As corporate counsel, you make important decisions for your company each day. Your direction makes ideas into reality for your company. Your judgment moves mountains. Why not move mountains in your own daily life?

Before getting into the five simple steps, here is an important pre-step to consider: You have to want to create a new habit. If you want to do it, it is possible. If you feel like you need to or you have to, it will be harder. If you've decided you truly want this new habit, you are ready for the five simple steps:

First, take five minutes to solidify a new reality in your mind. Think about and write down the following:

  • Something you've been meaning to start or quit doing. Even the ones you've failed at. What is the one habit that you really want to master before anything else?
  • What kind of impact this pattern, or lack thereof, is having on your life. Is it making you feel groggy? Grumpy? Sluggish? Not a 100 percent? Acknowledge these negative feelings and forgive yourself. It is OK to feel subpar. It is OK to not feel great. There is no shame in feeling like there is something you can improve on. Without this desire, progress rarely happens.
  • What this new habit is going to do for your life. Will you be a completely new person? Will you have a little more of the ever-elusive time you've been looking for? Will you be more effective at work? Will you feel like a better spouse or parent? Will you feel stronger? Will you feel lighter? Will you feel happier? Explain how you will feel once this habit is a daily part of your life and why.
  • A present-tense statement of where you are because of your new habit. Act as if you are already there. Describe it in detail. Is there a plate of food in front of you? Are you at a party? Are you at a gym? Are you in the bathroom? What is the decision that you make? How does that decision make you feel? Who are you as a result of that decision? Example: “I am sitting at my brown dining table with my family, and I have just eaten a delicious meal of vegetable curry. There is carrot cake, my favorite, sitting in front of me, and I choose not to eat it at that time because I am full. I know it will be more delicious tomorrow afternoon with my favorite tea rather than now. I know that when I eat more than my body desires, I have trouble digesting and sleeping at night.”

Second, make this new reality in your mind come to life in the world. Where in the 24 hours you have in the day will you make space for this new reality? In your mind, you are already there, where you want to be. It is time to transfer it into reality that you can see.

  • If it is a habit that you are trying to quit, congratulate yourself. You are already there. Consider it done. Make a specific statement on how you identify yourself in the following format: “I do not [old habit].” For example, if you want to quit coffee, identify as follows: I do not drink coffee. The next time you see coffee, you can tell yourself, the person offering or the coffee machine itself, “I do not drink coffee.”

Third, take the first step today that signals your new reality.

  • If you are planning to do 10 burpees tomorrow morning in the bathroom, take a look at the space in your bathroom to make sure you will have the right surface to do your 10 burpees. Prepare a towel or find an area right outside of your bathroom that may be more appropriate. Or lay out the gym shirt and yoga pants you will be wearing just for those 10 burpees. Take this opportunity to make the time and location of your new habit sacred.
  • If you are trying to quit coffee, get rid of all the coffee beans in your house. If you are hesitant to throw them away, place them in a bag near the foyer so you can take it to work or give it to someone else who wants it.

Fourth, after the very first day of your new reality, cross it off on your calendar. Congratulate yourself because you've taken the first step, which is also the hardest step, of a new journey.

Fifth, when you miss a day, forgive yourself. When you make it another day, celebrate. Do not avoid the feelings you get on this new journey; acknowledge them to validate who you are as a human being and to motivate you to continue or get back up. Do not pressure yourself to stick to your habit every single day. If you do that, you may feel like a day missed is failure. Nurture the belief that there is no such thing as failure in this space. When you notice or recognize something as failure, you may feel discouraged to pursue this new reality. Furthermore, a habit is borne not out of how many times you do it in a row. A habit is borne out of how many times you do it, period.

A new habit doesn't have to be fancy, and it doesn't have to take hours. If you've made the decision to embark on this journey, you've completed only half the battle. And do not worry that you are working on one habit right now. The good news is that once this habit becomes a routine part of your day, it will be much easier to add another positive habit or subtract another negative habit. The even better news is that when you've moved mountains for yourself, it may be easier to move even more mountains for others, including your family and your company.

Angela Han is a health care lawyer, a certified plant-based personal trainer, and a yoga instructor. She works with corporate lawyers who want to transform their health, maximizing their ability to reach their goals in life and career. Learn more about her at www.angela-han.com.