Habit Stacking for Wellness

We tend to set audacious goals for ourselves that require massive amounts of willpower, social support, lifestyle change, environmental change, structural change, or financial investment.

Then we are downcast when we fall short of making a change or breaking a habit. Although radically overhauling our life is appealing, planning incremental change is more feasible. This is because weaving small wellness wins into the fabric of each day slowly but inevitably moves you to the YOU and life you want.

Write down 4 wellness habits you want to add to your life. Commit to doing each habit for 5 minutes, one after the next, at the same time every day.

Wellness Habit Stacking Example:

5 minutes of Yoga

5 Minutes of Meditation

5 Minutes to take a multi-vitamin, vitamin D supplement, and drink half a liter of fresh squeezed, sugar-free water.

5 Minutes to Sit down, put pen to paper, and set one clear priority for the day. Your to-do list may by a mile long, but what is the MOST important thing to get done today? And how do you want to show up in the world today?

Commit to flowing through your personal WEllnEss Habit Stack everyday.

Don’t give up if your 8-day streak of habit stacking falls by the wayside when something unexpected throws you out of your regular routine. Ask yourself why you couldn’t manage to do your wellness stacking. Are you fighting off a cold? Did you not get enough sleep?

Don’t bail if you fail .Cut yourself a break and then recommit!

Just get up and get to it the next morning without beating yourself up over the lost day.

Habit stacking for wellness works at each meal too. Just commit to always eating fresh vegetables or fruit before you eat anything else, ever.

Start watching your eating patterns.

If you snatch a cookie without eating an apple first, ask yourself why. Be curious, not judgmental.

Ask yourself what caused you to crave the sugar? Was it to soothe emotions? Was it because the plate was on the kitchen table and you passed it 22 times before you could no longer resist?

Or did you not eat enough protein today, or sleep too little? What is the cause of the sugar crave?

Once you see the reasons why, you can stop harassing yourself about lack of willpower.