Start and Maintain a New Practice, Page 2
Step 5. Set reminders/alarms or join accountability groups. Changing any behavior or adopting a new practice requires that you establish new neuromuscular patterns in your body. The best way to do this is to set an alarm or reminder the first day you plan to begin a new practice, and then keep engaging in the new practice at that same time for several days in a row. Try for 7 days in a row, at least. Without those external reminders, it’s very likely you’ll get distracted or stay stuck in your previous ways of being, because they are habitual. Setting a reminder, or scheduling a phone call with a friend or coach, or going to a physical location for a class or support group, are all excellent ways to help maximize your chances of sticking to a new practice long enough to (1) evaluate if you like it enough to keep it, and (2) start to embed that new practice as a new habit that you don’t need an external reminder in order to do.
Step 6. Focus on the practice, not the result. This seems odd, but the only way to stick to a practice and make it really count is to be present and find enjoyment in the doing of it. In starting and maintaining a new practice, it’s the goal or outcome or result that initially provides you motivation to engage in that new practice. But you must focus on the doing of the practice, rather than the result, if you wish to get the result you want. Eventually. When the time is right. Being present and finding something to enjoy about the new practice/habit/behavior itself is the best way to keep doing it, and the goal or result will (almost) feel secondary. There are certainly ways to get through doing practices you hate doing because they lead to a result you want, but remember--what you practice makes your life. When you can find something to love, or at very least enjoy or appreciate, about the practice you’re doing, you’ll enjoy your life on your way to any long-term goal.
Step 7. Be honest in your attempt and appraisal. When adopting a new practice, always give it your best, and know that not every behavior works for everybody! Give yourself permission to be human, to make choices and changes, and to realize when something just isn’t working or isn’t worth it because it’s not making you happy. There are no absolute right answers in life, so do your best to get clear on your values and goals, make educated choices about the practices that will help you align with those values and goals, and know that there is always another way when something you chose to practice doesn’t work for you. Lying to yourself, or suffering through something because you think it’s the “only” way to get what you want, won’t actually work in the long run.
Remember that what you choose to practice every day or most days ends up making up your life. You get to decide with what content your life is filled! If your current day-to-day physical or mental or emotional state is not making you feel your best, then perhaps it’s time to practice some new behaviors or ways of thinking or feeling. No one said change was easy, but with the right preparation and support, each of us can do just about anything we put our mind to. Based on the fact that children grow up (eventually) able to speak and walk—even after all that practice, all those mistakes, all that failure--you can have ultimate faith that you, too, will succeed in the end. Just give yourself the chance to practice.
To continue on the theme of changing behaviors and creating new habits, I’ll write next time about the theoretical stages of behavior change and how you can use the theory to help you in real life.
Step 6. Focus on the practice, not the result. This seems odd, but the only way to stick to a practice and make it really count is to be present and find enjoyment in the doing of it. In starting and maintaining a new practice, it’s the goal or outcome or result that initially provides you motivation to engage in that new practice. But you must focus on the doing of the practice, rather than the result, if you wish to get the result you want. Eventually. When the time is right. Being present and finding something to enjoy about the new practice/habit/behavior itself is the best way to keep doing it, and the goal or result will (almost) feel secondary. There are certainly ways to get through doing practices you hate doing because they lead to a result you want, but remember--what you practice makes your life. When you can find something to love, or at very least enjoy or appreciate, about the practice you’re doing, you’ll enjoy your life on your way to any long-term goal.
Step 7. Be honest in your attempt and appraisal. When adopting a new practice, always give it your best, and know that not every behavior works for everybody! Give yourself permission to be human, to make choices and changes, and to realize when something just isn’t working or isn’t worth it because it’s not making you happy. There are no absolute right answers in life, so do your best to get clear on your values and goals, make educated choices about the practices that will help you align with those values and goals, and know that there is always another way when something you chose to practice doesn’t work for you. Lying to yourself, or suffering through something because you think it’s the “only” way to get what you want, won’t actually work in the long run.
Remember that what you choose to practice every day or most days ends up making up your life. You get to decide with what content your life is filled! If your current day-to-day physical or mental or emotional state is not making you feel your best, then perhaps it’s time to practice some new behaviors or ways of thinking or feeling. No one said change was easy, but with the right preparation and support, each of us can do just about anything we put our mind to. Based on the fact that children grow up (eventually) able to speak and walk—even after all that practice, all those mistakes, all that failure--you can have ultimate faith that you, too, will succeed in the end. Just give yourself the chance to practice.
To continue on the theme of changing behaviors and creating new habits, I’ll write next time about the theoretical stages of behavior change and how you can use the theory to help you in real life.
Click the image to download your worksheet today!
In the meantime, use my 7 tips to help you attempt a small behavior change, this very week, and see what happens.
Have fun practicing!
- Choose something, anything, that is aligned with your values, desires, and goals, and that you imagine will make your life better and/or healthier. You can use my SMART Goal Worksheet to help you write a good goal. Just click the worksheet to the right of this list.
- Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to do it each day for 7 days (preferably at the same time of day, if you can--our bodies like habit).
- Keep a journal about your experience. What thoughts do you have before, during, and after the new behavior? Do you find yourself wanting to not do it, even though yesterday you were super excited to try? If it’s difficult, do you tell yourself you won’t be able to complete it or keep it up? Do you find that you’re looking for any excuse NOT to do the new practice, or that it feels less important than doing things for other people? Is your self care simply not priority #1 in your life? Writing down thoughts, judgments, and obstacles while attempting a new practice is a fantastic way to identify possible obstacles to getting the life, health, or goal you want to achieve.
Have fun practicing!