5 Habits Will Improve Your Whole Life

No matter how busy you are, it is important to touch base with yourself once in a while and do something for your own sake. You’ve most likely heard that (cheesy, cheesy) saying:

“To love another you must first love yourself”

To love another you must first love yourself. Click To Tweet

Why, you ask, is this so important? Well, think of it this way:
When you’re on an airplane you’re instructed to first put the oxygen mask on yourself before putting it on another person or your child. Reason being that you need to be alive and breathing to be able to assist another human being.

Same goes for your personal life. Your wellness is reflected in what is around you, and if you’re not taking care of yourself, eventually you won’t be able to take care of other people and other responsibilities because you’ll run out of energy. You’ll find that if you promise yourself to create these 5 daily habits, you’ll soon start seeing changes in your life.

1. Drink more water!

   One sec. *takes a gulp of water to follow her own advice*  Alright, much better.
   Water helps flush out toxins, keep your skin healthy + blemish-free and all your organs running smoothly. It is also said to help with weight loss!
   It is said that the moment you start feeling thirsty, you’re already getting dehydrated. So go get yourself a glass of water and drink it down. Set reminders if you need to. Buy yourself a pretty, insulated bottle to keep your water cold and more appealing. I like to put some lemon and/or orange slices in my water to make it more interesting. You could put anything you want in yours: strawberry slices, mint, grapefruit slices, go wild!

   It’s a simple thing that can make a big, big difference.

2. Have a 15 minute date (with yourself)

   Take 15 minutes a day to devote to yourself and what you love. Do you love writing or painting? Take 15 min to write an entry in an art journal. Buy yourself a pretty notebook and free write for 15 minutes.
   Love dancing? Blast some awesome music for 15 minutes and dance your heart out (Bonus: it burns calories! Win-win)
   If you need more time to set up your painting station or to pull out all your tools and supplies for your 15 minute date, make sure you prepare a little tool box or find a spot in your house ahead of time where you can have your things easily accessible to squeeze every second out of your “me date”.

3. Think of one or two things each day that you’re thankful for

   Even on the worst days, there’s something to be thankful for.
   Taking the time to reflect on your day and finding at least two things about that day that you’re thankful for really helps us hone in on the good things. Sometimes life gets stressful and we forget to step back and realize that, though our lives may not be perfect, we really do have something to be thankful for each day.
   Make a “gratitude jar“. Write down all the things you can think of to be grateful for, each on one piece of paper and put it into a pretty jar or bowl (or get crafty and decorate your own gratitude jar). On days that you’re feeling blue (da-ba-dee da-ba-dye) take your gratitude jar and read through some of them. Guaranteed you’ll be feeling better in no time after that.

4. Try to do something each day/week that’s out of your comfort zone

   I wanted to include this one because I think that in order to grow as human beings, we need to step out of our little comfort bubble sometimes. We can’t grow if we don’t burst the bubble and brave out into the uncomfortable world to conquer our fears. In discomfort there is growth. {Ooh, nice quote, Tiff, gotta write that one down!}

   In discomfort, there is growth. #personalgrowth #wisdom Click To Tweet
   
   I’m not telling you to go skydiving every week or something (but maybe go once?) I’m saying, if you’re super shy and don’t like initiating conversations with people, or if you want to play a sport but feel you’re not good enough, or if you want to start a blog but you’re scared to use your voice, do it even if it makes you feel uncomfortable at first. Chances are, you’ll loosen up the more you do it. Next thing you know, your comfort bubble will have grown!

5. Let it go (cue Frozen song)

   Practice forgiving both others and yourself. This is a biggie! You can’t bear the heavy weight of anger without it wearing you down, and it’s unfair to you to have to bear it in the first place. Anger is really a useless emotion. I mean, sure, you can use it to motivate you to do something, but it should never be the reason why you do something.
   Forgiving yourself may just be the hardest – and most important – thing on this list. It is imperative for your wellbeing that you do this. Don’t beat yourself up over spilling the milk (that’s how that saying goes, right?) Find a paper towel and wipe up the milk and go get you some more milk! You can fix it, don’t dwell on it, just find a way to make it better.

 

That’s it! I know it may seem hard, but the longer you do this every day, the easier it’ll get. Before you know it, you will have formed a habit of these things and really notice a difference in your mood and your life!

What things would you do that are out of your comfort bubble?

For me this would probably be making phone calls. Just the thought of it gives me anxiety but I’m working on it, and am definitely making baby steps to being more comfortable talking with people on the phone, but I still like texting WAY better!

What are you thankful for today?

I’m thankful  for my pets’ health and for Vanilla Almond Milk in my coffee (it’s ridiculously expensive here and I don’t get to buy it that often, so it might as well be liquid gold for me). And cookies.

Loyally,