Everyone knows the drill: exercise most days, eat a varied and nutritious diet, don’t smoke and limit alcohol. Although we all wished that osmosis worked or that knowing information made us act on it, we’ve all come to the realization that it takes more than facts to live a healthy lifestyle. Behavior change refers to any transformation or modification to human behavior. Living healthy is a journey, not a destination, and, no matter where we are on our journey, there is always room for improvement.
No matter how or when we decide to make a change to our lifestyle, whether it’s adopting a new healthy behavior or breaking an unhealthy behavior, it’s hard. Therefore, we find ourselves looking for shortcuts and are searching for that secret method to find success. We have to remind ourselves that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and behaviors aren’t changed that quickly either. Research has shown that small changes over time lead to greater success.
Try these tips:
1) Positive self-talk. While much of our motivation tends to come from guilt or fear, research has shown that long lasting change tends to work when it is surrounded by self-motivation and positive thinking. Make changes for positive reasons, and stay away from the negative or changing for other people.
2) Make your change your priority. The moment you are able to make the change, you are striving for your priority you will find success. For example, a smoker’s reason for quitting has to be more important than their reason for lighting up. They have to want to quit more than they want that feeling they get each time they smoke. We have to tuck away our immediate satisfaction and desires and put all of our energy and will power into the goal at hand. As you reach that goal, you continue to progress by doing it again and again until it becomes a habit.
3) Make your goal specific and measurable. Instead of saying, “I want to exercise more,” be very specific as to when you will exercise, for how long and when. Making something measurable allows you to build up your confidence by giving yourself a sense of achievement. It also allows you to make sure you are setting an attainable goal that is well thought out and gives you time to prepare.
4) Start small. Research shows that making small changes over time will lead to long standing success. Make your changes to your behavior almost trivial. Even if it feels tempting and you feel motivated in a moment to make a big change, stick with your small steps and let them build up to something great.
5) Don’t give up. Thomas Edison is an extremely famous inventor. He isn’t famous because he invented the light bulb on his first try. He’s famous because he kept trying until he was successful. Remember, failure isn’t final. Each time you fail at something, we take away a lesson and all those lessons can add up to our success. So, just because you aren’t successful your first try, figure out what happened, reassess and keep trying until the habit sticks.
