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We all want to live the happiest, healthiest, and most fulfilled lives possible.
Yet, why do so many of us struggle to achieve success in even one of these areas?
Why are so many of us spending our days stressed out, worn down and utterly out of shape?
Ultimately, our daily habits and routines are what define our reality.
It’s the culmination of all the things we do or don’t do that produce the life we are living.
I want to share with you five habits that have absolutely changed my life for the better. Implementing even one of these habits will significantly improve your life.
Let’s take a look at five of my favorite habits for living your best life.
1.Meditation
You may have tried meditation yourself or heard countless influencers and celebrities speak of it’s powerful benefits.
Tom Bilyeu, founder of Quest Nutrition and host of Impact Theory, says if there was one thing he would advise people to implement in their daily lives immediately it would be meditation.
Many would agree it is the foundation for a purpose driven and meaningful life. Nothing has allowed me to find clarity and connect with my true self in the same way.
I won’t say it’s an easy practice to get used to and it definitely required some time and patience to begin implementing daily, but once I began noticing the benefits I was hooked.
It is the best way to set your intention and center your mind, body, and soul before you go about your day. I believe it is the gateway to a life of peace, fulfillment and success.
I highly encourage you to try it for ten minutes in the morning, for an entire week and see if you don’t notice a significant difference in your mood and mental state.
RELATED: BEGINNERS GUIDE TO MEDITATION
“Surround yourself with people who have the habits you want to have yourself. You’ll rise together.”
2.Reading daily
What a simple habit to integrate into our daily lives and yet so many of us barely read at all after graduation. We manage to squeeze in time for Netflix or social media but somehow we convince ourselves we are too busy to read.
I used to only read occasionally, maybe 2-4 books a year. Now that I have made personal development a huge priority in my life I am reading a book every 1-2 weeks!
Research shows that reading for just 30 minutes a day has similar stress-reducing effects as doing 30 minutes of yoga. A few of the other benefits of reading and why you should be doing it daily include:
Mental Stimulation
Knowledge
Improved Memory
Better Thinking Skills
Improved Focus & Concentration
Better Writing Skills
Don’t miss out on these incredible benefits. Make reading a daily habit!
3.regular Exercise
We all know how important exercise is for our physical and mental health, but unfortunately most people don’t workout as often or as consistently as they should.
Regular exercise significantly reduces your chances of developing many diseases including heart disease, the leading cause of death in this country for both men and women.
According to the American Heart Association, upwards of 250,000 deaths every year in the U.S. can be attributed to a lack of physical exercise.
Research also shows that exercising one hour a day, everyday of the week reduces your risk for all diseases (including cancer) by 24%.
For anyone who is not into lifting weights and going to the gym, walking is one of the best exercises you can do for your body.
Exercise is not only extremely important for our bodies, but it also has incredibly powerful effects on the brain.
In a wonderful TED Talk, Wendy Suzuki a Neuroscientist at NYU and author of Healthy Brain, Happy Life, discusses The brain-changing effects of exercise.
Suzuki discusses how she discovered the incredible benefits of exercise on the brain after making exercise a constant in her own life.
After noticing significant improvements in her memory, focus, and mood following her newfound exercise regimen, she decided to investigate further and shift her research to the topic of how exercise impacts the brain.
After several years of research, she came to the conclusion that exercise is the single most transformative thing you can do to improve brain function for the following three reasons:
It’s effects are immediate due to the increase in neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin after a single workout. Leaving you feeling an immediate shift in your mood
Improves your ability to shift and focus attention
Improves reaction times
Suzuki goes on to say that the effects on the brain are long-lasting and actually change the brain’s anatomy, physiology and function by producing new brain cells in the hippocampus while actually increasing the size of the hippocampus and the pre-frontal cortex.
Think of the brain like any other muscle in the body. The more you work it the stronger it gets.
Exercise isn’t just about looking and feeling your best, it’s also about protecting your body and mind against degenerative diseases so you can live a long and happy lifestyle.
RELATED: 5 TIPS FOR ACHIEVING YOUR FITNESS GOALS
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. ”
4.Gratitude Journal
Keeping a gratitude journal is a new one for me but I have to say it’s now a daily practice that I really enjoy. When you begin your day writing out ten or more things that you have to be grateful for imagine the impact this is having on your mental state.
When we train our brains to begin each day acknowledging the positive aspects of our life it sets us up for a day of optimism and positivity. Research shows that gratitude is consistent with greater happiness.
We all have so much to be grateful for. Begin your mornings giving thanks for your many blessings by writing them down.
I’m confident this will set you up for a life of peace and fulfillment and attract more wonderful opportunities into your life.
You can’t be in alignment without gratitude!
5.Rise and Shine
My favorite life-changing habit of all is waking up EARLY. I’m talking 4:30-5AM early!
If it wasn’t for this habit that I started almost two years ago, I never would have made the time to implement all of the other habits that have been so impactful in my life.
There are entire books written on the subject of early rising:
These books explain just how transformative early rising can be.
If you find yourself saying the words, “I wish I could workout I just can’t find the time,” or “I would love to read, meditate, do yoga, have some time in solitude to think straight, etc,” remember it’s up to you to make time.
You’re never going to find time. It’s not hiding under your bed or in the back of your closet. You have to make time!
Waking up three hours before I have to wake my kids up for school has allotted me SO much time.
I am able to get in an hour and a half workout at the gym (before Coronavirus), come home and meditate, write my gratitude list and do some creative writing all before they even open their eyes.
Do you realize how empowering that is?
Waking up early isn’t much fun in the beginning.
It requires incredible discipline to stick with it, but the rewards are amazing.
Once you equate waking up early with becoming the best version of yourself, it will gradually become a part of your identity.
Just think of all the things you can accomplish with those extra hours!
I am not suggesting you begin adopting all of these habits at once if they are new to you. This was an evolutionary process for me. I began implementing each habit one at a time. Once I mastered one and it became a part of my daily ritual then I added in another.
Remember to be patient with yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It is quite an undertaking to let go of old habits that we have had for many years. Even when they are not serving us.
As James Clear writes in his book Atomic Habits, “If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection.”
Keep in mind these changes do not happen overnight. They require practice and discipline.
What is one new habit you want to incorporate into your daily routine? Share in the comments below.
