Habit Tracker Printable to Help You Crush Your Goals

Inside: You can’t rely on sheer willpower to achieve success. Use our habit tracker printable to help you crush your goals by establishing good habits that set you up for success along the way. We have a version with suggested habits or a write-in version that you can personalize according to your own plan.

We’re creatures of habit, you and me. Think about it… most of your actions throughout the day are things you repeat every day. You have a routine and established habits, even if you think you don’t.

Maybe you’re the type of person to rise and shine early with a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other for some reflective time in the morning. Or perhaps you’re the type to hit the snooze button three times, have only five minutes to shower and get dressed and drive to work like a speeding maniac.

Your habits, good and bad, guide what you do every day. It’s no wonder that changing them in order to reach your goals is so difficult.

But it doesn’t have to be. Our healthy habits tracker can help you take the baby steps you need to crush your goals.

Why use a habit tracker printable?

We often think of goals in terms of action steps, but really, creating new habits is the most important thing you can do to set yourself up for success. It’s easy to go back to old thinking and old behaviors, so you need constant reinforcement that the habits you’re trying to create (or stop) are going to get you where you want to go.

Here’s how to train your brain to keep up with the good habits you’re trying to create and the bad ones you’re trying to stop:

1. Visually remind yourself of what you’re working on every day. That’s where this printable habit tracker comes in!
2. Plan and repeat these small changes (aka habits) so you can have small successes along the way.
3. Track your progress with each small success to teach your brain that you can succeed. Small wins have a big impact!

How long does it take to establish a habit?

You’ve probably heard for years that it takes 21 days to establish a habit. The truth is, it varies from person to person and from habit to habit. For example, if you want to create a habit of eating more fruit each day, it’s really easy to grab an apple or banana, even if you’re in a hurry. That habit would take no time to master.

But if you want to wake up at 5 AM every morning consistently and you normally wake up around 8 AM, that habit is going to take some work. You’ll adjust in 30-minute increments over the course of a few months to eventually get to that 5 AM goal.

According to one study, it takes, on average, about 66 days to establish a new habit to the point that it becomes sort of second nature. The range varies widely, however, from 18-254 days.

So give yourself some grace. Allow yourself ample time to develop good habits before moving on to the next one.

How to Use Habits to Reach Your Goals

When thinking of your ultimate goal, chunk it into small behaviors that will move you forward. Take time with each new behavior you want to start or old behavior you want to avoid. Don’t make drastic changes, and don’t be impatient.

Do you have a goal to lose 10 pounds this year? Add in the habit of going for a 30-minute walk every day, and you can get there in one year without making any other changes other than incorporating the healthy habit of more movement. (Assuming you burn 100 calories during that 30-minute walk.)

And if you miss a day? Don’t sweat it. Stay the course, review your tracker, and acknowledge all that you have accomplished so far. Remind your brain that you can do this so it won’t default to old behaviors to avoid the discomfort of change.

Bit by bit, you’ll shift your thinking and your behavior. You’ll create new habits. And those habits will lead you on the path to your goals.

Download the habit tracker HERE or by clicking on the pictures below.

How to use this healthy habits tracker:

Don’t feel like you have to fill out this sheet with new habits that you want to create all at once. In fact, if you do, you’ll probably set yourself up for failure.

Choose one or two habits to start with. If you need suggestions, our habits tracker covers the following:

• water intake
• exercise
• 8 hours of sleep each night
• no sugar
• no tech in bed
• daily meditation
• gratitude
• skin care
• reading

But maybe those aren’t the habits you want to work on. You’re in luck! We have a version where you fill in the habits YOU want to work on, so it’s completely customizable. Maybe you want to track saving $5 each day, or waking up by 6 AM every morning.

Trying to quit a habit? Record those on the tracker, too. For instance, record every day that you eliminate (or reduce your intake of) caffeine.

You can laminate this habit tracker printable to use again and again every month, or print out a fresh sheet for each month. You could also just add one or two habits to the same sheet every month until you’ve built lots of good habits over the year.

You could even add it to your bullet journal or the big-size happy planner if you have the hole punch tool.

You have so many options to make this work for you.

So let’s get started and make this the best year ever, one habit at a time.