Habits over Resolutions

​Last year, I told myself I was going to bone up on my American History, learn French (above and beyond my limited Grade 9 education), drop 10 pounds and run another marathon. Guess how many of those I did—NONE!

In reality, I did the following: I read an article from Khan Academy about the Battle of Bunker Hill to never go back to learning more about U.S. History, downloaded Rosetta Stone and have yet to log on and for my finale, I have yet to run over 12 miles or lose any considerable weight—so there’s that! My point, Resolutions are ridiculous. They are always over-the-top, unreasonable and unrealistic. At least they are for me. So this year, I’m focusing on habits over Resolutions and as always, as I pondered what was to come in 2017, I came across a great article in Maclean’s magazine that had my back.

Aaron Hutchins of Maclean’s writes that a “better life rests on habit” and I absolutely believe him. He noted that BJ Fogg, director of the Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab does two push-ups between bathroom break and hand washing. He’s done it for months and now it’s become automatic. Now he does 10-25 and in any given day he does an average of 100 push-ups—that’s nothing to scoff at.

Fogg notes that the “best way to automate a new habit is to set the bar incredibly low. Ergo, just two push-ups.” He notes that creating a habit that’s small takes out the need to be motivated which allows for automation to happen faster.

Gretchen Ruben, author of the wildly famous Happiness Project confirms Fogg’s practice by saying “what we do every day matters more than what we do once and a while.” She goes even farther in saying that “If you have habits that work for you, you’re more likely to be happier, healthier and more productive.” Okay, I’m listening…

I get this. I have some bad habits. I create overly lofty goals that don’t get achieved. I have some snacking tendencies that could use some re-drafting and I’m sure if I dug a little deeper, the list could go on. In practice, I know this works. We all do. Creating a reasonable swap out for a bad habit is an easy fix. I used to have a cookie at 3pm and then I traded that bad habit in for a decaffeinated tea and an apple. It’s not brain surgery but it saves me 200 calories a day that I’m sure adds up!

“We are what we repeatedly do."
Will Durant, historian and philosopher. [paraphrasing Aristotle]

​So this year, I’m doing exactly as BJ Fogg has instructed—I’m setting the bar extremely low. I’m going to plot out two or three little tweaks to my every day. I’m going to dig down and find those little devilish habits I have and make a pact to remedy them with something smarter and more reasonable. See you later post-lunch snacks. Hello squats before bed and first thing after a morning run. And, once I conquer those few fixes, I think I’ll stop there and give myself a big pat on the back for incorporating two new habits into my routine. Focus my attention on keeping those habits strong for the entire year instead of piling on and falling short like I did in 2016. In 2017, I'm going to embrace small changes!

What are some of your Resolutions? Are they too lofty? Could a few small habit changes better serve you? ​
​Let us know...