How to create an intentional habit: 5 steps to habits that help you thrive

by | Apr 24, 2017 | Deserve to Thrive

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I get a lot of questions about how to create and track habits. So I figured, since you know I’m all about thriving, I would give a quick little 5 step process on how to create habits that support and push you to thrive.

Habits are a big leap towards thriving. When you create a habit that is centered around the feelings associated with thriving, there is only one place to go, THRIVING.

Seriously. It’s that simple.

And it’s not easy. Habits should push you, the same as goals. Habits are creating your best self. And no one’s best self is super easy to obtain (I’m sorry, but it’s just not! – as easy as some people make it look, dedicating time every day to be your best self takes determination and perseverance).

Habits are one of the first steps towards thriving.

So I want you to take that step today and go through my 5 step process to help you create habits around your thrive needs.

YOU DESERVE TO THRIVE!

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1.  Explore your thrive needs.

Examine what makes you feel GOOD in each area of your life: environment (home, work, car, anywhere you spend time), beauty, relationships, health & wellness, work/career/business, personal development, social, financial, spiritual, etc. This can take some time since there are a lot of different areas of your life and they all interact to create the thriving life that you want. It’s important not to forget any one of the areas that are important to you because habits are what builds that area of your life and moves you closer to thriving.

2.  Describe the habit.

For each area, re-write your statements as habits that you could form. For example, for beauty one of my thrive needs is to get my hair in order (I have pretty wavy/frizzy hair and sometimes it’s just easier to throw it up in a bun, but then it leaves it as a ratty mess and makes me feel super BLAH). I could make a few different habits out of this one. One could be, get my hair cut every couple months. Or take 10 minutes each morning to do something with my hair so I feel like it’s not just thrown together (I could even start with 5 minutes). Or after I wash my hair (I don’t wash my hair every day), I take the few extra minutes after the shower to squeeze out the water and give my hair a little love (usually I am SUPER unmotivated to do this, but it actually makes a really big difference). See what I mean? Take your thrive needs, re-work them into a habit.

3.  Break the habit down into bite-sized chunks.

For example, if you want to go for a walk every day for 1 hour and that is the habit you would like to form, but at the moment you are spending 0 minutes walking, then taking the leap to 1 hour would be a tough one to keep up. So break it down. Start with 15 minutes, even 10 minutes is a great place to start. Help yourself feel successful. Do that for a week or so, and then bump it up. The point of a habit is to make you FEEL GOOD and THRIVE, it’s not to make you feel down on yourself and beat yourself up each day that you do not do it. That would discourage you from starting the habit-building process in the first place.

4.  Create a schedule/plan.

It is easier to keep up with a habit if you create a schedule or a plan surrounding it. For example, I want to stretch every day. But days would go by where I would say, Oh I can do it later, or I’ll do it when my little one goes to bed. And then I would forget. The moment I set in stone my time frame, I’m going to stretch while my daughter eats her breakfast, throw the yoga mat on the floor next to the dining room table, and do my stretches and deep breathing, it made it so much more real, so much more attainable, and it happens way more often than not. Having the time frame be wishy-washy, makes the habit wishy-washy, and it makes it a lot more difficult to actually form the habit. So set a time frame. I didn’t say a super specific time like 8:15. That just sets you up for failure (of course if you have to make it to a certain yoga class each day and it starts at 9am, well you have to be there by 9am, but you know what I mean). Give yourself a time frame. Give yourself a specific time of day. Lately, I decided that I want to have 5 of my habits done before noon. So when noon is getting closer and I haven’t listened to a podcast or stretched or taken my juice plus, I know that I can get those done in my time frame and push myself.

5.  Execute and Track.

Now it’s time to put your plan in motion. Set yourself up for success (do you see a theme here). Make your time frame reasonable. Start with those little chunks and GET MOVING. Track your progress. Even if you didn’t get 10 minutes of stretching in, go for 5. It’s ok to take baby steps. Because even those baby steps are going to feel good. Even if you get 5 minutes in, you’re going to be like, hey, I got 5 minutes of stretching in! That is the positivity I want to build up inside of yourself, because the more wins you have, the stronger your habits will become, and you will be paving your way to thriving one habit at a time!

This is process is explored extensively in the first module, Value, of my upcoming course, Deserve to Thrive. Through targeted questioning, I help you discover your thrive needs in each area of your life, connect them to to daily habits, help you break them down into small manageable chunks (you’re not going to start ALL the habits at once!), and create a plan for you to solidify your habits and pave your path to thriving (examining your obstacles to creating the habits (both past, present, and future) and creating a plan to overcome them).

Are you ready to thrive?

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It is a 8-week self study course where I take you through the steps to thriving. You will set your intentions, create goals and daily routines, explore what is holding you back and how to overcome your obstacles.

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You deserve to thrive. You owe this to yourself.

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