It has only been a few weeks since the beginning of the new year. Is a new year a good time to begin building a new habit? According to statistics from US News and World Report, 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by the first week in February. While this may sound discouraging, this means that 20% are still going strong after over a month. Whether you are in the 20% still going strong, the 80% who have slipped, or the even larger group that never tried to begin with, new, healthy habits are fundamental to growth. Here are five clear steps I believe will significantly increase your odds of successfully forming a new habit.

1. Manage Your Appetite– Don’t fill your habit plate with more than you can eat. Forming a habit takes focus. If you either try to form too many habits at once, or set too aggressive a habit goal, you are inviting failure. 
2. Be completely clear that this habit is worth the investment– Change is difficult, so make sure that you are fully committed to the necessity of the change you want to make. If you are trying to get up earlier, but you haven’t identified why this is important to you, then the likelihood of abandoning the habit grows to almost certainty.
3. Identify the loopholes– This is key! Take the time to mentally anticipate the places that will trip you up. When will your habit be hardest to keep up? Are there exceptions that you need to acknowledge? By the time you start to build your habit, there should be no surprises.
4. Know Your Motivators – Once, I made a bet that I couldn’t lose 20 pounds. The bet was a large one made in front of a large group. Frankly, I couldn’t afford to lose the bet. Peer pressure is an awful thing! Since I couldn’t afford the price tag of losing the bet, I made absolutely sure that I won the bet. I was motivated! For some people a reward motivates them. Others need a brutal penalty. Some are internally motivated, while others need someone to hold them accountable. Set the right motivation and you increase the odds substantially of succeeding.
5. Automate your habit by creating a full proof system– The best way to build a habit is to take willpower out of the equation by automating success. While this is an extreme example, if I want to be on Facebook less, I can delete my account. That would automatically deal with the problem. I know a friend that regularly leaves his smartphone in his car to lessen the temptation of wasting time surfing at night. Automating may take creativity, but in the end can make building or stopping a habit infinitely easier.

Clarity and commitment are the foundations of good discipline and healthy habits. When we are completely clear and totally committed to change, we can change! Take the time to gain that clarity and garner the strength to make your needed habit stick. To a large extent, our lives are a reflection of the habits we practice. Therefore, make that new habit stick!