Creating new habits at the beginning of a new year is huge and most people do it. I do it. I try to implement habits that will help me reach my goals and stay on task.
But what do you do if they are not working out or if you just want to give up. Below are ways I will reflect on habits (new and old) and decide what changes I need to implement.
When a New Habit Doesn’t Work
To start with, every new habit you start is not going to be something you stick with forever. There are some that absolutely will and will probably change your life for the better. But just like other things you attempt in your life, they are not all going to be perfect from beginning to end.
It is okay to take a step back, consider where you are, and whether or not once of your new habits is working for you. This doesn’t mean you chose a bad habit, but that it doesn’t work for you personally, for your schedule, your lifestyle, or where you are right now in your life. Remember that your priorities and goals can change as you go through life, and it’s okay for your habits to change along with them.
I try really hard to make sure I build habits that will align with my schedule and my priorities I have in life. But as we all know life can come at you fast and can change your priorities. It is important that we are agile and able to understand when something can no longer work.
How Long Before You Give It Up?
Before you decide to ditch or change one of your new habits, give it enough time. The amount of time changes depends on the type of habit and your personal goals, but about 30 days is a good amount of time. This is long enough where it became something you did every day, and should have gotten to a point where you didn’t even have to think about it.
However, if you have been doing one habit for 2 months, and you still don’t see any benefits from it, or it still feels like pulling teeth every time you get up to do it, then maybe it isn’t the right one for you.
Tracking Your Progress and Making Changes
This is why tracking your new habits is so important. You can actually see how long you have been doing it, if you have been consistent, and in what ways it is benefiting you. If you start a new job and put in the work, you expect to be paid for your efforts. The same can be said for when you work really hard on a new habit or goal, and it just doesn’t pay off in the end. You want to choose habits you can keep track of and that will have some type of benefit for you.
After you have created some simple habits to change in your life, take a step back and look at the results so far. This is where you can decide if you will continue with this habit, or if it might be time to call it quits, or just adjust part of it.
Did you start this new year by setting new habits? If so share some with me in the comments.
