Habit formation is often discussed in personal development books because good habits are a big part of self improvement. Habits are incredibly important in your everyday life.
Creating and sticking to good habits offers an opportunity for bettering yourself in small increments which over time add up and can greatly improve the quality of your life.
You don’t need to adopt 101 new habits for a chance at a better life. To be the best you can be, all you need is a foundation of a few good habits that make a real impact.
Adopt these 5 life changing daily habits to improve life:
1. Get enough sleep
Getting enough sleep is a keystone habit that makes every other habit a hell of a lot easier. Sounds so simple yet it is so powerful! Unfortunately too many people seem to dismiss sleep as a waste of time or simply can’t seem to find enough time for a good night’s sleep. Don’t be one of them.
Lack of sleep has negative impact on your body, brain and emotions. It can cause high blood pressure, increase your chances of coronary diseases, affect your decision making, hinder your memory, make you more irritable and emotional, and cause so much more harm.
5 reasons why good sleeping habits will improve your life:
- When you are rested decision making becomes a lot easier and you are more likely to make good and healthy choices that will serve you on the long run.
- When you’ve had a good night’s sleep you’re less likely to rely on coffee, sugar and high calorie intake to make it through the day.
- Good sleep can improve your focus and productivity throughout the day.
- Good sleep also strengthens your immune system and helps to keep you healthy.
- After a good nigh’s sleep you will have the energy and brain power to take on the day as well as enjoy it to its fullest.
2. Learn to appreciate the little things
Sometimes the biggest life changes come from the smallest mindset shifts. Consumerism thought us to always want more. But if you don’t appreciate what you already have why would you think you would appreciate more if you did get it?
It’s important to appreciate and be grateful for what we have because by doing so we are more likely to appreciate and enjoy the life we have.
5 ways appreciating the little things will change your life:
- Making an active effort to find something to appreciate or be grateful for forces us to focus on the good things.
- By taking inventory of the good stuff in life we can increase overall life satisfaction
- When we appreciate the little things we create a sense of abundance.
- By appreciating what we have we are less likely to run after more for the sake of it thus we are less likely to get stuck in a cycle of scarcity.
- By taking the time to appreciate what you have you might just realise you have plenty and be more content with life.
3. Take a moment to lighten up
Life is so so much better when we laugh and make and active choice to lighten up. When we choose to let the bad stuff, the mundane and the stress go and just create an intentional moment of happiness.
By seeing the positive, or at least the tragically funny things in life we have the power to make our days and life better. So take a moment to be silly, to play with your pet or your kids, to laugh at yourself, to lighten up.
Gretchen Rubin said that it is easy to be heavy but hard to be light. And she was not referring to weight. This seemingly small choice of lightening up can break the pattern and completely change your day, and the day of those around you.
5 reasons why life is better when you lighten up:
- Laughter and positivity are infectious. By lightening up you can avoid silly arguments.
- By lightening up you can dissolve negativity and stress which can prevent you and those around you from spiralling down.
- When you choose to be light you create a moment of joy.
- By consistently choosing to lighten up and look for the good stuff you create a more positive outlook on life.
- When you take a moment to lighten up you also inspire positivity in others.
4. Be unapologetic about your priorities
We all have our goals and our passions, we have things we are committed to, and we all have dreams. And usually these play a big part in our lives. One of the most important steps in order to make your dream life come true is to get very clear on the life you want and then do everything in your power to get it.
By making a habit of protecting your priorities you will be able to get more intentional with your time, energy and your future as well as create more space for enjoyment in life.
- When you are unapologetic about your priorities you don’t get overwhelmed or distracted by all the nice-to’s, should-do’s and could-do’s.
- By sticking to your priorities you will be able to make substantial progress and achieve your goals.
- By being unapologetic about your priorities you will be better able to gauge your commitments and say no when needed. This means you wont feel resentful and won’t let anyone down.
- When you get clear on your priorities you create clarity for your days and your life in general.
- Sticking to your priorities will make you more productive.
5. Stand up often
You’ve probably heard that sitting is the new smoking. And, in case you’ve been living under a rock, let me say it again – sitting is the new smoking. It doesn’t stink as bad, might not look as cool but it is just as unhealthy and harmful!
Even if you exercise regularly, sitting for prolonged times is still playing a number on your health and your body. It affects your blood flow, increases the chances of gaining weight, can cause back pain and plays on your energy levels. Human bodies were just not built to be seated in front of a computer for 8 hours or more each day.
- Standing up often gives you a chance to stretch which can relieve back problems and pain caused by a forced sedentary posture.
- Standing up is a great chance to give your eyes a break as well. This can prevent headaches and eyesight issues.
- Standing up gets your blood flowing which can make you feel more awake and more focused.
- Standing up gives your brain the break it needs to come up with great ideas or solutions that proved elusive.
- Just the act of standing up and sitting down again burns more calories than sitting or standing on its own.
I always make a point of adding healthy happy habits to my life. My recent one is a gratitude Journal as it’s so easy to feel bogged down lately. Thanks for a great look at some more habits I can add to my list.
Gratitude journals are so underrated! I’m really happy you got one
This is a really useful guide, I just wish I could actually sleep lol. lockdown is making it a lot more tough!
So sorry to hear that! I’ve found that having a good night routine really helps me fall asleep and prioritizing self care helps managing stress which ultimately results in better sleep. You might want to check out these two articles, I hope they will help.
I think these are important messages for us all in the current climate. I particularly struggle with being Unapologetic about my priorities though I am getting better at this.
It’s so hard to set boundaries when our lives get thrown around, isn’t it? There’s always a learning curve and it sounds like you’re making good progress
Lately I have been having trouble getting enough sleep, but hopefully I can get back on track soon because it is so beneficial, but I normally do take time to enjoy the little things.
We can’t get it perfect all the time but the important thing is to try π
I’m so tempted to buy one of those standing computers. If only I knew where to put it!
I made a diy fix for my regular desk since all the furniture stores are closed (thank you covid!). All it takes is a shelf and 4 bed legs and you could also use it on top of you dining table if you dont have a desk. It doesn’t take much space and I put it on top of my desk whenever I feel like working standing up. It’s just big enough for the keyboard and mouse which is great since I can adjust the height of my monitor. But once the shops reopen I’m seriously considering one of those electric sit-stand adjustable desks.
Love these. I am so bad for not getting enough sleep (I blame Netflix!) and I definitely need to start taking more care of myself
Hehe Netflix really has some power over our lives but it’s important we set some healthy boundaries for ourselves
Learning to appreciate the little things has honestly changed my life since having my daughter. Itβs been the best time of my life!
So glad to hear this, Katie!
Learning to appreciate is such a needed task! Once you find joy in little things, you will always be happy.
So true!
I need to follow your advice, I spend far too much time sitting down at a laptop! I also need to lighten up but homeschooling has been a struggle. I miss laughter with my boys as we are working so hard finishing all the school tasks π
This pandemic has taken a tool on all of us. Baby steps π