September 19th, 2023

Coach Jen

Replacing habits that no longer serve us with new habits that align closer to our values is essential for lasting change. In order for this change to occur specificity and consistency must be applied to our goal. If you have a goal of running a marathon, simply saying I’m going to do a few runs throughout the week and eat healthy won’t help you reach your end goal of a marathon. Instead, creating a plan to run 4 days a week at 6:00 am for 60 minutes with a long run on Sunday of 3 hrs will help remove any ambiguity when life gets busy or you don’t feel motivated-because trust me you will not always feel motivated!

The easiest way to form a new habit is stack it onto a pre-existing habit. Let’s say you have a goal of doing 20 pushups every day but are struggling to be consistent-instead of thinking, I will fit in those 20 push-ups sometime today, find a habit on auto-pilot to stack it to.

Goal: 20 Push-ups

Habit: Brush my teeth

After I brush my teeth I will do 20 push-ups.

The queue of the toothbrush will remind you to do the push ups.

In order to reinforce the behavior of the new habit, implement some type of reward you enjoy, that still aligns with your overall goal.

After I brush my teeth I will do 20 push-ups

After I do 20-push ups I will pour myself a cup of fruit infused water that I love

By establishing a set of queues, and reinforcing the work with a small win you will eliminate the tendency to push off “the work” until you find time. Something will always find our time so make sure your non-negotiables take priority!