A 2006 Duke University study found that up to 45% of all our daily behaviours are automatic. Think about that for a moment; nearly half of our waking time is spent doing things automatically – without even thinking.

When I learned that something really struck me. If 45% of our behaviours are automatic we really want to be sure those behaviours are aligned to help us reach our goals – otherwise much of our life is spent scratching our heads wondering why we’re off track.
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’ve recently read the book ‘Atomic Habits’ (and highly recommend it to people wishing to improve outcomes in any area of life). In it, author James Clear says:
“Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits.” He goes on to say “Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat.”
While the ‘gains’ obtained with stretching aren’t immediate, regular stretching is a habit that that can help us stay injury free.
I love this quote because it succinctly says it ALL. I have a very good friend, Barry, who’s a financial advisor. I’m lucky because Barry and I have been friends for a very long time. Years and years ago Barry shared with me some of the soundest advice I’ve ever received – about the law of compound interest. Save little, consistently from an early age, and compound interest will work for you over time.
If you think about it, good habits are the compound interest of good health. In exactly the same way money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of our healthy eating and moving habits multiply as we consistently repeat them.
While it may seem to make little difference whether we get ourselves to the gym or eat our greens (and PROTEIN ) on any one given day, the cumulative effect that good habits deliver can be enormous. Sometimes we can only see these gains via recording progress (journals, photographs, etc) that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones become crystal clear.
Here are my top tips for helping to form good habits:
1. Start with sleep.
Why is a good night’s sleep so important to helping us meet our goals? Simply put, better sleep quality directly leads to higher levels of self-control.
There is so much research being published these days about the importance of sleep. Interestingly, our ability to sleep well at night is established the moment we wake in the morning; an early morning walk (while the sun is still low on the horizon) gives our brain the messages to fuel a healthy circadian rhythm. Additionally, having good ‘sleep hygiene’ as we approach bedtime can make a massive difference. Personally, I make sure I don’t eat anything within a few hours of going to sleep. I make sure all light is blocked and endeavour to keep my bedroom at a cool 17 degrees (I know, not so easy with the recent heatwave, but very easy to accomplish most seasons in the UK. I keep away from screens the hour before going to bed as there is conclusive data that blue light negatively impacts sleep.
Of all the habits that can put us on the right path to realising our goals, in my views, sleep is the most important.
Some pragmatic tips if you struggle with sleep:
If you’re too warm at night and can’t cool your room consider a cooling blanket. This is one that’s recommended by one of my clients https://amzn.to/3A04JJ4
I’ve occasionally used melatonin to help with sleep. It isn’t available over the counter in the UK, but if you suspect low melatonin levels you might consider looking into 5-HTP as a supplement as its a precursor to the sleep-regulating melatonin. Worth checking with your doctor.
Establish a routine. Those who have been around babies and toddlers know how important a routine is to getting them to fall asleep easily. We’re no different – I promise you. This is my routine: I like to go to bed at 10pm. So at 9pm I… and then I, etc. (Simon, fill in the rest)
If you’re reluctant to give up that before-bed scrolling on your phone or Netflix fix, have a look into blue blocking filters which are easily downloaded for both Android and iOS phones. Or blue blocking glasses if you’re viewing a big screen (but only at night – we need blue light during the day.)
Tune into stats on your Apple watch or other wearable device such as the OURA ring. These devices are providing increasingly fine levels of detail on the quality of our sleep. This is amazing as we can use this information to gauge the impact of individual changes. I can’t think of anything more motivating than data that supports that my discipline around good habits is paying off.
Healthy sleep really is vital to our health and setting us up to achieving our goals in all facts of our lives. For anybody interested in mastering this are of their lives, I highly recommend reviewing neuroscientist and university lecturer Andrew Huberman’s Toolkit for Sleep
2. Move, and be NEAT about it.
I touched on this above but how you move outside the gym will have more impact on your health and well-being than anything you do inside the gym. NEAT stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. While this might sound complex, really NEAT is a tally of all of the energy we use up carrying out any daily activity that isn’t formal exercise (e.g. running or resistance training) or sleeping,
Making NEAT a proactive habit can have a profound impact on your sleep, weight, mood and mental health. According to Dr. James A. Levine, author of the book ‘Move a Little, Lose a Lot’, NEAT burns from 330 to 700 calories per day in healthy individuals, and obese individuals perform significantly less NEAT than their lean counterparts.
Levine also suggests that NEAT could burn up to 1000 calories per day when properly incorporated more proactively in our days. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you the benefits of burning that many extra calories (and the rewards of being able to enjoy those extra treats.) I’ll share something; I love ice cream and I eat it regularly. I have NEAT movement to thank for making sure those calories never hit my waistline.
Some tips on increasing your NEAT, shared by my clients.
For every hour spent at your desk (home or office), set your clock and take a walk outside for five minutes in any direction (try to vary to not get bored) then walk back for another five minutes. Shorten it to three minutes each way if you’re feeling time constrained.
Try to do business calls while pacing or taking a walk.
Always (I mean always) take the stairs
Always park far away from the shops (or walk)
Hand wash your car
If you’re on a long Zoom call try fidgeting. Studies show fidgeters burn significantly more calories than those who don’t fidget (yes, we can learn to fidget)
Take a walk after dinner
Play with kids or a dog
Hand wash the dishes instead of using the dishwasher

3. Enjoy healthy food
In all of the work I’ve done with clients in the past 10 years, the single most important thing I advise those trying to shed pounds is to plan meals in advance. Numerous studies exist pointing to the connection between meal planning, a healthier diet, and less obesity. There are scores of planning and tracking apps out there, but I tend to keep things simple. I have about ten recipes for which I know the nutritional and caloric content. I tend to cycle these recipes each week. My Saturday grocery shop has little variation as the recipes call for a consistent set of ingredients.
When I’m trying to gain OR lose weight, I take my baseline measurements and then use MyFitnessPal to track what I’m eating. This can be so helpful (and will be a source of an upcoming blog.)
My clients have had amazing success tackling weight loss goals with the help of MyFitnessPal. It isn’t that the App is so unique, but because it builds in accountability. It shows us on a daily basis whether we’re on track to make sure our habits support the outcomes we want to achieve – is that law of compound interest working for us right here right now?
4. Plan (even if you don’t want to)
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” ― Yogi Berra, former New York Yankees catcher
Where health and fitness is concerned, it is vital that we have a goal and plan that includes habits that support our goals. Planning need not be complex. I tend to write up my goals for the week on a Sunday evening. Then I start each day early. After my morning dog walk, I sit down and make a plan for the day. Like most people, much of my day is highly structured. But those little slices of unstructured times can be either be frittered away on social media and mindless snacking or put to excellent use. To make sure I use ‘free’ time wisely, I make a plan.
Planning isn’t just about efficiency and meeting goals. Having a plan for the week ahead and staying ahead of the curve will always be advantageous; by knowing what’s coming up you can prepare in advance, take the guesswork out and leave few surprises – all of which help to reduce stress.
Having a routine around your day can help you manage your time better so that procrastination can be avoided and time can be better spent tackling big tasks and freeing up your mind. Along with that, planning allows you to create new habits and spend time doing things you love.
HOW TO BUILD A NEW ROUTINE
Make a list of all the things that you do in a day: morning routine, work, chores, and activities, even include the TV that you watch in the evenings.
Start small, maybe one or two things at a time. You don’t want to completely overhaul your life in one fell swoop, this can overwhelm you and hinder success. Once you’ve cemented these new habits try to add new ones until you are satisfied with how things are going.
Starting with the biggest changes first (eating the frog) will make all the other changes feel a lot easier for you to tackle. Beat the procrastination!
Although the idea of having a routine in life may sound boring, the truth is that we all live in a routine of some shape or form (whether we’re proactively shaping it, or not) – it’s life! Making an effort to work on building healthy habits and routines pays off in improving your time management, lifestyle, and health benefits.
When I go to bed at night (with my room cool and perfectly dark), I do a mental check on how my ‘health/fitness’ interest is ‘compounding’.
Did I make those choices that keep me on the path to good strength, mobility, and health into my old age? If not, I make a note to redirect and perfect the next day.
All the points mentioned above help us make healthy choices. Having more energy, less stress, more control over life, better control of mental health, and a higher sense of achievement, can ensure we make better choices and be less likely to lead to emotional eating and binges.
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