The S'words of Habit Change...

Shrink > Stack > Scores & Spreadsheets

We’ve all been there—motivated to make a change, but somehow, it just doesn’t stick.

You may even be low on motivation this time of year as summer winds down and you wait for fall to arrive or school to start to make any changes.

Though you may not be able to dive in to a new nutrition plan or workout routine this week, you can still make progress by following 3 key strategies for developing new habits.

3 Tips for Better Habits

• Shrink it. Inspired by BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits, the first step is to start as small as possible. If you want to start a new habit, make it ridiculously easy—something so simple that you can’t say no. Want to start exercising? Start with just one push-up. This tiny action may seem insignificant, but it’s the first step to building momentum.

• Stack it. Pair the new habit you are starting with something you already do. For example, if you want to start meditating, do it while you're brewing the coffee. Your existing habit (making coffee) acts as a trigger that starts/reminds you of the new habit (meditation).

• Score it. Use some kind of visual scoreboard to track your new actions. Feel your motivation build as you give yourself a checkmark / gold star each day you follow through.

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Personally, I use a mix a digital and paper-based tools for managing my daily tasks and habit tracking.

There's way too many cool productivity and tracking tools out there to stick with just one.

For most of my clients, we use an app to track meals, workouts, and other behaviors relevant to their goals.

I also have a very deep love and appreciation of spreadsheets (nerd alert) and feel compelled to share one of the coolest Google Sheets templates I've ever found: Habit Tracking by Google Sheet Geeks.

My hope is this brings you half as much joy as it has brought me. :)

1 Last Thing...

Whatever tools you decide to use (or not) to help you set and achieve goals, don't get fooled into thinking the action of tracking is the important action.

Sometimes we get caught up spending too much time collecting and organizing information that it stops us from taking action.

Adding more protein into your meals today is more important than reading up on the "best" protein supplements.

Going for a walk this afternoon is more important than planning to go to the gym next week.

Whatever it is, start it. Like, now.