1. Schedule your habits into your life.

Give your habits a specific space in your life. There are two main options for making this happen…

Option 1: Put it on your calendar.

Option 2: Tie it to your current behavior.

Want to floss? Everyday after brushing your teeth. Same order, same way, every time.

Want to be happier? Every time you stop at a red light, tell yourself one thing you’re grateful for. The red light is the reminder. Same trigger, same sequence, every time.

2. Stick to your schedule, even in small ways.

Find a way to stick to the schedule, no matter how small it is.

3. Have someone who expects something of you.

I’ve been on many teams throughout my athletic career and you know what happens when you have friends, teammates, and coaches expecting you to be at practice? You show up.

The good news is that you don’t have to be on a team to make this work. Talk to strangers and make friends in the gym. Simply knowing that a familiar face expects to see you can be enough to get you to show up.

4. Focus on what you can work with.

We waste so much time focusing on what is withheld from us.

“I don’t have enough money. I don’t have enough time. I don’t have the right contacts. I don’t have enough experience. I need to learn more. I’m not sure what to do. I feel uncomfortable and stupid.”

Here’s what I want you to think instead: I can work with it!

Because you can. The truth is that most of us start in the same place — no money, no resources, no contacts, no experience — but some people (the winners) choose to get started anyway.

It’s not easy, but I promise you that your life will be better if you choose to feel uncomfortable and make progress, rather than complain and make excuses. Shift your focus from what is withheld from you to what is available to you.

It’s rare that your circumstances prevent you from making any progress. You might not like where you have to start. Your progress might be slow and unsexy. But you can work with this.

5. Design your environment for success.

Most of us acknowledge that the people who surround us influence our behaviors, but the items that surround us have an impact as well. The signs we see, the things that are on your desk at work, the pictures hanging on your wall at home … these are all pieces of our environment that can trigger us to take different actions.

Get Back on Track

Change can be hard. In the beginning, your healthy habits might take two steps forward and one step back.

Anticipating those backwards steps can make all the difference in the world. Develop a plan for getting back on track and recommit to your routine as quickly as possible.