Stay the Course

Today, you will learn about visualizing your progress and staying on the course!

In the last blog post I had you focus on getting and feeling a reward after you complete a habit to help your habit stick. Rewards are a key aspect of habit formation.

Basically – what is rewarded gets repeated.  What is punished is avoided.

I had you focus on some type of immediate feedback for the brain.  The more immediately satisfying a habit is, the more likely it will be repeated in the future.  You learn which behaviors to repeat based on how they make you feel. When you take an action that feels good because you know the habit will reward you in the end.  Focusing on the end and the vision is crucial to creating a habit that will last.

Let’s now focus on your progress.  When our brains get the signal to move forward, and you see yourself moving forward, you get excited and feel motivated.  A way to measure your progress is to use a habit tracker.  If you like custom handouts, email me, I have a special handout.  If you like to improvise, use a paper calendar, or schedule book. Basically, make a mark on the day that you did your chosen habit.  You may have a range of days, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, so not every day will have a mark, only the days of your realistic and 90% doable goal will have a mark.  As time rolls by, you will see a pattern, all the marks will measure whether you did your habit.  You will see progress as the marks increase in consistency and in time.

“Once you have created your habit tracking system, keep this in mind, “never break the chain.” As James Clear states.  Seeing the chain can be a powerful motivator for the brain as it sees the marks.  You will not want to go too long without a mark.  Why? Your brain will miss the reward.  You really want to focus on keeping that chain going, and your brain will use critical thinking to overcome obstacles or barriers to achieve the reward that you set in place and achieve that feeling of success.

If keeping track on a paper handout or calendar isn’t your style, here are a few suggestions for you:

·         Move paper clips from one jar to another each time you complete the habit.

·         Put money into your bank account each time you complete the habit.

·         Give yourself a sticker and place it in your journal.

·         Write yourself a sticky note on how you feel after you complete the habit and put it up where you see it daily.

·         Create a phone note list and use a fun emoji to check it off when you are done (I do this, and I love it!  I use a different green emoji each season, so it might be broccoli or a Christmas tree!)

The completion of the habit is the cue to log it in some way.  In that way you can remind yourself not to break the chain because it feels so good to have done the habit and then whisper to yourself – never miss twice.  You may have a valid reason for not completely the habit one day, but not two days.  Try to get back on course as soon as possible.  You do not have to be perfect, just persistent.  Habits are NOT all or none.  That is what stops us and holds us back from accomplishing our vision.

Chew on these thoughts: The key is to visualize and see progress each time you complete the habit.  Logging in in some way helps.  It tracks your progress, rewards your brain, and builds the habit with a tangible reward.  

Progress is not linear, when we step back it may look like that, but we all miss a day, we are not perfect.  Those that succeed keep getting back up and use rewards or recall the feeling of how good the habit felt when you were done.  You will repeat what feels good and is rewarded.  You will avoid what doesn’t feel good and is punished.