5 Tips for Developing Healthy Habits

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Prevention is the best medicine, yet while we know preventing health issues is important, it’s often put off until it’s too late.

That’s because health prevention isn’t something we can just ‘do’. It’s the stacking of many minor changes and choices over time. In other words, if you want to integrate health prevention into your life, you need to focus on developing healthy habits.

These five tips will make it easier to create and stick with habits that will improve your life and well-being:

Visualize Your Goal
The first step in developing a new habit is to get clear on what you want to achieve and why. ‘Staying healthy’ or ‘feeling better’ are too vague to keep you motivated long-term. Start by thinking about the future to identify your goals and concerns. How do you want to feel as you get older? What ailments and diseases do you know you want to prevent, and what would you like to feel instead? Visualizing your desired outcome is a very useful tool in rewiring your brain for success.

Keep a Journal to Track Your Repetition
Repetition is key to building a new habit. Using a journal can be a great tool to keep you on track and focused. Not only will it motivate you to ‘not break the chain’, according to Sparkling Hill Resort’s Kinesiologist, Paul Bradshaw, “an accurate account of what you have been doing for the last few weeks or months helps to show you when and if you have made some progress.”

Identify Your Challenges
Bad habits usually don’t exist on their own. Notice the triggers for your bad habits and make a plan to combat them. Creating a new habit is about consistency, not perfection. You don’t need to feel guilty for missing a day or only exercising for 20 minutes when your goal was 30. If you hit a setback, try your best not to miss two days in a row. “The most important thing is not to give up, but to get up and try the new habit again,” says Dr. Pieter Strauss, Physician and Wellness Lead at Sparkling Hill.

Work Toward ‘Small Wins’
Creating a series of small wins can train your brain to view your new habit as a positive. Small chunks make a bigger goal more realistic. For example, if you would like a daily meditation practice, start first by choosing a time of day where you sit quietly for 1 minute. By making the small win easier to complete, you build up your record of consistency. Over time, challenge yourself to keep up the repetition with more and more difficult challenges until the habit no longer feels burdensome.

Remove Yourself from Your Environment
Forming a new habit requires plenty of focus, yet it’s easy to slip into autopilot in your normal routine. Getting away can help set you up for success when building new behaviours. The wellness packages at Sparkling Hill Resort can be customized to your goals, such as the new 5 Night Seniors Package or the 8 Day & 7 Night Be The Best You Retreat. Booking a wellness retreat gives you the opportunity to consult with wellness professionals and create momentum with your new lifestyle so you can make the necessary changes to your environment when you return home.

Take charge of your own health by focusing on preventative actions that lead to whole body wellness. To learn more about Sparkling Hill Resort’s unique offerings, sign up for their health & wellness newsletter or contact their Reservations Team at 1-877-275-1556 or [email protected].


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