5 Habits For Success: How To Stay Motivated

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Creating Habits for Success

Do you struggle to make habits stick? Can you relate to the difficulty of implementing new habits, even though you really want to make the change?

Weeks 2 – 3 can be challenging when you're working towards new goals. The buzz of week 1 fades away through the reality of actually having to do the work.

Introducing habits is a great way to maintain motivation and focus each day. They can help you sustain momentum and focus instead on the action that you need to do.

I'm all for making things easier, and the 5 tips that I share here will help things feel even smoother for you!

*Affiliate Disclosure: Some links in this post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something via the link, I may receive a small commission. This doesn't affect the price you pay.

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Can You Relate?

Picture this – You've got a BRILLIANT idea that keeps buzzing around in your head. You finally decide to give it your focus & plan the next few weeks / months to get it off the ground.

Day 1: You're totally fired up. Motivation is high, you're excited and focused on what you need to do to achieve your goal.

Days 5-7: Impressed by what you've managed to achieve already, you plan the 2nd week to get yourself ahead. Taking a break over the weekend, you end Friday full of hope and determination.

Day 8: Your initial enthusiasm isn't quite as strong. The initial planning stages have been completed. Now it's time to sort out the tech stuff and put the strategy in place. Hello tumbleweed…

Days 9-13: Obstacles that crop up in life, and the less fun this new routine feels, makes you feel disconnected from your project. It feels like you're going around in circles… Motivation is lacking, and you know you're avoiding doing ‘those' tasks.

You're not working from a schedule or plan anymore. You're becoming easily distracted, and other work or projects begins to seep into the time you initially put aside to work on this.

Days 14+: You might get caught up focusing on the fun or easy tasks, but the avoidance of the tasks that you need to do slows your progress. For many, this is the time you'll quit. Or you'll decide to change direction because you don't believe it's working.

If this snapshot does resonate with you, fear not – there is a way that you can maintain your focus and motivation by introducing some simple habits for success!

We'll look at some key habits that you can introduce from Day 1 to help you stay focused on your project, and ensure that you continue to make the progress you desire.

What Are Habits for Success?

Whenever we work towards a goal, there will be tasks that come easy to you & others that can feel like you’re pulling teeth! This is where the power of habits come into play. 

There can be a lot of gloss around building habits, but the truth is, habits are pretty unsexy… They simply involve the rinse & repeat of the same activities or actions over & over. 

This isn’t to put you off – it’s just to help you understand why that fuzzy, high energy focus can slip away quite rapidly once you knuckle down to doing the work & why the power in repeating actions is how you can make habits stick for good!

Top Tips for Creating Habits for Success that Stick:

1. Be very clear on WHY you want to introduce these habits.

How will they benefit you in the long term? Your reason why is what will keep you going. It will drive your motivation & get you through those times where you just don’t want to do it. Regularly tapping into your why keeps the excitement and buzz of what you’re doing alive.

If you’re not clear or connected to your reason why you want to achieve this goal, the tasks that don’t inspire you will lead to procrastination or giving up on them completely.

Grit and determination are needed during those low energy moments. Having your goal front and center, as a shining light, will remind you why you began. Make note of your why, and put it somewhere you can see if often. I have mine above my computer, but a sticky note on your wall does the same thing!

2. Be Mindful of Short Term / Instant Gratification Desires

We live in a world where what we want is only a click away. In many cases we don’t have to wait for weeks or months for something. This ‘new world' is removing that innate understanding of patience, and not instantly responding to external stimuli.

In relation to goals, when you’re working towards a bigger goal that will essentially take a long time, the distance can become a block. It can feel so far away that the need to feel like you’ve achieved something right now can be quite strong.

If you think about having a weight loss goal, it may be a 12 month focus. On a day to day basis, that far away goal probably won’t be enough in itself to help you maintain the habits you’ve introduced. It can still feel unrealistic, or simply too far away.

This is where Tip #1 comes into play – Keep your WHY front & centre!

Normalise celebrating every inch of progress. If your goal has multiple complex steps, identify milestones, and acknowledge when you achieve them along the way.

3. Start Small!

This isn’t an excuse to not challenge yourself, it’s a way to build up to bigger habits for success. Ensure that they are relevant and effective, but by not going all in at once, you’re setting yourself up for success instead of potential failure.

For example, if you want to introduce a new morning routine, it may be more difficult to maintain if you suddenly introduce an entire routine in one go.

To begin with you might want to choose to set your alarm for 30 minutes earlier and commit to journaling during that extra that time. After a week of focusing on that habit, introduce other habits you want to include, and build up from there.

If you want to introduce a writing habit, think about how you can introduce this so that you feel the win really quickly. Perhaps commit to a minimum of 15 minutes focused writing each day.

Yes you can write for longer, but the benefit is in showing up each day for that minimum period of time.  

4. Reflect & Review Frequently

Stay aware of the habits you’re introducing and the impact they’re having. Reflect on how you’re finding them, and how helpful they are. Check in with yourself regularly. Is it time to increase the habit or adapt / change it? Are they still helping you stay aligned and on track with your bigger goal?

When you decide on your own habits for success, they need to be relevant to the goal you're working towards. In time our goals can shift and evolve. Checking that your habits are still supporting you to achieve these goals is key.

5. Celebrate All Your Achievements.

Set yourself achievable daily goals, and celebrate your progress each evening. Give yourself that feeling of success. It is extremely motivating when you're in the thick of it and still a distance from your bigger goal.

Success breeds confidence, so for each stage of your project, celebrate the smaller things each day.

Celebrate when you nail a habit and make progress regardless of how much that progress is. Remember that habits take work, persistence and time.

Plan celebrations or little rewards like a day off or a new bit of stationery!

How Long Does it Take to Establish New Habits?

In a study carried out by Lally, Van Jaarsveld, Potts & Wardle in 2009, they found that around 66 days is how long that repetitiveness of a habit becomes a lifestyle change.

21 days is often bandied around, and a study shows that for habits to begin to work it actually takes between 18 – 66 days. For the habits to then become automatic, it can take anywhere between 18-254 days.

This study again highlights that we are all different and should approach these things with a mindset of flexibility and fluidity. We process, learn, and do things differently, therefore it's likely that introducing habits for success to alter or improve behaviour will also vary.

The more consistent you are with those daily reps (e.g. writing for at least 15 minutes every day), the more ingrained it will become. Okay, it's not that glamourous or exciting – but it's what works!

What are Your Habits for Success?

If you're about to start on a new project, or you want to re-engage with a project, think about the habits that you could introduce to help you set yourself up for success.

You don't need to make ALL the changes in one go. Focus on where you are right now and what would be most helpful for you to become motivated.

Approach these new habits experimentally. Use them to help you maintain focus as you face obstacles. Find what works for you, and go with it.

Use these habits to approach the tasks you don't enjoy or the surprises that life springs on you with more flexibility. Remove that all-or-nothing thinking when it comes to habit formation and achieving goals.

If you miss a day or two, you've not ruined it all. You've already created some familiarity with the reps you've already done so you won't be ‘back at square one'. Just start again, and carry on.

Your habits for success may be completely different to that of others who are working towards their goals – and that's ok! Focus on your specific needs and make a start!

Tools, Resources & Support

Here are some of my favourite tools and resources, some are my own products, others are from services I use within my own business.

Sunsama – A brilliant task management that is perfect for busy and neurodiverse minds who easily find themselves overwhelmed and distracted. grab a free 2 week trial and free month!

BigScoots – If you're looking for a top quality host for your website, I cannot recommend BigScoots enough. They are one of the best for bloggers, and their customer service is brilliant. They are very responsive & work closely with you to resolve any issues or answer any questions you may have.

Thought-Shifting Mini Journal – CBT-Based Thought Shifting Activities + mini journal with prompts

Anti Procrastination Bundle – A set of productivity worksheets to help you set goals, create a plan and stay motivated and focused. Includes brain dumps and habit trackers to support your daily growth!

Etsy – Are you ready to create your own online store? Etsy is a brilliant shopping platform that's used by millions. Setting up your store is simple, and when you sign up with this link we both get 40 free listings!

Skool – Create your own community on Skool. As an introvert, it's now one of my favorite places to hang out! The communities I'm in are fantastic, and as a user I prefer the simplicity of the set up. You can create communities, lessons within those communities and gamify to encourage engagement. There's a 14 free trial period as well!

Final Thoughts

Creating habits for success can help you push through the times where motivation alone isn't quite enough.

Habits can help by removing the need for constant decision making, and creating flexible but effective routines that enable you to focus on what actually needs to get done.

Habits for success will not only help you with your current project, but with your personal goals as well. Habits do take time initially, but once ingrained will make a huge difference for you, saving you a whole heap of time & effort moving forward.

The magic is in the rinse & repeat of the daily actions. Don't feel you have to do big grand gestures when you introduce new habits. If you focus on the reps, even though they're not always exciting, you will make progress towards your goals: It really is as ‘simple‘ as that!

I'd love to hear your experiences and thoughts, please share below 🙂

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Meet Lynsey

Lynsey Wall, Coach & Mentor at Coach Writes. About me - A headshot of Lynsey smiling. Wearing a black t-shirt, blue framed glasses. Office walls behind her.

Hey there! I'm Lynsey, a coach, counsellor, and mentor for low energy, introverted or low confident female coaches & small business owners. With over 5 years’ experience of running businesses, and over a decade as a tutor and trainer, I've learned the value of effective time management that energises you through working with your energy.

I've lived with chronic illness – ME/CFS since 2011 and since then I re-trained as a counsellor, and achieved a distinction for my MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice; all while running 4 businesses! I want that for you as well & it is possible with the right support and pathway to success.

Improving your mindset, finding acceptance and developing a solution-focused approach to achieving your goals is my passion. Blending mental health support where needed, as well as a supportive space and methods to manage your work more effectively.

If you'd like to know more about working with me, you can email [email protected] or find me on socials (links in the menu)

Have you seen my online store Shop.QuietlyConquer? Find DFY templates, downloads & more!

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