It’s getting cooler, and this can give us more energy to do things that we may have put off since January, like starting that new work-out routine. The Fall can be a much better time than January to start new things and revisit your resolutions. What have you been thinking of starting, but you haven’t been able to bring yourself to do? Right now may be the best time to give it a try.
I hope you like this article about changing habits, and maybe it will give you a few ideas about how to make them stick!
Self-Help Author Says to Do These 8 Things to Make Your Habits Stick
Whether good or bad, all habits begin in your head. Here’s how to make the healthy ones stay.
by Jonathan Alpert, Psychotherapist, executive coach, and author of Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days.
Carrot or Stick?
Have you heard this saying? Which works better the carrot or the stick? This goes way back into the old days when donkeys were used for labor. So, which do you think the donkey would work harder for? Someone who yells and beats it with a stick or the owner who says kind words, and encourages the donkey with a nice, fresh carrot? Carrots tend to work better and yet we fuss at ourselves, just like the yelling owner when we aren’t doing what we think we should be doing.
Beating yourself up, name-calling, and harsh talk is unlikely to be motivating. What if we could talk kinder to ourselves when we mess up? Maybe we could even offer some rewards like self care and compassion and give ourselves gentle words of encouragement? That is much more likely to get us to make the changes that we desire.
I recommend…
The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal, to help you delve deeper into this topic. Click here to get a copy of this book. It’s for sale on Jet.com.
