Five Steps to Establish a Good Habit

Have you ever tried to change a bad habit or get a new, good habit? I know how hard it is to succeed. In this hub, you can find one way to establish a good habit.

Disclaimer

I’m not educated to teach yoga classes. The tips and advice below works for me, and I have been to yoga classes before and know the moves. You should ensure that you perform all exercise the right way so you don't hurt yourself! Consult a professional Yoga teacher first.

A lot of willpower

Have you ever tried to change a bad habit or get a new, good habit? I know how hard it is to succeed. In this hub, you can find one way to establish a good habit.

It takes time and effort to establish a new habit. Even for the bad ones, it’s a mental thing to think that bad habits come easier...

A great way to start is by thinking that you actually like the habit you are trying to establish and are convinced it will last. After a couple of months, it will become a routine for you. Yes, a couple of months. It takes some time, but it´s worth the effort, I promise.

My new habit involves getting up at 5 AM every morning and starting my day with yoga for 30-50 minutes. The time spent depends on whether I’m going to work or not. A day of offers more time for yoga and other things, of course. I started on the 1st of September 2016 and am still getting up by 5 AM, EVERY morning.

I must admit that it took a lot of willpower and decision-making every morning... But after several weeks, I did not even think when I heard the alarm clock. I just got up.

An example of how well things works now

One evening during my vacation, I decided not to set the alarm clock and to skip the yoga for one day. I woke up 5.45 and my first thought was that it was a terrible waste of time to not get up and do yoga... So I did.

How did I get here?

My first step was to find some inspiration. That is a good start. Find yourself a great person/leader, a book, a movie, or whatever helps you get inspired. Inspiration is important for motivation. It’s fantastic to know that someone else has succeeded in what you are trying to accomplish.

I find my inspiration from Robin Sharma quotes on Facebook, from his books and Youtube movies.

With help from Robin Sharmas books and you tubes I have found a great way to start changing and challenging myself.

At the end of this hub you can find some more of his books to read for a start.

Robin Sharma has inspired and offered me a lot of great tools and methods. It is not a "quick fix" and takes hard work and a lot of acting. This is Robin Sharma’s philosophy and it works for me.

Robin says it takes 66 days to change a habit or to establish a new one. For me, it took about three months so it's close enough:) It may seem to be a long time, but you have a lot to gain in my opinion.

Then I made a decision. A decision to give the first hour of my day to myself. For some years now, I have prioritized other things than physical training, and it was about time to get back on track. The decision is the most important step of all... I decided to get up 5 AM every day, weekends included. From that point the alarm was set, every day!

I scheduled my activities for my first hour. Yoga first, then some time for reading and reflection. I have a giant pile of unread books, which means I have no trouble finding books to read.

Reflection includes writing down things I am grateful for in my life, and whatever crosses my mind at the time I am writing. I do this to make sure I get my ideas and thoughts documented for the future. I can later on go back and see my mental progress during the years. I hope I will get to know myself better this way.

I bought an app from the AppStore with yoga-programs. I actually bought two different apps "All in yoga" and "Yoga studio." I think it is worth spending a few dollars to get an app that fits you and your purpose. “All in yoga” contains a lot of positions (asanas) in pictures and also tutorial movies showing how to perform. There are about 40 programs with different goals and duration. You can track it all in a schedule afterwards.

The other app contains programs that, in my opinion, are more structured, based on level, goal, and duration (15, 30, 60 minutes), and all positions are shown in tutorial movies.

If you would rather workout or lift weights, you can find apps for that too. Or maybe you have some other things you want to do, but you don’t have time for it.

There are some instructions and inspiration online as well, for example: doyogawithme

But once again, make sure you know the moves so you don’t get hurt. I have been to real life yoga classes and am familiar with all the moves!

I started on September 1, 2016 by getting up at 5 AM and performing my yoga regimen. I felt really good and thought this was going to be easy. Next morning, I was doing just fine. A few days passed and I started to feel really tired, getting up demanded a lot of will power. I thought about giving up, not just once, but several times. I did not take 3 whole months to establish the habit. After 4-6 weeks, I started to get up without further thinking about it. But it took about 3 months to stop feeling doubtful on some days. I had a few relapses...

Keep up the good work!

I know it might sound difficult to spend so much time on establishing a new and good habit. But it is worth it, I feel so good about myself and what I have performed this autumn. I also have got a stronger body with some small muscles that weren’t there before. I have been exercising a lot through my life, but not like this. And the results have never been this good. I think that is a reason why I have given up. If there are no instant results in what you do, it’s easy to give up. But first: continue at least for three months or more, don’t give up any earlier!

Of course your new, good habit doesn’t have to include getting up at 5 AM, but it might involve changing food habits or how you act at work or with your children for example.

I hope you find some inspiration here and that you can go on and find your great new habit and make it work!

Feel free to share your own experiences in the comments field.