3 Habit Hacks That Changed my Life
Over the years, my coaching has developed alongside the hierarchy of what I understand to be important in helping people achieve long-term results. The thing is, most people can follow a programme and be kept accountable, but the moment 12 weeks is up, we let old habits creep in and soon enough, we’re back to where we started.
When trying to create change and make things happen, we tend to overcomplicate the whole process. Before you know it you’re bored, demotivated by not seeing any progress, or it’s requiring too much effort.
These days, I help my audience and clients reach their goals with behavior change tactics. The results, lifestyle, and body you’re after isn’t likely to happen in one to three months. It’s more like years. The principles I teach focus on prioritising mental health, strengthening body image, and cultivating a healthy relationship with food.
I will always be an advocate for small changes over big ones, and these skills set the perfect pace for you to move forwards, change your behaviours, and transform your identity long term. I have put together a few of my favourite behaviour change tools, which create the space to take one step at a time.
1.Plan It, Schedule It, Create Time
The single most important thing is getting your objectives, thoughts, roadblocks, and ideas written down. We have over 60,000 thoughts a day. Putting pen to paper has proven effects to help you rationalise your emotions and feelings, helping you gain more clarity. When you do this you can help yourself plan in your calendar, your diary to block out the time you need to make things happen.
When you schedule time for the future you, you’re able to see roadblocks, create opportunities to overcome them, and overall feel more prepared for what is to come. If you’re not planning, you’re leaving it to chance. Your diary will soon become overrun and you wind up missing that training session.
In the last year I have been building my business, maintaining my fitness goals, starting Jiu Jitsu, and travelling the world. I applied these tools at different moments, when I needed them. I don’t need them all the time now but I continue to come back to them when I feel things are getting too much.
Some quick and effective shifts for you:
Create a to-do list of your priorities. I love using the 1,3,5 method where I list the big task I need to complete that day, which can take 1-2 hours, then 3 tasks that need to be done but are not urgent. 5 are small tasks that aren’t a priority but help your day to keep moving and getting done. They are lower end takes so would be done towards the end of the day.
Block out calendar *free time* and use it to go for lunch or to the gym, giving yourself a break from the back-to-back meetings. Set yourself clear boundaries through your diary.
Use the Pomodoro timer. This comes into play when I keep distracting myself or scrolling on my phone. It gives me 25 minutes of concentrated time with a 5 minute break, and it’s amazing what you get with zero distractions.
2. Align Your Behaviours to Your Identity
This is definitely a skill learnt over time, but it is a huge part of my coaching at the Beyond Strong Method. When you’re trying to make a change, it’s easy to revert back to old ways of thinking: “I never finish anything,” “I’m lazy,” “I’m a big drinker.” The more you repeat this, the more your life is embodied with it. You believe it, and therefore change is hard because you’re holding onto an older version of you.
When you embark on your fitness journey, you need to link your new habits to your identity. The more you familiarise yourself with them and take action on them, the more you become them. It's easier to perform actions that are consistent with your goals when you identify as someone who would perform these actions in the first place, and it becomes easier to let go of old habits that no longer serve you
It’s a beautiful shift when you notice this on your journey. For example, if you want to run in the mornings, you see yourself as a morning person who gets up and goes for a run. Then, you’ll be able to line up the things that require you to be a morning person who goes for a run. Ask yourself, what are the things that a person of this identity does on a regular basis? Then do those things.
3. Habit Stacking
Habit stacking is one of the surefire ways to help you build new habits into a routine. You can set a rule for a current action you’re doing, to build in something that benefits you. Think about what you currently do on a daily basis and how you can attach a new or desired behaviour to the things you’re already doing:
“Before/during/after[anchor/existing behaviour], I will [new behaviour].”
One of my favourite habit stacks at the moment (because they need to be tweaked and adapted as you grow too), is to journal and read ten pages before I look at my phone.
Have a think about one thing you can do or change in your routine that aligns with your new identity and life you’re creating.
Final thoughts
Motivation builds momentum on your journey. We can’t always rely on it, however, because we’re human, we have emotions, life happens, and there will be times we don’t feel like doing it. The three principles of behaviour above can help you make those changes. Taking action on the things that give you instant satisfaction and gratification will help you to build the momentum.
You’ll need a toolbox to draw on. The more you practice new habits, the more automatic they’ll become. This will give you another level of self-awareness, knowing at any given moment what you need to do to help you calm down, respond, and take action.
Connect with me on socials @lizziewrighty and @wearebeyondstrong
