7 top tips for habit change - Tip 2

Given this, we need to recognise that a lot of most useful strategies for changing something we do are not about changing an internal state, but are in fact about changing the environment.

Tip Number 2: Make it easy and give yourself a nudge

If you think it is important to do something, make it easier to do it. This means remove as many barriers as you can think of to doing the thing you want to do.

What does this look like in practice? Here are some ideas for starters.

If don’t exercise because your gym is not on the way home from work- change gyms. 

If you find cooking healthy meals too much at the end of the day, subscribe to a 15 minute meal box. 

If you want to eat healthy snacks, placed pre-cut veggies, pre-cooked eggs, meat and fish at the front of your fridge so they are the first thing you reach for. 

Similarly, if you want to avoid doing something, make it harder to do it.

If the tempting biscuits  in the cupboard at home or the sweets at the end of your desk at work are too hard to resist (er…same), remove them from your area!  Research has shown that even placing a bowl of sweets just far enough away for one to need to stand up to reach them reduces consumption considerably for almost everyone. How about removing these foods from your house altogether? You’re a lot less likely to make it to the shop than the kitchen. 

Perhaps this means changing your route to work to avoid walking by that amazing pastry shop or going for a walk without your purse  so you can’t stop for snacks. Get creative about how you can take willpower out of the equation and more easily make better choices.