What is One of the Most Successful ways to Solidify a New Habit?
What is one of the most successful ways to solidify a new habit?
Curate your environment for abundance, NOT scarcity!
Often with habit formation, or any change in our status quo when we are seeking different results the focus immediately goes on what we cannot do or have to be successful, in other words what we have to eliminate. What we know is that when we focus on what we can do or have rather than placing limitations on certain items, our brains will naturally begin to seek out the “cans” while the “cannots” will by nature lessen because we are choosing the “cans” more often in place of what we used to choose in the “cannot” category.
The idea is to operate in abundance vs scarcity.
Instead of saying, “I can’t have this cookie because I have to eat more fruits and veggies,” (scarcity), the self talk pivot of abundance sounds like, “I can have this giant bowl of strawberries, cottage cheese, and chopped candied pecans drizzled with honey.” Begin the self talk pivot by listing your preferred items in the habit category you are trying to adjust. That’s an abundance mindset and that’s what we are shooting for. By the time you get done eating that giant bowl of strawberries, cottage cheese, candied pecans, topped with a drizzle of honey the ONE cookie will be of no consequence to you and the mental load required to operate in abundance significantly less than the mental load required to fight temptation operating in scarcity. This tip has to do with voice, what we hear from our self talk as we make decisions.
The next abundance vs scarcity tip I have for you is visual. Place the abundance (the optimal option) in highly visible places and the scarcity (the stuff we are trying to lessen or eliminate) in a less (or ideally NOT) visible location. Place a fruit bowl on the counter and move the cookie jar to the back of the pantry. Move the healthiest snack options to the front of the shelves and the junk snacks behind them. In the fridge, place your fresh fruits and green leafy veggies in open containers towards the front so grabbing them is easier and place the puddings, chip dips, and other treats in the back or in harder to reach places. Make the things we can have in abundance highly visible and easy! Choosing them then becomes natural and the other stuff disappears on its own.
When we cue or curate our space this way we create what is called an “environment of inevitability” where our choices aren’t chance or left to will power and the outcome of our choices isn’t something we merely hope for but something that can be relied on.
Remember:
- Drink some water
- Eat a veggie (or two or three)
- Log your protein
- Be brave
Let’s Get Started