This is an entire habit building book in one quick blog post!
Here are the established ways to form a new positive habit in your life. Remember the acronym "C.A.S.E".
Cue
Leave visual cues in your environment. Keep your gym shoes and water bottle in plain view, leave your floss on the bathroom counter, put your supplements somewhere that'll remind you to take them.
Attractive
Make the habit you're trying to form attractive by bundling it with another activity you enjoy. Put on the essential oil diffuser while you read/study, listen to new music or favourite podcasts while you exercise. Be creative!
Satisfying
What is rewarded is repeated. My favourite way to satisfy the need for immediate gratification is to track good habits using stickers on a calendar. Whatever the reward you choose, just make sure it doesn't counteract your achievement.
Easy
The less friction between you and your habit the better. Scale back your exercise routine so that you think "I can do that" rather than "this is going to be tough". Habits and results are formed by frequency and not necessarily the time spent doing the activity. Don't try perfecting your habit at first, just try getting it to stick!
There is even more to the science of habit building. You probably already have established habits in your daily routine that you can leverage to create new, healthy habits. Author James Clear calls this "Habit Coupling".
The premise of habit coupling is that your brain is already hard wired to perform various tasks throughout the day such as eating breakfast or checking the news. Therefore, each time you eat breakfast, take your supplements. Each time you check the news, make a note in your phone for something you are grateful for.
If you are looking for more ways to support habit building in your life, book your initial consultation with me to get the process started.
Book here - https://www.naturopathyyc.ca/book-now
-Dr. Riley, ND