Microlearning 101: 4 steps to create a new habit

Hangátirat

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  Hello everyone, my name is Renske Zuurveen.

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  I want to tell you something about creating a new habit.

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  When you want to create a new habit

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  First think about what went wrong the last time you wanted to create a new habit.

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  Use that information as research input for creating a new habit right now.

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  Maybe the last time you didn't like taking the steps,

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  maybe you were quite bored by them.

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  So it's very important for this time to make each step enjoyable enough for you

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  and how to do that. We'll get to that later.

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  The second reason most people say it didn't work the last time

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  is when they had too much on their plate,

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  Too much to do and so they simply didn't

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  have the mental bandwidth to create a new habit.

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  Well think about that right now.

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  What do you have on your plate right now?

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  Maybe there is an important deadline approaching and

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  you should wait for a couple of weeks until

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  that deadline is over and then you have

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  the mental bandwidth to create your new habit.

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  The third reason I hear a lot is, well, last time I actually didn't have enough .

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  Well, creating a new habit doesn't have to take that much of your time.

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  We'll get to that later. But of course you do have to be

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  willing to invest your time to make the investment right now.

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  It will take a little more of your time, but later on

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  the habit will be effortless.

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  The fourth reason my clients tell me a lot why it didn't work the last time is they say,

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  well I got distracted.

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  They wanted to get up early in the morning,

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  but they took their phone and then it was 30 minutes

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  later and then they had to get ready for work.

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  They wanted to go for a run,

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  but they got distracted by just another episode of their favorite netflix series.

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  So think about what would distract you in creating

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  the habit that you want to establish right now.

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  And how can you eliminate those distractions? And yes, I mean eliminate.

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  The next thing to consider is what are the existing habits you already have

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  and how can you stick your new habit to your existing habit?

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  And you have more of those than you think. Think about the rituals you already have.

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  Maybe you walk your dog three times a day,

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  think about your morning ritual like your morning coffee for example,

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  how can you stick your new habit to your existing habit?

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  So maybe your new rule would be that every morning

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  when I have my coffee I'll put the coffee down,

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  put it on the counter and then do my yoga practice.

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  Or maybe for walking your dog, you come back from the walk with your dog,

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  you put the dog leash where it belongs,

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  put your phone there as well and then go work on a task for 30 minutes of

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  uninterrupted time and then you won't have your phone around.

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  So that could also be something for sticking a new habit

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  to your existing habit.

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  And the most important rule is to make the first step very small.

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  Can you see yourself doing it?

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  Is it something that you know you can do and

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  something that you can do for every day to come.

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  So don't start with 50 pushups a day, start with five push ups a day,

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  don't start with journaling for 30 minutes, start with journaling for one page.

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  Make that first step very small

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  and expand that step and only when you've

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  established the first step into something more.

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  So when you've established the habit of

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  journaling for one page a day, expand to two pages a day,

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  but only when it really worked in doing that one page a day.

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  So keep the steps small and keep growing alongside the small steps

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  and of course the enjoyable part, how can you make it rewarding for yourself?

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  When I started my habit of going for a run every day, I really didn't like running.

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  So I was thinking about how could I make this enjoyable?

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  At the time I was listening to the podcast Serial,

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  the first season, and it was really addictive.

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  So I kept the next episode only for going on my next run.

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  So that way it was very rewarding for me because I wouldn't only go for a run,

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  but I could also listen to the next episode of Serial.

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  So think about what would be rewarding for you,

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  maybe listening to your favorite song or having a snack,

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  or it could also be rewarding to put a dollar in a jar every time you've done this step.

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  I've actually had some clients who just bought some

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  pretty marbles and put those in a glass jar,

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  just have it as a visual cue for every time they did the step they wanted to take.

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  These are just some quick tips in establishing a new habit.

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  I wish you the best of luck and I'm very curious how it went for you.