Creating Healthy Habits to Boost Self-Improvement

We’ve all been there. You know what you should do and need to do, but you just can’t seem to do it for some reason. How often have you promised yourself a fresh start with healthy habits, only to be back at square one?

People across the U.S. vow to get healthy as a New Year’s resolution, but in days or weeks, they return to unhealthy habits. This is not just for fitness and diet. It encompasses all areas of life. Self-improvement seems like a faraway goal without healthy habits and routines in place.

What is habit formation?

Our brains love routines and habits. The brain takes an action that gives us pleasure and recreates the scenario through neural pathways.

For example, you binge-watch television in the evenings after stressful days at work. Your mind acknowledges this action and rewards you with a surge of serotonin and other chemicals that make you happy. You now want to work on a college degree online in the evenings to eventually move away from that stressful job. But you find it difficult to concentrate on your courses. You want to rest and watch TV.

The neural pathway regarding watching shows to make you feel better and avoid uncomfortable emotions is ingrained. You can create new neural pathways with new habits, but you will need to practice and confront those uneasy emotions.

What holds us back from new healthy habits?

No one wants to feel pain. We avoid uneasiness, uncomfortable feelings and situations, and anything that takes us away from pleasure. Yet, this uncomfortableness will give us the biggest boost in self-improvement. Pushing the envelope of our comfort zone will bring results.

Every emotion has a thought that precedes it. You will learn to name the emotion and find the thought that brought it on. Next, you will analyze the habit or routine that you practice now and the result that follows.

For example, you feel anxious after work. You dislike your position and cannot wait to find another job after you finish your degree. However, that anxiousness controls you. You come home and immediately settle in front of the television.

Your thoughts at this point might be:

• I deserve some downtime.
• Today was rough. What does it matter if I spend some time on me?
• This is the way it will always be. Why should I even try to finish my degree? I still have three years left.

The result is that you binge-watch television night after night.

Once you recognize these thoughts and emotions, you can reframe them. For example, you come home feeling anxious after a stressful day. You acknowledge the emotion. You might say, “I feel anxious because I’m nervous about passing my classes, so I procrastinate. I think I should get my degree faster, but realistically, if I work for one hour each evening, the time will becompounded. Instead of having an all-or-nothing mindset, I choose an all-or-something mindset.”

Now, your feelings have changed from anxious and discouraged to hopeful. You carve out one hour of uninterrupted time each evening to work on your coursework. At the end of the week, you reward yourself with a television show.

Tips for creating and managing healthy habits for self-improvement

As you can see, creating and managing new habits is possible, but they require practice. You will experience negative thoughts and emotions at different times of the day. You will become more aware of these thoughts the more you practice. You can maintain healthy habits by tracking and analyzing thoughts and emotions and preparing your mind.

It will get easier over time. Acknowledging what is holding you back, taking personal responsibility, and working through uncomfortable emotions will lead to self-improvement. It is the only way to grow and change.

Think about a butterfly; they do not start out as a beautiful butterfly. Butterflies start as caterpillars. They create a cocoon to hide inside while they change. Their little caterpillar bodies go through a metamorphosis that ultimately changes them. When the butterfly emerges, it does not resemble the old caterpillar body it once possessed.

Self-improvement and a changing mindset are a great deal like the emerging butterfly. You will do the work. You might feel like hiding during this mental metamorphosis, but instead, you will learn to step forward confidently while in the process. You may need a Christian counselor to help coax you through the change and the emergence, but God gave you the power to change.

The following are tips for getting started in creating new habits

Try tracking apps Tracking is an excellent way to see your wins add up. Remember, we are changing your mindset. It will not happen overnight, but you can track your progress. Use a pen or paper, a calendar, or a tracking app to record your progress.

Journal Journaling is an effective method for analyzing and breaking down unhealthy thoughts, emotions, and actions. It allows you to see how your thoughts and emotions dictate your actions and results. How do you need to think and feel differently to change those actions and results?

Use index cards Changing mindset and reframing thoughts takes practice. Once you work out what thoughts and feelings you need to create new habits, write them out on index cards or sticky notes to keep near you. When unhealthy thoughts or emotions creep up, practice what you wrote.

Take a step back Often, we react instinctively to our feelings. We do not take the time to identify the thoughts behind our emotions and actions. When you feel the urge to move back into unhealthy habits, pause and step back. Grab your journal if needed and identify the emotion and the thought behind it. You may need to ask yourself “Why” a few times until you get to the root of your thinking.

Sit with your emotions Sitting with painful emotions and thoughts can be difficult. It is why many people ignore them and choose to continue in unhealthy habits and refuse to improve their lives. However, you know you want more.

If you struggle with these thoughts and emotions, consider therapy with a Christian counselor who can be there every step of the journey in self-improvement.

Reassess as needed Just like your old habits are not written in stone, neither are your new habits, If something is not working, reassess what it is and pivot. Maybe it is a minor tweak that will make all the difference. Perhaps it is that you are trying to change too much at once. Choose one habit to change, and work on those thoughts and emotions first. Try to dissect any limiting beliefs that those negative thoughts have created.

A counselor might be a great resource if you are unsure how to reassess and tweak your new habits. Or, you may have ingrained beliefs influencing your thoughts and actions. These beliefs are not always accurate but are based on previous experience or words someone spoke to you at some point.

Counseling can help with unhealthy beliefs

Self-improvement and inner work are not just lofty ideals but tangible steps you can take in your journey through life. You will always work on managing your thoughts and emotions and aiming to improve your life. It will get easier as you practice replacing unhealthy beliefs with positive self-talk, healthy habits, and routines. Change is possible, and you have the power through Christ in you to make it happen.

If you struggle with unhealthy habits and beliefs, negative self-talk, intrusive thoughts, and emotions, contact our office today to schedule a session with a Christian counselor. We can help you take steps toward acknowledging negative emotions and thoughts and changing your mindset. Counseling can help you manage your emotions, find better ways to express emotions, create healthy habits and routines, and commit to self-improvement.