“It is not by change of place that we can come nearer to Him who is in every place, but by the cultivation of pure desires and virtuous habits” (St. Augustine).

Over many years of trial and error, I have learned that writing down a resolution or having a dream board for the year are not enough for my personal growth. I have seen these strategies work for others, but they don’t suit my needs or my personality. In years past, I’d hold onto my “goal” until maybe February, become distracted with life, and by June forget what I had adamantly signed on for.

Last year, I decided to take a different approach. Instead of choosing a resolution or a goal, I decided to work on habits. I wanted good habits in my personal and professional life, things that came naturally and were ingrained in my routine by the end of the year.

After reading a lot of articles, books, and blogs about forming habits, I can recommend a few best practices that served me well in my routine over the last year.

Choose One, Exciting Habit

First you need to decide what your habit will be. Looking back at past New Year’s resolutions or goals can be a great place to start. Which of those past resolutions do you want to turn into habits? Which ones didn’t pan out well the first time? Perhaps you’d like to work out more, be more responsive with your emails, or journal regularly (all resolutions I've had over the years).

Choose one of these goals, and turn just that goal into a habit. When we work on too many goals, our focus is divided, and we’re less likely to succeed. This one habit should be exciting, or, at the very least, its outcomes should be exciting.

I chose journaling as a habit I wanted to adopt. It was exciting to me, because I know there are a lot of positive mental health benefits from journaling. It also gave me an opportunity to be a little creative with my day, even if it was just for a short amount of time.

Start Small 

Let's say your goal is to pray more. Pulling out your rosary and committing to praying one each day may have you calling it quits in a few weeks or sooner. You’re more likely to have success by breaking that big goal down into smaller, attainable goals. Instead of a rosary, try just one hail Mary per day. It may not seem like much, but by giving that one prayer your undivided attention for a period of time, you’ll be closer to making prayer a regular occurrence. By starting small, you’re focusing more on making the habit instinctive rather than on the impact that it will have. After a week or so, try adding another Hail Mary or an Our Father.

Eventually, you may want to add five minutes of quiet, uninterrupted time talking to God. With each step of the way, as you add to your practice, you’re working toward making prayer a habit that is engrained in your daily routine.

Use the Two-minute Rule

In James Clear’s book “Atomic Habits,” he shares the two-minute rule: Cultivating a new habit should take less than two minutes.

Let’s say your goal is to be more responsive with your emails. Set a timer for two minutes, and focus on reading and responding to one email, or use your two minutes to sort emails based on priority. Once the two minutes are over, you’ll have accomplished something concrete.

Maybe your goal is to read more. Instead of trying to read a whole chapter in one sitting, read for two minutes. Chances are, you’ll want to keep reading. If not, you can set your book down knowing you still accomplished something.

With the two-minute rule, the focus is not the task but showing up and accomplishing something, giving yourself an easy win.

Habit Stacking

In Steve Scott’s book “Habit Stacking: 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness,” he defines habit stacking as taking an existing habit and building a desired habit into that one. The old habit serves as a reminder of your new desired habit and allows you to build on your past success.

For example, when I decided to journal more, I first tried doing it whenever I had free time. But I found myself making excuses and pushing off journaling until I reached the end of the day and either forgot or didn’t have the energy to journal.

An existing habit I had was clearing off my bed in the evening so I could climb in and go to sleep. I added journaling to this habit, so when I was finished clearing off my bed, I immediately got into bed and journaled. Clearing off my bed became my reminder. Now, journaling is a lot harder to forget.

Have a Visual Reminder

While habit stacking can work as a reminder, it also helps to have a visual reminder by tracking your habits daily. Tracking is a great way to build momentum and see your progress. Who doesn’t like to see her success?

In the beginning, I simply marked an “X” in my planner on the days I completed my new habit. I know others who have used the calendar on their phones. For a more robust form of tracking, author James Clear developed the “Clear Habit Journal,” which offers a simple layout to state your habit and mark off your days of completion.

Keep your tracker visible in your everyday life — on the refrigerator, on your desk, or next to your bed. Figure out what works for you, and stick to it.

Surround Yourself With Motivation

Following others who are on a similar path or developing similar habits is a great way to keep your eye on the prize. There are plenty of people who have had the same pain points you are experiencing. Learn from their success and what has worked for them.

If your desired habit is eating healthily, start following social media influencers whose mission is to motivate others to eat healthily. Saturating the content you consume with people and posts who are more relevant to your goals will help inspire and equip you in your success.

Other Helpful Tips

Task Batching:

Lump similar tasks together throughout your day. If your desired habit is related to other things on your to-do list, push them into the same window of completion.

Celebrate Every Victory:

Whether it's been one week or 30 days, be proud of your journey each step of the way. Even if you have missed a few days, your push to keep going is worth celebrating!

Be Kind to Yourself:

You will miss days; it’s bound to happen. Don’t let those days cause you to lose momentum. Pick it back up the next day, and keep going!

Annie Schunior is a copy writer and communications specialist working for the Catholic Church in the city of Detroit. In addition, she does consulting for non-profits and online ministries as well as some freelance writing. Most days, Annie can be found with coffee in hand, toting around her 2 year old son or exploring the beautiful city of Detroit with her family. You can follow her on Instagram at @annie_schuns.