May 7, 2010
One Habit At A Time
One Habit At A Time Copyright 2003 Deborah Taylor-Hough Used with permission on DrLaura.com. All rights reserved. hometown.aol.com/dsimple/ I've been told it takes four to six weeks for any action tobecome a habit. So, keeping that in mind, one way I'mgoing to insure my success at keeping my New Year'sresolutions this year is by working on only one newhabit at a time each month. Then, every time I turn toa new calendar page, I'll work on developing a differentgood habit. At the end of the year, I could easily have twelve newpositive habits in my life. Once something's becomea habit, it's simply a part of my life and not somethingI'll even have to think about anymore. Here are some sample goals and habits I'm planning toimplement throughout the coming year (in no particularorder -- taken one at time, one per month): Use both an aerobic video and my exercise equipment 3-4 times per week Spend 20-30 minutes reading aloud to my children everyday Get up at 5am for personal prayer, and Bible study Work on my next book for half an hour everyday Spend ten minutes each day decluttering If I had started the New Year off by attempting to doall of these things at the same time, I know I would'vebecome overwhelmed, and then given up long before anyof these activities became habitual and second-nature. What's the area of life you're most concerned about?Exercise? Weight loss? Healthy eating? Gettingorganized? Saving money? Spending more time withyour kids? Break your goal down into simple steps thatyou can easily manage, and then start working your wayto your goal, one small step at a time. As the old cliche' says: How do you eat an elephant? ...One bite at a time. By making small and consistentchanges, it's possible to change your health, your body,and your life. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Deborah Taylor-Hough (free-lance writer and mother ofthree) is the author of several books including 'FrozenAssets: How to cook for a day and eat for a month ,' andthe brand new 'Frugal Living For Dummies(r)' (Wiley,mid-January '03). Debi also edits the free Simple Timese-newsletter: subscribe-simple-times@ds.xc.org Visit Debi online at: hometown.aol.com/dsimple/

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