These Are The Best Habits For Your Health And Career
I have written about habits many times before and for good reason.
Habits are founded on routine, which again is based on consistency, which I wrote about last week here. This month of August is all focused on the theme of building consistency and the power that lies behind functional routines.
The magical thing about habits is that once an activity becomes habitual, it is drastically easier to execute and perform since it's already part of our regular routine or repertoire. Habitual actions require much less willpower and discipline to keep up, meaning that if we keep up that activity, we can successfully start reaping the benefits coming from that activity.
The habits which I talk about below are not only extremely beneficial when practiced over a long course of time but are in a large sense also universally applicable in various areas of our life. These habits have been split into two categories: habits which are beneficial for your career or work life and habits which are foundational for keeping up good health.
My intention today: Discuss 20 different habits in relation to your work and health and to discover how such habits can transform your life if applied as a regular practice.
BEST HABITS FOR YOUR HEALTH
Quitting smoking
Smoking is a seriously harmful habit which, if done regularly, can drastically increase your chances of lung cancer, stroke, dental issues, and other respiratory-related breathing issues that can greatly hinder your quality of life. Even though, as a frequent smoker, one of the hardest decisions you can make for your own health is to quit smoking, it is surely one decision and lifestyle change that is bound to have the best lasting effects on your health and well-being.
Wearing sunscreen regularly
The daily use of sunscreen greatly helps in the prevention of the development of skin cancer and sunburn while also preventing premature aging of the skin. If you are less concerned about the appearance of your skin as you age, then it is recommended as the bare minimum to at least apply sunscreen during the months of highest sun exposure and UV intensity (on the warmest and hottest months with most sun exposure) instead of every day or on cloudier days. Otherwise, dermatologists recommend wearing sunscreen every day, even on less sunny days, and in those instances, using a lower SPF is sufficient. Some time ago, I previously wrote about the importance of wearing sunscreen, which you can read here.
Daily movement
The benefits associated with moving your body are plenty: from better cardiovascular health, joint health, flexibility, improvements in posture, and increasing your overall physical strength and endurance. It is super important to stress that movement comes in many forms and doesn't only include the standard exercising such as going to the gym and running. Please move your body in whatever way feels best to you, whether that is walking, dancing, climbing, swimming, cycling, etc., you name it. I have written about the importance of exercise previously here, so if you are interested, consider checking it out.
Limiting or avoiding alcohol
Although an occasional drink or glass of something will not be the end of the world, alcohol, if drunk in excess, can also greatly harm your health. Excessive drinking of alcohol can cause various cancers such as those of the mouth, throat, and breast, while also predisposing you to stroke, heart disease, and liver damage. While you can have fun while drinking alcohol and every so often is no problem, please do not overdo it. If you want to read more about how to keep a more moderate relationship with alcohol, I have also written about it here and its effects on the body.
Drinking more water
This is rather common advice nowadays, but sometimes we are simply so busy or out of touch with our bodies that we do not drink enough water throughout our day. The standard advice is to drink 2 liters of water per day, but of course, that depends on your age, activity level, and also the temperature of the climate where you live. Making an effort to drink more water, of course, keeps your body and the cells of your body properly hydrated (the osmotic balance in check), which helps with your body's metabolism and energy production, improving the healthiness and appearance of your skin as well as improving the functioning of your kidneys and bowel movements.
Practicing mindful eating
Mindful eating is a rather underrated habit; however, if practiced regularly and with attention, it can have extremely positive outcomes with your relationship with food and other aspects of your health. When we say mindful eating, we refer to eating that is done in a controlled and generally slower pace, where we pay attention to what we are actually eating in terms of its taste, texture, and flavor. This style of eating makes it easier for us to sense our hunger and fullness cues, which can aid in weight-loss goals while also directly improving your digestion and overall satisfaction with the food we eat. Here you can further see the importance of this style of eating.
Getting good quality sleep
It is no secret that sleep is critically important for our functioning and energy throughout the day, along with a myriad of other functions such as boosting memory, helping with your immune system, and being beneficial for your cardiovascular system. By ensuring that you have some sort of evening or sleep routine which works well for you, you make it much easier to ensure good sleep that night. If you would like to know specifically how to improve your sleep or what the benefits of sleeping are, click here.
Time for meditation and stillness
Finding a couple of minutes throughout your day for silence or quiet meditation can also have profound impacts on your health, both physically and mentally. A regular practice of meditation can help with your sleep, anxiety management, as well as improving your emotional intelligence and stress management. Although it is not the easiest habit to begin practicing, I have previously written a blog post with tips on how you can begin practicing meditation and how a sustained meditative practice can help with your well-being. You can find it here. Additionally, a rather underrated way to add value and peace into our lives is to try spending a couple of minutes in complete silence each day while we are awake. Oftentimes, in this busy and fast-paced world we live in, we are exposed to so many sounds and disturbances in our environment that it is hard to truly find the peace of mind to calm down and be able to think clearly. So whenever you can, as during a walk or the first couple of minutes when you wake up or before going to bed, try spending a bit of time in complete silence, even if at the start it is rather uncomfortable.
Adopting a morning routine
Nowadays, there is a lot of talk about the power behind routines, especially morning routines, and for good reason. Although many morning routines that you can nowadays find online are, for most people, completely unrealistic and far too complicated, instead a morning routine should be both enjoyable yet simple and practical enough for you to actually be able to do it more or less every morning. It doesn't have to be long or tiresome, just something that makes you feel good and makes the start of your day feel right and on track. Next week's post will be focused exactly on this topic of routines, why they are actually a fundamental part of our day, and some ideas for what you can include in your own morning routines.
Moments of self-care and time for yourself
Finding some time every day or every week dedicated just for yourself and your own needs is extremely important in the long run for your own personal growth and general well-being. Here I don't mean just time spent relaxing or booking a massage appointment (which if that is what time for you means, then by all means go for it), but I also mean time for you in a more broad sense where, for example, you could read up on a book or article you find fascinating to increase your understanding of a certain topic, or to spend a bit of time every week learning and practicing a new skill you are trying to acquire. All of these activities are extremely beneficial since, at the end of the day, knowledge, experiences, and skills are the raw fuel that fuels whatever you want to do and produce in life. I have also written on the importance of practicing self-care here.
BEST HABITS TO BOOST YOUR CAREER
Practicing deep focus
In a world with so many constant distractions and things to get done, it can be hard to get any proper work done throughout our day. This is why it is essential to be able to block out some time during our workdays where we can truly focus on the chosen tasks at hand and do some actual deep-focused work. Whenever you can, try to make time for work such as this, which will allow you to not only work more efficiently but also the work you produce will be of greater quality. One way to implement more moments of deep-focused work into your routine is to create distraction-free zones in your home which are only meant for focused work and where all other distracting devices will either be completely omitted or put onto silent mode. Similarly, removing as many possible notifications and other unplanned distractions from your environment is also an effective approach to this. Here you can read more about how you can improve your focus abilities
Learning something new every day
As a person, it is really important that we never stop learning and that we continue going through life with an almost childlike state of curiosity to drive us to learn and grow. As a rule of thumb, try to learn something new every day. It doesn't have to be a very big or challenging concept or skill, but in this way, you can day by day become better by 1% which can over time add up to major improvements and growth in your knowledge bank. You can learn such knowledge via reading or watching an interesting video or doing a course or even an in-person workshop for a more hands-on experience at something.
Planning your day in advance
The main advantage associated with planning your day in advance is that the following day when you begin your day, you already exactly know what you have set out to do in that day and waste no more time or precious mental energy to decide what you will dedicate that day to. We actually use a lot of mental energy for making very menial decisions throughout our everyday such as what will we wear, what task should we start first with, how will I get from place A to place B etc., so if we are able to put some energy into thinking this the day before, the following day flows much more easily and efficiently.
Setting daily or weekly goals
I am a big believer in setting goals and setting yourself a general direction in which you want to grow or improve. On a more long-term approach, it can be very useful to set more long-term goals such as goals you aim to achieve within a year, however what often helps to make reaching those larger goals is to set smaller goals on a weekly or daily basis that will get you towards those bigger goals. For example, it is a perfectly reasonable goal to want to save a certain amount of money within 3 months, so to achieve that, you can put a certain amount of money aside each week for example to bring you closer to your goal. Similarly, if you have a goal to lose some weight in the next couple of months, making a daily goal of doing some form of movement for 30 minutes a day can with consistency bring you closer to your goal
Prioritizing your tasks
This goes hand in hand with planning out your day, whereby it is always useful if possible to begin your work with the most difficult or time-consuming task first which will then make all other slightly easier tasks go through more easily. Additionally, it is also important to note that each day, pick out 1 or a maximum of 3 main things which you want to get done, which is far more realistic than picking 20 different things that you want to do but not fully finishing even one of them. Dedicate each day to the completion of something, whatever that may be, whether it is to finish something for a deadline or to take 3 hours in the evening for your family.
Journaling and time for reflection
Journaling or the act of writing out our plans, thoughts, or experiences can be extremely useful in many ways. In terms of your career, journaling about your current successes and goals and areas to improve on can be both very motivational as well as giving you a clearer overview of where you currently are on your journey and where you are heading towards. Making the time to look back on your past work and progress can also be very informative to see what mistakes you had done, what you can learn from them and how to prevent the same mistakes from happening in the future. Essentially, through the process of writing or journaling you are able to distill your thoughts and almost view your thoughts and emotions through a more objective third-person perspective.
Investing in your social life and relationships
I have written about this in one of my recent newsletters where I mentioned that one of the best investments you can make in our life and especially when it comes to your career, is to invest time into the current relationships you have and also in adding new people and new connections into your life. Relationships of all kinds, if functional and sustained, should have mutual effort and time having been invested from both sides to ensure that a trusting bond is built. A variety of strong yet diverse social connections in our life can make our life drastically more meaningful and of course more enjoyable, since at the end of the day, humans are social animals. This doesn't mean that you now need 100 friends, but even if you have a handful of people with whom you are close by with, those relationships can be extremely rewarding.
Expressing gratitude
Although it is rather seen as a cliché nowadays but by intentionally instilling the simple habit of stating a couple of things which you are really grateful for, it can have a very positive outlook on how you see the world. Similar to meditation, you become more in tune with your thoughts and emotions and are able to step back for a little before saying something. Additionally, through gratitude you can reflect on just how many amazing and positive experiences you are able to have in your everyday and by acknowledging them, you genuinely become a more positive person which can help in further attracting new people and opportunities into your life.
Asking for help when needed
Sometimes we have the stubborn mentality that the goal is to be completely self-sufficient and to need to be able to do everything completely by ourselves which could not be more false. Stepping out of your comfort zone to ask for help or to admit that you are still learning about something and would need a hand with it, will save you a lot of time and energy in the long run. Additionally, by becoming more vulnerable with someone about what you require support with, you not only improve your relationship with that person but also up a mutual support system because everyone needs a helping hand with something eventually - and that truly is a sign of strength.
Asking for feedback and critique
If we want to continue striving for growth and progress, it can be extremely beneficial to ask for constructive feedback and critique from someone in the field of what we are working on. When given critique or feedback from someone you trust on something you produce, you shouldn't be sad or angry at the person offering you the critique, but should instead be grateful and try to take into account their ideas or recommendations to further fuel your growth. The exposure to external opinions and viewpoints can be extremely healthy in letting you know what you can still add or improve on which can bring your work and ideas to a completely new level of greatness that could have never been achieved if you just settled with your own view of your own work.
I hope you found some of this advice useful :)
Qualities Built For Success
WHAT IS SUCCESS?
Success means different things for different people. For some, it means endless money and fame, while for others it may mean raising a family well or being able to be independent in today’s world. The key take away here is that each of us has to define what success means for us. There is no "correct" definition of success as we all like different things and are at the end of the day, very different people, but if you don't define what success means for you - what you consider to be enough for yourself - then how will you know when to stop? When will you have enough and be satisfied?
While I do not necessarily believe in labelling success as a single point in time or a final goal we have in life, but instead that we should rather try and make every day a small success that would contribute to our long term goal of success. If we just focus on the end goal, our happiness will depend on whether we reach our definition of success or not, instead, if we focus on the process of attaining that level of success and make sure that we make the majority of our days are a "win", then our satisfaction levels will be much more stable.
However, to reach the success that we defined for ourselves, we need to either have or develop certain qualities that will contribute to our success, no matter how we defined it in the first place. This is why I have composed together a list of the 15 most crucial qualities you have to put into practice in order to achieve your idea of success.
QUALITIES NEEDED TO SUCCEED
DRIVE AND PASSION
Passion and drive go hand in hand for a good reason. Passion is having an intense burning desire or interest about something, while having a drive, means that you are intensely motivated about something, which is why when we combine the two together, they form the very essence of our reason for existing; Our purpose in this life.
Having a drive and a passion for something means that you are highly dedicated to pursuing that idea or whatever it may be. You are motivated to try and do everything in your will to pursue this interest and to avoid any unwanted roadblocks. Being passionate about something gives you the very reason for waking up every morning because you want to pursue that deep craving as soon as possible. It is a cure for procrastination since it reduces the amount of motivation needed for you to start doing something, as well as making you feel fulfilled and satisfied since you are spending your time on something that you care deeply about.
PERSISTENCE
Nothing great and big in life ever came quick. There is really no such thing as "overnight" success because all of these seemingly instantaneous bursts of success once required some input of work in the first place, which is where persistence comes into play.
Persistence is the ability to be resilient and consistent with something, no matter how many setbacks we experience in the process. What makes the difference is not whether you do something once, but how often you repeat that action. For example, eating one low-calorie meal will not make you lose weight in the long run, however cutting back on let’s say 100 calories each day consistently, will lead to a much more noticeable and in the long term, a more sustainable result.
While it is hard to initially start doing something, it becomes much easier to keep that action continuous and regular once it is a part of our routine and once we gain enough motivational momentum to keep going forward, even when it may not be easy. Turn your actions into a habitual routine and being persistent with something will be a much more effortless process.
BEING ACTION ORIENTATED
While planning and thinking things though are essential to making good decisions and making sure you are headed in the right direction, what makes the difference at the end of the day is whether you take action and do something. Being proactive can be one of the most difficult things to do, but is one that surely pays off in the long run. Without it, nothing would ever get done, and the world would remain unchanged.
I believe it is best to both plan things in advance and have the ability to assert action and create change. The right balance of those two forces creates an incredible amount of momentum that not only drives you in the right direction but also makes sure to get you there.
TIME MANAGEMENT
They say that time is our most valuable resource; it can’t be created or controlled, but only spent. So this only means one thing: We are in charge of how we spend our time. And As Henry David Thoreau said: "It is not enough to be busy. The question is: what are we busy about?". While being busy is commonly mistaken for being productive, the key difference between them is that when we are productive we are intentionally choosing to do work that is of most importance to be done at the moment and will also provide the most value to us.
Knowing how to manage your time is a skill that we spent the majority of our lives learning, adjusting and improving. No one can be in control of their time all the time, because there are always unexpected events that come up, but there certainly are people who have found what time management techniques work for them. There is no single "formula" for the best time management, because everyone schedules, occupations and lives look different, so you have to find what time structure works best for your lifestyle.
Ask yourself: How many hours per day will I intentionally dedicate to doing ....? How long can I really stay focused in a single working period? How often do I need to take breaks from working? How much time will I spend working, in comparison to the time spent on leisure activities and socializing?
These are all questions that are individual to us all, so its the job of every individual to find what balance of work and leisure works best for them. Take it hour by hour, day by day, and really think about how you are spending your time and how you could improve that because after all, don't we all want to do more valuable things with our time?
EVALUATION
This is a crucial step, but one that is either neglected or under-appreciated. The ability to evaluate means to take a step back, put things into perspective and readjust your route. It is to make sure that what you are currently doing makes sense and that it aligns with your long term goals. So often, we spend our time lost and secured within set routines that provide comfort and familiarity in our lives, but without us even realizing it, those routines could actually be hindering our process in the long run.
Only when you truly take a step back and take time to slow down, is when you can begin to analyze what you are doing. Sometimes you just have to slow things down in this fast-paced world, to see a clear picture behind the blurry lines.
While evaluating and reconsidering the things you currently do, can be a time-consuming process, it certainly is one that is worth it in the long run.
ADAPTABILITY
I this ever-changing world, the only constant is change. The world around us is constantly changing, evolving and transforming - faster than it has ever been. What is the best way to deal with these changes? Become adaptable. Learn how to turn setbacks into positive experiences and find out how to create opportunities for yourself. Do not become too fixated on only one thing, as nothing stays forever, so its best to spread your feet wide apart on solid ground, to get a good scope of everything. This way you are less affected by the ongoing changes around you and you also gain more perspective as to where you could potentially find opportunities.
Even evolution proved it to us: Those who didn't adapt, simply just did not make it out alive. It is the same situation today, except everything is happening at a faster rate. Learn to become agile and flexible in this ever-changing world can be one of the useful qualities you can master.
GOOD COMMUNICATION
Being able to speak is one thing, but being able to communicate well is a whole another topic. While it is much easier to just keep our mouth busy talking the whole day, it is much harder to be an effective communicator. To be an effective communicator means that your listener fully understands what you are talking about and that you are able to communicate your message in an efficient manner, without wasting unnecessary time.
Here are some tips on how you can become a better communicator:
Define ahead of time, what it is you want to to tell that person
Think through what you are going to say, before saying it
Be straightforward and use language that both you and your listener will understand in the context
As you are speaking, ask your listener if what you are saying makes sense, or whether you need to repeat or clarify something
GOOD LISTENER
While it is an important skill to know how to communicate efficiently, it is just as important to know how and when to listen. If we don't listen to what other people are saying, we not only appear arrogant and impatient, but are also more likely to transmit our message across incorrectly, when it is our time to speak, and thus inefficient communication results. Listening to others allows cooperation to build and new ideas to be generated while your mind is opened to the ideas of other people.
Learn when it is the right time to speak up and make your voice heard but also be aware of when it is best to stay low and listen to others around you. Both you and your listener will benefit from this.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
They say that our personalities are determined by 5 of the closest people in our lives, which is why it is important that we consider who we are hanging out with? Who are we spending our time with? Ask yourself: Are the people I hang out with inspiring me? Challenging me to grow and improve? Supporting me? If you mostly answered no, you might want to reconsider your social circle.
Your social circle is so vitally important because humans by nature are social animals, where we need social interaction and mixing with others. This doesn't mean that you necessarily need to have an overwhelming number of friends with whom you hang out with on a regular basis, but it can just mean having a couple of really tightly knit close friends with whom you get along well and spending time with them do you and them well.
Not only that, but having more social connections makes your life easier in many ways. You are exposed to more foreign opportunities, and you have more mutual security as the more good friends you have, the more helping hands you have when you need help. But most importantly, social connections make your life worth living. The ability of people to experience and view your work and share experiences with each other gives you a sense of belonging, support and appreciation - which are all feelings we as humans crave.
DEALING WITH DISTRACTIONS
In today's distraction-filled work, one of the most worthwhile and searched for skills is your ability to stay focused and keep your brain concentrated on a task, without getting sucked into the plethora of social media feeds that consume our days. Many studies are confirming that on average, we are spending more than two hours every day on social media platforms. Mindlessly scrolling through these infinity pool networks where there is a never-ending content supply, does us more harm than we may initially think.
Using too much social media on the daily has been shown to negatively impact our self-esteem, our ability to talk and make social connections in real life, increase our levels of stress and anxiety, as well as potentially expose us to cyberbullying.
It seems as though social media will not be disappearing any time soon, as each year there are more social platforms being generated and more users joining every day, so it comes down to us to keep a healthy relationship with it. This also means that we know when and how to unplug from social media, to get actual work done and not get distracted every time we get a notification or an alert. Staying focused for long periods of time is steadily becoming a more difficult task, so those who develop their ability to do so, are on the right path.
CURIOSITY AND WILLINGNESS TO LEARN
Through the process of transitioning from a child to a teenager and then into an adult, we often lose the drive to learn about the world us, as we get occupied with work and other time fillers. Deep down we all have a desire and curiosity to learn about this world we live in, it is just often masked by daily occupations. It is important to nurture that need by reading, listening or viewing content that interests us and expands our knowledge in those fields.
If we have the drive to learn, it means we are proactive and have the want to acquire information about our environment. The more you learn, the easier it is for you to adapt to exterior circumstances and make more well-informed decisions, since you generally know more. All in all, a good quality to have.
CRITICAL THINKING
Critical thinking is defined as our ability to reason, where we have to question and verify all of the incoming information and be rational with how we choose to view this information. It is more based on analyzing and solving problems instead of relying so much on our instinct and intuition. It puts you into the perspective of a judge or critic, where you have to determine what makes sense and what doesn't in the context.
This is important in today’s world because it allows you to step into a more proactive mindset where you are actively analyzing all of the activities you do, instead of just doing things out of habit or routine. It allows you to discern the real from the fake, in terms of information and news. It enables you to make wiser decisions and most importantly, it broadens your perspective on things as you have to filter all of the incoming information.
SELF RELIANCE
It is nice to rely on others every so often, but if that becomes too much of a habit we may all of a sudden be let down when we can no longer rely on someone. Finding good people to rely on is becoming quite a challenging task with everyone living such busy lives, which is why at the end of the day, the only person who you can truly rely on, is yourself.
Learn to not blame others for your current situation as more often than not, it is your own action and decision that have brought you to where you are today. Self-reliance means holding yourself accountable and being responsible for your actions, where you know that your work output is a result of your own self-reliance instead of the reliance on others.
CONFIDENCE
A while back I read a quote saying "The most beautiful thing you can wear is confidence" which many times I have found to be true. When you are comfortable in your skin and yourself, you have a different energy about you and people just view you differently. Approaching life with confidence means that you are not afraid of problems but rather view them as challenges. It makes you more susceptible to making new social connections, as people are naturally more inclined to talk to people who are outspoken and confident; confidence is often attractive. Not only do you attract more people, but you also attract more potential opportunities your way, as we have previously mentioned that more social networking brings you more opportunities.
By being confident you also inspire others to be confident, which as a result also does good for them. Be confident to the extent where you are self-assured but not boastful, and you will see how your life takes a different turn.
OPTIMISM
As Dr Seuss said, "Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened". Here the main take away is that in life we can always choose how we want to look at the situation; We can either complain and be negative about something, or we can choose to look at something through a positive lens and treat is an opportunity. This shift in mindset can be the greatest change-maker in our lives.
By being more positive and optimistic, our perspective on life shifts and everything else from work, social connections, opportunities and mental attitude, as a result, changes too.
It doesn't take much, but it certainly does have an impact on all aspects of our life.