First of all, it is good to remember: the quality of your habits determines the quality of your whole life. Therefore, are you maintaining good habits in your daily routine? Are you even having good habits? It is never too late to make changes that potentially impact your life for good. What do you tell me about starting them right now? We are going to give you a hand on it.
In the 50’s decade, the cosmetic surgeon Maxwell Maltz realized that his patients were taking around three weeks to get used to their new faces after an esthetic surgery. So, he concluded that was also the time to get used to any new behaviours in life. A few years later, he published a book where he finally affirmed: Human beings need 21 days to erase an old mental image and build a new one.
Later one, the University College London decided to do a new study about the subject. The entity recruited around 100 people to figure out how long they really needed to get used to new habits. As a result, volunteers took an average of 66 days to adopt a new habit in their lives.
How you should start building new habits
Identify a trigger, behavior, and reward: these three elements run the human behavior. Just a simple example is having your training timetable on your fridge’s door as a trigger, going to Gracie Humaita Sydney as a behavior, and feeling good after exercising as a reward. Decide what to do or what you don’t want to do anymore, link with the triggers with the rewards to create, keep OR remove them from your life.
Change your environment: we are strongly influenced by the environment where we live. Constantly battling against temptations will probably drain your energy. A better option is definitely removing them from your way! For example, if you want to use your phone less, keep it in an isolated place while you’re working or needing some focus. If you wanna go to Gracie Humaita tomorrow morning, prepare your bag and clothes the night before, so the next day you just have to wake up and go. Not too much to think about.
Get outside support: studies show that you are influenced by the people around you in so many ways. We can conclude that it is not just the physical environment that has some power over you, but also your social one. Motivation is contagious. Saying it, try to surround yourself with people with similar goals as you.
If you are willing to train more frequently and focus on changing your body and routine, get closer to your academy mates, for example. In those days when you need some extra stimulus, your training partners will be there for you. Same vibe, same energy!
It’s okay to go slowly
As we said before, new habits need some time to stick to your routine for good. Respect your flow, listen to your body, and don’t rush the process. If you wanna have really big changes, you must be patient. If you increase the challenges over time, what was hard last week, will be easier today. Be consistent! Go slow and steady and you will achieve some amazing results.
Stop judging yourself too hard and look at your goals with more passion. The secret of significant changes is recognizing that you can do it – not because you should, but because you want it.
See you on the mats,
Gracie Humaita Sydney.
by Fernanda Monteiro