Baby Steps - How to Build New Habits

If you change only 1% of anything per week, it will add up to 52% of change by the end of the year.

When Alex got hit by a car, she was unable to walk for the first few days due to the excruciating pain of the impact and a broken bone. She started PT in the hospital after a couple of days and was only able to go from the bed to the chair with a lot of help. By the time she left the hospital 6 days after the accident, she was able to walk very slowly a short distance down the hall using a walker that she affectionate named “Allen Walker” after an Anime character. Once she was released, she set a goal with the physical therapist to do one additional lap around our first floor each day with the walker. She pushed herself and had worked up to around 80 laps a day by the time she ditched the walker on Christmas Day. She also was able to do the stairs to move from the first floor guest room back to her bedroom on the second floor, just in time for her Grandma to visit for the holidays.

As part of her rehab, she also started walking on the treadmill and riding the exercise bike once she moved back upstairs. It’s incredible to think that she was unable to walk at all in November and some days has done 15 miles on the bike and a couple miles on the treadmill since then. She still has pain once in awhile, but has been a trooper!

Think about this when you are trying to change a habit and reach a goal, whether it’s exercising more, saving more, spending less or eating healthier. Try to change a little bit at a time but build consistently every week or every month. Set goals for what you want to change and try to have fun doing it as you build your progress, one baby step at a time!