1. JANUARY MAKE IT A HABIT! For the month of January, we will focus on establishing habits. The following pages contain verbiage, tips, a printable poster and other articles and resources that you can reference and share with your co-workers and employees.

2. WHAT AND WHY: Habits can be extremely useful and it would be pretty impossible to run our lives without them. They automate many of the routine activities in our lives and free up our minds so that we are capable of concentrating on higher level activities. But habits can also make it easy for us to default to some behaviors that we would be better off without. Good habits serve to create routine, order and efficiency. Unfortunately bad habits have the opposite effect and can lock us into negative or rigid patterns of behavior. Bad habits such as overeating, smoking or driving too fast can be damaging to our health and wellbeing. As we kick off the new year, let’s take some time to think about our routines and habits and perhaps select one that we could do without. [INSERT INFORMATION ABOUT THIS MONTH’S ACTIVITY, WHERE TO SIGN UP AND HOW TO START.]

3. IDEAS FOR ACTIVITIES: Make space on a wall in your breakroom or copy room for staff to share a 2016 goal. They can write it on a post-it note and stick it to the wall. Sharing your goals “out loud” makes you accountable. Establish a company wide New Year’s Resolution and take deliberate steps (perhaps delegate steps) throughout the year to make sure you are achieving it as an organization.

4. VIDEOS: TED talk by Matt Cutts, engineer at Google: http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days TEDx Talk by Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMbsGBlpP30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMbsGBlpP30 OTHER RESOURCES: Keep track of all of your daily habits with the Lift app. This app allows you to check off each habit that you’ve done and it keeps track of everything for you, giving you a chance to see your progression. It also offers community support.Lift app HabitForge is a website that allows you to simply set your habits and make progress towards them each and every day.HabitForge Time is everything when it comes to habits. That’s why at the end of the day, it’s good to write down everything that you’ve done in order to give yourself a pat on the back. That’s where iDoneThis comes in. Instead of making a to-do list, you make a to-done list at the end of the day, empowering you for accomplishing stuff. iDoneThis

5. THE MORE YOU KNOW! 25 TIPS, TIDBITS OF TRIVIA AND TWEETS ABOUT ESTABLISHING HABITS. SHARE ONE VIA EMAIL EACH DAY OR POST THEM NEXT TO THE WATER COOLER. 1.Commit to 30 Days – Three to four weeks is all the time you need to make a habit automatic. 2.Make it Daily – Consistency is critical if you want to make a habit stick. If you want to start exercising, go to the gym every day for your first 30 days. 3.Start Simple – Don’t try to completely change your life in one day. If you wanted to study two hours a day, first make the habit to go for 30 minutes and build on that. 4.Remind Yourself – Around two weeks into your commitment it can be easy to forget. Place reminders to execute your habit each day or you might miss a few days. 5.Stay Consistent – The more consistent your habit the easier it will be to stick. If you want to start exercising, try going at the same time, to the same place for your 30 days. 6.Get a Buddy – Find someone who will go along with you and keep you motivated if you feel like quitting. 7.Form a Trigger – A trigger is a ritual you use right before executing your habit. If you wanted to wake up earlier, this could mean waking up in exactly the same way each morning.

6. MORE TIPS: 8. Replace Lost Needs – If you are giving up something in your habit, make sure you are adequately replacing any needs you’ve lost. If watching television gave you a way to relax, you could take up meditation or reading as a way to replace that same need. 9.Use “But” – A prominent habit changing therapist once told me this great technique for changing bad thought patterns. When you start to think negative thoughts, use the word “but” to interrupt it. “I’m no good at this, but, if I work at it I might get better later.” 10.Remove Temptation – Restructure your environment so it won’t tempt you in the first 30 days. Remove junk food from your house, cancel your cable subscription, throw out the cigarettes so you won’t need to struggle with willpower later. 11.Associate With Role Models – Spend more time with people who model the habits you want to mirror. 12.Run it as an Experiment – Withhold judgment until after a month has past and use it as an experiment in behavior. Experiments can’t fail, they just have different results so it will give you a different perspective on changing your habit.

7. MORE TIPS: 13. Visualize yourself performing the bad habit. Next visualize yourself pushing aside the bad habit and performing an alternative. Finally, end that sequence with an image of yourself in a highly positive state. For example, see yourself picking up the cigarette, see yourself putting it down and snapping your fingers, finally visualize yourself running and breathing free. 14. Write it Down – A piece of paper with a resolution on it isn’t that important. Writing that resolution is. Writing makes your ideas more clear and focuses you on your end result. 15. Know the Benefits – Familiarize yourself with the benefits of making a change. Get books that show the benefits of regular exercise. Notice any changes in energy levels after you take on a new diet. 16. Know the Pain – You should also be aware of the consequences. Exposing yourself to realistic information about the downsides of not making a change will give you added motivation. 17. Do it For Yourself – Don’t worry about all the things you “should” have as habits. Instead tool your habits towards your goals and the things that motivate you. Weak guilt and empty resolutions aren’t enough.

8. MORE TIPS: 18. If the reward is positive, then you’ll want to repeat the routine again the next time the reminder happens. Repeat the same action enough times and it becomes a habit. 19. Don’t start today, give yourself time to plan first. The absolute worst day to start is today because you haven’t prepared yourself mentally, physically, or emotionally yet. The second worst day to start is tomorrow. Give yourself enough upfront time to plan out your approach in detail before jumping in headfirst. 20. Be OK with the awkward phase. Many new habits have some level of awkwardness involved. You don’t know what to do or how to do it. Everyone goes through it, you’re not special! Just move through the awkwardness knowing you’ll come out OK on the other side. 21. Reframe your negative self-talk. Don’t identify with negativity! Whenever you have a moment of weakness, think, “Those thoughts aren’t me, they’re just passing through. I don’t actually believe that.” 22. Schedule priorities rather than prioritize schedules. In other words, make time for it! If it’s important to you, don’t let your schedule get in the way. That’s just starting off on the wrong foot.

9. MORE TIPS: 23. Be Imperfect – Don’t expect all your attempts to change habits to be successful immediately. 24. Tell other people and hold yourself accountable. It’s always a smart thing to tell people what you’re doing (other than your own ego). Ask them to ask you how you’re doing with it from time to time knowing that you won’t always be as motivated to change as you are at that moment. 25. The 3 R’s of Habit Change: 1) Reminder (the trigger that initiates the behavior). 2) Routine (the behavior itself; the action you take). 3) Reward (the benefit you gain from doing the behavior). 26. Set yourself up for success. If your habit is going to the gym in the morning, lay out your clothes the night before that way you’ll be less likely to skip out going to the gym.

10. APPENDIX: We can’t take all of the credit. In compiling this information, we referenced the following organizations and websites: www.lifehack.org www.refocuser.com www.99c.com www.jamesclear.com oucampusrec.wordpress.com make-or-break-habits.com