To develop any habit, it requires consistency. Whatever habit you already have in your life, it is because of consistency.
To develop a new habit, you first start with a very simple and easy way. The action you are going to take must be so easy and so simple that your mind could not find any excuse for not doing it.
For example, if you want to start yoga as your new habit, then start it by doing it only for 1 minute every day. After one month, increase the timing to 2 to 3 minutes, then next month 3 to 4 minutes. If you can maintain it this way, then you will see that after 6 months you will be able to do it for 15 to 30 minutes. In my opinion, doing yoga every day for 15 minutes is enough for your daily healthy lifestyle.
To start yoga as your new habit, choose one or two very simple and easy yoga postures in the beginning. Do these 2 postures for 1 minute for one month. Then next month for 4 minutes. In the third month, 6 minutes. In the fourth month, 8 minutes, and then continue it this way for 6 months.
Remember one thing: never try to increase the quantity or time duration on a daily basis. Increase it on a monthly basis; you will enjoy it; otherwise, your mind will feel like pressure, and then you will easily give up.
Start with only one habit. Don’t aim to develop too many habits at the same time. If you do that, chances are your mind will reject it after some days. You will not feel like doing it anymore.
To develop a habit, always focus on the consistency, not on the quantity.
Keep the time duration for 6 months. Many researchers say it took 21 days to develop a new habit. But as I experience it, 21 days doesn’t work for me. Even I fail after doing 45 days. So I believe the more days you do it, the stronger your habit will become. So, do it for at least 6 months consciously. After that it will become your subconscious pattern—a subconscious habit. It means, after 6 months, you don’t have to put in any conscious effort to do it, because it will become your automatic habit pattern.
Track your habit for 6 months. I have shown you how to track in the picture below. If you skip a day for any reason, then give it a cross mark. Every end of the month, you check your track result. If you see that you made 70% progress, then reward yourself by having your favourite food or visiting your favourite place or anything like that. Celebrate the progress.
Do it for 6 months. After 6 months you don’t have to track your habit because it already became automatic. Now if you don’t do it for a day, then your mind and body will feel uncomfortable. It is the same as brushing your teeth. When you were a child, you didn’t want to brush your teeth, but your parents forcefully made you develop this habit. And now you can see that if you don’t brush for a day, then you feel very uncomfortable.
After completion of 6 months, choose another good habit and start developing it in the same process.
If you can do it like this for 2 to 3 years, you will see that you have developed 4 to 6 good habits. Through this process, you are not only developing a habit; you are also developing a new belief. A belief that “you can consciously develop any habit, and every time you do that, you are getting success.” And because of this belief, from next time, you will be able to go with 2-3 habits together.
Here I have shared my personal experience. This is how I develop my habit, and it works for me. I hope it will also work for you. Apply it, or you can modify it in your own way. Experiment with it and see if it works for you.