Monday Campaign: Health Monday Refresh, Step 3: Make It Happen

It’s Monday, our day to refresh! What’s today’s plan for increasing your likelihood of success?

NOVA’s Office of Employee Wellness and Wellbeing (OEWW) invites you to take steps to improve, maintain or alter your chosen wellness habits.  

Create your roadmap to success with the Healthy Monday Refresh, Steps 1–3. 

1. Set/reset your intention.
2. Pick an action.
3. Make it happen.

Let’s break down Step 3: Make it happen.
Now that you’ve taken steps (1) setting or resetting your intention and (2) picking an action, let’s consider how to activate your plan. There are tons of strategies and tips available to help you move from plan to action. OEWW joins many other wellness voices in acknowledging the scientifically proven concept of “habit stacking” as one of the best ways to make your plans come to life. 

The idea behind habit stacking is simple: incorporate a new behavior into your daily schedule by “stacking it” on top of an existing habit. Attaching a new behavior to something you already do regularly can help you work the new behavior into your routine; by leveraging the momentum of your established behaviors, you’re able to more seamlessly incorporate new ones.

The Neuroscience Behind Habit Stacking
Habit stacking works by capitalizing on the brain’s neural pathways and reward system. Pairing a new behavior with a well-established habit leverages the brain’s inherent pattern recognition capabilities and preference for automating desired actions. This mechanism reduces the daily decision burden and lessens the cognitive load. Essentially, by consistently pairing a new behavior with an existing habit, your brain associates the two activities. This automation lessens the mental effort needed to progressively turn that new behavior into an established habit. 

Want to learn more about habit stacking?

• Check out these examples from the Monday Campaigns:
  • Habit-Stack Your Way to More Movement (Move It Monday)
  • Habit-Stack Your Way to a More Relaxed Monday (DeStress Monday)
• Incorporate suggestions from the following informative articles:
  • “How to Build New Habits by Taking Advantage of Old Ones” 
  • “Identity-Based Habits: How to Actually Stick to Your Goals This Year”
• Level up: 
  • Sign up for The Science of Happiness Good Habits Challenge 2024 to receive science-backed tips on making and keeping good habits via email. 
  • Check out these books, intended to help individuals incorporate more healthy behaviors into their lives without disrupting their everyday routines.  
    • Atomic Habits by James Clear, who pioneered the concept of habit stacking.
    • Tiny Habits by B.J. Fogg is another great resource to help you compound your habits.

Change is within your reach. If you slip up during the week, accept it as part of the process of change; simply reset and get back on track! And remember, use the Monday Check-In to help bolster your wellness efforts. Each week, take what you need and leave what you don’t!

Submitted by:
Dahlia Henry-Tett, Chief Wellness Officer (CWO), employeewellbeing@nvcc.edu