Most of the time, life doesn’t reward us for the things we do once in a while but instead for the things we do regularly.
That can seem unjust, but it really makes our life simpler since we can afford to make errors, absorb our lessons, and try again.
We may fail over and over again and yet re-try. And most crucially, it implies that we…
The following behaviors may individually help you live a better, healthier, and happier life.
Ideally, you’ll repeat them every single day. Realistically, you‘ll just do them once in a while. But that’s OK.
Read Also : 7 Simple Habits That Can Resolve 80% Of Your Issues
Just choose the ones that make the most sense for you and practice them as much as possible:
Create a bias towards action
I bet that you know just how to improve your life for the better.
You know what you should do, and there’s not much holding you back from really doing it – except than the fact that you simply don’t feel like doing it.
The good news is that you have 100 percent control over what you do.
The bad news, though, is that doing it isn’t simple since your brain will attempt to hold you back.
Whenever you’re in question, your mind will manufacture justifications for not taking action.
You’ll start thinking about how much more comfortable it is to watch your favorite series instead of going the gym. You’ll even attempt to come up with justifications on why missing your exercise is OK since you’re so weary.
But as Mel Robbins says in The 5 Second Rule:
“If you want to improve your life, you’ll need to get off your rear end and kick your own butt.”
By overthinking every step, you’re restricting your own energy and confidence. Instead, you should teach yourself to take action as quickly as feasible.
Thinking about whether you should go the gym or not? Stop thinking and put your exercise gear on.
Thinking about whether you should watch one more show on Netflix or not? Close the tab/tv and go to bed.
Thinking about whether you should meditate or not? Stop thinking and simply sit in quiet for a minute.
The longer you consider, the more probable you decide to do something you shouldn’t do since that’s generally the most comfortable decision. As Robbins describes:
“That moment of hesitation is a killer. Hesitation sends a stress signal to your brain. It’s a red flag that signals something’s wrong — and your brain goes into protection mode. This is how we are wired to fail.”
Read Also : You Should Avoid These 6 Brain-Damaging Habits
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Chase the sun.
Light deprivation is one of the most prevalent causes for exhaustion and may even induce melancholy. This is especially essential during cold and gloomy winter months when we scarcely obtain natural sunshine in our everyday life.
The good news is that as little as 10–15 minutes of sunshine may promote the creation of serotonin and dopamine, two brain chemicals known to enhance our mood and make us feel better.
On top of that, studies suggest that being exposed to sunshine during the day helps us sleep better at night since it tells our body to stay aware, which helps regulate our biological clock.
Outer order leads to inner peace.
I loathe clutter because it makes me feel uncomfortable and worried.
I dread going to bed with dirty dishes in the sink and can’t stay focused when I know my house is chaotic.
Similarly, I despise having crowded inboxes and desktops on my digital gadgets.
And clearly, that’s not just me. Studies discovered that turmoil impairs our capacity to concentrate and has a detrimental influence on our brains.
On top of that, clutter generally attracts more junk, so I strive to keep my digital and physical areas as clean as possible at all times.
Most of the time, a 10-minute cleaning regimen at the end of the day helps considerably.
And unexpectedly, getting rid of clutter and keeping your environments tidy might remove much of the effort because:
- cleaning gets simpler when your areas are less crowded.
- it’s easy to retain defined spaces for all objects.
- with less clutter, it’s also easy to really put things away in just a few minutes.
cleaning gets simpler when your areas are less crowded.
it’s easy to retain defined spaces for all objects.
with less clutter, it’s also easy to really put things away in just a few minutes.
Get accustomed to “no-tech evenings”
Spending our nights addicted to screens is bad for several reasons:
- The blue light generated by your devices makes your body believe it’s sunlight and makes it tougher to fall asleep and have a healthy rest.
- Most of the time, we utilize our devices as a diversion instead of face our genuine challenges and issue.
- Most of the stuff we consume online is harmful and worthless, therefore it only has a negative influence on our life.
Pick a few hobbies you actually like and spend most of your nights doing them.
Have discussions with your loved ones, read books you actually like, listen to music, create a jigsaw puzzle, play board games – anything that’s un-techy can help you detach and feel better in the long term.
Allow yourself to be bored occasionally
In his book Think Like a Monk, Jay Shetty explains a circumstance most of us confront regularly:
“If you’ve ever spent the day jumping on and off calls, in and out of meetings, ordering this book from Amazon and checking that thread on Snapchat, you know that feeling of exhaustion you have at the end of it all? It’s a dopamine hangover.”
We all know how horrible it feels to be busy all day without actually achieving anything.
We feel overstimulated, overloaded, our head aches, we battle to concentrate, and we don’t have the resolve to make vital judgments.
Admittedly, there’s not a miraculous fast answer to this issue, but here’s a simple trick you can implement immediately: Leave some vacant space on your schedule.
Most of the time, our sensation of overload develops because we don’t take time to simply sit down and relax.
We want to get more done, but we do it at the expense of our mental and physical welfare.
Instead of attempting to accomplish more, aim to be more.
Take time to simply be in the present moment, even if it’s just a 5-minute break before the next meeting.
You don’t have to spend your whole day with appointments and commitments. And if you attempt to, you’ll likely wind up feeling exhausted, so you best put a stop before it’s too late and make sure you have some space in your everyday life.
Make yourself a little happy
Most individuals spend the bulk of their time attempting to impress others: their employer, colleagues, spouse, kids, friends,…
Yet, as Gretchen Rubin argues in The Happiness Project, cheerful people are more altruistic, more productive, more helpful, more liked, more creative, more resilient, more interested in others, kinder, and healthier. Happy individuals become better friends, coworkers, and citizens.
So maybe… we should spend more time to make ourselves a bit happy each day?
I realize this isn’t always easy. You have stuff to do, deadlines are coming, crap happens, and you probably don’t even know how precisely to make yourself happy, but I urge you to spend some time each day to at least think about it.
What’s one simple thing you could do today that’d help you feel a bit better and happier?
I want you to dismiss all your *good intentions*
Another lesson I learnt from Gretchen Rubin is to jettison my good intentions and convert them into relevant resolutions:
“Resolutions work better when they’re concrete, not abstract: it’s harder to keep a resolution to *Be a more loving parent* than to *Get up fifteen minutes early so I’m dressed before the kids wake up.*”
Next time you make a goal, wish to start a new habit, or merely improve any aspect of your life, be specific, not abstract.
Instead of declaring “I’ll exercise more,” establish a strategy on how precisely you’ll achieve that.
Will you workout every day? For how long? How exactly? Why?
My exercise resolution goes like this: I work out at least four times a week for a minimum of 20 minutes since I know that my health is my best asset.
I plan my exercises in advance every Sunday night and log my sessions with a simple, free habit tracker on my phone. Instead of letting it be a nice intention, I make it simple for myself to really accomplish it.
Use the 2-minute rule in all aspects of your life
This one is simple: Anything that can be done within 2 minutes should be done promptly.
This basic practice helps you establish discipline and avoid procrastinating on easy chores. That way, keeping your thoughts and life organized becomes a lot simpler since you don’t have infinite minor things stacking up on your to-do list.
You stop stressing about all the things you need to get done and instead simply accomplish them as quickly as feasible. You put the garbage out, clean the sink, respond to that message, make your bed, pay that invoice.
You may be amazed by how many of your everyday chores can be done in as little as two minutes.
This notion is based on David Allen’s book Getting Things Done, where he outlines the two-minute rule as follows:
"If you determine an action can be done in two minutes, you should actually do it right then because it will take longer to organize it and review it than it would actually finish it the first time you notice it.”
Final thoughts
Most of the time, it’s not unusual habits like getting up at 5 a.m. or taking ice-baths that transform the way we experience life, but it’s the simple, undervalued activities we can do, such as keeping our thoughts and house clutter-free.
It’s about whether we take time to appreciate the tiny moments of pleasure and if we allow ourselves to be present in our everyday life without thinking about our to-do list, the next meeting, or the major professional aspirations we have.
We frequently know what we *should* do but fail to actually do it, and that’s entirely acceptable since we’re only humans, not flawless machines.
Instead of attempting to accomplish more, ask yourself how you might make your everyday life a bit easier, simpler, and more pleasurable for yourself.
