Making Habits Stick

Are you currently working to establish a new habit? Sometimes I'm great at this, and other times I feel stuck on the struggle bus.

In this quick tip, we'll explore how to stop relying on sheer willpower and, instead, implement structured systems for lasting change. Watch now to redefine your approach to making habits stick.

• Read the video transcript

  Today I want to talk about habits and how to establish and reinforce new habits. Let me tell you a quick story.

  So we have a giant chocolate lab. He's 90 pounds. His name is Riggins. Such a sweet boy -- is inside with us all the time. He's an inside dog. However, he is not allowed up on the furniture.

  Riggins though has discovered that he has a small window of opportunity to try to go against this rule of not being on the furniture. Early in the morning, I leave for the gym while everybody else is still asleep. And so recently while I'm gone, he has found that that's a great time to sneak up on the couch when nobody is around. And when I get home, I can see his brown fur all over the couch and he's like hiding away in the corner knowing that he just did something he wasn't supposed to do. But even though it's very clear, he knows he shouldn't be doing that, he continues to do it. And so to reinforce a new habit of not getting on the couch, I have started to put things on the cushions to physically keep him from being able to comfortably get up there and snuggle up on the couch.

  So my question for you is, what is the habit you want to reinforce for yourself?

  I'm a leadership coach. I'm not a life coach. However, sometimes I get into conversations with my clients about their overall well-being: sleep, healthy eating, fitness, right? Because how we are caring for ourselves as whole beings impacts our ability to lead our teams and ourselves well.

  Establishing and reinforcing healthy habits is a huge part of that.

  And so again, what habit is it that you are wanting to establish or revitalize and reinforce for yourself? And rather than just trying to rely on willpower like I was trying to do with Riggins, relying on his willpower to keep him off the couch, what specific structure or system do you need to put in place to help reinforce it? That's often what's needed.

  For me, I know some things that have helped have included habit trackers where I'm physically marking every day that I completed this habit that I wanted to do. Scheduling on my calendar has been really helpful for me as well. And then the third one, probably the most impactful reinforcing system for me has been accountability. Sharing with others what it is I'm committed to and allowing them to check in on my progress. I never want to let anybody down, so if I tell somebody I'm doing something, I'm much more prone to stick with it.

  So what habit are you wanting to establish, revitalize, reinforce? And what specific system, structure, practice are you putting in place to help you stay accountable to that habit?