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Bisher Abu Thwabeh, Low Entropy Volunteer Writer 

We all want to strive towards betterment. The betterment we seek is certainly unique for all of us, however, the drive to want to improve ourselves in some capacity is innate in most people. Habits are an amazing way to improve ourselves, if the habits are positive ones. In essence, they simplify and automate our improvement with minimal effort or resistance once they are established and affirmed. The following are three habit-building tools that I believe can make the building of positive habits easier. 

1. Regress the habit’s task if it is too daunting to begin

The regression of the task that one desires to make into a habit can be a powerful way to bridge the gap of resistance towards doing the action consistently. This can be applied to exercising. There are regressed variations of all types of physical exercise movements for those who cannot perform a more advanced version. If one struggles to make an action into a perpetual habit, then the shift into doing a regressed version can make it easier to simply begin. For example, instead of walking 10000 steps daily, one can begin the habit of walking with 7000 steps daily.  

1. Track the successful completion of the habit

“Habit tracking” is another great tool to build habits successfully. One can do this through phone applications, planners, calendars or even digital spreadsheets. The idea is to track the days where one successfully completed the habit’s task, to see the overall progress as time goes on. If a day or even a few days are missed, it is perfectly fine. The idea is just to see the progress made over several months. Perfection is not the goal, but rather progress and overall consistency. 

1. Make multiple levels of completion

Another way to build positive habits is to create a system where there are levels of completion towards a particular habit. We will use exercise as an example. A person, at the first level, can walk around their neighbourhood as a bare minimum. The next level would be to complete a home workout circuit of bodyweight exercises. The last and hardest level of the exercise habit would be to go to the gym for a full hour. This system allows one to not forgo exercise altogether, just because they did not attend the gym for a full hour. This allows flexibility in the building of habits. 

Here are a couple of bonus habit building tips and reminders:

1. Celebrate every win and give yourself credit often. Positive reinforcement is key!
2. Remember that repetition is a crucial part of habit-forming, even if one misses a few days! 

In conclusion, habit-building is an important part of our growth. The building of positive ones and the negation of less-good ones can help us move towards betterment much quicker than an inconsistent approach. I hope that the tools shared here were helpful, and I wish you the best on your journey towards betterment. 

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Bisher is a writer hoping to make an impact on the betterment of his community.