The 'Creating New Habits' 7 Day Challenge: Habit Hacks
Updated: Jul 28, 2020
Making new habits isn't easy, if it were we'd all be on top of our goals 100% of time. In this post, I've rounded up six of my best habit forming hacks to help you really own this challenge and create the change you desire.
The 'Creating New Habits' 7 Day Challenge
New here? Welcome to the Blog Challenge series, where we challenge ourselves once a month to improve our health or lifestyle in some way. If you are new to following my Blog Challenge series, it's super easy peasy to participate. Just tune into the blog each day through the website or my app and follow along. Read the challenge post with a journal or pretty notebook handy. Write down any "ah-ha moments", ideas or inspiration and follow the prompts to complete the challenge. I highly recommend using a pretty journal for this.
6 Simple Hacks To Help You Build New Habits
Creating new habits isn’t easy. Here are six simple hacks that will make it a little easier. Use them until you’ve internalised the new habit and don’t need them anymore.
1. Schedule It On The To-Do List
Sometimes we forget to do that new thing we were trying. Maybe we forget that we’re supposed to be having eggs for breakfast instead of a stack of waffles, or that we need to get that daily walk in. Because old habits die hard, you may have had coffee instead do that tea you brewed this morning.
Yeah, creating change is a definite effort. So schedule your new habits or make them part of your daily to-do list until they become something you do automatically. I use my iPhone's notes app for this but there are heaps of other habit support out there you can try. LifeHack.com has rounded up 24 awesome apps you might enjoy, click here.
2. Make It Public & Be Accountable
Oooh, you ready for this? Let your family and friends know what new habits you’re trying to establish. if you have a family like mine, they will call you out if you don’t stick to your plan. Ask trusted family members to hold you accountable, or ask them to join you on this challenge!
You may even go as far as sharing it publicly on Facebook or your socials. Knowing that others will read it and know about your habit goal, might be just enough to keep you going when you feel like throwing in the towel.
3. Piggyback On A Habit You Already Have
Whenever possible, add the new habit to one you already have. For example, if you fix a cup of tea or coffee at 4pm, and you want to get in the habit of taking a daily walk, make the new ritual to go for your walk and then come back and enjoy your tea. It’s much easier to amend an existing habit or ritual than creating an entirely new one.
4. Make Slip-ups Costly
Here’s a fun idea. Put a jar on the kitchen bench and each time you slip back into your old, bad habits or forget to stick to the new one, you have to put $1 in the jar. This will quickly help you remember to skip that sugary food and motivate you to go out for that walk. Get your kids to hold you accountable, trust me they'll scolding you. For extra motivation donate the money to charity at the end of the month or hand it over to your kids to get a treat to celebrate your achievement.
5. Find A Partner & Help Each Other Along
Did you share this challenge with friends? If not, do so now! Find someone with the same or similar goal. This could be a workout partner or a diet buddy. Keep tabs on each other and encourage each other to keep going. Do it publichally on each other's Facebook wall or other socials. It’s so much harder to skip a walk if you know someone else is depending on you being there!
6. Make It A Group Challenge
I did! And if one accountability partner is good, a whole group is even better. Your accountability crew doesn't even need to be local. Find a supportive group online, share this blog series and challenge each other to stick to your new habit for the next 30 days or so. Not wanting to be the first one to give up will keep all of you going until you establish that new habit.
Here's today's recap: give these simple little hacks a try. Keep using the ones that you find helpful until you have made new habits you can stick with without the help of any tools or support. You’ll be well on your way to forming a new good habit in no time!
Tune in tomorrow for Day 4 where we'll explore the relationship between forming habits and willpower. See you then!
Health + happiness,
Emma
xoxo
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