new year, new...?

New Year, new..... what? Gym membership? Diet? Job? Relationship? Hobby?

As yet another year passes, its a great time to review whether you achieved what you hoped you would over the last 52 weeks, or approximately half a million minutes. Most people have the best intentions at the start of the year, but fail to translate those intentions into a habit that sticks. From coaching hundreds of people, here are the top tips to make your habits stick:

👉 Start small. Are you really going to go to the gym every day for an hour? Commit to doing only what you are 100% certain you will achieve. That way, you're less likely to "fall off the habit wagon" and end up stopping entirely. If you do more than that minimum, then great!

👉 Treat yourself. Embed your new habit with positive reinforcement, whether that is just acknowledging your progress to yourself, or allowing yourself to have your favourite dinner when you achieve milestones.

👉 Have a trigger. If you want to start flossing your teeth more, your trigger might be brushing your teeth. If you want to make your bed each morning, your trigger might be having your morning coffee.

👉 Have a positive mindset. If you start by telling yourself that you'll fail, you probably will. Define your habit as something that is achievable, and positive for you.

👉 Tie the habit to your broader goals. Make sure that you can clearly articulate how this habit might help you achieve your bigger goals in life, whatever they may be.

👉 Don't change everything at once! Its very unlikely that if you set yourself a target of going to the gym every day, eating healthier, schedule time for hobbies, quit smoking, and quit drinking all at once, that you won't achieve any of them. Set a target of one of them for the first month and see how it goes. If that's embedded, then move onto the next.

👉 Find a way to hold yourself accountable. That might be having a friend to take the steps with, or having a partner who gently reminds you that you had committed to take the steps. A coach can also help. Whichever you go with, someone or something to gently nudge you in the right direction can really help.

Your brain is wired to enable change, but only with practice over time. By enabling your brain to practice small steps, it can lead to larger ones - and before you know it, you'll be 52 weeks later having made massive strides towards your goals.