Motivation or discipline? The real key to healthy routines
Do you know this too? Full of motivation, you resolve to do more sport, eat healthier or go to bed earlier - but after a few days or weeks you fall back into old patterns. Why is it so difficult to stick to new, healthy habits in the long term?
The reason is not a lack of willpower, but the fact that our brain loves routines - and finds change stressful. Many people rely on pure motivation or willpower, but this often only lasts for a short time and costs a lot of energy in the long run.
🤓 It is much more important to utilise clever strategies to create healthy habits that fit naturally into everyday life.
Here you can find out how to turn resolutions into real routines to really achieve your goals - with small steps, simple tricks and no pressure. Because change doesn't have to be difficult if you trick your brain!
What is a habit loop? 🧐
To successfully establish new routines or habits, it helps to understand how our brain works.
Habits are formed through repetition. Our brain is designed to save energy and automate tasks. This means that we turn things we do regularly into routines. These routines are then processed like an ‘autopilot’ without us consciously deciding what to do.
This means that the more often you repeat an action, the more automatic it becomes - and the less willpower you need. ✌🏻
An important concept is the habit loop, which consists of three elements:
Trigger: Something reminds you to do what you want to become a habit. You link the habit to something you already do regularly so that you don't forget it. For example, if you want to drink more water, you can resolve to always drink before you eat. (Other triggers include when the alarm goes off, when you brush your teeth, before/after a meal, when you start the coffee machine or when you walk out the front door).
Routine: The actual action. Habits that bring you closer to your goal of better health and weight loss, for example, are
you go for a jog ,
meditate,
drink a glass of water,
do a short workout,
prepare healthy snacks or cook healthier meals,
take a few steps or a short walk,
dance to a song as a break,
or sleep early and always at a similar time.
Reward: Your brain associates the action with something positive. If you associate a new habit with something pleasant, it becomes more attractive in the long term and remains so (e.g. you can take a relaxing shower after a workout, enjoy a delicious tea or coffee after a walk or workout, treat yourself to a spa bath if you manage 10,000 steps a day)
It is often enough to realise how good you feel after making a healthy decision. Take the time to celebrate your successes and observe how good they make you feel.
‼️ Important: The reward should not contradict the habit (e.g. ‘I'll eat a whole bar of chocolate because I've been exercising’). Instead, you should choose it in such a way that it motivates you to keep at it.
The stronger this connection is, the easier it is for a new habit to stick. That means for you:
👉 Tip: Consciously build triggers and rewards into your new routines! 🤓
5 more tips: How to successfully start healthy habits
👉 Tip: Small steps, big impact!
You often fail because you take on too much at once. Start with a single habit! It's tempting to want to change several things at once - but your brain loves small, doable steps. Focus on one new routine first.
Also, start small! If you want to eat healthier, start with a healthy breakfast, for example, instead of turning your entire diet upside down. Small successes motivate you to keep going.
👉 Tip: Formulate your goal in concrete terms: instead of ‘I want to do more sport’, say ‘I'll go for a 20-minute walk every Monday and Thursday after work’.
👉 Tip: Find your personal motivation: Ask yourself: Why do you want to develop this habit?
A strong ‘why’ will help you stick with it. Visualise the benefits of your new habit in as much detail as possible and think about how you will feel when you achieve this goal in the long term. If you find it hard to stick with it, remind yourself of your reasons.
👉 Tip: Make the new habit as enjoyable as possible! For example, listen to your favourite music while jogging or choose a sport that you really enjoy.
👉 Tip: Keep at it despite setbacks: Perfection is not the goal - and it is completely normal to miss a day. Be lenient with yourself and don't focus on what didn't work out, but on what you have already achieved. Every action towards your goal, no matter how small, moves you forward. Instead of criticising yourself, celebrate your progress - because negative thoughts rob you of the energy and joy you need to keep going. A short break does not mean a step backwards. The important thing is that you keep going!
Why you have to let go of bad habits to build healthy ones - or why new routines fail:
Imagine you want to plant a plant in a bed that is already full of large weeds. As long as the weeds are not removed, the plant has little room to grow. It's the same with you and your habits: As long as unhealthy routines take up space, there is little room for new, healthy behaviours.
Find the activities that regularly steal your time or get in the way of your goal.
Unhealthy routines consume valuable time, energy and often mental capacity. For example, if you sit on the couch with crisps every evening, it will be difficult to establish a sports routine or lose weight instead. If you often snack out of boredom or stress, you will find it harder to eat more consciously and save calories.
Many bad habits are so deeply ingrained in our everyday lives that we hardly notice them. These habits are like automatic reactions - they often accompany certain situations or moments and happen without us really thinking about them. Like constantly scrolling on your mobile phone or snacking in front of the TV in the evening. If you want to establish new, healthy routines, you first have to become aware of these automatisms. 👉 Tip: Replace the bad habit with a healthy alternative.
Example: Instead of snacking out of boredom, grab a cup of tea, call a friend you've been meaning to have a long chat with or go for a walk. Instead of binge-watching series out of tiredness, go to bed early.
The desire to do the bad habit can even be the trigger that reminds you to do a good habit if you reflect well beforehand and are aware of your bad habits and triggers.
This may take a lot of effort at first, but if you follow our tips above, it will become easier and easier and you will successfully improve your life.
Consciously organise your environment too - make it easy for yourself to make the right decision.
Your environment can promote healthy routines - or prevent them. If your kitchen is full of unhealthy snacks, it will be difficult to make healthy eating a habit. 👉 Tip: Organise your environment in such a way that it supports your new goals or makes your bad habits more difficult:
Put fruit in a visible place, prepare healthy snacks or put your sports clothes within easy reach. It's best to sign up for a compulsory sports class.
It's best not to have any chocolate or crisps in the house at all, so you have to go shopping again if you want to snack in front of the TV in the evening. This effort is so high that you have to think twice about this old habit.
Maybe even put the TV remote control away and put a book on the coffee table instead - maybe you'll find something else to do instead of watching films all evening.
You can't change everything at once - but when you let go of a bad habit, you make room for a new one. If you spend less time on social media, for example, you'll have more time for exercise or mindfulness.
👉 Tip: Replace ‘I can no longer eat XY’ with ‘I choose ...’. Example: Instead of ‘I can't eat any more chocolate in the evening’, say: ‘I'll treat myself to a delicious tea or an apple if I get the munchies again in the evening.’
Or instead of ‘I can't watch so much TV in the evening even though I'm too tired to do anything else’, say to yourself: ‘If I'm really tired, I'll treat myself to a good night's sleep because I'm worth it to feel good and then I'll be much more active and happier the next day.’
👉 Tip: Again, start small and patiently. Celebrate your successes instead of beating yourself up for setbacks. The tips for building new habits also apply to replacing bad habits.
Track successes:
One last tip at the end: it is often easier for us to stick to our new habits if we track them regularly. By visualising your progress, you can motivate yourself and are much more likely to stay on the ball. Then you can constantly remind yourself of your successes. 👀
There are many different ways to track your habits: You can keep a diary in which you record how well you are implementing your new routines on a daily or weekly basis. A habit tracker, i.e. a kind of checklist in which you can tick off each day when you have successfully carried out your habit, can also be very helpful. Alternatively, a list or app with your goals can also give you a clear overview of your development and on which days you have successfully implemented them.
Regardless of which method you choose, keeping regular records makes your progress measurable and helps you to stay on track. It reminds you how far you've come and gives you the feeling that you're on the right track. This makes sticking to new habits not only an easier journey, but also a much more fulfilling one!
Conclusion:
Healthy habits don't develop overnight - but with small steps and the right strategies, you can integrate them into your everyday life in the long term. Plan specifically when, how and why you will implement your new habit and what the triggers and rewards are. Reflect on your day and record your successes.
But the most important step is to simply get started. It doesn't have to be perfect - it just has to happen. So, what small habit do you want to start today?
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