081: Developing Good Habits for the Long-Haul

The New Year is right around the corner. Do you have any resolutions in mind? Are you going to start exercising, eating healthy, become more organized, read more, etc.? If so, you’re going to need to learn how to develop these good habits, building them into your routine in a way that encourages long term sustainability. We all have ambitions to do and be better, we briefly become hyped up to crush our goals and then usually lose motivation and give up along the way. It’s REALLY easy to become irritated and discouraged. The question I want to explore with y’all today is: how do you develop good habits and make them stick? One of the biggest misconceptions about forming habits is that it only takes 21 days to fully develop. ACTUAL scientific research shows this wildly inaccurate belief simply isn’t true. Forming a habit is a dynamic situation dependent on the individual, the nature of the habit being formed, environmental factors, genetics, etc. We struggle to adopt new habits because we, (1) don’t understand how habits are structured, and (2) you’re attempting to accomplish too much too quickly!  Understanding how habits are formed is essential. In psychology, habit structure is broken down into three simple components: the cue or trigger, the action and the reward. The difficulty in forming new, positive habits like we mentioned earlier (exercising, eating healthy, etc.), is that the rewards are not instantly visible or tangible.  Quote: In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently. - Tony Robbins A recent study proved that it takes 66 days on average to form a new habit and that some people can take up to 250 days to form the same habit. What holds true across the board is that repetition and consistency are ESSENTIAL.  1) What signals can I incorporate into my environment to prompt me to act? 2) Which barriers that are preventing me from taking actions can be easily removed?! 3) How can I effectively self-incentivize and reward myself in a healthy and productive way, and be encouraged to keep progressing? Eliminating excessive OPTIONS is key to allowing yourself to form positive habits more easily. Why do you think Mark Zuckerberg always wears the same grey t-shirt, blue jeans, and black loafers?! Why does Steve Jobbs always rock the classic black turtleneck, blue jeans and dad sneakers IF-THEN PLANS are another component of forming habits, related to the idea of cues and triggers to encourage consistency. IF-THEN PLANS are best utilized when stacked on top of existing habits.  A good chunk of the habit-forming process is contingent on your mental conditioning. That’s why my last piece of advice is to start small. Start with a habit so easy that you CAN’T SAY NO!  https://mruddo.com https://www.greenchef.com/mruddo80 https://headspace.com/mruddo

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WE’VE ALL GOT THE SAME DAMN’ 86,400 SECONDS PER DAY! A few hours of wasted time here and there seems like nothing, but trust me, IT ADDS UP! MISSED opportunity, untapped potential, inhibited growth and development. Time doesn’t stop for ANYONE, time doesn’t discriminate, time doesn’t care about your feelings. The time is ALWAYS right now. Get ready to be inspired, it’s time for your daily dose of MOTIVATION, LET’S GO!Listening to this podcast daily should only take up about 5 of the 1,440 minutes that we’re ALL fortunate enough to be given EACH AND EVERY SINGLE DAY. What you do with the remaining 99.6527% of the day is COMPLETELY up to you. Hold yourself accountable. Take ownership of your situation. Live life UNFILTERED. Join The Motivation Movement.Hello@mRuddo.com #TheMotivationMovement @mRuddo