When Enthusiasm Fades: Tips for Sustaining New Habits Beyond New Year's Resolutions
Ah, the promise of a new year. Many embrace it as a time that naturally lends itself to reflection and resolution making.
For others who eschew “new year’s resolutions,” they look at it as Father Time’s way of giving you an opportunity to take stock, then clear the slate.
Either way, January seems a natural way for people to set goals, make plans, and chart a new course. The feeling is contagious! It feels good to leave behind old patterns and habits that didn’t serve you well and focus on what you can do better in the coming year.
But for most of us, the gung-ho feeling of fresh goals for a fresh year begins to wane. Excitement and good intentions only get us so far.
And that can leave you feeling deflated, even throwing in the towel.
Don’t despair!
There are many ways to build positive, sustainable habits, even when your enthusiasm begins to run out of steam but the desire to make lasting changes still burns hot!
Tips for Sustaining New Habits
You’ve heard it over and over, “Fad diets don’t work.” It’s the truth and you know it. They don’t work for the same reason your New Year’s Resolutions often fizzle: they give you nice short-term results but are just too much of a pain in the a$$ to maintain!
There’s always the thought in the back of your mind that, “When I see the quick results I’ll be so motivated I’ll want to keep going!” Yeah, not so much. You’re human, and that’s how it rolls for most of us.
Since we humans simply aren’t hard-wired for those sweeping, hard-core goals/resolutions/diets, we have to take a different approach to get the results we need.
Narrow Your Focus
Broad, all-encompassing, lofty goals sound good to your brain. “I’m really going to make some wonderful changes!” you croon. But for most of us, it’s a check your mind can’t cash.
Instead, narrow your focus to just one or two changes you’d like to make. Keep them narrow in scope and small in nature. Instead of vowing to go Vegan, narrow it down to having a Meatless Monday for the month.
Instead of pledging to “get your books in order,” dedicate 20 minutes a day to the task.
Then, give it time. At least a week or two before you decide to ditch it or keep it. Practicing the new behavior you want to develop takes some time and dedication in the beginning for it to take hold. Don’t cut yourself short.
Try “Habit Stacking”
Now that you’ve narrowed your focus, you may be tempted to add many new, small changes to your routine. But keeping track of them and adding many new habits to your day can be challenging.
Instead, try Habit Stacking, a technique from the book Habit Stacking™: 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by S.J. Scott.
Scott suggests grouping together small changes into a daily routine. It’s really a matter of perspective. Scott writes, “If you treated each component of a stack as an individual action, then you’d have to create a reminder and track each behavior, which can quickly become overwhelming. However, if you treat the entire routine as just one habit, then it will be easier to remember and complete on a consistent basis.”
He suggests starting with these 7 steps:
Start with a 5 minute block
Focus on small wins that build momentum
Anchor each stack to a time and location
Anchor your stack to one of your 5 senses that will remind you to complete a specific action
Create a checklist of the habits so you’re sure not to skip any
Be accountable to someone
Create small, enjoyable rewards for yourself
Give Yourself Grace
Remember that you are trying to change long-ingrained habits (decades-old for some of us!) and that you aren't going to default to doing the new behavior right out of the gate. That's okay! Rome wasn't built in a day either, but you can slowly form new habits by being patient with yourself.
You’ve probably been told that it takes 21 days to create a habit, but that’s really for repetitive tasks like adding family time to your calendar or fitting in a workout. If you’re tackling a more complex change, stepping out of your comfort zone to transform an area of your life, then according to the latest studies, it’ll take at least 66 days.
If you give yourself grace during those couple of months of creating lasting change, you’ll be much more likely to get back on the horse if you stumble. It’s human nature to fight against ourselves because falling back into old habits is much easier than creating new ones. Just remember that you’re not after perfection.
Be kind to yourself as you do this important work. And remember, once you get the habit ingrained, you’ll be in cruise control in no time!
Celebrate Your Success
Just like potty training a new puppy, you have to reward yourself for doing the new habit! Go ahead, give yourself a gold star on a progress chart or calendar! Journal about your triumph and let the feeling of accomplishment sink in. Treat yourself to 15 minutes of playing your favorite game on your phone or reading a few pages of your guilty pleasure novel - whatever you need to motivate you to keep up the good work!
Creating new, positive, sustainable habits is a noble endeavor!
You could be on the sidelines of life, doing what you’ve always done, getting the same results over and over. But not YOU! You’re doing the work, putting in the time, and actively pursuing a better life.
That’s something to be proud of.