How to Enforce a New Habit

Choosing and enforcing new habits can be really easy and really hard at the same time. Easy in the choosing of the new habit, hard in the enforcing of it.

Here is a list of simple tricks and tips you can use to make your new habits stick.

1. Do it Daily 

When enforcing a new habit, doing it daily is a great way of making it stick. It's also one of the easier ways to help new habits stick, rather than doing it only two or three days a week and forgetting about it.

2. Consistency 

It's no good trying to change an old or existing habit or form a new one if you're not going to be consistent in your tackling of it.

Scholars, athletes, musicians and the like, have all had to be consistent in their fields to find success. It really goes along with point number 1, that being a way in which you can remain consistent.

3. Select a period of time 

When deciding what new habit you're going to enforce in your life, also decide how long you're going to practice it for (daily). For example ten days, twenty days, thirty days etc.

For a new habit to stick, normally I would give a guideline of about a month or so, of course this is only a guideline.

If you manage to enforce a new habit in less than a month - great, if it takes longer than a month - don't worry.

Although if it's a habit that you need to change ASAP, then of course the sooner the better.

4. Use a Calender 

Calenders are a great way of reminding yourself to do something, but not only that you can keep track of how you're doing.

I recommend a grid calender, and plotting out each of your days. Then as you do this new habit each day, you can cross them off to let you know how you're doing.

5. Reminders 

If you don't fancy using a calender or would prefer to use another method as-well as or instead of, then placing reminders is the way for you.

Write out a handful of reminders and allocate them to places you know you'll notice them, e.g: on your computer, on your bedroom door, on your car steering wheel, on your shoes, etc. 

Wherever you choose to place them, as long as you know you'll notice them then you can have no fear in forgetting about your new conquest. Just don't forget to put out the reminders, maybe you should make yourself some reminders to remind you to lay out some reminders. :)

6. Know why you're doing it 

Knowing the benefits of you're new habits will be brilliant for motivating yourself to keep it up. For example I'm trying to become more flexible to try and prevent joint and muscle problems when I'm older. I also have quite a weak back with being quite tall, so I thought why not?

Having a goal in mind helps a lot.