How to build habits that actually stick

I’ve talked about bad habits, I’ve talked about good habits. But I’ve never talked about how to make habits. Habits are the building blocks of achieving your goals, so it is really helpful to know how to build useful and constructive habits.

Decide why

First, you should decide why you want to start your habit. This can help you stay consistent, as you’ll have concrete motivation to continue doing your habit. Also, if you set a goal, you can track your progress more easily and create milestones to achieve – which can both help you stick to your habit!

Track your progress

Whether you do this in your bullet journal, on Notion, or on your phone, just try to track your progress. It’ll help you work out what works, and what doesn’t. However, make sure you don’t turn into a perfectionist when tracking – you don’t have to do your habit everyday for it to be successful. Also, you can share your progress with someone that can track it along with you, just so you have some added accountability!

Set reminders

Some people like to set reminders on their phone to remind them to do a habit. I’ve found this super helpful, as it means I don’t have to actively think about starting a habit. I just pick a time to do it, and at that time, I’ll get a reminder. It takes off the burden of remembering to do something (and it means you won’t have the excuse of “I forgot!”).

Add your habits onto existing habits

In Good Habits, Bad Habits, Wendy Wood talks about how adding new habits to existing habits makes them more likely to stick. I’ll explain – basically, pick something you already do daily, like eating breakfast, or brushing your teeth. Then, link your new habit to that old habit. Read as you eat breakfast to start your new reading habit. Go for a run right after you brush your teeth to start your new exercise habit.

Edit your environment

Now, this sounds simple, but it’s so useful! Basically, it’s just utilising the out of sight, out of mind concept. If you want to go on a diet, don’t buy banned foods, or at least make them more difficult to access. If you want to cut down on screentime, put your phone in another room. You can also flip this around: put your running shoes next to your bed to remind you to go running, or a bowl of strawberries on your desk so you won’t grab something less healthy.

I’ve been trying to use this technique, but I have, unfortunately, been sabotaged – leaving my violin on the floor to remember to play it has lead to my mom telling me to clean up my room

If you want to learn more about how to build habits, I’d recommend reading Wendy Wood’s Good Habits, Bad Habits. It goes into a lot more detail about habits and it explains the science behind why those techniques work 🙂