HOW HABIT TRACKING AND DAILY RESOLUTIONS COULD TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
Yearly resolutions are so last year … if they’re your only resolutions, that is.
people about a simple habit they wanted to form, like drinking water at lunch or taking a walk before dinner. They found that the average amount of time it took before the action became automatic was 66 days! Don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss a day, but know that sticking to a new habit is serious work, so starting small might help you out. Another important aspect of forming new daily habits is rewarding yourself. Bad habits, like smoking, have an inherent reward. However, healthy habits can have rewards, too! Try consuming a bit of dark chocolate after a workout or treating yourself to a fresh beverage or relaxing to a podcast after tackling an important task. Find ways to reward yourself, and you’ll be more likely to stick to your new habit. Certain daily resolutions don’t have to be related to exercise or diet to majorly improve your life. For example, having a gratitude journal might boost your long-term happiness by 10% and improve your blood pressure. Don’t hesitate to improve your quality of life! Just start small, and you’ll be amazed by how far you’ll go.
Having long-term goals isn’t a bad thing, but do you have a daily plan to reach them? The huge boost of motivation in January isn’t always enough to sustain you all year long. That’s why there are major benefits to starting new healthy habits, whether you increase your weekly exercise time, eat healthier foods, or work on getting better or more sleep.
Luckily, sticking with these habits might be as easy as making daily resolutions to complement your yearly goals.
BJ Fogg, a Stanford University professor and author of “Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything,” notes that tiny habits can make a new habit easy to implement into your daily ritual. For example, taking a short daily walk could lead to an exercise habit, or keeping an apple in your bag every day could encourage healthier snacking.
It’s important that you stick with it because habits take a long time to create. One study published by the European Journal of Social Psychology asked
MY PT STORY
“The employees here at North County Water and Sports Therapy Center are amazing, especially my physical therapist, Emily Elandt. I progressed from feeling very stiff with sharp pain and barely moving my head and shoulder to being a more flexible and energetic person again. I have learned to improve my posture, and Emily taught me specific exercises to do at home, too. I have had therapy in numerous different clinics over the years, and I can say that this clinic is the best, especially with the kindness and understanding of my PT Emily and with the help of Jan, too. By the way, my therapy was during the COVID-19 pandemic year, 2020. Everyone took the precautions with wearing mask, checking our temperature, cleaning, and sanitizing. I would absolutely recommend this clinic. Thanks a lot!” –Dolores Kare
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