How to Create Healthy Habits

If creating healthy habits was an easy thing to do, then we would all pick up healthy habits without issue. Unfortunately, doing this is easier said than done. I have a few bad habits that have proven hard to break. We all do, but it’s okay! No one is perfect, and it’s important to remember that.

The truth is that while it may seem impossible to break a bad habit, it truly isn’t. It won’t happen overnight, but it can happen if you go about it the right way. With that, here’s how to create healthy habits that will stick with you for a long time.

1. Create a plan of action

This is one of the most important steps to take in order to create healthy habits. If you just try to create a health habit with no plan in mind, you’re more likely to crash and burn. Instead of doing that, you should create a solid plan of action. This includes creating small and reasonable goals that will eventually lead to you forming the health habit in question. No matter how small those goals may be, ensure that they relate to the healthy habit you’re looking to create.

In addition, you should figure out what steps you need to take in your plan of action to help form a healthy habit. For example, say you’re trying to curb your spending (i.e. the bad habit in question). If you tend to spend money at the mall, avoid going to the mall altogether. Instead, choose to go for a nature walk or spend time with loved ones. Whatever the case may be for you, following a carefully laid out plan of action will help in breaking old habits and creating new ones instead.

2. Figure out how to stay on track

As I’ve already established, creating healthy habits takes a lot of time. While this makes sense, it can make doing so hard. You may work hard to creating a specific healthy habit; yet all the while, you feel like it’s completely pointless. It can be difficult to stick with something new, especially when you begin question whether or not it’s even worth it after all.

A great way to stick with it is figuring out how to stay on track with your new healthy habits. Depending on what it is, you can write it down in a notebook, record it on your phone, or use an app to keep yourself on track. Each of these methods will ensure that you hold yourself accountable as you continue to form healthy habits. Even when it feels impossible to stick with it, keep a record on staying on track. You may be surprised by how successful you’ll become in staying on the right track and holding onto the healthy habits you’ve created.

3. Be patient with yourself

It’s so easy to wake up one morning and say to yourself, “I need to make a change!” We’ve all done something like that at one point in our lives. Changing is a good thing- but it’s also an extremely hard thing to do. In fact, one can argue that it’s one of the hardest things to do. This can lead to giving up on creating a healthy habit that, deep down, you know you should follow.

That’s why it’s so important to be patient with yourself when creating healthy habits. Yes, it takes time. Yes, it’s going to be hard. But think about how it will be worth it for you and your overall health in the long run. Don’t be hard on yourself if you slip up, and don’t give up so easily. Just take a deep breath, be kind to yourself, and be patient as you try to create the healthy habits you have in mind.

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These are just a few tips that I find help me in forming healthy habits. How do you create healthy habits? What are some healthy habits you’re hoping to form in the near future? Let me know in the comments, or reach out to me on social media!

xo,

Elizabeth