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Habit Stack Your Way to Holiday Success


“We don't rise to the level of our goals; we fall to the level of our habits.” – James Clear

This is the time of year when many people get anxious and worried about their diet and exercise routines and the potential impacts the holiday season can have on them. 

Like everyone else I find this time of the year more challenging to navigate than usual, but there are a few things you can do to not only maintain but also make progress over the next few weeks.

Habit stacking is a powerful method that helps a lot of people intentionally take control of their daily routines by appending new actions onto pre-existing habits. 
Who knew that taking advantage of your old-habits could be so useful, right? 

The habit stacking formula is simply as follows: 

After or Before [pre-existing habit], I will [desired new habit]. 

Here are some examples of how you can use this to your advantage this holiday season:

  • After I make coffee every morning I will spend 90 seconds stretching my lower body

  • After I get home from work I will immediately change into workout clothes and head to the gym

  • After I put on my running shoes I’ll text a buddy how long I plan on running for today

  • After I make tea in the evening I’ll sit down and read 10 pages of a book with no distractions

You can use habit stacking to level up things you’re already doing (i.e. workout more often) or add in things you’d like to begin doing (i.e. reading physical books). 

Now that you get the idea, go through your daily habits, pinpoint a few things you’d like to be consistent with and stack your way to success! 

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