How to Build Healthy Habits in 2024 (5 Habit Building Hacks)

In some unspecified time in the future prior to now week (or 5 minutes in the past after a Google search), you’ve made a decision to vary your life.

Perhaps you determined to train day-after-day. Maybe it’s time to begin consuming higher.

Or perhaps you determined to cease carrying jorts.

Effectively my pal, I’m excited for you, and I need you to know you’ve arrived on the proper place!

We assist people construct wholesome habits as a part of our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, so that you’ve come to the best place to satisfy your decision.

We can teach you how to build habits the right way! Learn more about our Online Coaching Program:

Right here’s what we’ll cowl in our Information to Construct Wholesome Habits in 2024:

Let’s get proper to it so you can begin rocking 2022!

Why Do We Suck At Constructing Wholesome Habits?

We all know how to get in shape: transfer extra and eat much less!

We all know methods to train: get your coronary heart fee up, do some push-ups, get stronger.

We all know how to eat healthy: extra greens and fewer sugar.

And but, we will’t get ourselves to stay with ANY of these items for longer than a couple of weeks.

Why?

Easy: Constructing new wholesome habits is hard, our lizard brains crave instant gratification, we don’t absolutely perceive how habits are constructed, life will get busy, and our default conduct is commonly as unhealthy as it’s straightforward.

In consequence, we don’t put the best techniques in place in an effort to make adjustments stick.

We additionally rely wayyyyy too much on willpower and motivation.

We are likely to chunk off greater than we will chew, go too quick too quickly, after which get overwhelmed too rapidly.

Does this sound acquainted?

• I’m going to eat 100% Paleo/Keto AND
• I’m going to run 5 miles a day AND
• I’m going to work out in a health club 5 occasions per week.

In the event you’re anyone that eats a sometimes poor food plan, by no means runs, and hasn’t set foot in a health club since grade-school dodgeball with Mr. Wazowski, altering alllll of those directly is sort of a surefire approach to succeed at exactly NONE of them.

We’re conditioned nowadays to anticipate and obtain immediate gratification. If we would like meals we will get it from a drive-through, stick a frozen meal in a microwave, or sit down at a restaurant that’s open 24 hours. If we would like a sport we will obtain it to our computer systems/telephones/PS5s inside a matter of seconds. If we need to watch a TV present, it’s a couple of clicks away.

Hell, Netflix even begins the subsequent episode for you with none motion required!

We anticipate getting in form to go the identical approach.  

And for this reason we suck at constructing wholesome habits that stick.

We inform ourselves “Hey, I’ve been devoted for an entire two weeks, why don’t I look like Ryan Reynolds yet?”, not remembering that it took us a long time of unhealthy dwelling to get the place we’re, which implies it’s going to take quite a lot of weeks to reverse the development.

After which we miss a exercise as a result of life was busy or our child obtained sick. And we get disheartened that train or giving up sweet is just not practically as enjoyable as Netflix and video video games and Peanut M&M’s.

That is the place all people offers up:

• They attempt to change too many habits too quickly
• They get impatient the outcomes don’t come extra rapidly
• They slip up when life will get busy
• And so they return to sq. one

It’s why we’re doomed to stay overweight and suck at constructing habits. It’s the videogame equal of attacking too many bad guys at once, which at all times results in sport over.

We’ll cowl the precise wholesome habits and resolutions you SHOULD be choosing later on this article, however I’ve a giant rattling query to ask you first:

“However why although?”

The First Step of Constructing Wholesome Habits (Know Your “Massive Why”)

This entire “change who I am” stuff might be actually highly effective for protecting us centered when life begins to get busy. 

In the event you’re right here since you determined you “ought to” get in form, you’re going to fail the second life will get busy.

In case you are dragging your self to the health club since you suppose you “ought to” run on a treadmill 5 days per week although you hate it, you’re screwed!

As you’re figuring out the habits or resolutions you’re making an attempt to set, make the behavior a part of a much bigger trigger that’s definitely worth the wrestle.

You’re not simply going to the health club, you’re constructing a brand new physique that you just’re not ashamed of so you may start dating again.

You’re not simply learning to like vegetables, you’re getting match so you may really feel nice whereas on trip this summer time.

You’re not simply dragging your self away from bed early, you’re getting up earlier so you may work in your aspect enterprise earlier than your children stand up so you may set cash apart for his or her faculty training.

In our 1-on-1 Coaching Program, we confer with this as your “Massive Why.” 

Tie your journey to a better trigger and also you’re extra more likely to push by means of the muck and mire to get it finished.

So dig 3 ranges deep and ask “why” till you get to the foundation reason behind WHY you need to construct a brand new wholesome behavior or change a nasty one. Write it down. And hold it up someplace you may see it day-after-day.

Acquired your purpose? Nice.

Now let’s get into the science of habits.

Learn how to Construct Wholesome Habits (The Three Components)

As Charles Duhigg factors out in The Power of Habit (a must-read for anyone concerned with conduct change), there are three components to a behavior:

#1) Cue (what triggers the motion): It may be a sense: I’m drained, I’m hungry, I’m bored, I’m unhappy. Or it may be a time of day: it’s Monday at 9am, work is finished, and so forth.

#2) Routine (the motion itself): This may both be a damaging motion you need to in the reduction of: I drink soda, I eat cake, I snack, I drink alcohol, I smoke cigarettes, I watch TV – or a optimistic one: I go to the gym, I go for a run, I do push-ups, I learn a e book.

#3) Reward (the optimistic consequence due to the motion): I’m now awake. I’m briefly blissful. My fingers/thoughts are occupied. I can overlook the unhealthy day I had. I really feel energized. I be ok with myself.

Relying in your routine/motion above, habits can both be empowering and wonderful, or a part of a damaging downward spiral. Your physique isn’t good sufficient to KNOW what it must do: it simply desires to repair the ache or chase the pleasure of the cue, and whichever approach you select to reply will grow to be the behavior when it’s finished sufficient occasions.

Think about genius advertising, behavioral psychology, and an setting arrange for us to fail – and unhealthy habits rule us.

It’s why we crave sure meals, why we will’t assist however test our telephone each time it vibrates, and why we will’t maintain ourselves from watching another episode or grinding another stage in World of Warcraft.

Duhigg lays issues out very clearly:

“There’s nothing programmed into our brains that makes us see a field of doughnuts and robotically desire a sugary deal with.

However as soon as our mind learns {that a} doughnut field accommodates yummy sugar and different carbohydrates, it’ll begin anticipating the sugar excessive. Our brains will push us towards the field. Then, if we don’t eat the doughnut, we’ll really feel disillusioned.”

Image this:

• We now have skilled your mind to take a cue (you see a doughnut), anticipate a reward (a sugar excessive), and make the conduct automated (nom nom that donut).
• Examine that to a cue (you see your trainers), anticipate a reward (a runner’s excessive), and make the conduct automated (go for a run!).

The Darkish Knight himself stated it finest: “It’s not who I’m beneath, however what I do that defines me.”

Let’s check out every a part of the habit-building course of and begin to hack the sh** out of it!

Be taught Your Cues: Acknowledge the triggers.

The Key to Sustainable Wholesome Habits: Use Methods

Each motivation and willpower are finite and fickle resources that will abandon you if you want them most. Most individuals hope and pray that they’ve sufficient motivation and willpower to construct a behavior.

Not us although!

We’re going to take away each from the equation and use systems and outdoors forces to make the routine even simpler to construct (or harder to construct if it’s a nasty behavior you’re making an attempt to swap!).

This may be finished in a couple of methods:

• Environmental hacks: making the routine simpler by eradicating steps wanted to finish it, or including steps between you and a nasty behavior.
• Programming hacks: add your behavior to your every day calendar, monitor your progress every day with a journal, and make it a part of your day.

We’re merchandise of the environment. We will use this data to our benefit and make the method of constructing a brand new behavior or altering a nasty behavior simpler by modifying the environment. I dig into this extra absolutely in our article: “Build your Batcave for Habit Change,” however I’ll cowl the fundamentals right here.

Take a look at the locations you spend your time. Scale back the steps between you and a very good behavior, and improve the steps between you and a nasty behavior. You’ll be much less reliant on willpower and motivation and extra more likely to do the wholesome behavior or skip the unhealthy behavior.

Listed here are 5 examples of environmental hacks you should utilize: 

1. RUN EVERY MORNING: Fall asleep along with your trainers on the foot of your mattress, along with your operating uniform laid out already. Hell, you may sleep in your operating/exercise garments. Put your alarm clock on the opposite aspect of the room so that you HAVE to get away from bed to show it off.
2. GO TO THE GYM AFTER WORK: Pack your health club bag BEFORE going to sleep the night time earlier than. That approach, each morning you have already got a bag to throw in your automobile or deliver with you. As quickly as 5pm hits, you’re in your automobile in your approach to the health club. (Don’t need to head to the health club? Right here’s how to build a gym in your home). 
3. EAT HEALTHIER: Don’t give your self the choice of not maintaining a healthy diet – throw out the junk meals in your home and begin getting ready meals the night time earlier than. Put a lock on your web browser from ordering pizza on-line (sure, you are able to do that now), and don’t drive down the road stuffed with quick meals locations.
4. WATCH LESS TV/PLAY FEWER GAMES: Use your laziness in your favor. Unplug the TV/system. Improve the steps between you and watching the TV. Put parental controls by yourself system and have your pal set the time restrict and the password. I knew anyone who put his TV in his closet and minimize his TV viewing by near 100%. Don’t depend on willpower – make it tougher!
5. CHECK YOUR PHONE LESS: Flip off your notifications and uninstall the apps that waste your time. Put your telephone in Do Not Disturb mode when you’re at work, and put it in your desk drawer. Don’t depend on willpower to get your self to not test your telephone when it buzzes – do away with the thrill.

It’s also possible to use programming hacks to assist construct NEW wholesome habits: 

• EXERCISE: If you wish to train extra, set calendar alerts originally of your week in order that day-after-day at 8AM you obtain a cue (ding! in your telephone) and a reminder to do the exercise. You’re more likely to remain on track when the exercise has been scheduled forward of time.
• HEALTHY EATING: Think about batch cooking! If cooking wholesome meals each night time appears like approach an excessive amount of work (I hear you on that), take into account doing all of it on ONE day – it’s a big time-saver, and it additionally will scale back the steps between you and wholesome consuming as a result of the meal is already cooked and within the fridge!
• WRITING: If you wish to write a e book, inform your self you must write 500 crappy phrases day-after-day. That is how I wrote Level Up Your Life. Purchase a calendar, and draw a giant crimson X on day-after-day you full your process. Make your singular focus day-after-day persevering with the streak^[1].

Make the Reward Momentum-Constructing

(That is known as temptation bundling).

This step would require some evaluation, by digging into the reward you’re making an attempt to recreate, with out the damaging motion. This may lead your mind to some powerful locations, however it’s wholesome to dig into it.

For instance, for those who  need to begin ingesting much less (or surrender utterly), you may uncover that the reward you’re chasing is definitely “escape from a job I hate” and “avoiding social anxiousness.”

Dig into your reward and what your mind is craving, after which see for those who can reverse engineer a more healthy routine with the identical reward.

After which use outright bribery to get your self to really do the brand new more healthy and select the higher motion/routine.

What works for science and physics additionally holds true to constructing habits: inertia and momentum will work towards you on the subject of constructing habits…till it begins to be just right for you because the behavior turns into automated.

We will repair the third a part of the habit-building loop, the reward, with momentum-building prizes or outcomes to bribe ourselves to proceed. With every wholesome and optimistic reward, with every accomplished routine, we make the behavior sliiiiightly extra more likely to grow to be extra automated the subsequent time.

In different phrases, create rewards that reward you again!

DON’T reward your routine (operating!) with an unhealthy reward (cake!). That’s “one step ahead, two steps again.” And nutrition is 90% of the equation when it comes to weight loss anyway!

DO reward your routine (operating for five minutes day-after-day for 30 days straight) with a reward that makes you need to maintain operating (a snazzy new pair of trainers).

Our new app, Nerd Health Journey, particularly follows this “cue, routine, and reward” format to assist construct new habits. Within the app, we “reward” you with cool loot and XP, so you may stage up (actually) when you getting lean and powerful.

In the event you’re , you may strive it at no cost proper right here:

5 Hacks for Easy Wholesome Behavior constructing

1) RECRUIT ALLIES: discover a pal or group of associates to construct the habits with you. A current examine ^[2] confirmed that:

Among the many weight reduction sufferers recruited alone and given behavioral remedy, 24% maintained their weight reduction in full from Months 4 to 10.

Amongst these recruited with associates and given remedy plus social help, 95% accomplished therapy and 66% maintained their weight reduction in full.

You should not have to go on this habit-building journey alone. Building a guild or recruiting a gaggle of individuals to help you and enable you to and make you higher may very well be the difference-maker in constructing habits!

When your pal is already on the health club ready for you, you HAVE to go. If it was as much as you, skipping out and watching Netflix has no damaging penalties. Recruit associates and allies!

Don’t have that help group at dwelling? Consider joining ours 🙂

Bear in mind, these first few weeks are the hardest, which implies they’ll require essentially the most effort to get began.

2) CULTIVATE DISCIPLINE WITH ACCOUNTABILITY: When you may’t get your self to observe by means of on a brand new wholesome behavior you’re desperately making an attempt to construct, make the ache of skipping the behavior extra extreme than the satisfaction you get from skipping it.

Enable me to introduce some comical penalties:

• Each time I skip ______________ this month, I’ll pay $50 to my spouse/husband/pal who will donate my cash to a trigger I HATE.
• Each time I determine to not _______________ this month, I’ve to run round my home bare.
• Each time I do ____________ after I shouldn’t, I’ll let my three-year-old do my make-up earlier than work.

Do any of those outcomes sound like enjoyable? In the event you can’t afford to pay your pal $50, if operating bare round your home may get you arrested, and for those who’ll get fired wanting like a drunk clown due to your child’s make-up expertise…perhaps you simply do what you realize it is advisable to do. The extra painful it’s to skip one thing, the extra probably you’ll be to really suck it up and do it.

3) NEVER MISS TWO IN A ROW. What occurs for those who miss a day? Who cares! Someday gained’t spoil you – however two days will, as a result of 2 missed days can grow to be a month or a yr within the blink of an eye fixed.

It’s one thing I deliver up on this video over on our YouTube Channel:

As identified in a analysis abstract:

“Lacking the occasional alternative to carry out the conduct didn’t severely impair the behavior formation course of: automaticity beneficial properties quickly resumed after one missed efficiency.^[3]

4) DON’T PICK HABITS YOU HATE: “Steve, I do know I ought to run so I’m making an attempt to construct a operating behavior although I hate operating.” Cease.

Are you able to get the identical outcomes with a special behavior, like mountaineering or climbing or swing dancing? Decide a behavior that isn’t depressing and also you’re extra more likely to observe by means of on it.

On the identical time, we’ve tons of success stories of people that went from hating train to loving the way it feels.

It’s as a result of they made the behavior a part of a much bigger image: “I’m understanding as a result of I’m constructing a kickass physique so I can begin relationship once more!”

Or even when they don’t LOVE strength training, they love feeling robust and assured and highly effective, in order that they construct the behavior and make it a precedence.

It’s as a result of that they had a BIG sufficient why to beat their preliminary dislike of train till they realized to like how train made them really feel.

5) TRY TEMPTATION BUNDLING: Think about combining a behavior you dislike with one thing you LOVE, and also you’ll be extra more likely to construct the behavior.

In the event you hate cleansing your condo, solely permit your self to take heed to your favourite podcast when you’re cleansing or doing the dishes.

Need to go to the health club extra? Enable your self an hour of watching Netflix, however ONLY when you’re on the elliptical.

That is known as temptation bundling, and it may be a strong change.

The Secret to Fulfilling Your Decision (Do Much less)

My real-life instance: I needed to construct the behavior of studying the violin at age 31, however couldn’t get myself to do it as a result of I advised myself I used to be too busy, which is a lie (“I solely have 25 minutes; I want half-hour to apply…may as effectively not apply in any respect”), and thus I by no means performed!

As soon as I lowered the brink to “I’ve to solely play for five minutes per day,” it gave me permission to select it up right here and there – and I ended up practising WAY extra incessantly, and obtained higher a lot quicker.

I nonetheless suck, thoughts you, however I’m lightyears forward of the place I used to be earlier than!

And please: DON’T BUILD ALL THE HABITS AT THE SAME TIME. 

In the event you’re new to constructing habits, or you have got by no means caught with something lengthy sufficient to make it automated, it’s since you did an excessive amount of. Habits are compound curiosity.

As you construct a brand new behavior, it bleeds over to different components of your life and makes future habits simpler to construct too – momentum!

As Mark Manson lays out in his guide on Habits: 

“Willpower is sort of a muscle. It may be exercised and practiced and constructed up. It will also be forgotten, weakened and atrophied.

Identical to going to the health club and increase power and endurance, you may construct up your self-discipline and willpower over an extended time frame by setting and engaging in a sequence of duties on a constant foundation.”

You’ve in all probability tried the entire “construct all of the habits directly” and it doesn’t work. So strive constructing ONE behavior for 30 days. After which choose a behavior that stacks on prime of that one and helps you construct increasingly progress and increasingly momentum.

Begin at present: Decide Your Behavior and Go

I write the best newsletter in the galaxy – it’s two brief emails per week, immediately from my mind to your inbox, and I promise to make you giggle and reside a bit higher!

Need skilled steerage in your wholesome behavior constructing in 2024? Join a free name with our teaching group within the field under to be taught extra about this system and see if it’s the best match:

Our coaching program changes lives! Learn more here.

I need you to depart a remark under: choose ONE behavior that you just’re going to construct this month and determine the three parts of the behavior you’re seeking to construct.

Good luck – now go construct some momentum.

And ONE behavior.

-Steve

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