Building Habits Slowly is the Foundation for Success
A long time ago, when I worked in the corporate sector, I found myself getting into some bad habits. I had a checkup, and my doctor was not very happy with my numbers. I needed to change my ways. She said I needed to get more exercise and eat better.
I did some research on diets and found that adding more fiber to my diet was a great way to be fuller and hence eat less. I started eating oatmeal frequently for breakfast and increased my intake of fruits and vegetables. I didn’t give up chocolates altogether but scaled back on them significantly. But I didn’t do this all at once. I incorporated these diet changes over several weeks.
As for my exercise, I decided to start walking. Even here, I started out slowly. As I got used to the pace, I started walking more. I continued this process of choosing to walk until I was walking about three miles per day. I was also power walking because of the distance. Because I built this up slowly, it became a natural part of my routine and I found myself eager to walk.
In my next checkup, the doctor was amazed at my results and told me to keep doing what I was doing. My results weren’t just an improvement. She told me the results of my checkup were fantastic.
The point is that I was able to build up good habits by doing so in a slow and steady manner. Had I tried to walk three miles in that first week, I don’t believe I would have been successful. By making small changes over the course of several months, it became a part of my life and something that I enjoyed doing.
Of course, during the times when there was bad weather, I did scale back my walking on those days. But it just made me more willing to get back to it the next day.
What good habits are you trying to nail down? just do it slowly and watch it stick.
Have a great weekend .
