Why are healthy habits easy to break, but not always easy to make?

Here are 3 ways to overcome resistance so you can create habits that stick.

We’re already a month into the new year. It’s also about that time when most of us feel our motivation waning when it comes to maintaining that healthy habit we swore we’d stick to. But as Mel Robbins says, “motivation is garbage!”. 

Motivation kicks us into gear, but it doesn’t have the power of longevity we’re looking for to keep us coasting into habitville. 

Before you start thinking, “well, then what’s the point?”, hear me out. 

That feeling of resistance that’s creeping into your brain? It’s telling you something. Welcome it. Yes, I said welcome it! 

Your brain is on alert (just doing its job), and it knows that you and it are out of your comfort zones. It’s trying to backpedal into the way things used to be. 

In other words, that discomfort you’re feeling is a sign of growth. Your brain isn’t always a fan of change, but that’s ok! There’s a way to override that setting. 

Try these 3 steps to overcome what I call the “brain backpedal”: 

First, anchor your habit to a consistent time and/or pair it with an existing habit.

Let’s say you want to start meditating. Choose a time and location where you will consistently return to meditate. If it’s in your bathroom for a few minutes before everyone else in the house wakes up…great. Maybe it’s your apartment’s balcony at sunrise or sunset. 

Wherever and whenever you choose to begin this (or any) practice, try to remain consistent. Squeezing in a new habit at random times of the day could derail you from making it long-term.

Also, try anchoring your new habit to an old one–preferably one you already enjoy. For example, if you love having your coffee around a specific time, try scheduling your new habit either right before or right after. Soon, that new habit will become enjoyable by association. 

Second, be realistic. But, also be gentle with yourself. 

We make plans and sometimes the Universe laughs. It could be that you initially thought scheduling your new habit after work was a great idea…but realized it’s a tad bit difficult with two screaming kids, the cat that scratched up the sweater you were planning to wear tomorrow, or the infamous gridlock on the 405 on your way home.

Don’t fret. You didn’t fail, friend. You just gotta restrategize for an alternate time that would be more suitable. Remember that it’s better to try than not do it at all. 

And finally, change the way you look at your new habit.

Perspective is a lens we can always adjust to sharpen or shift our focus. 

For example, you don’t have to do yoga on Saturdays. You get to. 

You aren’t great at meditating for more than 3 minutes at a time...yet.

Little adjustments to your perspective make all the difference. This isn’t to say that you should sugarcoat anything for the sake of accepting it. 

However, this is to say that being mindful of the fact that practice makes progress–not perfection–is often a better way to look at things. Especially new habits.

You’ve already made the choice to live better and be better. I’d say you’re already on the right path to habitville. 

Read more about resistance in Steven Pressfield’s book, Do the Work:Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way

“Like a magnetized needle floating on a surface of oil, Resistance will unfailingly point to true North – meaning that calling or action it most wants to stop us from doing. We can use this. We can use it as a compass. We can navigate by Resistance, letting it guide us to that calling or purpose that we must follow before all others. … The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”

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