Too many start the new year with an extensive list of New Year resolutions, only to give up on every single one of them a few months later. You’re not alone – a recent study has shown that 80 per cent of New Year’s resolutions fail.

However, chasing new habits and sticking to them can be achieved with a little strategy and understanding of self. 

Understand why you’re doing it 

What’s the genuine reason for wanting to form that new habit? 

If you can rationalise why you’re doing something, and visualise how you’ll feel, and what you’ll have accomplished by sticking with it, you’ll have the motivation needed to form a new habit.

There are no shortcuts – new habits take work

We’d all love to decide to eat more healthily and, voila, it happens. Unfortunately, it’s not that straightforward! 

A new habit must become routine in our lives for it to stick – in short, there’s no shortcut – it takes hard work, persistence, and dedication.

Make your new habit a routine

Associating a new routine (something you’d like to become a habit) with something you already automatically do (an existing habit) can also increase the chances of success. 

By connecting something we enjoy doing with an activity we would like to become a habit, we can increase our chances of it sticking.

The science behind creating habits that stick

Of course, our brains are key to forming new habits, and it’s the connections – neural pathways – between neurons that are responsible. Essentially, the more we perform a task or a routine, the stronger the neural pathway between neurons gets. 

To maintain a new habit, you must do it repetitively until it’s something that happens instinctively. That’s why understanding the motivation behind why you’re doing it is key to it sticking.

Ready to create habits that set you up for financial success? Book a discovery session with Venture Wealth Management. Let’s get clear on your financial goals and create a pathway to achieve them that becomes a habit.

Source: Financially Speaking Autumn Edition 2022