Every day I talk to someone who is hell-bent on making a change, upsetting the apple cart, and DESTROYING the status-quo. Unfortunately (for them, and for the world in general) most of it ends up being useless rhetoric and empty promises.

Usually, the failure of this success to materialise is predicated on a simple notion: a new habit must be formed, and never is.

If you want to lose weight, new habits of exercise and eating must be developed.

If you want to earn money, maybe your day needs to be scheduled differently and you need to wake up much earlier, once again relying on change.

I could go on, but everyone knows this story anyway. I know it from YEARS of personal experience. I was overweight for a large period of my life until 26 years of age and I had a plethora of time-wasting and negative habits deeply engrained in my daily ritual.

Friends who have known me long enough would be able to attest to how flaky, lazy, and generally useless I was. I know what you’re thinking though: “But Laz, you’re such a go-getter and a picture of perfect health and so motivated, and just such an awesome guy, I can’t believe you were EVER like this!!!”

Thanks guys, but here’s the crux: to make meaningful change, new habits must be formed, and the following 3 tips are what I believe to be the key-

1. Become accountable!

“No man is an island” is a book written by Thomas Merton, but forget the content inside — the title is a killer! You need to find a people in your life who are on the same page, pushing for similar things. Then, agree with those people that you will keep each other in check with your commitment (whether it be going to gym, studying, whatever) and have open and honest REGULAR communication with them to share your progress. Nothing is more motivating than not wanting to let another person down.

2. Marry the habit to a long term goal

In my own personal health & fitness journey, I didn’t set out to get shredded for a music festival, or to impress a girl. I saw myself in a picture, freaked out because I realised just how unhealthy I looked (and was honest with myself about how I felt because of this as well) and decided that I needed to change for my quality of life when I get older. Music festivals and girls come and go, and if you throw your hopes and dreams on the back of these things you’re bound to fail once you realise the fickle nature of them. By latching on to something longer-term, even if you experience some bumps in the road, it’s easy to stay on track overall by reminding yourself it’s for the big picture, and not 1 climactic event.

3. Regulate your emotions

This is probably THE most important one of all. Emotions are part of who we are. We react to things every day, every minute, based on external or subconscious stimulus and past experiences. Building a habit is NOT easy. Forget all those statistics people throw around about how many days it takes to form or destroy a habit. It’s different for everyone, but there is a universal law that applies regardless: no meaningful change is easy.

If you let yourself get caught up in disappointment, or even worse get overly confident about “killing it”, you WILL fail. Think about the tortoise and the hare — slow and steady wins the race. Sure, celebrate the wins along the way, and learn from your mistakes, but constantly remind yourself that it’s a marathon and not a sprint.

None of this is ground-breaking and new. But maybe, just maybe, I’ve worded it in a way that resonates with you and hopefully you can put these keys into practice!