Tracking is essential for building any habit, and I find physical tracking works much better than digital. And why not make it colorful? Color creates more significant psychological and physiological responses in our nervous system versus plain black and white. According to an article by Greg Moon in Scientific American, “Psychologists have found that colors enhance an individual’s visual memory.” Creating a new habit is, after all, training the brain to adopt a new memory, a new normal. The more we remember doing something, the more likely we are to repeat the action.

Through a lot of experimentation, I found that limiting the number of new habits to 5 is best. And since using a tracking sheet will be a new habit, that counts as one of the 5. Attached is a PDF of the tracking sheet I use (click this link).

Here are the guidelines that improve success with using a tracking sheet:

1. Place the tracking sheet where you can easily see it every day. I use the backside of my medicine cabinet in the bathroom.
2. Show up every day. Daily tracking is essential to keep you on track and focused on what you want to accomplish. Even if you do not check off any other habits, you’ll get a star for just visiting the tracking sheet. That is still building one new habit.
3. Use colorful markings unique to each habit you’re trying to create. I like to use old-school foil stars, which you can find in most drug stores or Ace Hardware. I have also used markers and highlighters to the same positive effect.
4. This is a cheerleading tool only. Be kind to yourself and approach it like routing for a friend. Creating new habits is one of the hardest things to do; it takes time and patience. Besides, just doing this exercise is more than many people do today. Bravo!
5. Do what works for you. Marking my tracking sheet first thing in the morning for the previous day is best for me. I’m tired at the end of the day and will forget. Experiment and find when you’re most likely to stay consistent with this exercise.

Best of luck, and remember that this is not easy work. Set the bar low and aim for momentum rather than building Rome in a day. I’d love to hear about your progress! Drop me a line at one of the links below, and let me know how it’s going!

If you haven’t already, subscribe to the email list and stay up to date on new content. Plus! I’ll send you a great tool I developed to create momentum when I am feeling stuck.