Learning how to develop good habits can take your personal and professional life to the next level. Like a coin, there are two sides; good habits and bad ones. Both do not have the same effect on our lives. While good habits can help you lead a successful life at present and in the future, bad habits do the opposite.

John a manager at a big firm screams and shouts abusive words to the employees he manages when they do things wrong.

On the other hand, Evelyn who also faces the same problem being a manager also overseeing a group of employees tries a different approach. When she’s agitated and angry, she takes a brief walk to calm down before returning to her office to address the mistakes of the employees with calmness.

From the two scenarios, both face the same problem; dealing with employees. However, John’s habit of screaming and shouting at the employees can affect his health and also emotionally affect the employees.

For Evelyn, her habit helps reduce frustration and allows her to administer correction properly and respectfully; a win-win, no one gets hurts emotionally or physically.

Good habits are no doubt beneficial, but how can you develop them. Let’s examine these helpful tips that can help you cultivate good habits.

Start Small

It’s natural to want something and wish you had it all at once. But when building a habit, it takes time to develop. As such trying to cultivate many habits at once can be difficult. The best approach is to take it one at a time. That way, you will be able to get accustomed to a habit and make it a way of life.

Say, for example, you want to keep fit by exercising each day, meditate each morning, and also read some motivational content in the morning. Trying to start all at the same time can be overwhelming and you may eventually stop after few days. But if pick one of the habits and develop it for a month or two, then start the second. After another two to three months of balancing the first two habits, add the third.

This approach helps you to get used to each habit, making it part of you before moving to the next. In that way, it’s not overwhelming or overly demanding.

Stay Positive

If you put your mind to it, you can achieve it! The import of this popular saying is to emphasize the role positivity places in staying determined to a course.

There are times when negative feelings may overwhelm you making it seem as if your goal is unattainable. But by staying positive, you will stick to the habit even when it’s a challenge to do so.

A positive mindset won’t automatically block off negative feelings. However, on gloomy days, it will help you look past the challenges and forge ahead.

Be Committed

Commitment to a goal is far from easy. Yet, you need to stay committed to your goal to achieve success. There may be challenges along the way but commitment helps you stay focused.

The commitment may require you to make sacrifices. It could be waking early, giving up some form of entertainment, and lots more.

Know Your Triggers

Know what can trigger the urge to fall back into some habits. Identifying these triggers gives you an advantage. You’ll be able to know how best to avoid these obstacles.

There will be bad days, but that’s never an excuse to give up. If you are trying to meditate every morning or speak calmly in tough situations, some days might be especially challenging. It could be if you sleep late, waking up early to meditate becomes difficult. Or you’ve realized that when you respond immediately when someone offends you, you react poorly– raise your voice and screaming.

In both examples, identifying your triggers helps you avoid them and reduce the chances of having drawbacks.

Identify What May Hold you Back

The eagerness to develop a good habit may not be a challenge but there may be other factors hindering you. Identifying these factors makes it easy to find a way around them.

Consider the example of someone who intends to quit drinking, yet every day after work, he follows his co-workers to the bar. While he struggles to change, frequenting a bar may weaken his resolve. To beat this,  such an individual can reduce the number of days he accompanies co-workers to the bar or just stop following them.

Plan with Imperfection in Mind

Success needs planning. As you plan to develop good habits, make plans that gives room for failure. This is necessary because it’s almost impossible to avoid mistakes. But when you make plans and factor in your imperfect nature, you have a better chance of recovery.

People who make a plan with the possibility of making mistakes prepare measures to take when such missteps occurs.  In this way, you keep standing even if you fall back into old habits or miss a routine.

Remember that things are not going to be perfect. So as mistakes occur, do not give up, make amends and forge ahead in your endeavor.

Know Why

Know why you want to build a habit. You’ve got know the reward or improvement a habit will add to your life. When there is a reason, you get to focus better.

 Get Help From Friends and Family

At a time in her life, Margaret had to develop the habit of taking of plenty water due to a health condition. Throughout her first year of building the habit, her family and friends played a huge role in giving her reminders and making water always available. With their help, she was able to build the solid habit (of drinking water) that helped her health significantly.

From Margaret’s example, the role family members and friends can play in developing good habits shouldn’t be underestimated.

Reward Small Effort

Don’t wait until you’ve built a habit for years before praising or rewarding yourself. Celebrate small wins to encourage yourself. Developing a habit is not a simple task. If you can stick to a habit for a few weeks, reward yourself. Doing so serves as a motivation and increases your chances of fully making the habit a part of yourself.

Final Remarks

Good habits are not easy to develop, but taking a cue from the tips examined can prove beneficial. Overall, have it in mind that Rome wasn’t built in a day, you need patience and determination to succeed in becoming a better person.

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