Tips on Building Healthy Habits

When it comes to leading a fit and healthy lifestyle, developing healthy habits is one of the most important things you can do. This article will provide some advice on how you can begin constructing your own set of habits that will assist you in achieving the goals that you have set for yourself. Our lives are made up entirely of our habits. They can be good or bad, but regardless of how you look at them, breaking them without some assistance is difficult. Because of this, we advise forming healthy habits that will direct you in the right direction throughout your life. This article is written for anyone who wants to change a bad habit into a good one, whether it be quitting smoking, eating healthier, or exercising more frequently. Building new routines will be much easier for you as a result of the guidance and advice that you will receive from us as we show you how to develop a strategy for your success. This blog post offers some straightforward advice for forming healthy routines. These five pieces of advice will make it much simpler for you to achieve your health objectives and lead a happier life, regardless of whether you are just starting in the realm of wellness or are an old pro. The first piece of advice is to ensure that your objectives are reasonable and to take on only a little at a time. Then, every day, ensure your objectives are manageable and small, gradually increasing their difficulty. Keep track of your progress and any potential roadblocks that may be in your way so that you can make appropriate adjustments as necessary. If you are having difficulty, consider the factors that contributed to your previous achievements and implement those strategies again. Finally, reward yourself; after putting in our best effort, you and I deserve something wonderful! The things that we put into our bodies have a significant influence on not only our physical but also our mental health. Likewise, the kinds of foods we choose to eat can also impact the condition of the world around us and society as a whole. We hope that reading this article will assist you in making dietary and lifestyle choices more reflective of your values. Developing healthy routines can be challenging, but it is not impossible to do so. You will find many helpful hints on your journey to leading a healthier lifestyle. In this post, which is intended to serve as a resource for you, we have compiled some of the most useful advice that can be found. The purpose of this is to make things simpler for you by providing information of high quality that has been validated through experience and research. Everyone has routine actions that they carry out without giving much thought to them. Some of these routines are beneficial to one’s health and progress, while others have the potential to be harmful or counterproductive. It is essential to become aware of the unhealthy behaviours you engage in so that you can replace them with more positive patterns. In this post, we will discuss how you can incorporate a set of healthy routines into your life. Let’s get started! Enjoy!

The First Step of Building Healthy Habits (Know Your “Big Why”)

You need a damn good reason why you want to build habits in the first place; otherwise, the changes you make will never stick. So before we do ANYTHING with building habits, you need a damn good reason why you want to build them in the first place. This “change who I am” business ought to be front and centre in all your decisions from this point forward.

And if you don’t have a compelling reason, you’re swimming against the current:

If you came here because you thought you “should” get in shape, you would fail as soon as life starts getting in the way of your fitness goals.
If you only go to the gym because you believe you “should” run on a treadmill five days a week despite the fact that you detest doing so, you are in a world of hurt.

Make the habit you’re trying to establish a part of a greater cause that’s important to you and is worth the effort you’ll put into maintaining it. Do this as you think about the habits or resolutions you’re trying to establish.

You aren’t just working out at the gym; you are creating a new body that you aren’t embarrassed to show people so that you can go out on dates again.
You’re not just working on developing a taste for vegetables; you’re also reducing your body fat percentage to be able to wear the wedding dress of your dreams.

You are not simply forcing yourself to get out of bed at an ungodly hour; rather, you are getting up earlier so that you can put in some time at your side business before your children get up. In addition, it will allow you to save more money for your children’s future education.

If you can connect it to something bigger than yourself, you will have a much better chance of ploughing through the mud and getting the job done. Therefore, dig three levels deep and ask “why” until you get to the root cause of WHY you want to build a new healthy habit or change a bad one. It is the first step in creating a new healthy habit or changing a bad one. Please put it in writing. And then hang it up where you will see it frequently. Do you have a justification? Great. Let’s move on to the next topic, which is the study of habits.

How to Build Healthy Habits (The Three Parts)

Three components comprise a habit, as pointed out by Charles Duhigg in his book “The Power of Habit,” which is an essential read for anyone interested in making behavioural adjustments:

The cue (what causes the action) is as follows: It may take the form of a feeling, such as “I’m exhausted, I’m hungry, I’m bored, or I’m sad.” Or, it could be a specific time of day, such as “it is Monday at nine in the morning, work is finished, etc.”
Routine (the action itself): This can be either a negative action that you want to cut back on or a positive action that you want to do less of: I indulge in negative behaviours such as drinking soda, eating cake, snacking, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and watching television. I also engage in positive behaviours such as going to the gym, running, doing push-ups, and reading a book.
The reward (the good result that occurred as a direct consequence of the action) is that I am awake. I am content for the time being. My hands and mind are both currently being used. I have no recollection of the terrible day I had. I feel energized. I have a positive opinion of myself.

Depending on the routine or action described in the previous sentence, habits can either be liberating and amazing or a component of a destructive downward spiral. Your body isn’t intelligent enough to KNOW what it needs to do; it just wants to fix the pain or chase the pleasure of the cue, and whichever way you choose to respond will become a habit after it’s been done enough times. When you add in brilliant marketing, behavioural psychology, and an environment designed for failure, you end up with a population ruled by bad habits. It’s why we crave certain foods, why we have to check our phones every time they vibrate, and why we can’t stop ourselves from watching one more episode or levelling up in World of Warcraft.

The following are the main points that Duhigg makes:

Nothing in our brains causes us to crave a sweet treat when we see a box of doughnuts. Instead, it is because there is no association between the two.
However, as soon as our brain realizes that a box of doughnuts contains delicious sugar and other carbohydrates, it will begin looking forward to the sugar high.
Therefore, our minds will steer us in the direction of the box. But, if we don’t eat the doughnut, we’ll be left with a bitter taste in our mouths.

Imagine the following:

Your brain has been programmed to respond to a cue (the sight of a doughnut), anticipate a reward (a sugar high), and perform the behaviour without conscious thought (nom that doughnut).
Compare this to a trigger, such as seeing your running shoes, expecting a reward, such as experiencing a runner’s high, and programming your behaviour so that it occurs automatically, such as saying, “go for a run!”
Therefore, our minds will steer us in the direction of the box. But, if we don’t eat the doughnut, we’ll be left with a bitter taste in our mouths.

Learn Your Cues:

It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to kick an unhealthy habit, kick an old habit, or kickstart a healthy habit; the first step in the process is the same no matter what you’re trying to do:

“The Cue.”

If you want to stop drinking soda but feel as though you need it every afternoon to get through work, it’s because your brain has been wired to think of SODA after the cue:

As a result, I’m exhausted, dehydrated, and completely drained of all my strength.
Consuming soda at three o’clock every afternoon is a daily ritual for me.
Reward: We caffeine! Sugar! Happy! The purpose of my life has been fulfilled!

When trying to break a bad habit, the first step is to recognize the trigger that kicks off the behaviour in the first place. Just being conscious of the trigger is an excellent first step toward breaking the cycle:

When I’m not busy (the cue), I eat snacks (the routine), which makes my stomach happy and helps me pass the time (reward).
After a long day at work (the cue), the first thing I do when I get home (the routine) is to sit down on the couch and play video games, which helps me forget about my day at the office (reward).
When I feel anxious (the cue), I bite my fingernails to distract myself from the uncomfortable situation (reward).

If you want to be successful in kicking a bad habit, the first step is to recognize the triggers that lead to you engaging in the behaviour you are attempting to change. At the same time, you can mentally train yourself to build a new healthy habit, just like Pavlov’s dog did, by identifying the habit you want to build and the cue you want to use to proceed with it. For example, if you want to build a habit of drinking water before bed, you could use the cue “water before bed.”

After I wake up (the cue), I will immediately go for a walk (the routine), and as a reward, I will listen to an audiobook while I am out (reward)
I will drink black coffee instead of soda whenever I feel tired (the cue). In addition to the energy boost (the reward), I will reward myself with new running shoes after going 30 days without drinking soda (the routine). I will be satisfied with the weight loss that results from consuming fewer calories (the reward) (reward).
When I get home from work (the cue), I will go straight to my computer to work on my novel for thirty minutes (the routine), and then I will allow myself to watch Netflix after I have written five hundred words (the reward) (reward).

To put this into practice, the first step, whether trying to kick a bad habit or kickstart a good one, is to identify the cue that sets off the habit. When you have identified the trigger or picked it up, you can begin working on modifying the routine.

The Key to Sustainable Healthy Habits: Use Systems

We have now arrived at the most difficult part of forming a habit:

The Routine (the action itself!)

It is the point where we will begin to think and behave more like nerds and scientists. It doesn’t matter if we’re trying to break out of a bad habit (like drinking soda) or get into a good one (like running). We need a different strategy for each of these goals. We are going to begin by reducing our reliance on the following two things:

Willpower: if you have to force yourself to exercise, you’re more likely to quit when things get too hectic, or it’s too cold outside.
Motivation: if you need to be motivated, you will give up, and then you will beat yourself up for not being more motivated!

Willpower and motivation are both limited resources that can be unpredictable, leaving you without them when you need them the most. Fools and weaklings cross their fingers and hope they have sufficient motivation and willpower to form a habit. That is unequivocally a terrible suggestion. Not so with us, however! We will take both of these variables out of the equation and replace them with systems and external forces that will make it even simpler to develop a routine (or more difficult to develop if you are trying to break a bad habit!).

It can be accomplished through the following methods: Environmental hacking refers to making a routine simpler by eliminating steps required to finish it or by adding steps that stand between you and a bad habit.

Programming tips include:

Incorporating your routine into your daily schedule.
Keeping a journal to record your daily progress.
Tracking your progress each day.

We are products of our environment. By adjusting to our surroundings, we can turn this knowledge into an advantage for ourselves and make it easier to form new habits or break old, undesirable ones. Examine the settings in which you choose to spend your time. The next step is to lessen the distance between you and a positive habit while simultaneously increasing the distance between you and a negative habit.

You will be less reliant on your self-control and motivation and will have a greater chance of forming healthy habits or avoiding unhealthy habits.

The following are five examples of hacks that can be used to help the environment:

Run Each Morning: Before going to bed, place your running shoes at the foot of your bed and sleep with the rest of your running gear already laid out. You might as well sleep in your running or workout clothes. It would be best to relocate your alarm clock to the opposite side of the room, so you are compelled to get out of bed to turn it off. If you plan to hit the gym after work, pack your gym bag before to turning in for the night before. That way, you won’t have to worry about forgetting a bag in the morning because you’ll already have one ready to throw in your car or bring along. As soon as it’s 5 p.m., you’re already in the car and on your way to the gym.

Eat Healthier: If you want to improve your diet, don’t give yourself the option of not doing so; get rid of all the junk food in your home and begin preparing your meals the night before. Put a lock on your web browser to prevent you from ordering pizza online (yes, you can do that now), and avoid driving down streets lined with fast food restaurants as much as possible.

Watch less television and participate in fewer games: Use your laziness in your favour. Turn off the television and system. It would be best if you put more distance between yourself and the television. Install parental controls on your system, and ask your friend to establish a time limit and a password for you both. Someone I knew hid his television in a closet and drastically reduced his time watching television. So don’t count on your self-control; make things more challenging for yourself. Reduce the number of times you look at your phone by turning off notifications and removing apps that are time wasters. When you are at work, ensure that your phone is set to the “Do Not Disturb” mode, and then tuck it away in your desk drawer. Again, relying on your self-control is unnecessary to prevent you from checking your phone every time it buzzes because this app silences the ringer.

You can see in addition to this, you can use programming hacks to assist in the formation of NEW healthy habits:

Exercise: If you want to get more exercise, you should set calendar alerts at the beginning of the week so that you will be reminded to do the activity every day at 8 am with a cue (a ding! on your phone) and a reminder to do the activity. Then, when the activity has been planned out in advance, you have a better chance of staying on track with your goals.

Healthy Eating: Think about preparing meals in bulk! If preparing healthy meals every night seems way too much work to you (and I get that), you should consider doing it all in one day. Not only will this save you a significant amount of time, but it will also cut down on the steps that stand between you and eating healthily because the meal will already be prepared and stored in the refrigerator.

Writing: If you want to write a book, make it a daily goal to write at least 500 words, no matter how bad they are. Then, purchase a calendar and mark each day you accomplish your goal with a large cross in a red pen. The next step is to continue the streak while making your single focus your daily priority.

Make the Reward Momentum-Building

And now, we come to the third and final component of the routine:

“The Reward”

If you want to get rid of bad habits, you should conduct a rewarding analysis of the ones you currently have:

When you’re tired in the afternoon, drinking soda can boost energy thanks to the caffeine it contains.
Is there a less harmful method that you could use to give your body the same energy boost? For example, it would be best if you switched to black coffee and went for a walk in the afternoon.

An additional example could be as follows:

You find that you spend an unhealthy amount of time watching television, which is harmful to your health, but because you enjoy being transported to new worlds, you find that you watch television.
If you wanted to listen to your favourite audiobook, would you only be able to do so while walking? (This practice is known as “temptation bundling.”)
This step will require some analysis, during which you will investigate the reward you are attempting to recreate despite the absence of the undesirable action. Although this may take your mind to some challenging places, delving deeper into the topic is beneficial.
For instance, if you want to start drinking less (or give it up completely), you might find that the reward you’re chasing is actually “escape from a job I hate” and “avoiding social anxiety.”

Investigate your reward and the sensations your brain is aching for, and then try to reverse-engineer a healthier routine that will still give you the same satisfaction. And finally, resort to outright bribery to coerce yourself into actually performing the new healthier behaviour and selecting the improved action/routine. When it comes to forming habits, inertia and momentum will work against you, just as they do in science and physics: inertia and momentum will work against you when forming habits.

We can fix the third component of the habit-building loop, the reward, by providing ourselves with momentum-building prizes or results to bribe ourselves to continue. With each wholesome and positive reward and each successfully completed routine, we increase the likelihood that the habit will become more automatic the next time it is performed. To put it another way, design incentives that will, in turn, benefit you:

Don’t give yourself an unhealthy reward (cake!) for sticking to your routine (running!). That’s the equivalent of “taking one step forward and two steps back.” Regarding reducing body fat, nutrition accounts for the majority of the equation.
Give yourself a reward that will motivate you to maintain your routine (running for five minutes every day for thirty days in a row), especially if it involves running (a snazzy new pair of running shoes).

Easy Steps To Help You Achieve Your Health Goals

1. Focus

Summer happened. You may have eaten more than you should have, consumed more alcohol than you should have, stayed up later than you should have, or engaged in less physical activity than you should have. But at this point, we need to reorient ourselves, naturally, for the sake of our mental health. Make a clear delineation in the sand. Don’t be so hard on yourself for indulging in careless behaviour over the summer. It is the middle of a BUSY time! So get back up, brush yourself off, and direct your attention elsewhere. Finding the motivation to make healthy lifestyle changes is one of the first steps in the process.

2. Set Small Goals

You wouldn’t be the only one if the thought of taking all these steps or making too many changes makes you feel overwhelmed! I have worked with many people who have the mentality that things ought to be simple, and when they aren’t (which they never are because making changes is never simple), they are harsh on themselves and give up. Many people find that they are much more successful in reaching their larger goals when they break them down into more manageable chunks, make them more realistic, and, most of the time, make them action-oriented. Therefore, when you can “check off” that you have achieved this lesser goal, you will receive the psychological boost of knowing that you have succeeded in accomplishing the task. Additionally, when added up, all of the little goals will result in significant and long-lasting changes! To illustrate this point, losing weight is your ultimate objective. One of your more attainable objectives (and you might have several of these) could be to achieve this by reducing the number of calories you consume in the evening to no more than 200 on five days of the week and no more than 350 on the other two days of the week. This is just one example, and again you may have many different goals. Then check-in with yourself every two weeks to see how you’re doing with the goals.

3. Mindset Is Key!

The mentality of many people is the only thing standing in their way, but they are unaware of this fact. In a nutshell, your thoughts are responsible for creating your feelings, your feelings are responsible for creating your actions, and your actions are responsible for creating your reality. When you tell yourself that you can’t do something, that it’s too difficult, or that you don’t have time to do something, you are only reinforcing those thoughts and turning them into reality. Therefore, instead of taking this approach, you should try something else. Say something upbeat and encouraging to counteract these statements, such as, “I know I am busy, but I will try to find the time,” or “I know I have struggled in the past, but many people have struggled before they reach success so that I CAN do this.” Repeating these things to yourself will help you feel better and will start encouraging you to take more action to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. The single most important thing to remember is that you will encounter obstacles. To put it another way, it sometimes gets in the way. We deal with each new challenge as it arises, find new sources of inspiration and motivation, learn from the mistakes we make, not overly hard on ourselves (because that isn’t helpful to anyone else), and we KEEP MOVING FORWARD. There is no other choice but to be successful.

4. Plan (We Know, We Can Virtually See Some Eye Rolls…hear Us Out First Though)

Preparation will save you a lot of time later. So, what can you do? The most important thing, and yes, I am aware that you have heard this before, is to plan, plan, and plan some more. “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” It’s a bummer, but we have to face the facts. I can almost make out your voice as you exclaim, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” (or is that expression getting stale at this point?) In any case, you should be aware of the following: spending some of your time now to plan ahead will save you time in the long run and reduce the stress you feel during your very busy days (and who couldn’t use that?).

Here are some tips for meal planning

Do you already make a weekly trip to the grocery store? Before leaving the house, you should go through your refrigerator and pantry to ensure you have everything you need.
Make a mental note of the nutritious meals your family enjoys eating, and ensure that you have all the necessary ingredients to prepare those meals. When pressed for time, we tend to reach for what is easiest to eat, making selecting nutritious foods the more difficult option.

Even better, try to limit the amount of less nutritious options that you bring into your house in the first place (because I would never tell you that you have to give up things you love completely, have less of it and have your diet be overall healthier items).
Every week, you should prepare at least one batch of food items. Of course, you can work your way up to doing more prepping over time, but for now, I recommend starting on a smaller scale.
Choose a couple of times during the week (such as breakfast, snacks, or dinnertime) when you know you don’t make the healthiest decisions or when you’re just too rushed to make good decisions, and then choose one or two things to help you get a head start on meal prep for those times.
Pick a day of the week (such as Sunday, or even a couple of hours on Saturday and a couple of hours on Sunday) to prepare a single item or several items simultaneously.

Basic Meal Prep Examples (to get you started)

The following examples could be carried out simultaneously, or you could try just one or two at a time. Start by seasoning with the essentials according to your taste (a small amount of salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, curry powder, red pepper flakes, thyme, Italian seasoning, and so on), and then use a variety of epicure seasonings to make things easier. As you gain experience, you’ll be able to get more creative with your seasonings.

Example 1: Prepare a large quantity of protein to eat throughout the week by cooking it all at once. It could easily be stretched to cover everyone’s lunches and even a couple of dinners, depending on how many you decide to make.

Example 2: Prepare the vegetables, and chop them up, such as carrots, peppers, celery, etc. You can quickly boil, sauté, or steam these in the microwave to prepare them as a side dish for a meal or use them as a snack with hummus.

Example 3: Prepare a sizable quantity of quinoa for cooking (or any other grain such as bulgur, wild rice, beans, or lentils). It could be served as a side dish with a meal or as an addition to salads to make them more filling.

Example 4: Make a large batch of roasted vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, peppers, squash, and other vegetables, that can be used as side dishes for meals throughout the week.

You get the point! You can do many things to simplify your week, but a good place to start is by getting one thing ready in advance and building from there.

5. Make Eating Healthy, Easy (Most Of The Time, At Least)

It is unnecessary to exert much effort to prepare nutritious meals and snacks. However, here are some options for nutritious snacks (you can combine two or three of these for a more well-rounded and satisfying munch):

Fruits just picked;
Hummus, tzatziki, or guacamole served alongside vegetables;
Yogurt topped with nuts and seeds as well as berries;
Nuts;
Crackers made from whole grains or pita bread spread with hummus, tzatziki, or guacamole;
Chickpeas that have been dried;
Energy/protein balls;

The following are some easy meal ideas that can be combined with some of the snacks listed above to create a more well-rounded meal:

Snacks such as sandwiches or wraps;
Salads made with quinoa or greens, which also contain protein;
Leftovers;

After you’ve finished shopping, take some time to clean the produce you bought and then put it in the refrigerator where it can be easily seen. Cut up some fruit and vegetables ahead of time and store them in individual baggies, so they are easy to grab for lunches and snacks. If you have children, you should involve them in planning and preparing meals. They will learn valuable life skills that will assist them in maintaining their health as they get older, and as their abilities improve, they will be able to relieve you of some of the work that you are currently doing. After dinner, when there are still leftovers, and you have more time, have everyone, including yourself, pack their lunches right away. Yes, this includes you. To make this task less challenging, maintain a supply of reusable containers, ice packs, and insulated bags. Yes, some time and effort must be invested to accomplish these things. However, the reward will be well worth it for you and your entire family in the long run.

6. Hydrate (Easy Enough, Right?)

A word of advice: try not to guzzle your water. When you do this, your body will hold on to less of it, resulting in you urinating more of it out. Does this ring a bell? So instead, make an effort to drink at most two to four ounces at a time. Even though summer days can take on various forms, the end result is almost always dehydration and water retention (due to an excess of salty and sugary foods and a lack of hydrating beverages; unfortunately, alcohol does not count). Therefore, getting some much-needed fluids into your system is a great way to regain your equilibrium and get back on track. Even if you only make one adjustment to start getting your life back on track, ensure you drink a lot of water during the first few days of the process. Begin your day by taking sips from a large glass of water in the morning, and make sure to bring a water bottle with you so that you can continue doing so throughout the day. If you don’t like drinking water by itself, you can add a small number of flavoured water enhancers or even sliced fresh fruit, herbs, or vegetables to your water to give it more flavour. It will give your water the same experience as a spa. Water infusers are a wonderful invention. Additionally, there is a new fruit-flavoured cup option.

7. Rest

Make getting enough rest one of your top priorities. The conclusion of the holidays for many people is a feeling of exhaustion. It is much simpler to make poor food decisions when your body is sleep deprived than when it is well-rested. Likewise, if you don’t give your body a chance to rest, you’ll have a harder time getting back into your workout routine (or starting a workout routine if that’s what you want to do). It would be best to get eight hours of sleep every night. I know what it’s like to have a full-time job and a family, so I get how difficult it can be to wind down at night and get enough sleep. Visit this site for advice on how to establish a regular pattern of restful sleep.

8. Practice Mindful/Intuitive Eating

I work with many people who have had success with this, which helps keep them accountable. However, for others, keeping track of the foods they eat and counting calories and macros is stressful and could work better. Consuming food mindfully and intuitively has the potential to alleviate some of this stress. However, it requires relearning to trust our body’s natural, innate, and physiological ability to eat the right food that our bodies require. Mindfully consuming food is the antithesis of dieting. When it comes to dieting, we look to external rules, such as calories, points, or blocks, to tell us how much food we should eat. On the other hand, eating encourages us to look inward and rely on our internal cues of hunger and fullness to guide us in determining when and how much food to consume.

Here are some tips for mindful eating:

When you eat, you should make it a habit to listen to your body and acknowledge when you are no longer hungry. What does it feel like to be? Do you have any idea how they might be feeling?
If you have had a difficult relationship with food in the past or have been dieting for a significant amount of time, you may be unable to feel or are unaware of what it is like to be hungry or full. That is not a problem at all.
Check out this hunger and fullness scale, which will assist you in mapping out what it feels like to be hungry and when you have had enough to eat.
It would be best if you aimed to eat until you are 80 per cent full. But unfortunately, because this is something that our parents instilled in us, many of us have the mentality to “clean the plate.”
On the other hand, if you make an effort to recognize and stop eating when you are 80% full and satisfied, you can save a significant number of extra calories for the week.

9. Increase Your Activity (Even If It’s Just A Little Bit!)

Engaging in physical activity helps with the following:

Growth and development in a healthy direction
Reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
Make us stronger
Give us energy
Reduce your levels of stress, and
Prolong independence as we get older.

Don’t worry about how much you should be doing if you want to start being more active or increase the amount of physical activity you’re already doing. There are a lot of recommendations or guidelines out there, such as taking 10,000 steps or doing 30–60 minutes of cardio every day, but these are medium- or long-term goals to work towards. First, determine how much physical activity you are already engaging in, and then start with a manageable but challenging goal. Build up from there. When you have accomplished that objective, you should immediately move on to the next one, provided that you are up for the challenge. Then, gradually work up to it, and only take on additional responsibilities once you’re sure you can accomplish and keep up with them! Establishing a routine for your activity should be your primary focus, followed by effectively managing your schedule and other commitments to ensure that this routine is consistently followed. After establishing a reliable routine, it’s time to focus on ramping up the amount of work you’re putting in (up to a point). In conclusion, you need to emphasise working as hard as you can. You will get more value out of your investment if you do this!