Forming New Habits: Change What Doesn’t Work

After you have created some simple habits to change in your life, take a step back and look at the results so far. 

This is where you can decide if you will continue with this habit, or if it might be time to call it quits, or just adjust part of it.

When a New Habit Doesn’t Work
To start with, every new habit you start is not going to be something you stick with forever. There are some that absolutely will and will probably change your life for the better. But just like other things you attempt in your life, they are not all going to be perfect from beginning to end.

It is okay to take a step back, consider where you are, and whether or not one of your new habits is working for you. This doesn’t mean you chose a bad habit, but that it doesn’t work for you personally, for your schedule, your lifestyle, or where you are right now in your life. Remember that your priorities and goals can change as you go through life, and it’s okay for your habits to change along with them.

Did You Give it Enough Time?
Before you decide to ditch or change one of your new habits, give it enough time. The amount of time changes depend on the type of habit and your personal goals, but about 30 days is a good amount of time. This is long enough where it became something you did every day, and should have gotten to a point where you didn’t even have to think about it.

However, if you have been doing one habit for 2 months, and you still don’t see any benefits from it, or it still feels like pulling teeth every time you get up to do it, then maybe it isn’t the right one for you.

Tracking Your Progress and Making Changes
This is why tracking your new habits is so important. You can actually see how long you have been doing it, if you have been consistent, and in what ways it is benefiting you. If you start a new job and put in the work, you expect to be paid for your efforts. The same can be said for when you work really hard on a new habit or goal, and it just doesn’t pay off in the end. You want to choose habits you can keep track of and that will have some type of benefit for you.