Habits are little things that we constantly do over and over again, and “we are as we repeatedly do” is the old saying. So how easy is it to begin a “new” healthy habit?  Scientists have discovered that it takes a minimum of 21-30 days of repetitively doing a new routine before it becomes a habit. We are focusing this month on starting new healthy habits, to encourage our Georgia Tech community to do something new and fresh that will have a lasting, positive influence on your overall lifestyle. Start a habit of volunteering, recycling, reading more, positive thinking and encouraging others, drinking more water- you name it. There are hundreds of new habits you can begin now to become a better you.

Oftentimes goals start out too large and out of reach, which is why starting a new habit seems to fail. Goals are good for giving you a sense of direction, but they can also fool you into taking on more than what you can handle. Losing weight is probably the most common goal, and the attempted new habit would be exercising for a specific period of time on a certain number of days  So the goal is set to lose 50 pounds, and you work really hard for a day or two, and then your body is screaming because you overworked it, so you take the next month off for recovery, only to never start back again. In order for a healthy habit to become routine in your life, the key is to start small! Start by making smaller goals that are easier to set and keep, like walking for 15 minutes a day. Start small, and steadily increase the length of time you walk by 5 minutes each week. The incremental increase will hardly be noticeable. Other ways to achieve this goal on a smaller scale is to make better choices a few at a time. Choose water over sweetened drinks, vegetables over French fries, standing versus sitting, walking instead of driving, and so on.

Habits can be even the smallest things that just become part of your daily routine, like brushing your teeth before combing your hair, or putting your left sock on first every time. We already have so many habits that we may not even realize are habits. Greeting people in the hall is a habit of kindness, washing hands before eating is a habit of cleanliness, working hard is a habit of a strong work ethic. These are all things we do daily, but never really set a “goal” to achieve them, it is just a part of us individually. Starting a healthy habit can be just as easy if the task to achieve can be fit into your daily lifestyle effortlessly. It is when a lot of extra effort is required that people seem to fall short. Our days are packed full of work, family, and other social responsibilities and it would be very hard to try to cut out an hour or more to do something that is not part of our regular routine, to make it a permanent part of our daily lifestyle.

As we move into the holiday season, and a new year, I would like to encourage each person to start a new healthy habit that will become part of your everyday lifestyle. Start small and stick with it, and soon your new habit will become as repetitive as brushing your teeth!

By Anita M. Carter
Financial Admin II
Aerospace Engineering