Five Habits That Have Improved My Life

When I decided to start committing to my personal development, I knew that I would first have to stop or cut back on many of my current habits. Before I finally started taking the necessary steps to improve myself by changing my habits, I first understood why my desire to improve my life was so important. We all want to live happy, healthy lives, but taking the actions to ensure that we live the life we want is hardly ever easy. Once I understood why I wanted to improve my life committing to constant self-improvement gradually became a way of life. Making time for personal development is a daily decision and a lifelong commitment.

There are plenty of good habits that you can start developing right now to improve the quality of your life. I’ve found that making these five habits a part of my routine has had a tremendous impact on my personal growth and quality of life.

READING

Reading every day has probably had the most significant impact on my personal growth. Personal development books help me learn new ideas and gain new perspectives on various topics. In addition to learning from personal development books, these types of books are usually inspiring and actionable. Reading books that inspire me to improve my life has positively impacted my self-image, mindset, health, and overall behavior. The personal stories of people who have overcome challenging odds give me hope and motivate me to do the same. Developing a reading habit is an integral part of personal growth.

JOURNALING

Over the past several months, I’ve been journaling more often. Until a few months ago, I would only journal once, maybe twice a month. Journaling has never been a daily habit for me. Honestly, it still isn’t. However, I’ve found that taking time to reflect at least once a week has been particularly helpful. Reflection has helped bring me clarity, breakthroughs, answers, ideas, and more. Although I don’t journal every day, I’ve found it beneficial and fulfilling when done regularly.

Journal prompts are also a great way to gain insight and clarity about yourself and the world around you. Like me, even if journaling is not something you find easy to do daily, I would recommend doing it at least once or twice a week.

GRATITUDE

Taking a moment out of the day to reflect upon what I’m grateful for is a positive habit that I’ve grown to love. Practicing gratitude every day allows you to appreciate life more deeply. No matter how your day goes, there is always something you can be grateful for. Gratitude allows you to look for the positive in every day. Additionally, gratitude reminds you of the people and moments that we can sometimes take for granted. I usually like to reflect on one positive thing that happened in the day and write a few words about it. There are many ways to express gratitude; it certainly doesn’t have to be done with only pen and paper. Some ways to express gratitude might be saying or writing an encouraging word to someone, helping out people in need, or giving your time and attention.

MEDITATING

Regularly meditating has been challenging. However, it takes time, patience, and consistency. I’ve been deliberately practicing this skill lately. The long-term benefits are worth at least five minutes of my day. Studies have shown that meditation can help improve brain health, lower stress, improve mood, increase focus, and much more. The more I read about the benefits of meditating, the more intentional I became about making time for it. You are unlikely to notice significant changes after just one or two weeks of meditating. However, the impact meditating can have on your overall quality of life is definitely worth the weeks, possibly months, that it may take to master this skill and start enjoying the benefits.

MOVEMENT

Last but certainly not least, exercise. Like meditation, the benefits of exercise are worth the time, patience, and consistency required to enjoy the benefits. However, for many people, it’s not always easy to get in some physical activity daily. I struggle with this too. What has helped me to be more consistent with exercise is having a routine. Establishing a routine makes it easier to get in some exercise consistently. In addition, because it’s a habit that I’m trying to develop, I don’t exercise for long periods. In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about the four laws of behavior change. The third law, “make it easy,” is about making good habits easy to start.

“It is crucial to make your good habits so easy that you’ll do them even when you don’t feel like it.” Habits are easier to build when they fit into the flow of your life.”

There are a variety of activities you can do to stay physically active. Activities such as walking, running, cycling, biking, or rock climbing are all great examples. Exercise has proven beneficial to mental, physical, and emotional health and wellbeing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Developing healthy habits is essential for your mental health, physical health, and overall quality of life. Reading, journaling, gratitude, meditating, and exercising is five habits that have positively impacted many areas of my life. Since I started taking the time to incorporate these habits into my daily routine, I can honestly say I feel better about myself. I also have more clarity, energy, and peace of mind. Lastly, starting new habits is not easy. Typically, you should focus on starting one new habit at a time, start small, and stay consistent.