Bouncing back into your habits
March 2025
Habits are really useful, but sometimes you need a break. Maybe you caught a cold and needed some rest, maybe you went on holiday for a couple of weeks, who knows? There are many reasons why you might take a break, and that’s OK. There is a caveat, though, once you break your habits, coming back to them isn’t as easy as it might look.
This article describes some strategies to come back to your habits at your own pace and avoiding feeling guilty.
With that in mind, let’s get on with it!
Forgive yourself
When you stop working on yourself, it’s only natural to see it as a failure. It’s important to understand that it isn’t. A study by Phillippa Lally, Cornelia H. M. van Jaarsveld, Henry W. W. Potts, and Jane Wardle shows that failing to do the action doesn’t have a significant impact on getting the habit to stuck. This means that you can allow yourself to fail from time to time because what’s important is the long run, not the hiccup in the way.
Forgive yourself and focus on enjoying the path. Think about how much progress you made before stopping, to overcome your current state and start thinking about doing it again.
Take your time
It’s important to take your time and care about yourself. If you stopped, it was for a good reason. Reflect on it and don’t rush into coming back to action. Wait until you think you are ready and only then, come back to it.
Start from the beginning
The easiest way to come back on track is by thinking small. You don’t need to pick up from where you left it, you just have to start to work again on setting up the new habit.
Basically, love yourself and try again :)
That’s all!