3 Tips to Create Lasting Changes in 2020
As the New Year approaches, you may view January 1st as the starting line to a new and better you. You may be thinking, “This time I am really going to accomplish my goals!” I hope that is true, but unless you have the right “ingredients” mixed with your goals, so-to-speak, your New Year’s resolutions will be a flop.
Before I get into how to create a lasting change, let me shed some light on why resolutions fail.
1. Your will power sucks. Seriously, will power is like a battery, it starts out strong then loses its power the more it is used. That is why mornings are usually the best times to add new habits - when your will power is at it’s strongest.
2. You are unrealistic. Face it, you know if you are lying to yourself. If you haven’t exercised for the past year or longer, yet think that you are magically going to want to exercise now, you are greatly fooling yourself.
3. Your lifestyle doesn’t match your resolution. Before lasting change can occur your lifestyle has to change. You can’t decide you are going to lose weight and yet still keep your little guilty pleasures around the house.
To create a lasting change in your life, you have to put the right scaffolding in place for the change to take place. Scaffolding is used to help a structure be strong in the building process – so that when the building is complete it can stand on its own. You have to first build scaffolding around your life to help you develop new habits that will eventually create the change you desire.
So, here is what has proven to work for me – how I built scaffolding in my life to create the changes I wanted.
1. Seek God’s wisdom 1st. Whether you want to quit a bad habit or start a good one, you can’t do it successfully without God. This is the foundation to any scaffolding. Talk to Him about the change you want to occur. If it is a bad habit that you want to get ride of, hand it over to Him (cast your cares). Ask Him for wisdom on how to best approach the change in your life . If you are not doing this daily, then wipe off every resolution from your list and start with this vital one.
2. Keep your goals to yourself. Don’t share your resolutions with the world on social media. Let your actions speak for themselves. A lot of times, telling people what you are going to do takes the place of the reward because you already got the “attention” for what you are going to do instead of what you did.
3. Build small habits a little at time. When I got serious about changing my life, I changed little things in my day to support the habit I wanted to create. Having a set morning routine really helps with this.
Here are some simple things I have done to create new habits.
Quiet time with God – Set your alarm earlier and get up! I get up at 5:00 am when no one else is awake for this crucial habit. It is a non-negotiable for me.
Exercise - Put on your workout clothes right away. I built a habit of as soon as I get up, I put on my workout clothes. I get my workout clothes ready the night before and set them next to the toilet. Maybe this is too much info, but while doing my business, I change my clothes. The key is making it a habit so you don’t even think about if you are going to exercise, your habit has already made a way for you to do it! Now, when I’m done with my quiet time with God I’m ready to exercise.
Drink more water - I found that I drink more water when it is out of a reusable water bottle. I know that I need to drink 3 bottles a day. I even set a reminder on my phone that goes off every afternoon. If I haven’t drank enough, I down some water then.
Do you get the idea? Start with small habits that will enforce the larger life changing habits you want.
What works for you? Leave a comment below.
