If you’re looking for new habits, rituals, or routines to help you move towards a happier and healthier version of you, give some of these ideas a try this year . . .
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Wake up at least 15 minutes earlier: Always rushing? Wake up at least 15 minutes earlier to allow yourself some extra time in the morning to slow down and start your day off on the offense rather than defense.
Move while you scroll social media: Make a rule for yourself that if you’re on social media (e.g. scrolling Facebook, watching YouTube videos, letting Instastories roll from one to the next mindlessly) for more than an hour, then you must be moving in order to continue. If you want to watch videos or read through posts, then you must be walking on a treadmill, riding an exercise bike, doing yoga poses, holding a plank, etc. Don’t just sit.
Listen to podcasts or books on your commute: Fuel your mind with positive talk by listening to a podcast. If you have no clue where to start on even accessing podcasts or what they’re even about, check out my post Let’s Talk About Podcasts. If you’re interested in listening to books, check out the app Overdrive which allows you to check out audio books for free through the library.
Make your bed everyday: I believe your home should be clean and inviting — a place to restore. Take 5 minutes in the morning to tidy up your bed so that when you come home after a long day it’s a place to simply relax. Read more about my thoughts on this on The One Thing I Do Every Single Day.
Write down what you’re thankful for: I think we hear this advice a lot, but not a lot of people are actually putting pen to paper (or electronic pen to electronic paper). The majority of people have a phone that lends itself to opening a version of an electronic notepad, or using apps like DayOne that would be a great aid in spending at least five minutes to note the things you’re most thankful for that day. I’ve previously shared The List I Write Every Morning and feel it has had a huge impact on putting my mind in a positive place before I even get out of bed.
Add lemon to your water: Add a lemon or two to your water each day . . . there are so many benefits that you can read about on How to Get Rid of Headaches and Have Perfect Skin.
Take vitamins: Have you bought multi-vitamins before and then find them again when they’re 2+ years passed their expiration date? Yeah, we all have. If you buy them and then put them in a cabinet and forget about them, tote that bottle to work with you and set them out on your desk where you’ll see them. Taking them five days a week while you work is better than taking them zero days per week while they hide in your medicine cabinet. If you want to customize your vitamins or find out which ones you should be taking, check out Care/of which allows you to take an online assessment and then customizes vitamin packets for you — which is super fun because they print your name on the package too. How can you not take them at that point?!
Schedule commitments and reminders on your calendar: Use your calendar as a to do list. All those things you say you’re going to do or commitments you make a couple weeks out at work that are prone to being forgotten, schedule the time and keep the commitment or set reminders as pop ups. If you have an iPhone, ask Siri to remind you to drop off that clothes donation in your trunk, or to take your vitamin, or to call your Grandma. Keep all commitments and to do’s in one spot/calendar.
Cut back on texting: If you find yourself texting just to be texting . . . stop yourself. Give yourself a little time to just be and disconnect from technology for even 10 minutes.
Laugh at least once a day: Do not go to sleep until you laugh at least once a day. Even if you have to scroll through stand up comedy routines on YouTube before you go to bed or you have to sit and think of something hilarious that happened years ago. This sounds cheesy and would be an easy one to ignore, but I believe humor is so important to our happiness and health. Just laugh!
Here’s to the best version of you in 2018!
