Creating Daily Habits
Creating daily habits is crucial to productivity, therefore, we must all have a few practices that we should incorporate into our lives religiously to help improve our lives. By doing so, our health will improve, we will perform better at work, and treat ourselves and others with love, respect, and care.
Habits help us execute our lives with focus, purpose, and attention to detail. Below is a list of eight life-changing habits that I highly recommend.
1 – Instead of Setting Goals, Set Habits
Frequently, when we set goals we may set unachievable, unrealistic, or vague goals that are hard to measure. Many people love having dreams because it makes them feel productive. However, they need help to follow through with their plans. One of the main reasons why people struggle to follow through is because they need to translate their goals into small daily actions. For instance, if I am trying to lose 50 pounds in a year, rather than focusing on the result, I will seek better results if I focus on the process. By building the habit of hitting the gym for 45 minutes daily, I will be happier with small results over time. Overall, the most crucial step for achieving goals is not setting the goal, instead, executing it. While it is essential to have a plan, it is much more important to be consistent. Consistency is key!
2 – Refrain From Trying to Remember Anything
Understand that your brain is made for actions, not for remembering. Think about your brain as your iPhone storage, the first thing is that iPhones and brains are both great platforms for execution. Whether launching an app or doing a small task like folding laundry, both are potent systems capable of great function.
Similarly to how you do not maximize your iPhone storage on your photos application; which stores images and videos to help you remember memories, it would help if you did not spend excess energy on remembering things such as birthdays, anniversaries, to-do lists, and the route to work.
Instead, utilize online calendars for dates, reminder applications for lists, navigation applications for GPS, and other valuable systems for redundant information. Treat your brain as an executor, not as a storage locker. Keep a daily planner, have an organized Google calendar, and write in a journal. So please, hit that manage account storage button in your brain, activate low data mode, offload unused apps, and change your storage plan.
3 – Wake Up and Smile at The Mirror
Every morning you should start your day with self-love by thinking of positive things about yourself, looking in the mirror, and smiling back at your reflection. You might pause and think that this small action is ineffective, yet you must push yourself to realize that small habits like this accumulate to create significant changes.
First, if you do not recognize your strengths, both in physical appearance and in personality, then how can you expect other people to value you? In this highly competitive world, you must train yourself to be your biggest supporter rather than your biggest enemy. Do not fall into that abysmal self-deprecating hole! Instead, every day, rain or shine, make eye contact with yourself, raise your head high, straighten your shoulders, stand tall, and practice saying positive affirmations.
Second, life is all about you, you must remember that you are the main character in your movie. Therefore, you need to start treating yourself like the A-list celebrity you are. Knowing your worth and treating yourself well will indirectly encourage other people to mimic your actions and treat you better in return.
Third, you are in charge of your happiness, and one of the best ways to find that joy within you is to practice appreciation and being kind to yourself.
4 – Meet Someone New Every Week
Whether it’s a meaningful interaction or a casual and short conversation, a virtual interaction, or a face-to-face talk, talking to a new coworker at the cafeteria or a stranger at a party, try to create new connections every week.
Regardless of how the conversation goes and whether or not you choose to pursue a friendship, professional, romantic relationship with that person, networking is one of life’s most essential skills.
This can open the door of opportunities for you, whether it’s an invite to a party to make new friends, an internship, or receiving mentorship, a quick conversation can have significant benefits.
5 – Read for 30 Minutes a Day
Reading books is a vital habit that everyone can benefit from because it has many physical, emotional, and mental health benefits. A 2009 Journal of College Teaching & Learning study found that, “Thirty minutes of reading lowered blood pressure, heart rate, and feelings of psychological distress just as effectively as yoga and humor did.”
Reading benefits your physical health because it relaxes your body by lowering your heart rate, alleviates muscle tension, and diverts your attention away from stress. Fiction is especially notable and can help improve your empathy, since it enables you to understand various viewpoints and gives you new perspectives.
Moreover, it combats loneliness, as reading about characters who have similar struggles helps you relate with others.
6 – Practice Gratitude
Gratitude is showing appreciation for things or people that we appreciate having in our life. Whether it be thanking a new friend for joining you for coffee, an old friend for supporting you through a breakup, or a teacher for going out of their way to help you, practicing gratitude is a fantastic way to bring positivity into your life and the lives of others.
Harvard Medical School stated that, “Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”
By acknowledging all the goodness around you, and all the positivity that other people spread, you can not only be happier, but your health also improves and you cultivate long-lasting friendships. There’s no need to go all out to thank someone, rather, gratitude should be shown by small words and actions.
These little things can significantly impact people’s lives, making them feel appreciated. So please, always try to practice genuine gratitude and don’t take anyone for granted.
7 – Invest every month
Investing every month is a great way to ensure you can provide for yourself in the future. The best way to have a bright future is to plan for it in the present. It is crucial to have retirement in mind early on to be stress-free in your later years.
Most importantly, starting early with investing is highly beneficial because if you start early, you can invest less and get more returns as money compounds over time; rather than trying to time the market, practice discipline.
Investing regularly is more important than timing the market because a reasonable investor realizes that consistency reaps better results than relying on assumptions or praying for luck.
8 – Exercise Everyday
What if I told you that there is one productivity-boosting activity you can do, and this task, if done for just twenty minutes, can make your entire day more fruitful? This daily commitment can and will not only help you feel and look better, but also improve your body from the inside out.
The miraculous cure to laziness is called exercise. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), describes exercise as crucial because it, “improve[s] your brain health, help[s] manage weight, reduce[s] the risk of disease, strengthen[s] bones and muscles, and improve[s] your ability to do everyday activities.”
Exercise means different things to everyone and that’s okay. As long as you are prioritizing your body’s need for movement, you are golden. It could be dancing, doing pilates, walking to school or work, weight training, playing a sport, or doing at-home workouts; as long as you spend at least twenty minutes every day on your body’s physical needs, you will begin function a lot better.
Click the link to see Girl Spring creator Katt’s book recommendation on having and maintaining habits.
And be sure to follow the link here to read more healthy lifestyle habits that will positively impact your life!
