Welcome to the Healthy Habit Hacks blog series! We’re here to help turn your healthy intentions into habits. Each month we’ll provide a monthly article with tips on how to move from wishing to doing. Every article will have an introductory hack and two sections based on your intentions – one section will be geared toward building healthy habits while the other focused on breaking bad ones.
Let’s begin by calling attention to your starting point. The Healthy Habit Hack for this month is: Start where you are!
Whether you’re starting a healthy habit or snuffing out a bad one, the best approach is to jump in with a plan without overthinking it. It’s always a good idea to have a vision and a plan, but you don’t want to get hung up overplanning, without action. With that, we suggest you get started where you are.
Building healthy habits
If you’re working on building a healthy habit, first consider asking yourself these questions and use the examples as ideas for your own personal journey:
What assets do you have at your fingertips? Perhaps you already have a device to help you track your exercise or meditation habits. Or maybe you already have meal planning skills such that you’re capable of adding vegetables to your dishes while keeping them tasty.
What can you leverage from your past success? Maybe you’ve been successful in getting exercise in before you start your day. Or taking walks after dinner, as a family, has worked for you.
Take note of what William Durant, an American philosopher, has said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.”
Breaking bad habits
If you’re working on breaking a bad habit, first consider asking yourself these questions and use the examples as ideas for your own personal journey:
What assets do you have at your fingertips right now? Maybe you have a pack of nicotine replacement patches or gum on-hand to help you quit smoking. Or perhaps you have a blank journal available to help in writing down and stopping your worries before they get the best of you.
What can you leverage from your past success? Perhaps having one go-to reliable supportive friend who helps you get through urges when quitting smoking or cutting back on drinking is a step you can readily put into action.
We’ll leave you with this quote from Jenny Craig, an American businesswoman, “A change in bad habits leads to a change in life.”
Now get started – you’re already on your way!
