Here are some tips for setting yourself up for success!
- Create visual cues in your home environment and workspace.
- Set reminders in your phone or calendar.
- Post a motivating quote or image to remind yourself to move.
- Compete to be your own personal best while nudging your team members to step it up too.
- Read a book, watch a movie, or look for inspirational quotes to get motivated.
- Set a SMART goal. Write down your goal and post the goal where you will notice it daily. An example: “I want to increase my total amount of movement minutes each week by 30 minutes for the next four weeks.”
Tips for Forming a Habit
We often view habits as daily rituals, customary behaviors, or idiosyncrasies we develop over time.
Habits can be formed using the following formula:
Contextual cue → triggers → Action = habit formation
A real-life example of this formula:
Get in car (cue) triggers → put on seatbelt (action) = habit formation
Use restroom (cue) triggers → wash hands (action) = habit formation
What if we used this formula to create a healthy movement habit?
What would a healthy habit pairing look like?
Two o’clock afternoon slump, set a 2:00 p.m. alarm (cue) triggers → go for an energy walk
(action) = habit formation
Consider the following tips when forming a habit:
- Remember to “pair” the cue and desired action repeatedly, similarly, and consistently.
- Practice daily for at least 70 days for the habit to “stick”; research shows a plateau after 66 days.
- Simple actions that are convenient are easier to adopt versus habits that require a substantial change in lifestyle.
- Habits begin in an “initiation phase.” The initiation phase is when the new behavior and cue are selected.
- Habits develop in the “learning phase.” The learning phase is when behavior is repeated and the habit is strengthened each day.
Make a new healthy habit
- Decide on a goal that you would like to achieve for your health or a healthy habit you would like to form.
- Choose a simple action that will get you toward your goal which you can do on a daily basis.
- Plan when and where you will do your chosen action. Be consistent: choose a time and place that you encounter every day of the week. Write down your plan and post where the plan will be highly visible and serve as a daily reminder.
- Each time you encounter that time and place, do the action.
- It will get easier with time, and within 10 weeks you should find you are doing it automatically without even having to think about it.
- Congratulations, you’ve made a healthy habit!
This article is for educational purposes and not intended to diagnose or treat any condition or to give medical advice. Always consult your primary care provider for healthcare instructions. External links are provided as references and do not indicate an endorsement by Medcor. External links are subject to other sites’ terms of use and privacy policies.
