{"id":53928,"date":"2021-11-05T08:12:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T12:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=53928"},"modified":"2021-11-15T13:34:16","modified_gmt":"2021-11-15T17:34:16","slug":"habits-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/habits-of-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Habits of Success: Progress Slowly but Surely"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do your habits help or hinder your progress towards your goals? What are some things you could do on a consistent basis to get closer to your goal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A habit is an action repeated over time until it becomes automatic. Good habits that create your desired results are crucial for success because when completed consistently, they automatically get you closer to achieving your goals<\/a> over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we’ll explore the science of creating habits of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Create Habits of Success<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The results of your habits give you insight into whether they are driving you towards or away from your desired goal. You know you have good habits when you get the results you want, and you know you have bad habits when you don\u2019t get the results you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, let\u2019s say your goal is to save a certain amount of money, and one of your habits is to save $35 each week from your paycheck, but another habit is to spend $5 on coffee each day. After a few weeks, you notice that you\u2019re not losing money, but your savings are not increasing either. This tells you that your habit of spending $5 on coffee every day is canceling out your habit of saving $35 each week, which means these habits are bad for your goals. In this case, you could change your savings habit by saving more each week so you can keep the daily coffee habit, or you could stop buying coffee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Science of Changing Your Habits<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Olson notes that the first step to building habits<\/a> of success is to change your bad habits<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science shows you can only change a habit by replacing it with a new one. Complicating things, according to research, we\u2019re not consciously aware of at least 40% of our habits. Therefore, to change a harmful habit, you have to dismantle the subconscious mechanisms fueling that habit and plant new, more productive wiring in your brain.<\/a> You can do this by building what\u2019s called an \u201cif-then\u201d plan, where you consciously train your mind to respond in a specific way to a specific situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To implement an if-then plan, use the following process:<\/p>\n\n\n\n