Do we have to go through this yet again?

Yes, because the secret to developing 

habits is repetition

As we count down the final few weeks to the end of the year, many of us are starting to think about our goals and aspirations for next year.  In fact, in light of the year we've all had, I would imagine that more of us than ever before at this time of year, are starting to look forward to the next.  I'll do more of a reflection on 2020 blog in a couple of weeks' time, in the meantime I'd like to do some groundwork for 2021.  2021?!!  Wow, 2021 sounds so ... well, futuristic.  I feel like we should be teleporting or driving around in cars that can also fly.  Sorry, I digress.

Yet again, I'm going back to the subject of habits.  Classic start to the new year, we make promises to ourselves that we can't keep and a couple of months in, they've fallen by the wayside.  We instantly blame willpower, or lack of it, but the fact is that willpower is finite.  We use it up quite quickly throughout the day so by the time it comes to doing that new routine at 7 pm after a hard day, there's not much chance of it actually happening.

Instead, we need to look at the power of habits.  Habits are easier for the brain to cope with, there's less effort.  You don't have to think about cleaning your teeth every morning, you go into automatic pilot.  That's what we need to create for any new goals.  As it's a subject I know about, I'm going to use running and myself as an example.

Alarm goes off and without thinking about it, my trainers are on my feet and I'm out the door.  It's a habit that's well and truly ingrained into my psyche.  So what happens when that habit is interrupted and I have to learn a new one?  A couple of years ago I had a stress fracture in my foot and I couldn't run for 12 weeks.  I was absolutely gutted, I was also very mean to my fitness clients and more evil than normal ... or so they say!  I had to stand on the sidelines and shout at them, rather than join in which makes me, and them, happy as we can all share the pain.

I had to replace my running habit with a new one and that was going to take considerable effort.  Not only that, but I wasn't able to do any hardcore cardio exercise, no jumping about or anything like that.  I could swim (boring) and I could do indoor cycling but only slowly and with my foot level (boring).  I found these exercises less interesting than my running so I had to use more mental effort for them to become a habit whilst recuperating.  To be honest, I still find swimming boring and I don't think that will ever change.  However, I already loved strength training and yoga so I focused my time and effort onto these activities.

During the 12 weeks, it made me realise how difficult it is for complete novices to build exercise habits and I developed a newfound respect and empathy for them.  At least I already had the habit of exercise, I simply had to swop one exercise for another.

That's the great thing about habits, once formed and part of your daily life, it's easier to deal with whatever life throws at us.  I'm talking about 'good' habits here by the way, swopping 'bad' ones for 'good' is a whole other blog!

When we decide to create a new habit, we have to make things as easy as possible, for example:  Going for a run

• Write it in your diary
• Plan your route
• Lay out your clothes and trainers the night before
• Set your alarm
• Find a running buddy or arrange to ring a friend every time you complete a run to make yourself accountable
• Be consistent - THE number one thing I tell my fitness clients - forget about how far, how fast, etc, just be consistent!

This can obviously be applied to any new habit - make it easy for yourself!  

Habits take time, lots of time, so if you don't achieve your new habit instantly then don't beat yourself up about it.  Simply look at what went wrong and change it for next time.  As I've said in previous blogs, if we didn't keep trying then we'd never have learnt how to walk, talk, ride a bike etc.

Practise makes progress; Consistency makes habits.

#2020