How to own your habits so your habits don’t own you with Sandra Chuma
If you have been trying to incorporate more exercise into your life you know exactly how challenging it can be to build the habit. Our habits make us who we are, so it’s important to intentionally cultivate good habits.
Our guest today is Sandra Chuma, a coach and certified habit-building expert. In this episode, she answers some of the most frequent questions I get surrounding habits: how to create habits that stick, how to break bad habits, and how many habits we should work on building at once.
Sandra provides us with a number of practical tips that we can implement today. Press play to discover her wealth of inspiration and knowledge.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in…
- How Sandra got into coaching [3:42]
- How to know where to start [8:33]
- How many habits to crate at one time [20:05]
- How to stop bad habits [27:40]
- Breathwork hour [37:52]
- What people forget about building habits [42:22]
Sandra Chuma helps others build an extraordinary life
Sandra Chuma is a repeat guest. We discussed habits on episode 74 and she had such great advice that I knew I had to have her back on the show. Sandra is a coach, a mentor, a serial entrepreneur, a podcaster, and a documentarian.
She became an expert on habits after reading Dr. BJ Fogg’s book, Tiny Habits. Since his book so inspired her, she was motivated to learn more. That’s when she studied with Dr. Fogg to become a certified habit coach so that she could share what she was learning with others.
Her passion is helping people step into their greatest version of themselves. Her goal is to help others create an extraordinary life for themselves.
How do we know where to start?
When people decide to build a new habit they sometimes feel that they must go big or go home. They go all in to achieve the best results. However, the truth is, habits are cumulative. Starting small and sticking to it will actually yield greater results than trying to overdo it and stopping a few months later.
To understand how behaviors are created you can use the Fogg behavior model with the acronym MAP.
- M is for motivation – Your motivation is what drives you to create the habit. While it is important to have motivation to get started, solely relying on your motivation will ultimately end in failure.
- A is for action – Make it as easy as possible for yourself to take action. Give yourself as little friction as possible. See how you can make your habit easy to do. Is it something that can be done in five or ten minutes? Small changes can yield mighty results
- P is for prompt – Look for a cue or trigger that will prompt you to do the habit you are trying to build. Should you build your habit as soon as you wake up? Should you put a reminder on your phone? No behavior happens without a prompt or trigger.
It is also important to acknowledge your efforts. Celebrate your wins and your milestones. Reinforce the good you are doing with a small celebration. This is another way to train your mind.
How many habits to create at one time
When we get started creating new habits we may tend to overdo it. Rather than chasing too many things, consider dialing in on one particular habit that could be a lynchpin for the rest of your life. By finding that keystone habit to focus on, it could lead you to make better choices throughout your day.Â
Sandra asks herself three questions each day. Want to know what they are? Listen in! When you’re done listening to this episode take a screenshot and tag us @WeAreLindywell and @Sandra.Chuma!
What habit are you going to start building today?Â
Resources & People Mentioned
- Episode 74: Are your habits helping or hurting you? with Sandra Chuma
- BOOK – Atomic Habits by James Clear
- BOOK – Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg
- BOOK – Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It by Kamal Ravikant
- BJ Fogg
Connect with Sandra Chuma
- SandraChuma.com
- IAmWorthy.com
- @Sandra.Chuma on Instagram
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