Regardless of whether you call then resolutions or not, there are habits all of us would like to change. This recession has caused a lot of us to reevaluate our spending habits. Our dietary and health habits are often under scrutiny when the numbers we see on the scale are too large. Sometimes the habits we want to change are small, such as stop biting our nails, or are a bit larger, like thinking positively. Whatever the goal, the key is to start small.
Take a large goal you have have for the year and break it down into smaller parts. Say for example you want to save 30% of your paycheck a month (dream big, right?). Instead of going cold turkey and stashing a third of your monthly paycheck away in the beginning only to use it at the end of the month when you’re dead broke, start small. Start by saving a smaller percentage first (successfully). Then next month increase the percentage a little more until you have made living off a smaller amount of your salary your new habit. Keep repeating this pattern and by the end of the year, you maybe be (comfortably) saving your ideal amount.
This works for any habit. Want to lost 30 pounds this year, start small. If you never exercise, make your goal to go to the gym twice a week and build up to your ideal. Want to be more organized? Don’t tackle the closet in one sitting, break it down into sections. Want to write a book this year. Set aside a small amount of time per day and slowly build up to the hours of writing a day you envisioned in the beginning.
Understand that you will make mistakes. Changing habits is difficult and you should cut yourself some slack for slip ups. However, if these slip ups occur more than successes, it is probably time to reevaluate the goal and possibly change it into an even smaller task.
What are some habits you are trying to change? How’s it going so far?
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Loved this blog, and love the new look.
<3
-LD