The best way to make health work is to make it a habit. Committing health to habit can put your healthy decisions on autopilot. This means you'll do them without really thinking about them, which can make health so much easier!
You can harness the power of healthy habits in your employee wellness program. Employees with healthy habits are healthier because it's easier for them to make good decisions. Outside of all the benefits of a healthy workforce, your employees could be less stressed about wellness and therefore more engaged with your wellness program.
One way to encourage healthy habits is to educate your employees on the best ways to create those habits. There are lots of things employees can do to commit healthy behaviors to habit and put those behaviors on autopilot.
Set Small Goals
Starting with a huge goal can be incredibly overwhelming. Focusing on small, progressive goals makes the tasks seem within reach and easier to accomplish. It also sets you up for lots of wins and celebrations along the way.
Use Triggers
Triggers are anything that leads you to automatically do something else. If you lay out your workout gear before you go to bed, you'll see it in the morning. The gear serves as a trigger to head to the gym as soon as you wake up.
Be Prepared
Set yourself up for success! Be sure you have all of the equipment and supplies you'll need to make healthy choices. One great example is to make leftover dinner in the evening so you can use it for the next day's lunch. That way you're not solely relying on your willpower to avoid unhealthy choices at the drive thru.
Set Priorities
Priorities help you to focus on what matters. Everybody's health journey means something different to them. Remember why you started in the first place and keep that top of mind as you make healthy choices throughout the day.
Make Steady Change
There will be setbacks, slipups and mistakes. That happens! The most important thing is to ensure you're always making steady progress forward. A slipup is not a failure, and even the smallest step in the right direction can be a huge step for your healthy lifestyle.
Identify Harmful Patterns
If you haven't pointed out the things that are sabotaging your healthy lifestyle, how can you overcome them? Take the time to identify the things that are standing in the way of your healthy behaviors. That way you know exactly what you're up against.
Reinforce Good Decisions
Celebrate! It's fun and it feels good, but it is also a very important part of reinforcing healthy habits. Your body and your mind like to be rewarded. Rewarding yourself for good decisions makes you WANT to make even more good decisions.
Healthy habits can be an absolute asset to any health journey. Making healthy choices can be hard. The more of those healthy choices you can put on autopilot, the easier the process will be.
Encourage healthy habits among your workforce by teaching your employees how to commit healthy behaviors to habit. Give them the tools they need to make the process as easy as possible!
What healthy behaviors have you created habits out of?