Happy New Year!
Welcome to the first day of the Habit Building Challenge! This month we will focus on creating a new habit in your life. As you are probably aware it takes about 28 days to effectively build a new habit.
Why is creating a new habit so crucial to achieving success?
“You will never change your life until you change something
you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your
daily routine.”– John C. Maxwell
The first step in creating a successful habit is to evaluate what it is going to take to create this new habit.
- How much time is it going to take each day?
- What preparation is involved?
- How can you simplify your life to give yourself more time?
- What else is involved with this particular habit?
This part of the challenge could possibly be the day that takes the most time out of all of the days because it may take a considerable amount of time to evaluate this properly. If you’ve already put time into thinking about this then you’re ahead of the game for today!
If you find that you don’t have time for this habit or there is some other type of block then this is a great time to re-evaluate the habit. Perhaps you need to break it apart and build part of the habit this month and then build another part next month.
The important thing is to do what you know you can do so that you have success. If you attempt to do too much you are setting yourself up for failure, which is opposite of what this challenge is all about. You can always add onto the habit building later if you’ve found that you desire more of a challenge.
You may want to print out my free habit building worksheet to give yourself a visual daily reminder to work on your habit each day this month. Don’t forget to check in here at the blog each day too! I will provide a brief activity to help you build your habit and the comments section is a great place for discussion and support!
These daily blog posts are not the entire challenge! I will send out additional inspiration, encouragement, and other information: subscribe to the Habit Building Challenge e-mail list for the complete experience!
Don’t forget to get out there and do your daily action today! Your habit building begins today!
If you are willing to share what habit you are working on and your plan – please share it in the comments. This would be a great way to encourage conversation and support!
If you are curious the habit that I am going to build this month is to meditate every day. Most every successful person says that it is an important part of their day and they recommend it highly.
I will see you here tomorrow!
To Your Success,
Hello Stacy! Evaluating a habit is indeed important, before you actually work on it. It works for everything else.
I hate to realise that something’s not going to work out after spending a considerable amount of time and energy on anything.
Amanda invites you to read… Part 1: Purpose? No Purpose?
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Hi Amanda,
That’s such a good point, we’ve all been there. Regretting a lack of planning and evaluating!
Stacy
Stacy invites you to read… Habit Building Day #1: What is it Going to Take?
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Good post Stacy. You’re so right. Change is only going to happen if we start new habits. And don’t forgot to suspend those habits which really are not serving us or others!
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 5:31 pm
Thank you, Hiten! Great point, thank you for sharing!
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My biggest goal for the New Year is just to post at least once a day. I joined several of the blog challenges this year so I would have the support I need. Comments and tweets seem like small things, but can really keep you going if your blog isn’t getting much love.
Susan Silver invites you to read… Can An Acrobat Learn New Tricks
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Hi Susan,
Posting once a day is a great goal! I was involved in a challenge last year where we posted 5x a week for 3 months and it really helped me to grow a lot!
Stacy
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A friend of mine shared that, “a habit is something you keep doing that you don’t know you are doing. Once you know that you keep doing it, it’s no longer a habit. It’s a choice.
To change a habit, I only need to be aware that I have the habit, then ask myself why I am making that choice.
Jim Syyap invites you to read… Simple technique to get a response on Facebook
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Hi Jim,
That’s a great quote, thank you for sharing it! We definitely need to be aware of our habits!
Stacy
Stacy invites you to read… 12 Popular Posts From This Year
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HI Stacy, I have put considerable amount of time and thought into my new habits for this year. I too will be spending my time meditating daily, but additionally I have been building a more rigid schedule and implementing more marketing into my mix as I did a few years ago.
Currently my schedule is being refined and drilled down as far as details go, i.e. topics of posts and precise marketing activities for each day. I’ll be ready with bells on on January 3 when the kids go back to school.
By the end of tomorrow I will know exactly what I’m doing each day but I will be spending most of the day having fun with my children as I’m breaking the habit of spending time working on my business when they are around. After all, they are the reason I do what I do and it’s almost an oxi moron to be working when I could be enjoying them.
Can’t wait to get the ball rolling full tilt.
See you on the 3rd.
best
Jayne
Jayne Kopp@life and business coach invites you to read… The Safest Investment For Success
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Stacy Reply:
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:45 am
Hi Jayne,
No big surprise here, but I am also working on my schedule in the exact same way that you are! So funny that we are so often on the very same wavelength!
Enjoy your kiddos!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy, Have a great year ahead. I need to determine the bad habits I have and see why I have them and how I can overcome it.
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Stacy Reply:
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:43 am
Hi Cheolsu,
Creating a positive habit in place of a negative one is the surest way to get rid of the negative one!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy
Happy New Year to you!
I’ve thought long and hard about the things I really want to improve on, business-wise, and decided my new habit will be to write an article/review of no less than 500 words each day.
In building this habit I’m aiming to improve my time management and become more productive in general.
Mena invites you to read… Fitbit Review – The Wireless Activity Tracker
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Stacy Reply:
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:43 am
Hi Mena,
That is a great habit to start! It will help you both personally and professionally!
Stacy
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It is really important to make a new habit and it should always be for good…
Jeziel invites you to read… What Is Diabetes Mellitus and What Its Symptoms Are
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Stacy Reply:
January 2nd, 2012 at 1:01 pm
Hi Jeziel,
Thank you for stopping by. Yes, we would smart to create good habits if we are going to create habits! Usually the good ones take work whereas the bad ones don’t!
Stacy
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My goal for 2012 is to be more consistent with my blogging. It all comes down to planning for me. If I can plan it out, I will write the posts. If I don’t plan it…. nada.
Larry Lourcey invites you to read… Where My 2011 Went Wrong
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Stacy Reply:
January 2nd, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Hi Larry,
Planning is key to successful posting! I know that if I don’t have my list of what I need to do each day I won’t get anything done!
Stacy
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[...] Habit Building Day #1: What is it Going to Take? [...]
Great job Stacy!!You serve as an inspiration to me…Thank you!!I will change my bad habits now…
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Stacy Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Thank you, Mickie! What habits are you going to work on?
Stacy
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Hello Stacy! You have a great job in the beginning of the year! We should have self realization first in order to change the old habit. The problem is it’s in us, we still have an attitude, we cannot change.
Dell invites you to read… Happy New Year To All Of You And Hope You Like The Aquarium Fish Photos Here …
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Stacy Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Hi Dell,
We do need to change our attitude if we want to change our habit. See day 4 of this challenge where we discuss exactly that!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy,
Before carrying out a habit that you would want to accomplish, it is best to evaluate it – if it is possible to achieve at a certain point in time, if it can be done each day, etc. I think the best way how to make a habit become more “doable” is to have fun while doing it. Always thinking of doing something as a chore can quite bore you and therefore make you lose your focus.
Happy New Year!
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Stacy Reply:
January 5th, 2012 at 8:20 am
Hi Felicia,
Great point about having fun while doing it! Nobody looks forward to something that is chore. I’m already finding that the habit I’m working on has built in benefits and I look forward to it each day!
Stacy
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Hello Stacy!!I think I have to work out on my bad habits like procrastinating…Thanks for the realization here then…
Diane invites you to read… Waterfront Key
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Stacy Reply:
January 5th, 2012 at 8:36 am
Hi Diane,
I’m glad to have you join us for the challenge! Check in daily for a dose of inspiration!
Stacy
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For me, this is a big challenge Stacy…I am not sure if I can do this but i will try…
Jasmin invites you to read… Jump Start Your Metabolism
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Stacy Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 9:47 am
Just take it day by day and use the posts here for inspiration!
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Stacy, I know this can be an inspiration for me but I need to have self-confidence first before I can complete this challenge..
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Stacy Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Hi Errich,
Or working through this challenge can help instill self confidence!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy. I spend all day sitting in office, and i know it’s not good for my health, so i want to learn Yoga, but dont know where to start, do you have any idea? And it’s has been a month from the day you posted this, have you succeeded in buiding your habit of meditate?
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Stacy Reply:
February 2nd, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Hi Alex,
Meditation is now a habit in my life! I am very glad to have it as it has helped me out in many ways and continues to do so.
Yoga offers similar benefits! I would start off with some free routines (youtube, netflix, cable, library, etc.) and see what you like before jumping into a class or purchasing anything. My favorites are Yoga Zone.
Stacy
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[...] Useful links on habits: Healthy Habits Habit Spark There is also a good series of 31 posts on how to develop a habit on Stacy’s Grow with Stacy starting here. [...]