Sustainable and positive habits are the result of small consistent changes made over time. Good habits are not built overnight, but they are built from repetition, and commitment. In order to be successful you have to take a hard look at how you can improve and fully commit to making a change. The key to building lasting positive habits is to slowly implement changes through repetition and following through.
The first step to building sustainable habits is setting yourself up for success. This ranges from creating an atmosphere that fosters the change you want to make. If you’d like to study more effectively maybe that looks like setting your phone down in another room, or having desk space solely reserved for being productive. You can apply this way of thinking to other tasks and it really does help to focus your mind.
I think we have all tried to make some drastic changes just to go back to our old ways. Usually making one big change isn’t as effective as making small manageable changes that add up over time. It’s easy to feel discouraged when you don’t meet the goal of a tough challenge, but when you practice breaking down large goals into smaller portions it builds confidence. Over time you can add on more to those pieces and easily find what serves you and keep it and cut the chaff.
What really solidifies your new-found habit is repetition and following through. When you repeat a task you naturally get better at it; eventually that same task you struggled with at the beginning becomes second nature, like riding a bicycle. Failing is vital, especially when it’s a low stakes task, and it serves to teach you a lesson you can learn from. What’s important is that you actually learn that lesson and commit to doing it again the next day. Over time you’ll barely remember that you struggled in the first place.
Building habits isn’t so hard after all. By setting yourself up for success, slowly implementing changes, and using repetition and follow through you can make an impact on your life. This is just a guideline and everything here can be expanded upon, this will just help you get started. Be patient and stick to it, with time you’ll get there.