How to Develop Daily Habits
As tempting as it is to try and change more than one habit at a time to reach your goals more quickly, the opposite is true. Doing poorly with one habit will have a domino effect on the habits you’re doing well with. The house of cards will topple over and the level of discouragement you’ll feel will make it that much harder to get back on your feet.
Here’s the habit-building process that’s working for me:
Focus on building one habit per month.
Don’t give yourself a deadline: Some daily habits will be easier to build than others, and it doesn’t matter how long it takes to build the habit, as long as you build it.
Commit fully and don’t back down.
Go easy on yourself if you stumble. Instead of getting angry with yourself, use it as a learning experience. Figure out what caused you to stumble, deal with any external influences causing you problems, and try again.
Each time you hit a milestone—one week, one month, six months, etc.—reward yourself in some way. How is completely up to you.
Once you’re able to complete the habit without having to think about it, it’s time to move onto establishing your next habit.
