When change is made.

Intentions are funny things...we all have them...except sometimes things go awry and we lose track.Why is that? We started out with a goal in mind, and we had the will to accomplish this goal and succeed at what we set out to do. One word...willpower. It went...it dissapeared. That is what happened. Willpower is not a constant in our lives. Willpower is on a par with motivation, it ebbs and it flows, sometimes it is stronger than other times. Why is this?

Often in our lives we will have a goal in mind that we want to achieve, or there is something that we set out to do. We are pumped and excited about this goal, we can't wait to get started on the road to achieving it! This goal could be anything...it could be losing weight, it could be gaining lean muscle, it could be running faster or further. The thing is that in reality, if we do not have the lasting motivation to reach these goals, they won't be met.
Motivation is fleeting , when we are motivated we feel like nothing can stop us from meeting our goal, we are ready for this challenge! Although, when results don't come immediately, we can lose motivation quickly. This happens all too often. There is a way around this though, and that is to form a habit.              



Habits are formed when motivation becomes a constant in our lives. Habits are formed by repeating the same thing repetitively on a daily basis. These things literally become a part of our lives. If you want to succeed at something, do it again and again and again. If you do this, you will shave that time off your PB, or you will lose that weight that you wanted to, get better at that jumpshot or run that extra mile.

According to an article in Forbes magazine, there are three stages in the formation of a habit, and these are The Honeymoon, The Fight Through and finally Second Nature.
The Honeymoon is the first few days in the formation of a new habit where you are motivated and change seems relatively easy. Then comes The Fight Through (I wouldn't choose this name, although let's go with it!), where our initial motivation fades and the reality of the situation sets in. We feel that this isn't going to be as easy as we initially thought. We begin to struggle and want to slip back into old (bad) habits because that is the easy option! We need to realise what is happening here to move beyond this phase and make this habit stick. What is your trigger? Realise why you feel this way, and through this recognition you will strengthen your resolve to move on through this temporary storm.
The final stage is Second Nature. This is rather self-explanatory,  but this is where we have created a new habit, and it becomes...you guessed it, second nature.

New habits take time to be created. Stick with a new behavior change and it will become a lasting change.





Yours in Health,

Ben. :-)

Resources
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonselk/2013/04/15/habit-formation-the-21-day-myth
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