Creating the life we want largely relies on our habits. These automatic behavioural responses influence how we think, problem solve and manage time but, the trouble is, habits are so engrained in the daily intricacies of our lives that we often don’t even realise we have them.

That can be a serious problem when you’re trying to reach a goal. Unhealthy habits can sneak in and slow down progress, when healthy habits that could help you make headway are not yet established.

The truth is, the majority of New Year Resolutions fail year after year, and though we all aspire to get fit for summer, achieve more work/life balance, start that course or learn a new language, our perpetual “to-do” lists get longer and longer and we seem to stray further and further away from our goals.

We all want to get rid of unhealthy habits and replace them with better ones, but that’s no easy task, even if you have a lot of motivation.

Motivation only takes you so far and trying to change or build numerous habits at once just isn’t realistic because of the amount of discipline and strategy involved. We’re more likely to succeed by focusing on one habit at a time and having the support of other people to keep us accountable.