Forming Good Healthy Habits

Having trouble sticking to your training goals for the new year already?. I will share with you what really stuck out for me in an article I read recently about forming habits and if you put into perspective that it only takes 21-30 days to form a new habit sticking to a “training goal “ should be a lot easier this time around.


A habit is an action that we perform subconsciously, we don’t really think about doing these things, they seem to happen on their own. Habits can be good or bad depending on how they enhance our quality of life or detract from it.

Our minds become conditioned to do things in a certain way, simply because we have done them over and over again.

This can be a good thing as it makes our daily routine so much easier, imagine having to focus intently on every little thing you did, like washing dishes or taking out the garbage.

However, negative actions can also become habits, and that makes them extremely difficult to change. How many times have you tried to adopt an exercise program, quit smoking, lose weight, or give up junk food?

It takes between 21-30 days to form a new habit. This means you must perform your new actions repeatedly, day after day for up to 30 days before your subconscious mind will begin to do them automatically.

When trying to break a bad habit, it is usually helpful to substitute a good habit. Otherwise you'll end up feeling restless and gravitate back to the bad habit again to fill the void. For example, when quitting smoking, take up gum chewing, exercise, deep breathing, knitting, etc.

When the urge for a cigarette hits, you have other activities you can use to busy yourself. At first, the new habit may not seem like an adequate substitute (especially if nicotine withdrawal is part of the equation!), but with consistent reinforcement, your mind will begin to let go of the old habit of smoking and adopt the newer habits you have substituted.

When trying to adopt a new habit, such as exercise, you may need to place visible reminders at your desk, on the refrigerator door, or the bathroom mirror. Remember that your mind is accustomed to not thinking about exercise. It will take some focused attention to change that.

It is important to have patience with yourself as you work on changing your habits. Remember that they are habits because they are largely subconscious. As you focus your conscious mind repeatedly on your new actions, they will also become subconscious, just like the negative actions did.

Give it a go take a 30 day challenge!