How to Form Habits You Won't Want to Break by February

When we make goals for the New Year, we should put a lot of attention on building new habits instead of trying to change everything at once. When you try to change too much at once, it can be a shock. This can make you give up before you reach the goals you really want to reach. Here's how to make new healthy habits that stick, since old ones are hard to break.

​Stick to your plans to get healthy.
Even if you know you should make changes, it can be hard to do so. Change is hard and often makes people feel uneasy. Focusing on the "why" of the unpleasant parts of these goals can help you stick to the goals you've set for yourself. For example, if you want to lower your cholesterol this year and have decided to change the way you eat, don't worry about how you'll do it. Instead, think about the results you'll get.

Create a fun calendar.
Get a calendar or planner with a design that makes you want to use it. Add your health goals there so you'll remember to do them and start a daily routine that you'll look forward to crossing off. It helps to read them the night before, so you can set the tone for the next day and get things done.

Take it slow.
It's important to take care of your health, but you can't just go from one extreme to the next. Look at the healthy habits you should start doing. Maybe it's giving up soda, eating more whole, healthy foods, and working out. Then, slowly start taking away the bad things while adding more healthy things each week. Every week, add a little more time to your workouts, and soon you'll be locked into these new healthy habits.

Find a person you can count on.
If a friend or family member has the same goals as you, you can work together to reach them. But don't let it stop you if no one else is on your similar objective. Share your habits and goals anyway so that your friends and family can help cheer you on.

Honor your successes.
You should have a path of smaller goals that lead to each big goal you set. This gives you the drive to keep going even when things get hard. Celebrate when you reach these smaller goals.

Keep track of how you're doing.
Keeping track of your healthy habits is a great way to keep yourself going on a bad day. When you look back and see how much you've changed, you'll feel motivated. If your goal is to lose weight, look at how much you weighed when you started. Even if you only lose 5 to 10 pounds, it will show you that you CAN do it and keep you moving toward your goal.

Last piece of advice: be kind to yourself when you make mistakes.We sometimes go in a different direction, and that's fine. Don't punish yourself. Instead, pick yourself up and try again. The sooner you get back on track, the less your overall goals will be affected.

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