Making changes in your life is hard. It's overwhelming and can feel like you're constantly working on things and maybe rarely achieving them. How do you set goals and work on changing habits? For me, my habits are key to helping me be healthy and successful. They help me to prioritize what's important and do as much as I can to make those things automatic.
What do you struggle the most with when it comes to changing your habits?
I wanted to share a few tips that have helped me, both with habits and goal setting. I am very much still a pen and paper kind of girl - and like to write things down, make lists, and check things off but I've found a few technology hacks that have been able to take my habit tracking (and goal tracking) to the next level and get more real time feedback.
1. Set a SMART goal
When you'e setting a goal or trying to change a habit make sure that what you are doing is clearly defined. A SMART goal is one that is Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Time-based. This helps you measure progress and really check in to see how you're actually doing.
2. Create Reminders
I use my phone as a helpful tool to remind me to do things - I'll put activities actually ON my calendar with reminders, so that I don't forget or have to actively click away the reminder to "take 20 breaths" or "practice mindfulness." I've also found that setting an event that reminds me of my goals can be motivational and help keep me focused.
3. Track your success
This is hard when you're working on creating a new habit, and something that is very easy to get discouraged going. I've found two apps that I like, that let you set a goal (with or without a target) and then track your progress against them. This goes both ways too, it makes sure you're not only seeing your successes or your failures. I like the free app called Momentum (which let's you track 3 things for free) and have now switched to another one called Tally (as part of the Grateful app bundle) where I have 8-10 things I'm tracking and balancing on a weekly/monthly basis. I have a folder on my phone just for habits and play around with trying to track the things I'm working on and need a gut/check on. I've also been using this as a visual to make sure I'm hitting the right mix of workouts for my Triathlon training since I'm not following a formal training plan.
PS App notifications don't both me, I literally don't even notice them - but I DID try to clear these out before I took my screenshot and was unable to figure out how....
Give some, or all, of the ideas above a try. What is one action that you're going to take after reading this to make sure you're working towards changing your habits?