Building and maintaining new habits can seem like a challenge at any time of year – let alone when the cold, dark autumnal mornings make getting out of bed on time an Olympic-level feat. 

But we’ll let you in on a secret: introducing new healthy activities into your routine doesn’t have to feel like a slog if you take the right approach.

Whether you want to start going on more walks or increase the variety of plants you cook with, there’s a simple method you can follow to make new habits stick and maintain old habits that are serving you well: the ‘launch pad’ method. 

Designed to remove some of the barriers that might typically stand in the way of a healthy lifestyle, it’s great for helping you build and maintain habits that don’t naturally fit into your current lifestyle. For example, getting out of the house after work to go for a run, or carving out time in the morning to do some breathwork. 

The launch pad method is all about using cues in your environment to ease the transition between your current lifestyle and your new habit. It’s split into two key components: launch pads and landing pads.

To get started, you need to first identify the healthy habit you want to introduce or maintain. Gosia Bowling, mental health lead at Nuffield Health, recommends keeping things simple.

“For something to become a habit, you need to identify what healthy behaviour you want to implement most,” she tells Strong Women. “The more habits you try to implement at once, the less likely you are to succeed as far more effort will be required to keep these up. You can repeat this method on a regular basis to build more.”

It’s at this point when you can really get down to work by identifying your launch pads and landing pads. Your launch pad, says Bowling, should be a change to your environment that sets you up for success – a stepping stone towards the habit you want to build. 

For example, if you want to eat healthier, your launch pad might be prepping your meals ahead of time, so you have food waiting for you as soon as you’re hungry. On the other hand, if you want to start running once a week, you might lay out your clothes the night before and ensure you have the right kit for all weather conditions to stop you from bailing when it’s wet or cold.  

On the flipside, your landing pad should provide you with a space to reflect, record and reward your behaviour. “These can be useful in encouraging a habit to continue, as you often feel satisfied that a habit is going well or can motivate yourself to do better next week,” Bowling explains.

Using the previous examples, a healthy eating landing pad might be having a meal plan up in your kitchen that you can ‘tick off’ as you go through the week, while a running landing pad may simply be tracking your runs on Strava. Your landing pad should also involve rewards, Bowling adds – these should be whatever makes you feel good about your progress and drives you to keep going when things feel hard.  

The launch pad method’s effectiveness lies in its ability to make habit building simple and pain-free, Bowling explains. “Positive behaviour change is much easier if your environment supports your goals,” she says. “This includes having handy ‘triggers’ or ‘cues’ which can influence your behaviour until it becomes a habit.”

She continues: “By focusing on one healthy habit at once, changing your environment to make it easier to do it and rewarding yourself when you make progress, you will find it takes much less motivation to stick to. You can then choose another healthy habit to build once it’s part of your routine.” 

Follow these simple steps to get started with the launch pad method yourself.

1. Pick a healthy habit you want to build or maintain.
2. Identify your launch pad – something you can put in place that’ll make following your desired routine a little easier or stand in the way of the bad habit you’re trying to stop.
3. Identify your landing pad – find a way to reflect on your behaviours that’s easy to access and engages your brain. Ensure you’ve got rewards in mind to celebrate your success, too.
4. Repeat until the habit feels like second nature. 

Images: Getty