Practice of the Month: Create and Maintain Your New Healthy Habit

By Sharon Brock, MS, MEd

At the start of the year, thinking about all the changes you want to make in your life can be overwhelming. You might think, “I have to start walking every day, eat more vegetables, get more sleep, and start a gratitude journal.”  With so many things on this list, it’s no wonder we end up feeling stressed and flopped on the couch eating potato chips and watching Netflix into the night by February.

Don’t worry, we see you. And we’re here to help. Rather than rely on willpower, Stanford behavior change expert, BJ Fogg, PhD, suggests the following steps to create and maintain a new healthy habit:

• Choose something you already want to do and enjoy doing (e.g., walking as exercise).
• Set the bar low to promote consistency (e.g., commit to walking to the end of your driveway and back every day).
• Anchor the new habit to something you already do every day (e.g., walk right after you drink your morning coffee).
• Redesign your environment to make the healthy habit more convenient (e.g., put your walking shoes by the front door).
• Set up a visual prompt (e.g., put a Post-it note on your computer to remind you to take a lunchtime walk).
• Allow yourself to feel good about any positive action you take, no matter how tiny.

Journal Prompt: What is ONE habit you’d like to create and maintain this year, and which of the above strategies will you employ to set yourself up for success?

A Different Twist on New Year’s Resolutions

At the start of the year, rather than answer the question, “What’s your New Year’s Resolution?”,  Dr. Fogg invites us to contemplate the following:

Journal Prompt: What is ONE thing you can change in your home environment today that will have the BIGGEST positive impact on your health for the rest of the year?

To help spur inspiration, here are sample answers from each of the seven Lifestyle Medicine pillars:

• Movement & Exercise – Get a dog!
• Restorative Sleep – Move the television out of the bedroom.
• Stress Management – Move your cell phone out of arm’s reach from your bed to prevent late-night scrolling.
• Healthful Nutrition – Keep fruit in a bowl on the dining table for convenient healthy snacking.
• Gratitude & Purpose – Frame a photograph of someone who makes you smile and place it next to your work computer.
• Cognitive Enhancement – Place a good reading lamp beside a comfortable chair to promote nightly reading.
• Social Engagement – Schedule a weekly walk with a friend (two-for-one!).

“It’s important to remember that habit formation is a practice-and-revise process,” says Dr. Fogg.  “You probably need to try out various new habits to find the ones that work for you. Think of it like trying on new shoes. If the first selection doesn’t fit you, that’s okay. Just keep going and try others. Find what works best for you.”