How to build a new habit and stick to it?
As New Year approaching us in the speed of light, many of us are thinking about the new forecasts. Are you tired of setting goals and not achieving them every year? Are you setting yourself to failure with your current methodology?
Last year when I first graduated from the coaching program, I remember visioning myself launching my own life coaching business. I was lost. In my 20 years of healthcare professional background in healthcare, sales & marketing is not my area of expertise. It took months of bumps and roadblocks to finally get started. I remember the fear of unknown what is ahead and I had no clue how to come up with one.
The trick for building a new habit and not fail is to chip away at your goal in small, incremental steps. In other words, you can turn your daily actions into success towards desirable outcomes.
“My vision at the end of last year is to have a business that is fully running, I am working professionally as a coach with clients and somehow I would have a constant flow of client leads coming to me,” I wrote in my life plan journal.
Once I had that vision, It became a guidepost for me in moving towards making my dream come true.
The first step I did was hiring myself a Mentor Coach. I knew that in order for me to get going with this I needed someone who is not only coaching my mental roadblocks but also directing me to resources I don’t know about. I knew SPECIFICALLY I want to work with a mentor coach and not just a business coach.
I also knew that I needed to get really clear on who am I serving and with what am I serving. In this process of discovering who and what, I discovered that I didn’t just want to run a coaching company, I wanted more than that. I wanted to regain the power that was lost when I hid away. I wanted to be seen and heard. I wanted to have a voice that is strong enough to change the world.
It finally occurred to me in April 2019 that what I REALLY wanted is to inspire others through my story so they can let go of the self-limiting voice we have.
As I look back to a year full of friendships, achievements, and celebrations, I have made promises to myself and accomplished them. I have tasted the fruit of Vision & Goal planning and It is magical! It is powerful!
Imagine you are celebrating somewhere on New Year’s eve. As you make a toast to friends and family, you decided to have another New Year resolution. A resolution that would be revolutionary this time. You are really going to succeed in keeping your promise to yourself. You are ready, you are motivated, you are full of energy and you tell yourself you will not stop until you achieve your goal. What is different about this time?
Be Very CLEAR.
Before we even talk about how to stick to your new goal, let us focus on the why.
Why do you want to build this new habit? What does it mean to you on achieving this new habit? When you have a clear vision of why you want to do this and what your intention is behind this idea, you have created a motivation for yourself. The more clarity you have, the better you will succeed in getting what you want. Craving is not necessarily a bad thing. Craving allows you to come up with an effective action plan so you can create your own sustainable new habit.
Take Baby Steps.
Once you have figured what SPECIFICALLY you want, you are ready to take your first step.
Have you ever noticed how baby walks? While running may be your ultimate goal at the finish line, in order to get to running, we need to take a step first. Preparing yourself for the speed and the momentum. Taking one small step at a time as you build up to a big leap.
This is the key to success. The biggest mistake we make is we want to get to our destination fast, we want results, we want to see the outcome, and that is the worst thing you can do to yourself by diving into this deep, massive commitment right from the start. There is nothing wrong with dream big, but as we set goals that are unrealistic to ourselves and too big to reach our motivation towards achieving it drop.
Make Plans for Obstacles.
Prepare yourself and anticipate obstacles that may come up. Identify your own self-sabotaging behaviors can prevent yourself from stumbling on blocks that get in your way of success. When you are prepared, then you can take action to overcome them.
Here are some common obstacles:
Mental Wellness
Physical Pain
Emotional pain
Peer pressures or distractions
Environmental changes
Financial situations
Create Accountability and Celebration for your success.
Track your own progress and make a public announcement to your friends and family about your new habits and goals. We are more likely to follow through with a commitment when you are holding yourself accountable. One way to do this by having others watch your actions.
Utilize your social media to post your progress updates, keep a journal and write down your thoughts and feelings. Collaborate and work with a coach, a trained professional to help you identify patterns of behaviors and keep up the focus on your desired outcome while maintaining your consistence actions.
Lastly, reward yourself regularly on completing a small step. Celebrate the successful completion of your goals and reaching a milestone.
Warmly,
Michelle
