CHICAGO–How do you change ingrained (but nonproductive) personal habits? Or implement a new one? That question was posed to members of the Forbes Coaches Council, who offered 15 different ideas and suggestions.
While it can feel impossible to switch up routines, it’s not—said members of the Council—who said it just takes willpower and dedication.
Here are the answers provided by the Coaches Council to Forbes.com:
1.Intentionally Repeat The Good Behavior At Least 30 Times
Helio Fred Garcia, Logos Consulting Group
Humans need to have a repetitive event at least 30 times before it becomes a new normal. Take, for example, an executive who speaks without vocal variation, thereby boring their audience. If the executive needs to get into a posture and use gestures to create vocal variation, we advise them to engage that way in informal and formal settings. After about 30 intentional instances, the habit remains.
2. Understand The Associated Payoffs
Gaurav Bhalla, Knowledge Kinetics
Psychologist Alfred Adler said it beautifully: All behaviors are governed by payoffs. We are pleasant to others, because we receive a payoff. We are nasty to others, because we receive a payoff. So if you want to adopt a good habit or drop a bad one, dig deep, understand the payoffs associated with the habit, then either connect with the payoff, or sever yourself from it.
3. Understand Your Own Values
Larry Boyer, Success Rockets LLC
Your choices reveal your priorities, your values. If you are looking to break a bad habit, understand first what is important about that habit to you. Often it is something like comfort -- "I choose comfort over discomfort, so I do not exercise." Replace it with a higher priority value to you -- "I choose living to see my grandchildren over comfort, so I choose to exercise."
4. Improve Your Environment
Michael S. Seaver, Seaver Consulting, LLC
A fast way to build good habits is to consciously construct your environment -- your home, office, transportation, friend groups, etc. -- so your daily choices default to serving you and your long-term goals. Buy fruit. Feng shui your desk. Listen to podcasts. Drop one loser friend. If the things that hold you back aren't available, you'll choose options that nourish your body and mind.
5. Set The Intention And Schedule Your Habit On Your Calendar
Lori Manns, Quality Media Consultant Group
Habits are formed by repeating the same actions over and over again. When deciding to end a bad habit or begin a new one, you must become intentional. To stop any bad habit, you must set the intention to change it and replace the bad habit with a good one. By sticking to a regimented plan, you can form good habits by scheduling a specific task on your calendar to remind you of what to do.
6. Set Up 'If/Then' Eventualities
Rose Cartolari, Rose Cartolari Consulting
One of the biggest obstacles to habit forming/breaking can be when you slip up or when you’re tempted. So set up possible scenarios in advance so that you take the uncertainty out of the moment. For example: "If I am tempted to eat a piece of cake, then I will drink a glass of water and count to 10." If you notice and break the impulse right away, chances are you will reduce “breaking” your word.
7. Have A Powerful Why
John M. O'Connor, Career Pro Inc.
If you don't commit to why you will do something, a habit you want to build or change, it's unlikely to stick. Some people have to be warned that they are dying to radically change their eating and exercise habits. If you can manifest a powerful why and commit to the reason you must (not want to) change makes the habit gaining or habit ending transaction a much more powerful success formula.
8. Make Your New Habit The First Thing You Do Each Day
When looking to start a new habit for the very first time, the simplest method is to start your day with that newly desired habit. Do your exercise first thing, meditate or pray first thing, or read and study first thing. This gives your brain the clear importance of the newly desired outcome.
9. Pair It Or Replace It
Two of the most effective ways to build a new habit or replace one is to either pair it or replace it. For example, if you want to walk more and you love podcasts, create a rule that you can only listen to podcasts while walking (pair it). If you want to stop eating cookies late at night while watching TV, choose a healthier food instead of trying to eliminate the habit completely (replace it).
10. Get An Accountability Partner
Loren Margolis, Training & Leadership Success LLC
When we are beholden only to ourselves to build good habits, we may not fully commit or succeed. We become a lot more motivated when we have a supportive person holding us accountable to our goal. Find a trusted colleague and explain the goal that you want to achieve and its value to you. Ask them to hold you accountable with email check-ins, phone calls and motivational conversations.
11. Start Small And Build Up Your Good Habits Incrementally
Indira Jerez, INNERtia Project
Start with building a good keystone habit. Keystone habits have a rippling effect on your life. If the objective is to be healthier, for example, start with drinking one glass of water every morning. Once successful for two weeks, up the ante with adding another cup, so on and so forth. The aim is to incrementally mentally reinforce that keeping the habit is good and easy. -
12. Keep Practicing, Even If You Fail At Times
Habits arise from grooved in brain patterns and do take something to interrupt and create new neural pathways. It requires lots of repetition. The goal is to keep practicing and to give yourself grace for failing, but just keep practicing. The difference between ending a bad habit or building a good habit may simply be one more practice -- so don't stop.
13. Focus On The 'Three Ps'
Whenever you try to change a habit, focus on the three Ps: patience, practice and perseverance. Patience, because building a new habit takes time. Practice, because keeping the activity recurring deliberately is necessary to shift it from mindful to habitual. Perseverance, because there will be frustrating moments and setbacks along the way. Keep at it and the habit will eventually take hold.
14. Create A 'Wins' List
Wins create momentum. To be inspired to create good habits or to break a bad habit, one needs to focus on daily wins. One win a day can change a life, a business, or a leader. Every person needs to know their win list and why they want to achieve that win. When the person has clarity about what they are trying to achieve they increase their odds of achieving it.
15. Start Where You Are
Kelly Weber, The Wander Project
Start by assessing your readiness to change (or create) a new habit. If you're still contemplating the change and find yourself defending your current patterns and belief systems, you're not ready. To create a lasting behavioral change, you have to first be committed to changing and then prepared to take action to make that change a habit. Start where you are, and go from there.