Give it a shot

You can do anything for two weeks. You can try a crazy new diet. You can exercise every day. You can recite personal affirmations in the mirror. You can go without alcohol, or meat, or swearing, for two weeks. Two weeks is the window of excitement that allows you to experiment with a new lifestyle. If you have enough motivation to decide you're going to change your behavior, you can likely go two weeks successfully.

But something happens after those two weeks. You start to miss your free time. Or carbs. Or the use of more 'colorful' language. You start to not just feel the impact of losing that thing you used to do, you resent the loss of your freedom. Your cravings are too tiresome to ignore. You start to question why you wanted to change your behavior in the first place. And you revert to old habits.

Here's how I make new habits stick. First, set your intention. Know why you're doing it. Are you wanting to be healthier? More enlightened? More charitable?  Know the why before you begin, so that the self-doubt that you will invariably encounter will be countered by your conviction and principles.

Then understand how you'll execute your plan. Don't just set out to omit a behavior you follow, and don't just add something without exploring the impact to your lifestyle. Sometimes the biggest impact is simply time, but anticipate other impacts to you socially or financially. Most of all, you'll likely feel a change in your personal gratification scheme - there's probably a reason you're not already doing (or not doing) what you're setting out for. You'll need to find a way to make the new habit equally or more rewarding than your previous lifestyle.

Without reward, you can't expect yourself to continue the lifestyle you're hoping to introduce. Think about what rewards you'll get not just from achieving your goal, but from the process of moving towards it. If you want to lose 20 pounds, it may take several weeks to notice any change at all. If the outcome is the only reward, you'll find it difficult to get there, so set a structure to reinforce your behavior along the way.

Say you want to introduce more (or perhaps any) exercise to your weekly routine. The motivation is to be healthier, more attractive, and have more energy. Resist the urge to just buy a gym membership and expect your future self to faithfully go three times a week until you're thin. Think about what activity you'll find most enjoyable. Think about a day in the future when you know you should be exercising, but don't feel like it, and think about what would compel you to go anyway. For me, I know that if my plan is to run on a treadmill every day, I won't make it past two weeks. I need to have something new, different, or engaging. One successful approach I've taken has been to join a group or sign up for a class - joining a soccer team, dance lessons, or a 60-day yoga challenge. The novelty of the activity helps me be excited about the task beyond what my sheer will could support. For novel introductions to your routine, the experience itself may be all the reward you need - you do it because it's fun. If you instead begin a habit that isn't its own reward, then you'll need to find something to boost yourself and keep you going. I motivate myself to go to the gym by allowing myself to buy a tasty protein shake afterwards if I work out for at least an hour. Lastly, think about how the time invested in this activity will impact your time elsewhere. What will you stop doing if you're exercising 3 days a week for an hour instead? For me, I think in terms of efficiency. I'll plan out my evening so that I swing by the gym on my way to or from somewhere else, so travel time doesn't add to the overall 'cost' of the workout. Truth is, I'd probably just waste that hour of time I'm spending at the gym anyway, so I look at workout days as having an hour less that I can read or watch TV. Or maybe I make a quick meal instead of doing an elaborate one. Regardless, I make the time because it's important to me, and I keep doing it because I enjoy the rewards I reap from being faithful to my newly-formed habit.

So give it a shot. Take the time to plan your change in lifestyle, not just looking at the end goal, but knowing that you'll have to focus on the why and experience rewards throughout the process in order to get to the end.