Lifestyle

10 Effective Ways to Maintain Good Living Habits

By Swati Chauhan

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Remember getting up at 5 a.m in the morning, going for a jog and exercising for one straight hour. Remember repeating the same for the entire month or even a week without a break.

Lot of us reading this post might have a problem saying ‘yes’ simply because it is as easy to pick up and start off with a new good habit as it is difficult to maintain it.

But not anymore, here’s a small workable ten step program that you can adopt in your daily routine and can actually find yourself sticking to some of those healthy habits you always wanted to. Here’s how:

1. Follow 1-1-1:

The first one stands for one habit, which means pick up one habit that you want to change at a time. Trying to make too many changes to your routine can lead to failure at all. The second one stand for once in a day, follow your habit once every day. The third one stands for 1 one month. Follow this routine with the target of doing it for a month.

That was the first and the most important rule. The other rules listed below are just to make sure you follow rule no 1.

2. Be consistent:

This is one rule that can’t be emphasized enough. It really is the most important.

3. Find your motivation:

Do not force yourself to do something that your mind terms boring or difficult instead practice your mind to think of it as a rewarding activity. Think of it this way, the next half an hour of jogging could change the way I look, the next healthy meal could increase my immunity and so on.

4. Make room for the new habit:

We usually pick up new habits without making any space for them in our daily lives which simply means that some of the old habits need to go before you start a new one. For e.g. you cannot wake up early if you are in the habit of watching TV late every day.

5. Set the stage:

Make an environment around yourself for eg. If you are trying to pick up reading, make a small reading corner in your house which is nice and welcoming. The idea is to reduce resistance and efforts and make the initial phase as simple as possible.

6. Make it fun:

The fun part is very important as this is what will make you come back every day, So if you are trying to lose weight but hate going to the gym or exercising, go for a run instead in the fresh outdoors, play a game or just simply dance to your favourite music.

7. Make calendar entries:

Mark days when you could stick to the habit and when you could not and hang it somewhere you can see it every day. It will help you keep yourself on track.

8. Do not miss:

Whatever happens ‘DO’ not miss practicing your habit more than 2 times in a row. You will find it difficult to come back if it is more than that.

9. Celebrate your milestones:

If one month is the target one week could be a milestone. If you avoided junk food for a week celebrate your success, and tell yourself what a swell job you did. It keeps you going!

10. Have a whistle blower: