There have been countless studies on habits and their close cousin, willpower, giving us insight into how people form, and keep habits. Did you realise that science shows our habits are ‘etched’ into our brains?

Once a particular action or set of actions have become a habit, they create a neural pathway that reinforces and maintains our behaviour. While this is fascinating in itself, what’s important to consider is that science also shows us how to build new neural pathways of good habits.

Good habits that can, for example, help you create the life you want to live. For example, let’s say you’ve decided to build wealth by investing in houses. How would you get started?

You could find an agent, plunk down your life savings, cross your fingers and hope for the best, or you could learn how to study a marketplace, learn what to look for in terms of property type, etc.

Which tactic do you think would give better results…more assured results?

Obviously, the more you learn about investing in houses the better your chances of success, right?

What Does This Have To Do With Habits?

When you nurture those actions that lead to wealth creation they’ll soon become second nature, leading you to automatically (habitually) do those things that can help you build wealth.

For example, wealthy individuals are known to live below their means. They don’t have to think about it, they simply spend less than they earn, save what they need and invest the remainder.

If they’re investing in houses, they make it a habit to keep abreast of their investments and routinely look for ways to improve their returns.

❝When you nurture those actions that lead to wealth creation they’ll soon become second nature❞

Making New Habits

Contrary to conventional wisdom, it doesn’t take 21 days to form a new habit. It takes a minimum of 21 days.

More often, individuals report that it takes as few as two months to as many as eight months – sometimes longer – to form a new habit.

While this might sound discouraging, it’s important to note that research shows forgetting now and then does not impact your ability to form a new habit. What is important is to stick with it.

Keeping Your New Habits

Consider investing in houses. You’re obviously going to need to do a good bit of research to be successful, right? And all of that research takes time and effort, so unless you’re one of those rare individuals who has nothing to do all day but sit around, you’ve got to find a way to fit yet one more thing into your already busy life.

How could you possibly add one more thing? By attaching your new habit to something you’re already doing.

Let’s say you’ve got the habit of getting up early before heading off to work. You sit down with a cup of your favourite beverage and hop onto the net to read your emails.

What if you added a bit of property research to your morning routine? Instead of delegating your research to only the weekends – or the days you’re off work – you give yourself more time to study the markets and look for investment properties that are a good fit.

Take some time and think about your situation and goals. Are there habits you have right now that you can tie new ones to?

Start small. Trying to make too many changes at once is not only overwhelming, it won’t help your new wealth creation habits stick any better than if you’d simply added them one by one.

Just like investing in property, forming new habits is a lifetime process, but unlike property investing, you have complete control of the outcome.

Sue is the Head of Education and Director of Postive Real Estate (NZ) Ltd and also one of NZ's leading experts with a diverse knowledge of all aspects of property investing. Sue spent the last 15 + years immersed in the property market. Sue speaks at and runs many property events and has mentored many of New Zealand’s leading investors. Sue works with her investing clients to assist them to grow and enhance their portfolios, whilst keeping her eye on their end goal - financial freedom and choice. sue.irons@positiverealestate.co.nz