Habits determine your lifestyle. So you have to make the right choices to get the results you want in life. Yet no one is really taught how to build long-lasting habits. You might have been forced as a kid to brush your teeth. Yet that's hardly a good lesson on how to do something consistently. You may even be resentful about it. So you have to reset your expectations.
The best way to build a habit is through practice. You will hardly become more productive if you only think about how to be productive. Action is thus mandatory. But this is often easier said than done. After all, you have to live your life. There are responsibilities you have to take care of. Then you also need to find the time to dedicate to a lifestyle change. It's not an easy choice to give up on a routine you're used to. But depending on your ambition you may have to get rid of some vices to make room for better things.
I'm now going into my third year of building habits. It hasn't been one of the easiest things to do. Yet only after all this time am I starting to see how they are benefitting my life. Mostly because I have the previous few years as successful results to propel me forward. But to get there I had to sacrifice a lot. So I won't say it's easy to do but you have to start. Then as your streak increases, you'll see how the momentum pushes you forward to do more.
Force yourself to complete a task
No one likes to hear this but it's the only way. If you want to make a change in your life, you have to make hard decisions. I'm not here to force you to make them. You have to do that on your own. When you're chasing a vision it doesn't happen only when you want it to. If it means you have to wake up a few hours sooner or go to bed late, then make that sacrifice. Or simply become so good at the thing you're doing in your free time that you don't have to sacrifice your time.
Pushing yourself to build a habit will help you get it faster. It's not going to happen right away. It also won't happen in 21 days or 90. You have to give it at least a full year to see the change. That's because it should feel like you're not forcing yourself to do it anymore. It happens automatically. After all, that's what a habit is.
From working out to writing or journalling, I barely think about doing it anymore. It's something that I'm instinctively drawn to. Yet when I don't do it my mind gets an unsettling feeling that I haven't finished something. It's like having the reminder app in your brain. And once everything is done, I can look at all my tasks as successes during the day. It allows me to accomplish more and it sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Stay accountable and track your progress
The next best thing is to have high stakes in learning a new habit. Whether it's giving away money to a person you hate or getting dared to do something you don't want to. After all, we all want to maintain a good image with our friends and family. It would be detrimental to lose their respect.
Accountability is a very good tool. For me, social media is my accountability. Not only because my friends and family look at it, but also because the internet is watching. If I don't do something I will be called out for it. This in turn helps me stay on track. It's not always the most pleasant of experiences. Yet it's another good reminder of why I wanted to become better in the first place.
The other side of accountability is that it helps you track your progress. Since I post daily on social media, that also has a built-in tracker associated with it. It's not uncommon for me to share posts with the day number of my streak.
If I am working out I will be putting the day in the caption. It shows me the progress I've made so far and how long have I been working on a habit. But you can also use a spreadsheet or calendar to keep track. Yet the more details your tracking method has, the easier it is to see progress. That in turn allows you to improve faster. Or you can celebrate your progress when you scroll back down to the beginning of your journey.