Habit forming – best practices for habit creation

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Habits are hard to form. Or are they?

We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then, is not an act,
but a habit. ~ Aristotle

No matter which side of this conversation you sit on, at the end of the day, habits are simply new behaviors. We pick up new habits, and we give up old ones. According to Wikipedia: “A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.”

When I decided to take on this writing challenge for 30 days, I wanted to turn it into a regular practice. “If I do something for 30 days, every day, it will turn into a habit,” I thought. I wanted to have a consistent practice of writing every day. I want to write every day, because I have so many ideas to share with you, Unhustlers, on how to stand up to Hustle Culture.

Yet life gets in the way of our best intentions. This past weekend, I led two workshops, and I didn’t have the opportunity to write. On Sunday, my husband wanted some quality time, and we went hiking, paddleboarding, cooked a nice dinner. No writing time again.

Today is Day 3. I know that if I don’t write today, this new habit-forming has little chance of staying alive. We’ve been told that a new habit takes 21 days to develop. But in reality, it takes a minimum of 21 days to build. The critical word here is “minimum.” But does it? A new study shows that it takes 66 days to form a habit.

I also know that missing your habit three days in a row means that you need to start from the beginning. OK, it’s Day 3 now for me, and I need to write. I don’t want to start from the beginning. I’m OK with missing two days but not three days.

Here are my recommendations for starting a new habit and sticking to it:

1. Know Your WHY.

Knowing your why connects you with your higher purpose and your Inner Fire. I want to change people’s lives with the Unhustle Movement, and writing these blog posts is part of my commitment to educating. It fits my purpose.

2. Accept Failure.

Stick to your habit, but don’t be so critical and know that life will get in the way. If you want to exercise every day, know that you may skip a day. It’s OK not to be perfect. Just don’t skip three days in a row.

3. Celebrate the Small Wins

Recognize the small victories in your habit-forming and take time to celebrate them.

These are my thoughts on habit-forming and today’s Unhustle tip of the day. I’d love to hear your thoughts. What habits are you working on? Let me know in the comments.

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