How to Create Healthy Habits

Editor’s Note: This post is brought to you by Johna Jenkins, a nurse practitioner, and the co-founder of our sister brand A Plan for Health.

Johna here! Kicking off 2022 with some tips for creating healthy habits.

Creating healthy habits is, in my opinion, a true form of self-care. Habits help me be present throughout the day. I can take better care of myself and my family when I have healthy habits running in the background of my life.

Habits make life a little bit easier and we all deserve for things to be a little bit easier in 2022!

You know habits are important, now what?

How do you actually create healthy habits that stick? Read on for three steps to creating healthy habits this year!

Step 1. Identify the healthy habits you want to create or maintain this year.

There are a million healthy habits you could establish for yourself. Take a minute to write out any habit or task that pops into your head. Think of this as a habit idea brain dump. What habits would help you lead the life you want to lead this year?

Here are some great habit ideas to get you started:

Vitamins and medication
Responsibilities or chores for your kids
Journaling
Meditating
Exercising
Food Intake (calories, macros, etc)
Water intake
Studying the bible
Making your bed every morning
Chip away at an overwhelming task
Checking on friends and family
Watering plants
Walking the dog
Blogging
Symptoms
Focus on a hobby
10 minute “pick up” around the house
Clean out email inbox
Flossing
Check on your financial status (investments, checking account, credit cards)
Steps
Skincare
Cleaning (Laundry, dishwasher, etc)
Pay Bills (pick a certain day of the week to do this all at once)
Updating your Daily Wellness Tracker!

Step 2. Start simple. Pick a few important habits for you to start with this month!

As I said, there are a million habits you could establish. But what’s realistic for you? What are the few things you could do that would make the most difference in your life? It’s also important to be mindful of your capacity. Can you take on 15 new habits right away? Probably not. Start simple with one or two habits. You’ll create momentum over time. Then you can add on new habits!

James Clear talks about habit stacking in Atomic Habits — a fantastic read (or re-read) for the new year! The idea is to build on habits or routines you already have in place. Pair a new habit with a well-established habit in order to help the new behavior stick.

Step 3. Track and evaluate to maintain habits over time.

Establishing healthy habits is only one part of the equation. You have to find ways to maintain those habits over time making them second nature. I love using a physical tracker to keep up with my habits. As Whitney always says, there’s magic in writing things down. It’s also a great way to involve your loved ones in building family habits!

We have two ways of keeping up with your habits in our A Plan for Health collection of wellness planners. Our habit tracking notepad and notebook are great resources for daily, weekly, or even monthly tracking. You could also utilize a section of your planner to track habits. Keep your schedule, to-dos, and habit tracking all in one place for easy access!

I also encourage you to check in on your habits over time. Can’t get a habit to stick? Try breaking it down into smaller habits and see if you can build to the bigger habit. Consider habit stacking or replace the habit completely. Only you can evaluate whether or not a habit is serving you.