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Post date: 5 May 2021
Most of us brush our teeth at night without even thinking about it. Its a habit. We just do it.
How do we start a NEW habit?
Maybe you've decided now is the time to lose some weight?
Perhaps you want to start an exercise regime?
Maybe you've been suffering back or knee pain, and your Personal Trainer or Physiotherapist has given you some corrective exercises to do.
Remembering to do those exercises might go ok for the first couple of times, but they soon get lost in our busy lives.
Establishing new habits is particularly challenging for us humans. Behavioural psychologists say it takes on average 2 months to establish a new behaviour, and we've all got examples of when we haven't managed to follow through.
The good news is it’s not an "all or nothing" thing. Missing the odd time does not seem to materially alter your chance of establishing that new habit.
The secret: link your new habit to something you're already doing!
For example, if your Personal Trainer or Physiotherapist has given you some stretching or corrective exercises to do, try linking it to a routine you already have :
We all clean our teeth before bed. How about putting a label on the jar you keep your toothbrush in, reminding you to do your exercises? That way you'll remember to do them before bed, and you'll have the added benefit of the relaxing effect of the stretching just before climbing in to bed .
Think about what habits you have in your life that you could use to seed a new one. Choose existing habits that have relevance to the new one. For example; a similar time of day, or a similar location.
If you want to know more, here are 4 short videos from ACE (American Council on Exercise) which give a great overview and examples of how you can use this.
How to Form Healthy Habits Part 1: What Makes Behavior a Habit?
How to Form Healthy Habits Part 2: Why focus on habits to improve health?
How to Form Healthy Habits Part 3: How to form new healthy habits
How to Form Healthy Habits Part 4: So you've created a new healthy habit... Now what?
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