This month’s goals post is going to be a little different. Okay, a lot different. Part of creating your future is forming new habits. The activities that are important to you are easier to dominate when they become second nature. Believe it or not, there are specific steps you can take to turn activities and behaviors into habits. That is what we’re going to be doing for the next 6 months of create your future posts. Don’t worry. I’m sharing freebies to help you accomplish it all.

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Choose Your Habits

Right now we’re going to focus on the next 6 months. That means your first step is to choose sex activities or behaviors that you want to become habits. These can be anything from getting a shower first thing in the morning to working out each day. Choose the activities that you want to be a part of who you are. To give you some inspiration, here are the six habits I will be forming:

1. Crafting
2. Writing
3. Fitness
4. Cleaning
5. 11:30 Bedtime
6. Reading

Assign Months

The next step is to assign each habit to a month. There are 2 different points to consider when deciding this:

1. If your habits build on each other you will need to create them in the order that they build. For example, I want to read for 30 minutes each day but I also want that to become my body’s cue for bedtime. That means I will need to develop the reading habit first.
2. Think about your schedule. Would it be easier to get more active in the summer when your kids are home or is that the time to start a new writing routine? It is likely easier to start working out. Save the writing habit for when the kids are in school.

Now that you’ve thought about these things, assign each habit the month you will create it in. Here are how I have assigned mine (and also the order I will be sharing tips and tricks with you):

• April: Cleaning
• May: Writing
• June: Fitness
• July: Crafting
• August: Reading
• September: 11:30 Bedtime

 

[bctt tweet=”Find out how to turn activities that are important to you into habits with these steps! #formingnewhabits” username=”diyadulation”]

 

Define Your Habits

You need to take the time to define your habits. For example, “cleaning” is too broad of a habit. Instead, list the specific cleaning tasks you are going to complete each day. You also want to define the time of day you will do the tasks. Here are some defining questions to ask:

1. What are the specific tasks?
2. When will you perform these tasks?
3. Will you set a time for the task or will it be defined in a different way (word count, page count, task completion…)?
4. What physical clues will you give your body to trigger your habit? For example, will sitting down with your morning coffee be your trigger to start writing? Will you start a load of dishes after clearing the dinner table each night?

Tips for Success

Simply having a plan isn’t enough to turn an activity into a habit. Here are a few pointers to be successful in forming your new habits:

• Focus on one habit at a time.
• To turn the activity into a habit, do it for at least 20 minutes each time.
• Don’t skip any days while forming your habit. This includes weekends and holidays.
• If you do miss a day, start your 30+ days over again.

 

Forming new habits also helps with your time management. By integrating the activities into your everyday life you become more efficient and will end up ahead in many areas of your life. To make this whole process easier, print out your free Monthly Habit Tracker so you can ensure that you are remembering your new habits each day! I will also be providing tips for the specific habits listed above each month so check back for those. You can also get weekly updates and inspiration each week in your inbox when you sign up below!

See where I’m linking up!