How to develop healthy habits.

Published: 08 Aug 2023

Have you ever heard yourself say “I should be doing exercise to get fit/loose weight/strengthen back” ??  What about I should be getting more sleep, eating more vegetables, drinking more water?

I have said these (and lots more) many times to myself over the last 53 years.

And I am embarrassed to say I have been incredibly slack in doing what I knew I should do for my health in general, and low back specifically.

I know what I “should be doing”, but still don’t do it.  You gotta ask yourself: “WHY IS THAT?”

Read on if you want to know how to develop healthy habits.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, ACTION IS LIFE.

Knowledge about spinal exercise is abundant.  We all have access to libraries of information in our pockets these days.  A quick Google or Chat GPT search can find mountains of information, articles, videos.  Some great,  some good and some harmful but that’s a rant for another day.  The point is we have access to information that can improve our spinal function and help us move better and feel better.

My education means I have a good knowledge base and know a lot of what to do, and how to do it.

The sticking point for me was applying that knowledge.

Applying Knowledge

One of my biggest problems was I always thought we do what we do because we know what we know!

Simon Sinek in his book, “Start with Why” says we do what we do because we believe what we believe.

Think about that for a second.

Could it be that our beliefs are holding us back?

A quote that is said to have come from Albert Einstein is “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”.

So if I’m not getting the results I want, I have to think different (and develop new beliefs).

So after some soul searching and actually looking at what I was doing, I realised a few things:

  1. I had the belief that I didn’t have time to do exercises.
  2. That belief was stronger than my knowledge I “should” be doing mobility, strength and balance exercises for my own back.
  3. I believed that the “stress” of starting a new routine was higher than the stress of doing nothing.
  4. I keep forgetting to do them.

“I don’t have time”

Sometimes the universe intervenes.  You know how you get those pesky alerts from your phone saying how much time you spent on the screen during the last week?

I remember like it was yesterday. For some reason I actually looked at that notification one Sunday evening.  I was shocked to see more than 2 hours per day!  Sure some of that was necessary and maybe even important.  But that was averaged out over the whole week.  So some days were much higher.  What’s the chance a lot of that was time wasted going down rabbit holes of Facebook, Instagram and YouTube videos??

Can’t use that excuse any more.

“I should be doing exercise for my back”.

lumbar extension exercise shown

I already had the belief the exercises would help me, just that the belief I didn’t have time was stronger.

With that out of the way, it should be easy to make the change and do the exercises now, right?

The stress of doing something new

This is where the brain plays tricks on us.  Our brain will move away us from pain, towards pleasure and to the action that requires least energy.

In this case the “pain” is doing something new and it’s going to take some energy.  This is where I usually feel pressure across the forehead.  Others report they get a knot in the gut or tight shoulders.  Identifying this feeling will then allow you to realise it is time to take action.  Even an action that is done “poorly” will propel you in the right direction.

In my case, once I saw the notification from my phone, I got onto the floor and started some low back mobility exercise.

I didn’t wait to change into “exercise gear”.  Or to get to the gym or have a workout space in the house.  I got on the loungeroom floor in my jeans and t-shirt and started.

Most of the exercises were difficult, maybe a little uncomfortable and I didn’t do them very well.  It took longer than the 10 minutes I thought it would, but I did it.

This interrupted my pattern of avoiding the exercise “I should be doing”.  It also gave me some proof that I can do “hard things”.

Remembering to keep doing it and the Significance of 66 days

calendar

Next problem to solve is remembering to do it amongst the daily routine.  When normal routine is thrown out the window,  it’s even harder.

You know how I said the universe can sometimes provide the answers.  I was listening to a random podcast on my way to work and the answer appeared.  The solution was ground breaking.  WRITE. IT. DOWN.

The suggestion was to do it on a calendar on the fridge.  That way you see it at least once every day.  Ticking it off when complete also provides a little boost of “feel good chemical in the brain”.  Wanting to repeat in the future then become easier too.

Having a way of tracking accountability also means you can get back on track when you slip out of your new healthy routine/habit.

That podcast also discussed the research that says if you repeat something 66 days in a row, it will become a habit.  I then knew I had the goal of getting through 66 days and it should be a lot easier to maintain.

Summary: How to develop healthy habits

  1. Identify what you need to change
  2. Spend some time studying your beliefs then work out which ones are holding you back
  3. Are those beliefs really true?
  4. Identify feeling in head/neck/gut that indicates you don’t want to do it.
  5. Take action.  Now.  Even poor action will move you in right direction.
  6. Track progress for 66 days to develop the “Habit”.  Use a calendar, tick it off.