One powerful way to create habit change is to tell yourself that you are no longer the type of person that does the old habit.
You could choose one day to identify as ‘healthy’ and in your mind, if a healthy person does not choose the cheesecake over the fruit salad, making the decision to be healthy can actually work to have you choose the fruit salad. The next day you might choose eggs and vegetables over cereal, and each and every day you will continually to choose healthier habits.
I have heard this with business building as well. Let’s say you are building a business that you envision will one day have 4 staff to serve 20 people per month. To reach your goal, you may need to bring on your 4 staff before you actually reach 20 people, because without them you will not have the capacity to reach your goal. Or, if you envision spending $1,000/month on marketing when you reach 20 clients per month, you might need to start spending that much well before you have 20 clients per month, otherwise you may not get there.
Sometimes, to create change, we must act ‘as if’ the change has happened before it has. We need to create the environment within which the real change can happen.
What changes are you trying to effect in your own life? What is the finished environment that you envision? What steps can you make now to create that environment to ultimately create that change?