Are you striving to accomplish a new health goal this new year? Whether it is eating healthier, exercising more, or beginning a new health routine, you will need to create habits to help you achieve your goal. When deciding on which habits you want to form heading into the new year, you may want to first consider WHAT a habit is. A habit is a behavior that is repeated on a regular basis whether it is an action, routine, or lifestyle and often we don’t even think about it.
So, why do you want to form that habit? How will it help you accomplish your health goals? Finding the motivation to form healthy habits can sometimes be the most challenging part of accomplishing that New Year’s Resolution you’ve been promising yourself. To be successful in forming that healthy habit, you first need to understand what motivates you and how that will impact the outcome. To find your motivations, first ask yourself:
What are you motivated by internally and externally?
- External Motivations:
- Seeing physical results – weight, circumferences, toned muscles, mileage
- Paying for a service to help you in achieving your goals
- Receiving a discount for striving to be healthy – going to the gym, attaining healthy lab results
- Internal Motivations:
- Boosting your confidence and feeling good about yourself
- Feeling better – more energy, stronger, healthier
Every individual is motivated differently. We can identify those external motivators easily, but really homing in on the internal motivators will help you stay on track and maintain motivation for longer. On the days that motivation might be hard to find, there are a few tips you can follow to really help put your best foot forward towards accomplishing your goals.
- Include Others or Find an Accountability Partner – This will provide not only accountability but a support system as well. You will be more likely to follow through if you know there are others counting on you.
- Examples: attend group fitness classes, work with a personal trainer, partner up with a friend or family member for workouts, meals, or whatever health habit you are trying to form!
- Visualize Your Success – Imagine what your life will look like once you are following this new health habit.
- Keeping the positive picture in mind can motivate you to turn that vision into a reality.
- Keep Track of Your Progress – Find a way to track your results so you can visually recognize your hard work.
- Set up check points for yourself to create accountability.
- Celebrate your successes and reflect on your setbacks.
- Be Patient and Give Yourself Grace – Remember that changes take time and not every day will be full of huge strides forward.
- Embrace the changes and be patient with your results.
- Recognize the little wins each day that you work towards forming a new health habit.
Finding motivation to form new health habits can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. Keep the above tips in mind, and your chances of success will improve. This is your year; share your habit you are focusing on in the comments!
