It’s not always easy to change our habits!
Whether it’s to feel better, eat better, be more efficient at work or simply improve our quality of life, letting go of old habits that no longer serve us and creating new ones can be an insurmountable mountain! Fortunately, several experts have looked into the human nature and psychology behind creating good lifestyle habits.
Perhaps you’re wondering: But how and why can Emmanuelle Rivest-Gadbois, a physiotherapist, yoga teacher and trainer, write and write about healthy lifestyle habits?” I understand, but in fact, it’s for a multitude of reasons! First of all, I’m human! It’s not always easy for me to motivate myself to eat well, exercise, organize my work, be present in my personal life, and take care of myself.
Additionally, as a physiotherapist, I must be a motivator towards my patients to help them achieve their health, rehabilitation and well-being goals And finally, as an entrepreneur, I had to learn to organize myself well, not to overload my schedule (something I still have a LOT of difficulty with ) and to manage a multitude of aspects that I was not always ready or competent to handle. So, as my first blog and at the start of 2025, I wanted to share with you the results of my research, my experience, and my best tips for establishing good habits.
Self-efficacy
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I think it’s important to understand a little bit about how humans motivate themselves. Research tells us that one of the most predictive factors in whether a person will succeed in overcoming life’s challenges is their level of self-efficacy 12
Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in their ability to act in the ways necessary to achieve specific goals. This concept was originally proposed by psychologist Albert Bandura. Therefore, it is essential to believe in yourself and your abilities to be more successful!
But what if it’s not our strong point? There are several strategies to improve self-efficacy:
- Experience success: Experience small victories!
- Observe others who succeed: Surround yourself well!
- Social Feedback: Getting Positive Support!
- A healthy interpretation of our physiological and emotional states: Normalize our responses to stress, have fun, try not to control everything, and have self-compassion! We are all human after all…
With these strategies in mind, we can begin to better understand how to build realistic and enjoyable goals for the habits we want to create.
Stages of change
You also have to be ready to make the necessary changes!
Did you know that there are 5 stages of change in humans?
A person must go through 5 to 6 stages to bring about change in their lives, regardless of the nature of that change. Interestingly, our self-confidence increases as we move from one stage to the next.
- Precontemplation: The person does not recognize that there is something to change in their behavior… We do not agree on major changes at this stage.
- Contemplation: We recognize the importance of changing our behavior, but are either not quite ready to make the change, or we don’t know how to go about it.
- Preparation: The person learns or tries certain actions to change, but needs support! This is where we must surround ourselves well to ensure that we can succeed!
- Action: Here the person takes action and implements the necessary changes and recognizes the barriers they have to face.
- Maintenance: The person succeeds in implementing good habits and demonstrates self-compassion.
- Relapse: Relapses are part of the adventure! This is where our support group can help us get back on track, and self-compassion helps us navigate these challenges, knowing that we are only human and that we can get back on track. Relapses are part of the adventure! This is where our support group can help us get back on track, and self-compassion helps us navigate these challenges, knowing that we are only human and that we can get back on track
How does all this relate to establishing good habits?
Self-efficacy and stages of change how us characteristics of human beings that allow us to perhaps understand a little better the foundations on which we must rely to better establish good lifestyle habits.
It is important to start with small goals that will lead us to success instead of setting too big goals from the start.
We also see the importance of surrounding ourselves with people who will motivate us, perhaps people who have already been through what we are trying to go through. Having good examples around us as well as people to encourage us in our efforts are key factors in our success!
We must also assess where we are in our motivation…
This is sometimes a step we skip, but it is so crucial!
In his book Atomic HabitsJames Clear gives a piece of advice that I find very valuable. He suggests that at the beginning of our quest for good habits, we should clearly define who we want to become through these habits. This can be in all areas of our lives! We may want to become better parents, be healthier, have more energy, be more efficient at work, have greater financial independence, or be a person who travels or explores the world!
All of these answers are valid and connect our habits to our deepest values. However, it can be very vague! So, it’s then important to break down these intentions into more concrete actions. For example, a person who is in better physical shape will probably eat healthier, exercise regularly, have good sleeping habits, and a healthy lifestyle etc.
It is therefore important to see the actions that seem most important to us and start with smaller objectives while staying focused on our overall vision of our well-being or our success.
From there, we can then create clearer and more concrete goals guiding us towards a greater quest!
SMART Goals
Using the SMART method in setting your goals is a simple yet extremely effective tool for planning your good habits and ensuring you succeed.
But what does that mean?
To improve our chances of success, we must make our goal:
Specific: The objective is clear, detailed, and focused. It leaves no doubt about what you want to accomplish.
Measurable: The objective can be quantified and therefore measured and observed when it is achieved.
Achievable: It can be achieved without too much sacrifice, so it is accessible and does not require too many changes. Therefore, one can start with a shorter habit to make it more attainable. James Clear mentions in Atomic Habits that we should even make sure that our new habit does not last more than 2 minutes at the beginning to make sure to make it more realistic and ensure our success tThatshould even make sure that our new habit does not last more than 2 minutes at the beginning to make sure that it is more realistic and ensures our success.
Realistic: The goal must take into account our context and our requirements in all areas. For example, before starting to run, we must be able to walk! This serves to avoid creating discouragement or tempting us to procrastinate the implementation of the new habit.
Time-bound: Finally, we must be able to set ourselves a deadline, a time in which we realistically expect to be able to achieve our goal.
