Are you sitting on the couch in the evening when you intended to exercise three times a week? Do you feel that it is difficult to maintain new “good” behavior? Are you inclined to return to the behavior you are used to? Breaking habits is difficult, but with these steps it is possible!

Why are old habits difficult to break?

Habits are structured patterns of behavior and arise from both genetic and environmental influences. A habit is goal-oriented automatic behavior that results from repetition and practice. This makes it sometimes difficult to just break old habits and make room for new more helping habits.

Step by step to new habits

Are you ready to hold on to your new good habit? With these steps you manage to create and keep new habits:

• Step 1: write down the new habit, for example in the NiceDay daily planner.
• Step 2: set a goal for yourself. What is the purpose of this new habit? Be realistic in your goal and don’t be too strict on  yourself if you forget to keep your eyes on the goal once in a while. Example: I want to exercise 3 times a week. Then you exercise “only” twice a week. Is it really bad? Focus on good moments.
• Step 3: write down the why: why do you need this habit in your life?
• Step 4: is it about replacing a bad habit with a good habit? then think of an alternative. Example: instead of smoking a cigarette I will do 10 squats.
• Step 5: do you experience relapse? Write down in your NiceDay diary what happened exactly. In which situation did you relapse? Also fill in the G-schedule. Try to read back on this registration if you feel like relapsing again. We’re all people, pick up where you left off and continue as you already did! You are doing a good job!
• Step 6: make sure that this new habit is finding its way into your system for at least 2 to 3 months. The new habit becomes automatic, slowly you will hold on to it without to much pain and effort.

Healthy habits

There are many good habits. These are habits you want to implement in your daily life:

1. Drink 2 liters or water a day. This means 8 to 10 glasses.
2. Good breakfast in the morning: a glass of water, 1 avocado, 1 banana, oatmeal, a spoon or peanut butter in the blender and you have a full healthy breakfast smoothie!
3. Try to maintain the same daily sleep-wake rhythm as much as possible. That means going to bed and waking up about the same time every day. Brains like rhythm and regularity.
4. Move 30 minutes a day. This means approximately 7000-8000 steps per day. Turn on the pedometer in NiceDay to show your coach your activity.
5. Get a nice massage once in a while or practice meditation (or something that really makes you relax)!