Long term change is better served by building better habits, than by forcing your willpower.
You will choose the apple over the cake for a number of times ... and then give up. Building a habit to start the day by going to the gym will work better.
Self-control is the ability to regulate and alter responses in order to avoid undesirable behaviors, increase desirable ones, and achieve long-term goals. Research has shown that possessing self-control can be important for health and well-being. Common goals such as losing weight, exercising regularly, eating healthy, not procrastinating, giving up bad habits, and saving money are just a few worthwhile ambitions that people believe require self-control.
A 2011 survey found that 27 % of respondents identified a lack of willpower as the primary factor keeping them from reaching their goals.
One study found that students who exhibited greater self-discipline had better grades, higher test scores, and were more likely to be admitted to a competitive academic program.
The study also found that when it came to academic success, self-control was a more important factor than IQ scores.
A health study found that people who were rated as having high levels of self-control during childhood continued to have high levels of physical and mental health in adulthood.
Research has found that self-control is a limited resource. In the long-term, exercising self-control tends to strengthen it.
Good habits are the key to success. If you have goals that don't seem to be getting any closer, it's because you haven't developed your habits. With every year that passes, you find yourself stuck in the same place. Struggling professionally. Nowhere near your ideal body. Without the social life you're after.
Create a Household Budget: the best habit to help you save money. A household budget helps to encourage frugality and discourage impulse spending. You’ll feel more motivated to engage in other good financial habits once you’ve got this in place.
Financial Audits. This involves frequent checks as to whether you’re spending your money as wisely as possible.
Habit-building is a powerful tool for self-improvement. But the power of the tool can also create some overreach. In one way, habits will fail to form.
Many habits are simply routines, but not all of them. For example, there isn't a habit for a hard workout at the gym - you won't become absent-minded midway through a benchpress.
Habits are behaviors that flow automatically from a set of prompts.
Routines are behaviors we repeatedly do but involve many deliberate actions done with some effort and thinking.
A commitment is a rule you've added for yourself. "I must exercise five times per week." But if you break that commitment, it can result in a backsliding effect.
A habit is that behavior that happens automatically from a triggering situation.