I’ve been frequenting several self-improvement websites recently and most of them suggests that success is a result of good life habits. So I got curious and dived in to learn more about it. But what is a habit anyway? According to Wikipedia, “A habit is a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

James Clear in his book Transform your Habits said that “your life today is essentially the sum of your habits”. In his article How to Build a New Habit: link here: https://jamesclear.com/habit-guide He presented the simple habit building steps below.

(Summarized)
1. Start with an incredibly small habit.

-Pick a habit that’s easy enough, you don’t need motivation/or excuse to do it.
2. Increase your habit in very small ways.

-Start small and gradually improve. Train your willpower and motivation, this will make it easier to stick to your habit for good.
3. As you build up, break habits into chunks.

-It is important to keep each habit reasonable, so that you can maintain momentum and make the behaviour as easy as possible to accomplish.

Building up to 20 minutes of meditation? Split it into two segments of 10 minutes at first.

4. When you slip, get back on track quickly.

-Top performers make mistakes, commit errors, and get off track just like everyone else. The difference is that they get back on track as quickly as possible.
You just need to be consistent, not perfect.

5. Be patient. Stick to a pace you can sustain.

-Learning to be patient is perhaps the most critical skill of all. You can make incredible progress if you are consistent and patient.

Patience is everything. Do things you can sustain.

Following these steps I decided to try habit building in January. Below is the list of my HABIT plan.

1. Do 10 squats every time I go to the toilet
2. 10 push ups + 1 everyday (except on Sundays)
3. Read 10 pages of a book every day before going to sleep

Since I already started daily yoga in September, I added it in my habit tracking report every month.

I track my habit using an “old school” blank calendar like this:

There are several mobile apps/calendars that can help you track things but I prefer to do it this way. I post the blank calendar on the wall at the start of the month and write on it at the end of each day.

Every month I make a summary report like below to track my progress and celebrate.

These reports help me appreciate my habits and keep me motivated to continue on the following months.
It gives me assurance that if you really want to achieve something and make time for it, you can do it. It develops my confidence, improve my grit and progress my life overall.

I am proud to report that because of the habit building, from January to April of this year
-I completed a total of 2785 push ups. That’s more push ups that I’ve ever done in my whole life!
-I did 110 days of yoga
-Read 4 books and is already on my 5th and 6th book for this year.
-The squats every time I visit toilet is now automatic!

I plan to continue with these habits until they become automatic then I will add some new ones.

Maybe I will try to
Meditate 5 minutes every morning
Do 5 + 1 sit ups everyday
Practice 5 minutes of gratitude before going to sleep
10 + 1 minute walk in place everyday
Write journal entry everyday

The possibilities are endless depending on your life goals.
How about you, what habits do you want to build? Let me know at the comment section if you have questions about my habit building experience.