4 Tips to Form Good Habits (So You Can Be Happier)

Yahoo Health
Updated
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Habits can be freeing! (GIF: Reddit)

Habits can make us be better — and they can also hold us back. They can also affect our happiness, according to author, blogger, and happiness expert Gretchen Rubin.

Gretchen (who is also a former attorney) researches the best ways to create happy, healthy lifestyles. In her newest book, she studies how to use your personality strengths and weaknesses to mindfully create habits that work to your advantage. On a deeper level, she talks about how all of the small daily choices we make add up, and how we can save energy by making good choices a habit.

I loved connecting with and learning from Gretchen in this conversation and couldn’t wait to share a few of the awesome technique that she recommends for building healthy habits in your life.

A lot of people think about habits in terms of frequency, repetition, or the familiarity of cues around a behavior. But the key thing about a habit is decision making (or rather a lack of decision making.) A habit is a behavior that’s on autopilot. You don’t decide to put on your seatbelt; you just do it.

Related: 10 Happiness-Sucking Phrases To Stop Saying NOW

That’s why habits can be freeing. Decision making and self control take a lot of energy, and habits can curb the necessity for both. Habits are a good servant but a bad master. We have to cultivate habits that will free and energize us and get rid of everything else.

Here are Gretchen’s tips to free up room in your life for things that are worth the decision making effort:

  • Scheduling: If something is important to you, put it on your calendar.

  • Pairing: Pair something you don’t like with something you do like. Do you like Game of Thrones and hate being on the treadmill? Only allow yourself to watch Game of Thrones when you’re on the treadmill.

  • Monitoring: Even if you’re not consciously trying to change, if you monitor something you’ll inevitably be better about it. Trying to eat healthier? Keep a food journal. Trying to stick to a budget? Track your dollars and cents closely.

  • Accountability: Have someone to hold you to the goals you make. Hire a personal trainer for workouts or join a book club to make sure you’re keeping up with your reading.

If you can cultivate habits that keep you moving forward, you can change the way your day-to-day life runs for the better.

For my full conversation with Gretchen, listen below:

For more on Gretchen, click here.

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ABOUT LEWIS HOWES: Lewis is a pro-athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur who hosts the top-ranked podcast The School of Greatness. He interviews the best and brightest minds in health, entrepreneurship, relationships and lifestyle. Follow Lewis on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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