Quick answer: Behaviour-change research points to a few consistent principles: make the habit obvious and visible, make it genuinely appealing to you personally, make it as easy and convenient as possible, and make it feel satisfying once you’ve done it. Add self-forgiveness when you slip up, awareness of how your environment shapes your choices, and accountability to someone else, and you have a realistic framework for making a healthy habit stick.
I’m fascinated by behaviour change: why do some people appear able to makes changes while others struggle? Why do we desire change in the first place? Are there things we can do to increase the likelihood of success?
Here are my top tips, based on social science research:
1. Make the habit obvious and visible
The starting point is to make the trigger to do ‘the thing’ obvious, available, and visible. For example, a dusty exercise bike in the corner of the garage is unlikely to get used. A dumbbell by the TV might just get picked up. Vegetables nearing their use by date in the back of a cupboard are less likely to make their way to your plate than fruit on the counter.
2. Make it appealing to you personally
This however brings me to point 2. Having bananas on your counter won’t get you to eat healthily if you don’t like bananas. ‘The thing’ must be appealing and attractive to you. I think this is easier with food where most people could find some options that are healthy and tasty. Exercise I think is harder, as many people simply don’t like it very much, if at all. If that is you, google ‘types of exercise’ or ‘list of sports and activities’, then go through it until you find something. There are so many options that something hopefully will fit.
3. Make it easy and convenient
‘The thing’ must be easy, convenient, simple. Picking mountaineering is great, if you live near some mountains. If you live in Dorset, it’s a pretty hard habit to make a permanent, regular part of your life (not withstanding the Purbecks which are pretty hilly!).
4. Make it satisfying and enjoyable
Lastly, ‘the thing’ needs to be satisfying and enjoyable. Once you have finished that healthy plant based, home cooked meal, do you look back and feel satisfied? When you’ve had that first jog, do you feel it was worth it?
5. Be self-forgiving when you slip up
All of these things are more likely to make ‘the thing’ stick. However, we are human, and we will slip up. When we do, be self-forgiving. Beating yourself up will simply make you less likely to try again. I have found this myself with my exercise programme – giving myself a hard time if I miss a workout. The only person that hurts is me, and I’m much better now at saying to myself ‘you’re good most of the time, give yourself a break.’ Something I have found useful here is – don’t miss ‘the thing’ twice. If I’ve skipped a workout, even if I really don’t want to, I’ll force myself to do a mini one the next time it’s due. ‘Mini-anything’ is easy to achieve, and helps add to the sense of identity we feel about something: for example thinking ‘I am a person who works out’ or ‘I am a person who eats healthily’.
6. Watch how your environment shapes your habits
The environment we are in also has a huge bearing on how likely we are to follow a good habit. Think of ‘home ground’ vs ‘away ground’ rules. If I’m playing at home, i stick to the rules. If i’m away at a hotel, I’m eating that full English, with croissants to wash it down!
7. Make yourself accountable to someone else
Lastly, be accountable to someone other than yourself. It’s far easier to let ourselves down than someone else. I discuss this with patients regularly, who are struggling to commit to any exercise whatsoever. For example, for one man we spoke about arranging to meet his son for a walk outdoors the following week. By committing to meet his son, that was something that he admitted he was unlikely to break. My wife and I committed to each other to improve our sleep this year, and so far so good (but still work to be done!).
The most important step however is to have decided to make a change, to have critically appraised the status quo and pledged to do something differently.