Building Healthy Habits for 2024 By C.J. Martin
N
ew Year’s Resolutions get a bad rap. It may be true that most resolutions are abandoned before they are achieved, but that should not be an indictment of the goal-setting process. The goals are often sound and meaningful to the individual resolving to achieve them, but just as frequently, that individual lacks the necessary tools and systems to stay on track. It’s best to celebrate the newfound motivation that accompanies the turn of the new year and also seek to build tactical skills that allow desired behaviors to become habits before motivation lulls. With these new tools, 2024 can be the year that you build enduring healthy habits.
Identify Why This New Habit Is Important to You MAC members have access to not only robust facilities and programming options but also world-class fitness coaches who are experts in helping them create lasting habits. MAC Fitness Coach Josh Sargeant is a PhD student in human health and performance who is focused on studying behavior change and habit formation. As a first step, he suggests finding the true “why.” “The cornerstone of lasting change is a meaningful ‘why.’ Research shows that when your reasons for change resonate with your personal values, you’re more likely to stick to your
44 | The Wınged M | JANUARY 2024
goals,” Sargeant says. “Start by asking yourself what truly drives you to be healthy. Is it to feel more energetic, to play with your kids, or to challenge yourself ? This personal insight is your guiding star.” Understanding why you’ve chosen your resolution helps to sustain motivation when you get discouraged, as well as ensures that you’ve set your sights on the correct goal. Many abandoned goals were doomed from the beginning for the same reason — the goal was too big.
Start Small, Establish Consistency & Progress Slowly Two of the best books on habit formation, Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg and Atomic Habits by James Clear, share a common starting point. They both recommend setting small, manageable goals that require minimal effort. When developing a new habit, you want to give yourself an enormous chance of success. Lasting habits are formed through consistency; selecting a behavior that deviates too far from your current habits undermines consistency. Accordingly, start with behaviors that are easily achieved. These small habits help you overcome inertia to get started, and then as you build momentum, you can expand into more challenging behaviors. Here’s an example:
