When helping clients with setting up effective life systems, I hear this question: “How do I stick to my routines during vacation?”
While there is no size fits all answer – each of my clients is in a different stage of habit development and has different goals, motivations, different lifestyles, I pondered this question a bit and came up with 5 tips that are simple and generally applicable.
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Here they are:
No.1: BALANCE. First things first. The whole purpose of holidays is to experience NEW things, depart from standard routines, and do stuff that you normally do not get to do. In other words, it’s about coming out of your bubble. From my experience, I dare to say, that it almost wouldn’t make sense to go on holiday, if you were to do the exact same things, repeat the same routines and habits, you are doing at home. So the best tip on how to stay on track (long-term) is to sometimes go off the track (short-term). Striking the right balance is the key.
No.2: KEEP IT SIMPLE. What I, however, think is also not useful, is to completely fall off the wagon and put in jeopardy all your hard work. While keeping the balanced approach, you may want to pick a few healthy rituals that will elevate your vacation experience. I recommend keeping it simple and choosing 2-3 habits max that you are confident you can stick to without too much hustle (see point 4 for more context).
No 3: KEYSTONE HABITS. When picking up what habits you want to maintain while on holiday – focus on keystone habits. Keystone habits are single habits that positively affect more areas of your life. For example, exercise has clear physical benefits, but it has been proven to trigger other positive effects such as better eating habits, lowered stress, and less substance abuse. So when picking your habits – try to focus on habits like this and leverage your efforts (and results) with their ripple effect.
No4: PLAN: Once you choose your habits, it’s a good idea to plan how you will go about them. Preparation supports execution. In other words: planning can turn “I will try” into “I will”. So think about operational stuff and modalities like what, where, when, and how. You do not want to end up on holiday with frustration that you can’t go for a run because you didn’t take your running shoes, smartwatch, and headphones… And yes, this may sound trivial but from my client work, I know for a fact that exactly these types of “beginners mistakes” can cause trouble. So back to basics – plan it!
No. 5: STICK TO IT. Once you made the decision on what habits you would like to cultivate during your holidays – I seriously urge you to stick to them. Make sure it’s non-negotiable for you. If you perceive even the slightest hesitation about your ability to carry on your plan, then I’d suggest you go to points 1 & 2 and re-evaluate whether the plan is balanced and simple. Otherwise, you will fail to live up to your promise. It’s actually not about what you do – but why you do it. The real harm is not in the skipped workout – but in the impact on your confidence. I am sure you do not want to spend your holidays thinking about how you didn’t go for that run in the morning and obsessing about that extra dessert you had. This would just deprive you of the possibility to be fully in the present moment and can cause anxiety.
So summing up all this – the best tip I can give you to get the best of both worlds (keep your habits/results intact and enjoy holidays) is this: Set clear expectations, strike the balance, keep it simple & get organized and finally keep your promises!
And if you still find all of this too hard, then let’s hop on a call and prepare a strategy for you!
![](https://dominikafasolo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/25608/2022/04/1-1024x536.png)
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