Live Younger Longer

3 steps to change
WHY?
Really think about why you want to change.
What?
Identify exactly what it is that you want to change.
How?
Map out how you will change with small, realistic steps.
Figure out the ‘how’
The “how” of changing habits is where many of us get stuck. We tend to set
vast, lofty goals for ourselves that sound good on paper: We’ll lose 50

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pounds, train for a marathon or master meditation. The problem with these
big goals is that they’re often unrealistic. We end up failing and feeling
defeated, something our habenulas are bound to remember. Instead, it’s
important to break our “how” into manageable microsteps.
Set small goals 
Imagine for a moment that you’re teaching math to a 5-
year-old child. You wouldn’t tell this young student to sit down and tackle
trigonometry. You’d start with basic math skills — recognizing numbers
and counting them in order. You’d build on that knowledge one step at a
time over many weeks, months and years.
Or say you wanted to learn to play a musical instrument, maybe the piano.
Would you start with a beautiful but complex Beethoven sonata, or would
you try to learn the chords first? Of course, you would try the latter.
The same process applies when you’re planning to change your behavior
and create new habits. You’ll be more successful if you start with small
steps that match both your motivation and your ability. If you’ve been
leading a sedentary lifestyle and want to improve your fitness levels, it
won’t work very well to set a goal of running a mile every morning. A more
realistic and likely successful goal might be to forgo the elevator at work
and take the stairs each morning to your fourth-floor office. Even taking the
elevator to the third floor and walking the last flight of stairs is a good
beginning.
Keep in mind that no goal is too small. For example, one study found that
replacing just half a tablespoon of margarine, mayonnaise or butter a day in
your diet with the same amount of olive oil can help reduce your risk of
heart disease.

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When you set goals that you can easily attain, your confidence will grow
and you’ll be able to build on your success incrementally. Keep it simple.
Lower the bar so that you can get some early successes and build on them.
For many years, I had been trying to get one of my patients to start
exercising on his treadmill but he could never bring himself to make it a
habit. Finally, at one office visit, I suggested that he start with a very small
goal: Simply stand on the treadmill for 5 minutes each day. He agreed. Six
weeks later at a follow-up visit, I asked him how it went with the treadmill.
To my surprise, he revealed that he had begun walking on the treadmill 30
minutes a day. He figured that since he was standing there already, he might
as well start walking. That one small initial step blossomed into a healthy
habit after years of resistance.