Building a New Habit

Welcome, 2024! As we settle into another year, I have a little story to share from 2023 about brushing my teeth. Yes, you read that right, brushing my teeth.

There are lessons to learn, I promise.

Let me take you back to January 2021. One of my goals for the new year was to take better care of my oral health.

What prompted this, you may ask? A friend asked me, “If you lived the best version of yourself, what would that look like?” One tangible thing that immediately popped into my head is I would have great oral health. As a busy mom and business owner, I was guilty of occasionally skipping my before-bed toothbrushing and just getting my head on my pillow as soon as possible. I set out to change that.

I had one goal: to brush my teeth before bed 355 out of 365. That gave me room to be consistent but not necessarily perfect.

1. Framed my mindset

   I’m a huge fan of James Clear’s Atomic Habits. If you haven’t read it yet, let this be your sign. In the book, Clear says that every decision you make throughout the day casts a vote in one direction or another. You don’t need to have a perfect day, but you’re making progress as long as you have more votes cast in the direction you want to go. I applied the same logic to my year. 355 out of 365 seemed much more feasible.

2. Determined my action steps

   Clear also recommends breaking your big goals down into small goals. Big goal: better oral health. Small goal: brushing my teeth consistently before bed.

   This is a core principle in strategic planning. I’m guilty of having an all-or-nothing mindset, and lots of my clients are the same way. However, it’s so much easier to climb the mountain by taking it one step at a time rather than trying to leap your way to the top.

3. Incorporated it into something I was already doing

   Clear then suggests tacking your new habit onto something you’re already doing. What am I already doing? Getting ready for bed. What am I tacking on? Brushing my teeth. Nice and simple.

4. Upped the challenge

   During my toothbrushing journey, I listened to Jim Kwik’s audiobook, Limitless. Kwik says our brains are wired to do hard things. If we make a simple task more challenging, it helps make challenging tasks seem more simple. After I got consistent with regularly brushing my teeth, I started making it harder by brushing my teeth with my non-dominant hand.

5. Made it obvious

   I’m not a fan of having clutter on my counter, but I purposely left my toothbrush on the counter to serve as a consistent reminder. It’s like the opposite of the classic saying “out of sight, out of mind.”

6. Made it fun

   Lastly, I made it fun and permitted myself to treat myself to an awesome toothbrush and some dental floss I liked, which I incorporated once built my consistency. I also permitted myself to do some trial and error with toothpaste until I found one I liked.

I learned a lot from my little experiment.

First, I discovered my toothbrush and toothpaste preferences.

Second, I learned I am capable of building up a habit over time.

Third, it holds true that small, consistent steps yield big results.

Fourth, dedication is more important than perfection.

Thank you for reading my story. My toothbrushing journey led to nice compliments from my dentist and a steady routine that’ll stick with me for life. I hope this little story inspires you to take a step toward living your best version of yourself in 2024.