This week I am answering a question from listener Erin who wants to know how to get herself to do the things she wants to do. We all struggle with making good habits. We have values and priorities, but sometimes when it comes to following through, we need what Erin calls a “kick in the pants.”
Snippet from the Show
“God wants us to set reasonable goals out of self-love, not self-loathing.”
SHOWNOTES
There are some things that can help us find success in establishing the good habits we want and stopping the bad habits we don’t want. This week I am sharing four ideas:
Identify your pitfalls.
Think about what might make you fail before your failure happens. What obstacles might get in the way? What temptations might you fall prey to? Make a plan now for how you will handle your pitfalls or avoid them altogether.
Make laziness work for you.
We are all creatures of efficiency and so we can really increase our chances of success if we make good choices easy to do and bad choices hard to do. Make the things you want to do super convenient, even in small ways, and you will be much more likely to do them.
Hold yourself accountable.
You might share your goals with a friend, with your spouse, or on social media. Write down your goals and check in with yourself and others to see how you are doing. Accountability can go a long way toward helping us make the good choices we want to make.
Set goals that are S.M.A.R.T.
Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based. Each of these is a key ingredient to defining new habits you will want to stick with!