The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Melissa Batai. Melissa is a freelance writer who covers topics ranging from personal finance to business to organics to food. She blogs at Mom’s Plans where she shares her family’s journey to healthier living and paying down debt.
If you’re like most people, you likely may have overindulged this holiday season. You may have had a few too many drinks, ate a few too many sweets, had a few too many glasses of egg nog.
Your budget may have suffered, too, as you bought additional gifts for people who weren’t initially on your list or you forgot how much expenses can balloon in December.
Now that the rush of the holiday season is over, like most people, you want to face the new year ready to make some changes. Maybe you want to lose some weight, pay off some debt, improve yourself.
But, let’s be honest, change is hard. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t get stuck in negative ruts as we all sometimes do. It’s hard to give up old habits, especially if you overwhelm yourself with a big list of New Year’s Resolutions.
This year, try a different approach.
Find ONE thing that you want to change. ONE thing that will improve your life, and make changing that ONE behavior your goal for 2016.
Yep, just ONE thing.
But more importantly, take the steps necessary to prepare to change your life before you make the change.
My Life Change
Three years ago, I was a total soda addict. I started drinking Mountain Dew (yes, I know, it makes me cringe now to think about it) when I was 16. I didn’t stop drinking it until I was 32.
I thought everything would be fine once I finally gave up Mountain Dew, but instead, I switched to Pepsi. At first, I drank Pepsi in moderation, but then I started drinking two 24-ounce bottles a day. I was almost as hooked on Pepsi as I had previously been on Mountain Dew.
One day, I looked at my infant daughter and realized I would be leaving her a terrible legacy. If I didn’t kick the soda habit, she’d likely grow up drinking soda, and perhaps becoming addicted, as I was.
By consuming so many liquid sugar calories, I was literally drinking my way to diabetes. I was also making it very difficult on myself to lose weight.
I decided that since I couldn’t manage my soda consumption, I should give it up completely.
And I did.
I won’t say it was easy. In fact, for about six months, I always wanted to drink a soda, especially when we went out to eat. But then, after I got through those difficult months, I found that I didn’t even want to drink soda. Not even a taste. I have been completely off soda for three years now, and I know I’ll never go back to drinking it.
Changing a bad habit is hard, but if you can see the cravings through, you can make a lifelong change that will very likely improve the quality of your life. The key is to devote yourself to ONE change at a time.
How to Make a Permanent Change
Don’t automatically assume the perfect time to change your life is when the calendar turns to the new year. Instead, the best time is after you’ve taken the proper preliminary steps.
The following is what you’ll want to consider as you prepare to change your life:
What do you want to change?
The first step is to determine which behavior you most want to change.
Why do you want to change?
Then, you must give yourself valid reasons WHY you want to change. This is important because our natural inclination, when faced with a challenge, is to fall back on our old behaviors. A list of solid reasons why you want to change can help you fight this tendency.
Psychology Today explains, “If you aren’t sure why you’re changing, don’t fully believe you’re making the right choice, or question whether what you’re doing will work, you’re likely to settle back on your automatic behaviors. That’s why self-efficacy—the belief that you can make a change and overcome obstacles—is one of the best predictors of successful change.”
What routines cause you to partake in the behavior?
Another important task is to realize what routines are associated with the behavior. I had certain times when I wanted to drink a soda—at dinner time, with an afternoon snack, for an afternoon pick me up. In other words, I had made soda a natural part of my routine. After I gave up soda, if I ate a less healthy snack like popcorn or chips, I found myself wanting soda. So, I changed to healthier snacks like bananas and apples, which broke the association of a snack being soda and a salty treat.
What triggers cause you to partake in the behavior?
You may find that you have triggers that cause the behavior. For instance, maybe if you fight with your children, you find yourself reaching for a sweet treat to soothe yourself. Or, maybe you find yourself shopping online more than you should, especially after a rough day at work.
Know the ingrained habits and triggers that cause the behavior BEFORE you try to change your behavior. Then, when a craving is particularly strong, you’ll be able to determine what is causing the craving and fight it off.
Make access more difficult.
Once you’ve completed all of the above steps, make access to the item more difficult. For instance, once I decided to give up soda forever, I stopped buying it. I didn’t bring it in the house. (Luckily my husband does not drink soda, so it was easy to keep it out of the house.) If you spend too much money shopping on Amazon, for instance, change your notifications so they go to your spouse’s e-mail. Your spouse will know immediately if you’ve spent more than you agreed to spend.
Make your resolve public.
Many people find that telling others about the behavior they want to change helps them accomplish their goal. A friend I know recently gave up gluten and dairy for health reasons. As gluten products made up a large portion of her diet, this was quite difficult for her. She recently posted that she has now gone six days without either gluten or dairy. Sharing publicly like this helps her keep her resolve, and she also gets encouragement from all of her friends cheering her on.
Michael Hyatt, blogger and author of Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, states, “When I decided to run my first half marathon, I decided to announce it on my blog. For me, this was like Cortez burning his ships off the Veracruz coast. Once I did it, there was no turning back. I was committed, and I was going to follow-through. It’s probably just pride, but ‘going public’ has proven to be a great lever in moving me toward my goals.”
This strategy may not work, however, if you’re largely surrounded by people who hope you don’t accomplish your goal. (Sadly, that is the case for some people.)
However, keep in mind that you have to find the strategies that work best for you. Dr. Nora Volkow, director of NIH’s National Institute of Drug Abuse notes, “There’s no single effective way to break bad habits. One approach is to become more aware of unhealthy habits, then develop strategies to counteract them: avoid walking halls where there’s a candy machine; avoid places where you’ve usually smoked; stay away from friends and situations linked to problem drinking or drug use.”
Resolve this New Year to change one habit and improve your life. Just remember that you don’t have to start on January 1st. Instead, take the time to first understand your bad habit and why it exists. You’ll likely be more successful. Good luck!
How about you all? Have you kicked a bad habit? If so, what approach worked for you?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
