In our busy work life we can often get so worked up and focused on taking enormous actions in order to achieve our goals, but research shows that taking small, measurable changes that slowly build up to bigger goals can actually be easier, and more beneficial in the long run.

Small changes are easier to adopt and they shift the dynamic of our ability and motivation to be able to embark on a challenging journey. Small wins also help you feel like you’re accomplishing something, whether as focusing on larger goals tends to feel like you are fighting a never ending battle. This is why small changes and wins are so important, because they give us that motivation to keep going and working towards those bigger goals.

Here are 3 tips on how to start creating positive habits:

1. Start by creating a small habit

By starting with something small and simple, you can start to form your habit without even thinking about it! Create a habit that is very simple and doesn’t take more than about 2 minutes to complete. You could prompt yourself to write 100 words of your next report every time you check Facebook, if this is something that regularly distracts you.

2. Find your trigger

When you first create your habit, you need to have some kind of trigger to remind you to complete it, instead of relying on yourself to randomly remember to do it. For example, if you’re looking to try and get more exercise in to your lifestyle, but often find yourself slumped on the couch after a long day at work, you could create the habit of doing squats every time the ads come on during your favourite show. This way, the habit is hard to forget, and is tied to something that you already enjoy doing on a daily basis.

3. Enjoy the small wins

Ensure that you are rewarding yourself as you are forming your new habit. Just a simple pat on the back or positive thought helps, so that our brain can register that we’ve achieved something.

By creating small and achievable habits, you can easily make your work day more productive and make it easier to achieve larger victories down the track. After you rewire your brain to complete these small tasks, you will find that you can get a lot more completed throughout the day and will find it easier to start larger projects with your new system of creating positive habits.

Read more: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bonnie-st-john/the-power-of-small_1_b_12045672.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-ragland/start-small_b_4042935.html

Creating habits is a great way to make positive changes, but these habits need to be personalized and not just copied from your neighbour. At Optimity, we recognize that everybody has different preferences and it can be far more motivating to make a change when something is presented to us in our preferred format or language. When you make something a habit, it becomes hard not to do it, regardless of what else might be going on in the background. 

Want to chat? Reach out to us and we can help you implement a personalized habit coaching program for you and all those around you. 

engage@myoptimity.com