Habits and Triggers
/So, we saw it coming, but I still got that sinking feeling when Boris announced live to the nation that we’re going into another national lockdown until mid-February.
My first thought was S**T... I had a little rant, and it was a little one, I promise. Then I thought, ‘Ok, how am I going to make the most of the opportunities another lockdown presents?’ Yes, there are always opportunities, even in the most challenging circumstances.
During December and January, we turn our attention to reviewing the past year and setting goals for the next. We’ve been doing more targeted work than normal during this goal setting season, especially around creating positive and long-lasting habits which support us to achieve our goals. Creating long lasting habits is challenging and complicated: it’s not as easy as writing down a list of all the things we ‘should’ be doing and then getting to work to do them. I must mention that my husband would actually argue with this. He’s one of those annoying people who can simply say, ‘Right, today I’m going to start training for a marathon,’ and then he actually goes ahead and does it! For those of you, like me, who in order to bring about significant behaviour change and create long lasting positive habits, need a little more structure, here’s how it can work.
For many of us, our day-to-day schedule has been altered by Boris’ announcement, which means we are forced to create new habits. Will your new habits be positive or negative? That’s up to you.
We all know lockdown is different for each individual. You may have less time, more time or feel like you have no time. However much ‘time’ you feel you have; you can create new habits. It’s not always about adding things in. For you, it might be that you need to replace one negative habit with a positive habit or get smart about how you add in positive habits so they don’t take any extra time at all. For example, I do the physio exercises for my weak ankle while I’m brushing my teeth.
Just before Christmas we had some brilliant conversations about healthy habits with our women’s wellbeing group and one gem which came out of those conversations is that we all have triggers. The positive kind. Most of us out of a group of 30 could identify one thing that if we did that, everything else would flow. For one lady it was drinking water. If she drank 2 litres of water each day she slept better, which meant she then had more energy to exercise, felt more positive and felt more motivated to work towards her personal and professional goals. For me, it’s movement. If I exercise (get my heart rate up for at least 10 minutes) I eat better. When I eat better, I have more energy. When I have more energy, I get stuff done so I achieve more, feel better and sleep well. Remember creating positive habits isn’t about setting goals it’s about practically shifting behaviours.
Creating a habit is about making significant changes to our behaviours, but it doesn’t have to feel like a huge shift all at once. Focus on changing one small behaviour which you know, or you think, will have a positive knock-on effect. For example, will simply laying out your workout clothes by your bed, with your headphones on top and a podcast or playlist ready to go on your phone mean that you’re more likely to go for a walk, run or workout when you wake up in the morning? Once you’ve moved your body are you more likely to drink more water? When you’re more hydrated are you more likely to think clearly and make positive decisions? Might some of these positive decisions be related to what you eat? After a day which includes movement, drinking plenty of water, making positive decisions and eating well are you likely to sleep better? You can see by focusing on one small change, laying out your clothes and headphones the night before, you’ve managed to bring about more positive habits throughout your day.
Find your positive trigger – choose 1 thing that you will do every day (preferably at the start of the day) which will result in positive behaviour change throughout the day. Once you’ve identified your positive trigger, or decide which one you’re going to try out first, decide to turn it into a habit.
Steps to creating a positive habit which actually work…
Step 1 - Be super clear about the habit you are going to change, be as specific as possible. You want to get to the point where if you told someone about the habit you are going to change, they wouldn’t need to come back with any questions in order to fully understand what you’re going to do. Be specific whilst still keeping it concise. E.g., I am going to drink two litres of water every day; I am going to set 3 goals for 2021 on January the 10th and review them every 3 months; I am going to walk for 10 minutes outside at 12pm every day.
Step 2 - Know why?
Why are you bothering to create this habit? Dig deep, what’s the reason behind the reason? You want to exercise more because it’s good for your health, but why is having good health important to you? Well having good health is important because I don’t want to get sick, but why? I need to exercise more because if I don’t, I either won’t be around or won’t have the energy to play with my grandchildren. What’s the true reason you’re making this change? What’s going to keep you motivated to stick with it?
Step 3 - Take away room for decision making.
Plan and decide exactly what you’re going to do and when. Then do it, no thought process needed. Once we start giving ourselves choices e.g. I will either go for a run or do a workout video at some point throughout the day, we give ourselves the choice to opt out. Create an action plan that is clear, simple and practical.
Step 4 – Affirm that you have already created a new habit.
Write down your affirmation. A positive statement in the present tense stating that you have already created a new habit. E.g. ‘I am running at 8am every morning for 20 minutes’.
Step 5 – Create a habit.
It takes up to 30 days to create a new habit and then 90 days to engrain that habit.
Tick off the days so you know how much progress you’ve made towards achieving a new habit.
Download our full goal setting and creating positive habits toolkit here - https://www.equipped2succeed.co.uk/setting-goals-creating-positive-habits