Change Your Life In 30 Days: Form the Right Habits

Much of what you want in life can be yours if you form the right habits. The good news is that it takes only 30 days to form a habit. This means that you can change your life in just 30 days.

Once a habit is formed, you don’t have to think about it any more. You will perform the desired behaviour on auto-pilot. This frees you to focus on forming another habit the following month.

If you do this consistently, you’ll be a changed person in just 12 months. Even if you aren’t every disciplined about it and miss every other month, you’ll still make a lot of progress in a year.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

Start to change your life in 30 days

1. Choose a new habit to form

If you want to work on your health, choose a habit like eating salads for lunch, drinking two litres of water daily, or jogging every other day. If finances are pressing, decide to use only cash that month, or check your bank balance every day. You could work on a relationship habit like calling one friend a day just to say hello, or opening your mouth only when you can speak gently.

If you’re not sure what habit you want to work on, a good habit to start forming would be to keep a gratitude journal. This will change your fundamental attitude and position you well to make other improvements in your life.

2. Write down your desired habit

Thinking about a desired behaviour alone seldom brings about any change. You have to write it down. Keep this instruction to yourself concise and clear. “Compliment one person a day” works much better than “Start being nice”. What you want is three to five words that your brain can register easily each time it is repeated, so that this simple instruction finds its way into your subconscious thoughts.

3. Look at your desired habit everyday

Once you’ve written down your desired habit, stick this somewhere you will look at everyday. This daily written reminder helps your brain to focus on giving you what you want. I put my monthly ‘habit card’ next to my desktop PC which I look at every morning and night. Yours could be on the fridge door, your car windshield, dresser mirror, wardrobe door, or anywhere you look at often.

4. Review your habit card monthly

At the end of the month, you’ll know whether or not you’ve successfully formed the habit you want. If the habit is formed, you’ll feel uncomfortable if you go one day without performing the desired behaviour. When you’ve reached this stage, you’re ready to choose another habit to write on your habit card to look at everyday, to form this new habit the following month.

If the habit is not formed yet, keep at it for another 30 days. Perhaps you are not putting your habit card in the right place and therefore not looking at it everyday. If you are looking at it everyday, perhaps the phrasing of the habit is not simple enough for your brain to register the desired behaviour. Try a shorter phrase which is more to the point.

5. Keep old habit cards

Since we’re only human and sometimes lapse into old bad habits, it’s a good idea not to discard habit cards once you’ve formed the habit. Keep them all in a small box. When you’re not sure what habit to work on in any given month, take this box out and go through the cards. If you’ve allowed any of these habits to lapse, you could use that month to re-establish the habit.

When you go through the old cards, you’ll be reminded how many new habits you’ve formed over time. As your stack grows, you can literally see how you’ve become a better person. You’ll feel an enormous sense of fulfillment and gratitude, and be motivated to keep up this practice.

Change your life in 30 days, then change it again

So start now, grab a piece of paper and write down a habit you’d like to form. You’re only 30 days away from being closer to the person you’ve always wanted to be.

For more inspiration on how habits can change your life, read: