1. Acknowledge what you want

It is important that you know what the habits you want to achieve are. This way you can focus better on them, making sure you work as hard as you can to achieve them. Knowing what you want, and being determined to achieve it helps you change your behavior in order to make this new habit part of your life. Take your time to explore what is best for you in order to succeed in incorporating it into your life better.

2. Create a plan

Nothing leads you to the best result like a well thought of a plan. A plan is basically the small steps you will take that will lead you to the final goal which is making something a part of your daily life. For example, if your goal is to care for your mental health, start waking up a few minutes earlier every morning in order to spend some time with yourself. Spend this time meditating or planning for your day. Try to prolong this period every day until you find that the time you allocate for your mental health is enough.

3. Be consistent

Consistency is the key to reaching and maintaining good habits. Consistency is achieved by repeating an action several times until it becomes a normal part of your daily life because it becomes activated after contextual cues. For example, if you choose your outfit for the next day right after you shower, your brain will start associating these two actions together and it will easily become a habit after repeating it a few times. In fact, it takes 21 days of repeating the same simple action until it becomes a habit, so don’t give up too soon!

4. Try hard to fight setbacks

You might feel like giving up at any time, or even that your goal does not matter. But in fact, if you have thought enough of it (as mentioned in step 1) you would know that it matters enough to make it happen. No matter what the reason for your negative thoughts is, think well before you surrender. If you miss one day of practicing your habit, try hard not to let this happen another time. The longer you go without practicing the action, the harder it will be to turn it into a habit.

5. Take breaks

It can be tiring to try to incorporate new habits and changes in your life, especially if these changes are not similar to your daily routines, for this reason, you might find that you need breaks in order to move forward. Breaks here do not mean skipping the practice of the habit, but instead taking time to be mindful and think of what you have done so far.