How to create better habits

How to create better Habits – The ROAR Practice (Repetition Of Actions Routinely)

We are often desperate to change our habits, yet we seem to think that it will just happen magically one day and hopefully in one big swoop! Reality – very few things change overnight. We need to realise that it’s the little steps, the incremental changes that add up to a different result.

The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. Lao Tzu

Plus, might I add, it starts with the first step! You don’t just suddenly arrive at your destination. Once you really get this, you’re on your way to creating your success story. As long as you keep waiting for a momentous happening, you’ll mostly wait in vain… Start building the habit, now! The victory is found in the moment of decision. Do I get up with the alarm bell or do I lie in bed a bit longer? Do I take another biscuit – or not? As we exercise this DECISION -making muscle, it strengthens, and, each time we repeat an action, we’re building towards the outcome we desire.

Let’s set a goal to do 25 sit-ups a day, but, currently, you can’t do five without collapsing in a red-faced pile. You ‘d start, say, by doing 4, and then add just one more each day – you won’t even notice the one extra, but guess what, after 21 days, you’ll be doing the 25!

Doing something routinely makes it even more effective. Think of the habit of brushing your pearly whites. You probably have a routine of cleaning your teeth morning and night (bar a few teenage years). So you probably don’t, now have a big song and a dance about it, you just do it! This is what you’d be aiming for with other helpful habits you want to create. So, back to the sit-ups; apart from repeating the action, add the routine element and decide on a practical daily time slot, e.g. before you hop in the shower each morning or 6am, etc. A popular analogy is the question how do you eat an elephant? Remember, one bite at a time! And FYI, you do absolutely have to WANT to eat an elephant!

As a Life Coach my process is to start with the BIG PICTURE. The most effective way to plan for SUCCESS is to start with the big picture of what you wish your life to be about and then to work backwards, gradually reducing the time frames, e.g. Life Plan to 5 Year Plan to One Year Plan and quarterly goals to monthly process goals, to weekly, daily and hourly actions. Extract from Journal to Brilliance by Kerry Jones