If you have been following us on our social media (linked below), then you know that we have been working through the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. This book has been helpful at WPT because it is helping us establish a framework for fostering existing habits and creating new habits in a healthy, impactful way.
We want to continue to demonstrate our commitment to our patients by having resources that can help you establish and work on your own goals. Resources like these will help institute the positive behavior changes that you want to see that are necessary for improving your health and well-being.
In this book there are four outlines. These outlines are:
- It needs to be obvious.
- It needs to be easy.
- It needs to be attractive.
- It needs to be satisfying.
Today we want to focus on making it obvious. The most essential way to make something obvious is to be aware of the habits that you currently have and understand if those habits are serving you well in the long term. Here is an example:
In this instance, the theoretical goal is weight loss. The work ahead of you is pretty obvious. You need to diet and you need to exercise. Before you can set out the parameters of a meal plan and a gym regimen, you need to assess your current habits. Let’s say everyday at work you drink a can of coke and every night before bed you have a bowl of ice cream, addressing these habits can help you lose weight. One way to change this is to switch the can of coke for a mug of tea or a beverage with less sugar. One of my favorite ways to add a bit of flavor to water is with a Nuun tablet. For the ice-cream, maybe try having it 2 hours before bed instead of right before bed. If you eat right before bed, your body isn’t working to get the sleep it needs because it is digesting food. Not getting enough sleep can contribute to a plateau in weight-loss and in some cases, weight gain.
By identifying these habits you can start to make changes in your life that can help you with your goal. Understanding whether something is serving you well is the first step. In order to help assist you in identifying your habits, we have free worksheets that you can download here.
Stay tuned for more habits content!
