Putting Change Into Action

Now that you’ve identified your vision, and the changes you need to make in order to live life more in line with your values, it’s time to put those changes into action.

What does your first step need to be? Is it changing your routine or schedule? Maybe it’s having a conversation with your partner or friend. Or maybe it’s committing to a new behavior. Whatever the first step is, it’s a step in the right direction.

There is lots of information and tips I could offer on all of the various changes above. For this post though, I’m going to talk more about changing behaviors. There are a few tips that I can share that can make changing behaviors a little easier.

The first is, if possible, try and do your new behavior in the morning. We only have so much energy at our disposal in one day. If we wait until the end of the day to try out our new behavior, we may not have enough energy left to follow through. New behaviors take more energy than conditioned behaviors to follow through on. Therefore, if you can do it in the morning, there’s a much higher probability that you’ll follow through.

The second tip is that you are more likely to turn a behavior into a habit if you can do it every day for 60 days. If your new behavior is not a daily commitment, then it will take longer for this the behavior to feel comfortable. If there is any way you can do it every day, you are much more likely to turn it into a habit. This is also where your vision and motivation for change comes in handy here. In order to do something for 60 days, you’ve got to be motivated!

The third tip I’ll offer today is use others for support. If you’re trying to make lifestyle changes it can be really helpful to have other people to do these new behaviors with. If you want to eat healthier, it will be a lot easier if the people you live with try and eat healthier too. If you’re trying to exercise every morning, find a friend who’s willing to get up early too.

The first 60 days is always the hardest. Once you pass the 60 day point, the new behavior will start to feel more comfortable, easy, and even like a habit.

I’ll write more about making other changes next week.

Have a great day!