I’m sure we all have had the experience of setting resolutions only to berate ourselves for failing to achieve them.

There is a lot of science behind why this happens, but the great news is that there are also proven ways of ensuring we set ourselves up for success when we want to make a positive change in our life.

The key is to think ‘small and compound’ and to be patient.

We often fall into the trap of thinking we must make sweeping changes to improve our well-being, when making small 1% changes over time proves much more successful in the long run.

This philosophy of ‘atomic change and marginal gains’ completely transformed the fate of the British Cycling team in 2008, breaking a 110-year losing streak.

Remember though, small changes won’t return instant gratification, they need to build over time, and mastery takes patience. But a small daily practice of self-care can suddenly have a transformational impact when a threshold is crossed.

I recommend this short podcast with Dr Rangan Chatterjee, who tells a brilliant anecdote about one of his patients about precisely this ‘small change’ transformation (15 min listen).

For habits to stick, they have to be frictionless. We have to be able to fit them into our daily environment or routine with ease.

People often decide what to do next based on what they have just finished doing. And when we do something regularly enough, it becomes both automatic and sometimes so sacred to us that we make a small, personal ritual of it. We make a cup of coffee; we may wash up the cup automatically without thinking, but we may also relish the moment of pause that the coffee break provides.

When forming a breathwork practice, we can use this connectedness of behaviour to our advantage. James Clear writes that one of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current routine you do everyday and stack on top of this.

If you practise breathwork every day, what difference might this make?

In order to create a successful, regular breathwork practice habit, I suggest we start with a small guided practice of 15 minutes.

My advice for making this habitual is to begin your day with a morning practice. Make space in the morning, set your alarm and rather than pick up your phone and start browsing take yourself to your breathing space.

Try not to beat yourself up if you don’t do this every day but really commit to trying to. You may find it easier to make your practice habitual in the evening so play with it and see what works best for you. In the Breathing Tree Membership hub we have uploaded a collection of guided exercises to help you build your practice.

Book of the month: Atomic Habits by James Clear