ZenHabits.net author Leo just put up another site on choosing and maintaining New Year’s Resolutions. The new site, 6changes.com, provides some interesting advice regarding success in sticking to behavioral changes after new years.
The slow and thought-out approach in 6changes.com certainly seems better than the full-bore attack we usually use when confronting personal improvement in the New Year. Leo suggests choosing 6 daily habits, which can be worked on singly for two months each. In the two months dedicated to each habit, eight baby steps are taken, one each week. By systematically breaking down the new habits you want to create, you are forced to gradually incorporate the habits instead of trying to change too much all at once. The process of breaking down the habits has an additional benefit of forming a solid plan with quantitative milestones.
Additionally, each of your new habits should be connected to a trigger that is already part of your day. Triggers are common in performance psychology and are created to help athletes enter a winning state of mind in times of stress. Their use in this program is similar and Leo suggests that by tying together an existing activity, like brushing your teeth or drinking coffee, with your desired habit, you can more easily make the habit a permanent part of your daily routine.
Check out the site for the complete process and in depth advice. I certainly found it interesting.
