From Idea to Habit...7 Key Steps to Instill a New Behavior into Your Daily Life

By Erika Fehrenbach Prell

Ever want to start a new behavior but didn’t know how? Or failed to stick with it? If you are like me, you not only answered yes but also have experienced this multiple times over. After much trial and error, I finally have the 7 key steps to instill a new behavior into your daily life, taking that idea to the habit you just do. Here are the game changing steps to use as your guide:

1. Mindset Matters Most
This is the place to start, and there is no way around it. Your mindset will make or break your efforts. Changing or starting a new behavior requires effort, tenacity, and determination. You will be uncomfortable as you step out of your comfort zone. There may be days everything goes well and others that you stumble or fail. To be successful, adopt a mindset that you can and will do it, no matter what.

2. Action Plan
The next step is making a plan. It doesn’t need to be comprehensive or extremely detailed, truthfully, the simpler, the better. Typically, your new behavior requires consistent repeated effort to become a habit. Figuring out the how for your behavior is key.

3. Schedule It
You have the how, now you need the when. Plan the best time to execute your behavior based on your daily schedule, energy level, and motivation in relation to the behavior, then schedule it into your daily life. This will increase your success exponentially. 

4. Track It
Tracking your new behavior is an awesome success trick. Creating and maintaining a streak can be highly motivating, especially when “you just don’t feel like it”...spoken like someone who has been there, many times. Tracking measures your progress, which is particularly helpful with a behavior that doesn’t yield observable results. 

5. Infuse the Fun!
Fun spices everything up, taking the mundane to the exciting. Get creative and have fun with what you are doing!

6. Get Sticky and Stay the Course…
Adopt a stick with it attitude; that what you are working on is worth the effort. Trust that your consistent, repeated efforts will compound in a positive way in your life. It will be worth it!

7. Celebrate the Wins...all of them.
We have a tendency to save the celebration for the endgame. Guess what? Oftentimes, that endgame is a long way off! Celebrate your small wins along the way, as in every time you show up and do your new behavior. It’s these small, every day wins that get you to the endgame so they are worth the celebration!

That’s it, DreamChaser! Now, you have your guide to turning your new behavior into a habit that serves you. You got this! Shine on!
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