do it. Make it a caffeinated tea in the beginning if you need to. The caffeine levels in tea will still be lower than in coffee.

Habits will form faster if you keep to a routine – doing things everyday at the same day. Stick to the same time and location each day. Schedule your walk every day at 6pm, right before dinner, for example.

A constant reminder of why you’re trying to change your behavior also helps. Build yourself a vision board and put in it a picture to remind you of your end goal. Keep your end goal front and center and that will help you stick it out. Yes, it will take time to make new habits and replace old ones. But it will be well worth it in the end!

Conclusion

We all have a million tasks we need to get accomplished each day. Spending a little bit of time creating routines and habits will make your days run a lot smoother in the long run. It will decrease your daily stress and allow you to be more productive. And that’s a beautiful thing. It creates time for you to focus on the things that matter and that truly make you happy. So why not start today?