It takes 21 days to form new habits. Goodness knows I need to work on creating some new habits that I’ll stick with. I’m just as good as anyone else at declaring that I’m going to do something, then doing it for a little while, and then slowly petering out.
As we all know, this journey is about making changes that we’ll live with for the rest of our lives. There is no quick fix. We must make changes and stick with them. We must form new habits.
So here are the habits I want to make permanent parts of my lifestyle:
- Working out. I was never a fitness enthusiast, but after taking part in the Shred with the Sisterhood challenge, I saw the results you can get from working out regularly. I liked the results. I felt strong and fit and so good about myself. So why haven’t I continued to workout? Life has gotten in the way. Summer and vacations and non-schedules have tripped me up in a major way. Right now, I am committing to getting in at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. It might be a workout DVD, it might be a walk or hike, all I know, is I’m going to do something every.single.day.
- Water. I’ve always been good at getting in my daily water. I usually get in over 100 ounces a day. Traveling has really thrown a wrench in that for me. It’s hard to drink that much water when you’re flying and driving everywhere, and sadly, that’s when you probably need it the most! So I’m committing to reforming my habit of drinking a ton of water each day.
- Fruits and vegetables. Five a day is what’s recommended. I can do it, and I will. Enough said!
I don’t want to overwhelm myself with new habits (even though these are things I’ve done before!), so I’m going to limit it to these 3 items this time around. I will do these three things for the next 21 days in order to form new habits, and then I won’t stop there. I will make sure that these 3 habits stick with me forever and ever, because afterall, it’s about making changes, not quick fixes.