Benefits of habit “Hug someone”
✓ Reduced stress
✓ Relaxed muscles
✓ Lessens feelings of isolation
✓ Reduced anxiety
✓ Can boost your immune system
✓ Can help avoid heart disease
First step:
Hug someone once per day
Progress:
1. First off, choose a person closest to you. It can be your partner, wife or husband, sister or brother, best friend, etc. If possible, inform them of your new habit aspirations.
2. Start by hugging 1 closest person to you at least 1 time per day. Do this for a week.
3. Next week, hug 2 people per day.
4. If you don’t have many trusted people, increase the times you hug the same people instead.
5. Keep increasing, until you feel good.
Helpful tips to make it a habit:
✓ Do it at the same time. If you’re struggling to remember physical contact, try doing it at the same time. For example, always after you or the other person comes back home or you meet. If it’s someone you live with, try doing it as soon as you or they step through the door.
✓ Set a trigger. Stepping through the door can be a good trigger, but so would a doorbell or a picture of the huggable person on your side table.
✓ Set a reminder. You can use this app if you’re busy and need aid remembering it’s hugging time.
✓ Reward yourself. And your hugging partner! Take them out to dinner or to a movie. That way, you will reward yourself for learning a new habit and show people even more appreciation.
✓ Celebrate small victories. Every time you perform this habit, congratulate yourself! Say “I’m awesome” or “I’m so cool” out loud and with a smile on your face.
Tips for beginners:
✓ Reasons on holding back. Hugging people is very much an acceptable social behavior and so Step 0 is always finding out why you need a habit out of it. Whether you feel lonely or you don’t think you show enough appreciation to people around you, finding out the reasons and working with them is part of getting to know yourself. And that is always positive.
✓ Choosing the right people. If this is hard for you or you don’t have a lot of trusted people in your life, try talking to those closest to you. Explain why you want to hug them every day and agree on the best time for them and you. Be open. That will help you find more people to hug.
