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  • Writer's pictureKate

How to build a habit


Building a habit takes reps: you've got the old neural pathways which hold the automated old habit (this is what makes it so easy to get to the grocery store, you barely have to think about it because you have laid down the track of that repeated route in your brain cells), which you need to override by laying new track with reps of the new habit. Repeat it enough times and that new habit becomes automatic.


Some helpful tools:

  • sticky notes on your mirror, car dashboard, front and back doors

  • regular reminders on your calendar, watch, or phone

  • daily check-ins with a supportive friend

  • daily lessons or inspo from websites you love like these year-long daily courses from DailyOM

  • an app built just for this, Did You Do It Today?


Protip: keep varying the reminders so you continue to SEE them. Reps are what form the new habit but, ironically, repeat a reminder enough times and you stop seeing it! So, keep updating the sticky notes with different colors, or with all those old silly notepads kicking around the back of your middle desk drawer; change the tone on the reminders; ask your friend to surprise you at some point during the week by initiating the check-in; and/or add writing reflections in a journal to the daily lesson or app reminder in order to increase your learning experience.

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