Well, it’s that time of year again. The gyms are going to fill up, the diet books are going to fly off of the shelves and people are going to swear that THIS is going to be the year. This will be the year that they finally change…and for good! (Am I right?)
Happy New Year (Photo credit: James Marvin Phelps)
I’m guessing that by the time you read this, most peoples’ midnight resolutions are broken and forgotten, and things are going back to business as usual on all fronts. I would like to CHALLENGE you to not go back to ‘business as usual’, but to make some real changes this year and make it your BEST YEAR EVER!
The more you know about how and why you make decisions, the easier it is to make aggressive and permanent changes. There is a ground-breaking book on this subject called: THE POWER OF HABIT. Here is the basis of that book and how you can make permanent changes (new habits):
There are only 3 things you need to know:
- What is your CUE?
- What is your ROUTINE?
- What is your REWARD?
We need to have an example to talk about, so we’ll use the typical “I want to start working out this year.”
1. Start by figuring out your CUE. You need to come up with something to CUE you to want to work out. A good idea is to use a picture of you now, and get out a picture of when you were at your peak level. Give yourself some pain (picture of you now), and a goal (older picture of you) to make you want to do the activity.
2. Create a ROUTINE. Make it automatic that when you see that picture you go and work out. You could look at that picture first thing when you get up which makes you go and work out. You could look at it when you leave work, so that you create a routine of going to the gym after work.
3. Develop the REWARD for what you are doing. When you work out, the feeling you get can often be the REWARD. Our bodies naturally release chemicals in your body that make you feel good and put you in a positive mood when you work out. Some people add a little more to it though, like having a favorite drink after they workout, or maybe they get their coffee after they work out…but they ONLY get the REWARD after they do the action.
This is a simple 3-step formula to create serious change in your life. I challenge you to do this each and every day to get the results you want.
You can use this for working out, changing your eating habits, being more productive at work, starting a business or project that you have been putting off (because of your previous ‘bad’ habits).
If you want to read THE POWER OF HABIT, you can get it at Amazon by clicking here.
