Have you ever felt like you’re just going through the motions with your life?
Like you’re just going through the motions of your day, and all you do is work, eat, watch TV, and repeat? You are not alone.
Many people are living life on auto-pilot. They do the same things every day but expect a different outcome tomorrow.
Life only gets better if you are deliberate about your habits.
Design your day, month or year with specific goals in mind. Pay attention to your daily routines and behaviours; they set you up for better or worse.
F.M. Alexander is right:
”People do not decide their future, they decide their habits and their habits decide their future.”
Until you change something you do today, you will never change your life tomorrow. And knowledge of good habits doesn’t change us; we have to practice them to get different but better outcomes.
Don’t just read; act on what you know.
These are a few habits that have a massive return on investment in life. Focus on one habit at a time. You don’t have to disrupt your current schedule. Start small and make the change one habit at a time.
- Start your day on purpose: identify your most important tasks the night before and start ticking them off first thing in the morning.
- Tackle high-value tasks before 12 PM – Cap your daily most important tasks: 3 at most.
- Start a lifelong learning habit: tune into relevant essays, documentaries, videos, books and courses.
- Saving is good but investing is better. Invest a percentage (you choose) of what you earn in a less risky index fund. Put compound growth to work.
- Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate. Water your brain. If your water level is low, your brain cells shrink, and you also get brain fog. Coffee doesn’t count.
- Add more whole foods, fibre and vegetables to your diet. Prioritise your health; the next 10 or 20 years of your life depend on it.
- Nurture meaningful and strong social connections: your happiness depends on them. Spend quality time with people who empower and bring out the best in you; your happiness depends on it.
- Design a starting ritual for your work; it reduces your decision-making process and saves cognitive energy for important things.
- Spend more time in nature. It’s a simple habit that improves your mood and mental clarity.
- Whatever you do, find time to move every day. It doesn’t matter how long. It improves blood circulation and helps you think better. Don’t aim for 10,000 steps a day; it’s not sustainable. Aim for a consistent walking habit; the goal is to make it to do it every day.
- Stop spending too much time in your head. It robs you the present and increases stress and anxiety. Sit with yourself for a few minutes a day to declutter your brain. It can reduce stress.
- Early to bed, early to rise. Your days will feel longer if you can get to bed earlier than usual.
- Group your worries into two: those you can control and those you can’t. Do something about what you can change and stop stressing about things you have no control over.
- Design a morning & evening routine that works for your mind and body. Start and end your day on a good note.
- Start a hobby or passion project outside work that makes you come alive.
- Appreciate the even smallest everyday experiences: they can improve your mood. Be more present and observant.
- Distractions are everywhere. Record them to block them and watch your productivity soar.
- Take full responsibility for your happiness; no one can make you happy forever. Do more of what makes you come alive.
- Change things up once a month; use a different route, read a book you usually ignore, talk to a stranger, or surprise someone you love. It puts your brain to work and makes you think.
- Finally, remember what Gretchen Rubin said, “What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.
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