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 :)
Getting Back On Track After The Holidays
With the New Year's and Christmas holidays now behind us, it is time to turn our attention forward and work towards getting back on track after the festivities.
In today's post, we will explore exactly that, offering practical advice drawn from my own experiences to make this transition as seamless and enjoyable as possible.
If you are eager to resume your routine after some time off or seeking guidance or advice on this topic, then you have come to the right place.
I hope you gain something valuable from this 🥰
HOW TO GET BACK ON TRACK
Determine Your Intentions
The first step in getting back on track is to step back into alignment with yourself and determine in which direction you want to head. In this sense, you have to determine what your top priorities are going forward, for example, in both your personal and professional life and why you prioritize these things.
Additionally, consider which habits you want to build and that would benefit you most when it comes to getting back on track. Some habits, such as these, include building a consistent sleep schedule or prioritizing a varied and nutritious diet.
Make a note of these intentions and habits and keep it as a reference for yourself somewhere where you won't forget about it.
Setting Relevant Goals
Goals can be a very useful and more concrete way of visualizing and establishing your sense of direction and personal aspirations.
Here you want to determine what you want to achieve from today onwards and always have a clear “why” in your head, as this will keep you grounded throughout your whole journey towards your goals.
To ensure that you set your goals in the most useful ways, make sure to design your goals based on the SMART framework, which will make sure that your goals are well-established and that you can realistically achieve them in the time period you set to do them in. There is no good in setting highly unrealistic goals, as you will only be demotivated as a result.
I am not trying to say not to dream big, but I think it is much better to set a realistically sized goal or one which is slightly outside your comfort zone so that you make sure you can still achieve it and that it will give you an adequate boost of confidence and motivation to keep going.
Establishing Functional Routines
Although for some people routines may carry a negative connotation, routines which we set ourselves in our personal or professional lives can be a great way to support our long-term success and any habits which we want to keep up with.
In the mornings, for example, routines can be a great way to mentally prepare ourselves for the day ahead while in the evenings, they can be very useful for calming us down and helping us to unwind after a long day.
What's most important is that you design and pursue a routine that not only works and supports your lifestyle but that you also enjoy doing. If you don't enjoy something, it will make it that much harder to follow through with something in the long term.
It’s also important to mention that just because one routine works for someone, it does not mean it works for everyone else. Everyone is different, with different preferences and styles of working best, which is why it is key to design this routine based on your own lifestyle and intentions.
Lastly, contrary to what is commonly portrayed on the internet or on social media, these routines do not have to be extremely long, complicated, or painstakingly unenjoyable. The main point of a routine is to help you build consistency with something - what that activity is and how you choose to promote being consistent at that activity is up to you. Have fun with it :)
Curating Your Environment
If we want to best ensure that we successfully follow through on the goals, intentions, and routines which we previously established, our environment plays a huge role in making these aspirations as effortless and accessible as possible.
For example, if one of your goals after returning back from a long holiday is to return to a balanced and healthy diet, then it will likely not be of much use to keep loads of unhealthy and processed snacks or drinks at home.
Similarly, if one of the intentions which you set yourself is to be able to productively focus for longer periods of time, it makes sense to turn off or put away any potential sources of distractions whether that be in your digital or physical space.
The idea is to align and design your environment - your living and working space - in a way which supports your goals and intentions. This is a key step as it makes following through with your commitments as frictionless as possible.
Sticking To A Schedule
One of the key reasons for scheduling your activities or your personal commitments into a weekly or monthly schedule is that it promotes consistency. Consistency is one of the most underestimated yet high-yielding skills anyone can develop over time, and it allows you to consistently work, build, or improve on something ultimately helping you to get closer to that goal or achievement that you are striving for.
Based on the goals, habits, and routines which you want to implement into your lifestyle, figure out which of these activities is best done on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis and try to enter them into a calendar or some sort of task tracking software.
If you make these repetitions automatic it once again makes the process of sticking through your commitments that much more likely since you also won't forget about what you promised to yourself.
Creating Accountability
Depending on your current level of discipline, you may find that sticking to a set routine or schedule constantly can be quite challenging and effort-intensive, especially when the unpredictability of life comes our way.
One way to make this process of building consistency of a habit or ritual is to do these activities with someone else or share your personal goals and commitments with other close people who support you so that they can every so often check up on your progress and keep you on track.
Accountability is the foundation of doing anything consistently.
That is not to say that accountability only comes in the form of doing something with someone else, but can also be done through setting reminders on your phone or other devices to remind you of your intentions and routines that you are gradually building.
Realize What Is Within Your Circle Of Control
You have to acknowledge that no matter how clear or well-established your intentions are, that sometimes unpredictable aspects of life will come in our way, usually in the times we least expect it. This is a normal part of life and it is important to be able to not only be aware of this phenomenon but to also take it into account for when we are planning our lives.
There will always be some aspects of our life which we can control and others which are completely out of our circle of control.
If you find that something gets in the way of you achieving your plans, identify whether this is a factor that you have control over and if so, how can you prevent it from derailing you in the future. If it's something you can't control, then realize that the best way to go about this is to accept it for what it is since you can't really change anything about it and realize that everyone has to make peace with such factors.
Staying Flexible
Relating to the previous point, when we do find that something derails us off of our track - whether it is something unpredictable that happens in our daily environment or when we feel our personal willpower or discipline starting to wane - we need to be flexible and adaptable to get our feet back on track.
We have to realize that whether and how we get ourselves back on the right course towards our goals is much more important than the number of times we get derailed. In the end, the people who are most resilient and most adaptable to unpredictable circumstances are also the ones who are much more likely to reach and fulfill their aspirations.
It all takes practice and gradual daily improvements where it's key to know that one setback or wrong step won't mess up your entire journey.
Reward And Repeat
Once you have a routine established that works for you and you are successfully staying consistent, make sure to also every once in a while reward yourself to stay motivated and encourage yourself to keep going.
All of this consistency is at the end of the day very similar to the process of habit building for which we need a reason to keep doing or repeating something.
Additionally, the motivation to continue doing something does not necessarily only have to come from rewards per se, but is actually commonly the result of doing or starting to do something in the first place. Contrary to common belief, motivation is the result of action, instead of motivation being a prerequisite to starting or doing something.
Make sure that this reward or incentive for continuing to do something is something that you actually enjoy and get pleasure out of. It doesn't only have to be limited to treating yourself to a physical gift or some other material good (however if that is what you like best then go for it), but it can also be extended to treating yourself to an experience for yourself or with your friends, or enjoying some good food or going for a weekend/day trip to somewhere.
Life is also in large part about having fun and enjoying the process, so why not make the process of getting to your goals as enjoyable as possible?
Be Kind To Yourself
Lastly, keep in mind that occasionally everyone makes mistakes, makes a wrong decision, or does something to a lesser standard than what we promised to ourselves.
In such situations, there is little point in beating yourself up over it since that will just completely discourage you from ever getting back on track but instead first realize that setbacks like these happen to everyone and secondly, that the way you react or get back up from setbacks is within your control.
You can't always choose how many times you fall down but you can always choose how many times you choose to get back up. Use that to your advantage.
We are all only human at the end of the day giving each day our best effort, so make sure to be kind to yourself on this journey and to take care of yourself and those who support you.
Becoming The Best Version Of Yourself
We all aspire to become better versions of ourselves than we were yesterday, living in alignment with our values and intentions. Striving for personal growth and progress can sometimes feel more overwhelming and challenging than necessary, which is why I've written a concise guide that simplifies the process of continuous self-improvement.
I hope that today's post inspires you to find practical ways to enhance yourself as an individual, making this journey as accessible and actionable as possible because we all aim to evolve into better versions of ourselves.
I hope you find this post enjoyable and valuable.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF?
Becoming the best version of yourself is a highly individualized journey that encompasses various aspects of personal growth, ultimately requiring you to live authentically in alignment with what resonates with you at your core, which includes honoring your values, preferences, and boundaries, without compromising your identity for the sake of others; the key is to prioritize activities and processes that empower you and nurture your well-being.
Your best self is a unique creation, tailored to your aspirations, and not necessarily mirroring the expectations of those around you; the objective is to continually refine your own vision of what brings out your true potential and keeps you on the path of authenticity and self-improvement.
Remember that your perception of your best self can evolve over time; it's not a static state but signifies ongoing personal growth and development.
To achieve your best self, it's vital to take charge of the aspects of your life that are within your control; while we can't control every facet of our existence, focusing on enhancing the areas that are manageable sets you on the road to success.
Finally, acknowledge that the path to self-improvement is not always smooth; life is inherently imperfect, and we can't have total control over every circumstance. However, it's crucial to remain committed to your personal growth journey, even in the face of challenges, and give your best effort, knowing that not everything will always go as planned.
HOW TO BECOME THE BEST VERSION OF YOU
Prioritize Your Health
Sleep: Sleep is essential for overall health and well-being, allowing the body to rest, repair, and consolidate memories while promoting physical and mental health.
Movement: Exercise is crucial for maintaining physical health and overall well-being, improving cardiovascular fitness, building and maintaining muscle strength, managing weight, and enhancing mental and emotional health.
Nutrition: Nutrition is vital for sustaining health and providing essential nutrients for energy, growth, maintenance, and disease prevention.
Stress management: Stress management is necessary for maintaining mental and physical well-being by reducing the negative impact of chronic stress on the body, promoting emotional resilience, and improving overall quality of life.
Social well-being: Having a social circle is important for emotional support, companionship, and a sense of belonging, contributing to mental and emotional well-being and providing a valuable network in times of need.
Establish The Fundamentals
Develop discipline: Having discipline and self-management is important for achieving personal and professional goals, maintaining consistency, and making responsible choices leading to long-term success and well-being.
Define your core values: Defining your core values is important as it provides a clear and meaningful framework for decision-making, goal setting, and living a life that aligns with your authentic self.
Practice having a growth mindset: Having a growth mindset is crucial as it fosters a belief in the ability to learn, adapt, and improve, leading to increased resilience, motivation, and personal development.
Prioritize what matters to you: Prioritizing what matters to you is essential because it allows you to focus your time, energy, and resources on your most meaningful goals and values, leading to a more fulfilling and purposeful life.
Let go of limiting beliefs: Letting go of limiting beliefs is important because it empowers personal growth, fosters a positive self-image, and opens the door to new opportunities and achievements.
Be compassionate towards yourself: Being compassionate towards yourself is important for maintaining mental and emotional well-being, reducing self-criticism and stress, and promoting self-acceptance and resilience in the face of life's challenges.
Visualize your future self: Visualizing your future self is important as it provides motivation, clarity, and a sense of direction to work toward your desired goals and aspirations.
Start Prioritizing Your Own Personal Growth
Start showing up for yourself: You are responsible for your progress and actions, so you must make the effort to show up for yourself because no one else can be you.
Create empowering rituals: Rituals and routines that work for you can be incredibly empowering and effective, helping you get into the right mindset, set intentions, and carry out tasks with minimal hesitation or procrastination.
Work on your strengths: Identifying and working on your strengths allows intentional self-improvement, helping you become better at what you already excel at or venture into learning new skills and knowledge.
Embrace failures and mistakes: Embracing failures and mistakes is important for personal growth, learning, and resilience, as they provide valuable lessons and opportunities for improvement.
Challenge yourself every day: Challenging yourself daily is important for personal growth and skill development, fostering adaptability and a sense of achievement.
Set and go after your goals: Setting your goals and guiding the direction of your life empowers you to feel in control of where you are headed and how you get there.
Celebrate small victories: Focusing on celebrating small meaningful victories boosts motivation and proves you are headed in the right direction.
Master Time Management And Productivity
Just get to doing it: Simply put, don't delay things you want to do because getting something done is about starting and finishing it through.
Remove distractions: Controlling and limiting distractions is essential for focus and productivity, especially when trying to complete tasks.
Time yourself during tasks: Deciding in advance how long to complete a task forces you to finish it within that time period and reduces procrastination.
Practice calendar blocking: Visualizing your weeks or days and ensuring you can feasibly complete tasks scheduled for a given day or week is crucial for productivity.
Stop looking for shortcuts: Acknowledge that self-improvement takes continuous effort, patience, and hard work, so focus on enjoying the process of becoming the best version of yourself as much as possible.
Take Care Of Your Personal Relationships
Accept help from others: Accepting help promotes collaboration, strengthens relationships, and enables personal and collective progress.
Keep in touch with people who matter most to you: Maintaining strong connections, fostering emotional support, and nurturing a sense of belonging and well-being are crucial.
Help other people become the best version of themselves: Supporting each other's self-improvement and personal growth can be a mutually beneficial and rewarding process.
Give back to people and society: Giving back to society contributes to community well-being, addresses social needs, and fosters a sense of purpose and interconnectedness.
FINDING MOTIVATION
Becoming the best version of yourself demands daily effort and a continuous drive for self-improvement, which may initially seem daunting due to the requirement for discipline and consistency. Nevertheless, the rewards and results are undoubtedly worth the journey.
To enhance your chances of success, it's essential to uncover the underlying reasons for making these life changes and, importantly, to find ways to make the process of self-improvement as enjoyable as possible. This ensures not only a more enjoyable journey but also increases the likelihood of sticking with it and achieving the desired results. Maintaining discipline and consistency hinges on understanding your motivations and setting rewards and milestones along the way.
When it comes to motivation, we can categorize it into two common types:
Intrinsic motivation: This type of motivation arises from within yourself and is driven by your own beliefs, values, and priorities. An example is your desire to grow and improve as an individual simply because you find the process personally fulfilling or enjoy the challenges it presents.
Extrinsic motivation: In contrast, this motivation is triggered by external factors, which can be positive or negative. Examples of positive reinforcement include receiving rewards, verbal praise, good grades, or positive results. Extrinsic motivation can also be driven by the desire to avoid negative consequences, such as punishment or criticism.
Balancing both types of motivation is ideal to ensure a well-rounded and sustainable drive for self-improvement.
Additionally it is important to note, that often we incorrectly think that we need a boost of inspiration or motivation to get us to do something where actually just starting something, will itself give us the motivation to continue going. Therefore motivation is actually sourced from action itself instead of having to first wait for motivation to do something.
KEY IDEAS
If you want to continuously become a better version of yourself, then you have come to the right place. In todays blog post we are discussion exactly that; everything it takes for you to become that leveled up version of yourself which you desire and strive for.
REFERENCES
Perry, E. (2022, July 8). 10 ways to become your best self. Better Up. https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-be-the-best-version-of-yourself
Mazaika, K. (2016, September 6). How To Be the Best Version of Yourself. Time. https://time.com/4479890/best-version-of-yourself/
Hayes II, J. (2023, March 8). How to Be the Best Version of You And Live Your Best Life. Life Hack. https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/starting-today-stop-these-6-things-become-the-best-version-yourself.html
Cook, J. (2020, October 26). 6 Powerful Ways To Be A Better Version Of Yourself. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jodiecook/2020/10/26/6-powerful-ways-to-be-a-better-version-of-yourself/?sh=283098836339
Listening To Your Intuition
Recently the topic of intuition grabbed my attention, as I feel it can be a very useful subject, however it is not talked about nearly enough as it should be.
Most of us are vaguely aware of our intuition and what it is, but often times we just disregard it, ignore it and say that is is better to always listen to our heads than our hearts. But is that right?
This is what we will be exploring in todays post, as well as how to become more aware of your intuition so that you can make the best use of it.
Enjoy the read <3
WHAT IS INTUITION?
Have you ever had a moment where you felt like something wasn't quite right, but you couldn't explain why or how? This is our intuition at play, a hidden force or instinct that guides us through life.
Intuition can be defined as our innate inclination for a particular behavior. It is often referred to as a “gut feeling” because often we can feel the innate sensation in our gut region.
In other words, intuition is a natural tool that allows us to know something without prior analytical reasoning. It is based on past experiences that allow us to form an conscious (although sometimes not noticed) reaction or decision, such as what we feel like having for lunch today.
There is often a battle of rational thinking and intuitive thinking, but if we can use both of them to the best of our ability, it can greatly benefit our decision making abilities and our levels of happiness in life.
WHY IS YOUR INTUITION USEFUL?
Now we understand that each of us have intuition, where some of us are better are listening to it than others, but in any case it can be a very useful tool because our intuition is unique to each of us.
Intuition is grounded in the present moment, meaning that it directs us towards what feels right to us in the current moment.
This allows us to make decisions that are likely to feel more in line with our true values and intentions. Of course when it comes to decision making, there has to be a certain level of thought or rationality put behind them, but listening to our intuition is also a must.
With better decision making, we are able to feel a greater level of happiness because we are making the right decision for us that feel right to us.
TUNING IN TO YOUR INTUITION
Listen To Yourself
Occasionally spend some time in silence to listen to yourself. Listen to both your body and mind, how do they feel? What are they trying to tell you? What do you want? What do you actually need?
These are all important questions to ask yourself. The answers are important because they are unique to you. If no answers come immediately, that is totally normal, keep pondering those questions over time and answers will emerge in some form or another.
Raise Awareness
Once you have taken some time to listen to your thoughts and emotions, become increasingly aware of them. Notice how they feel, how you fee about your own thoughts, think about why you react the way you do. Question everything you do and try to understand why.
Meditation is a great way to gradually become more aware of yourself as you are focused on yourself here and now in the present.
Additionally journaling and various visualization exercises are also useful in raising your intuition as they give you time to realize your wants and needs, who you are and identify your core values in life which lead you.
Experiment More
Next, take time during your everyday or during weekends to escape your usual routine. Try something new that you have been wanting to try for a while now. Perhaps a long lost hobby, a forgotten interest or a newly discovered passion. Notice how you feel about doing these things. Do you enjoy it? If not, why?
Take this time to also lean into any neglected interests you may have, that may not have been expressed before. This refresh might just be what you need to re-ignite your intuition.
Find something that you enjoy and something that feels right to you. Notice how you feel. What does your intuition say?
Find Inspiration
Surround yourself with inspiring media, people, works of art, music, podcasts, books and information. Learn new things and try out something that grabs your attention.
By finding something that inspires you, you not only raise your level of creativity, but it also excites you and urges you to keep experimenting, learning and following your heart with what guides your interest- Your intuition.
I hope you found this article on your intuition both interesting and useful, as I am trying to deliver this information to you in the most compact yet interesting and useful way.
If you have any specific ideas for that you would want me to write about, let me know on my Instagram (thriving_taya)
Thanks again for reading :)
Feeling Tired? Here's How To Naturally Boost your Energy Levels
Perhaps if you are reading this you may find yourself wanting to have more energy during the day, or more specifically, to have more stable energy levels throughout the day.
It is normal to have dips and rises in our energy during a course of a day, however, there are many things that are within our control and are actually taking away more energy from us, than what is normal.
I discuss these energy-draining factors below and also offer a simplified and practical view on how to boost your energy through natural and accessible methods - Because I think that everyone can benefit from having more disposable energy during the day.
Happy reading.
FACTORS AFFECTING OUR ENERGY LEVELS
There are a couple of main factors for which we can be sure that they affect our energy levels. These factors are written below and are further expanded on in the next section.
If we can begin to control these factors, we are much more likely to end up with stable and consistent energy throughout the day.
Sleep: Both length and quality
Diet: What you eat, how much of something you eat, and when you eat
Stress management
Physical activity and movement
Illness or feeling unwell
Drinking enough water
Consumption of caffeine
Smoking and alcohol
Our posture
Depth and rate of our breathing
LACK OF ENERGY: CAUSES & REMEDIES
1. SLEEP
Sleep is something that we often underestimate the importance of, but after a night of just a couple of hours of sleep with an early wake up the next morning, we feel groggy and underslept, and only then do we wish we went to bed earlier and spent more time sleeping.
The amount of sleep that you need will mainly vary based on your age, your health status, and your physical activity levels.
On average, here is the amount of time you should spend sleeping per night:
6-13 years olds: 9-11 hours
14-17 years olds: 8-10 hours
18-25 years olds: 7-9 hours
26-64 years olds: 7-9 hours
With sleep both the quality and quantity of our sleep matters as the quantity ensures that we go through all the stages of sleep in a given night and the quality is responsible for sleeping deeply enough.
But as it turns out the wide majority of the global population is underslept and frequently experiences poor sleep. For example, across the world, about 37% of adults ages 20-39 report short sleep duration, and roughly 35% of adults in the US, say that they sleep for less than 7 hours per night. Furthermore, another pressing issue is insomnia, where now across the world, between 10 and 30% of adults frequently struggle with chronic insomnia.
Overall, sleep affects many more things than just our energy levels where it is also heavily linked with negative changes in our emotions, mood, cardiovascular health, memory, and our immune system.
If you are interested to find out more about sleep and how to sleep better, check out this post here
IMPLEMENTATION STRATGEIS:
Before going to bed, try having a set nighttime routine to cue your brain into going to sleep
Relax and calm yourself before sleep
Optimize your bedroom environment: Dim and warm the lights, cool the room temperature, and limit loud sound
Have a consistent sleep and wake up schedule
Include physical activity during your day
Limit caffeine consumption in the afternoon
Reduce exposure to blue light in the evening and increase exposure to natural light during the day
2. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Even just from an evolutionary point of view, humans are not designed to sit for several hours in one sitting, we are made to move. It is crucially important to fit in movement during our day every day, as sitting down for extended periods of time without standing up in between, has been correlated with poorer cardiovascular health, back pain, type 2 diabetes, and potentially also various forms of cancer.
The point here is that you do not need to do extended periods of vigorous exercise to feel any of the benefits, as even just a 30-minute walk can completely change around your mood and energy levels. It is even better if each day you manage to go out to get some fresh air and expose your skin to some sunshine for a bit.
In terms of why exercise can improve our energy levels, it is that doing more physical activity has been shown to increase the number of mitochondria in certain cells, which means that we are able to have a greater respiration rate and thus produce more energy. Additionally, during exercise, our body naturally releases hormones of happiness, also known as endorphins, which work to raise our mood and in turn also our energy throughout the day.
Perhaps a less commonly mentioned aspect, but people who do regular exercise, have also been shown to have better posture, which can otherwise lead to issues such as back or neck pain, as well as disrupted digestion.
IMPLEMENTTION STRATGIES:
Aim to do at least 30 minutes a day of some form of physical activity per day
Once you have been sitting down for long periods of time, aim to stand up or readjust your posture. Perhaps if you have the time and space, try doing some stretches or going for a short walk, which should help with adjusting your posture
Try different forms of movement and stick to what you like: Walking, cycling, running, dancing, yoga, weight training, hiking, swimming, tennis, basketball, etc.
When working sitting down, try and stand up every 20minutes or so and get some movement
Set daily movement goals (Eg: The number of steps or distance you want to walk)
3. FOOD AND DRINKS
I’m pretty sure that most of us by now know just how important food is and how it can drastically impact just about every aspect of our health and wellbeing - Including our energy levels.
You can imagine food as a simple fuel source for your body, whereby if you fuel your body with the food it’s designed to eat, your body will reward you with better and more stable energy levels. Eat real food, limit processed “food” and keep things in moderation, and very likely your energy will show an increase.
While this idea of healthy eating may sound simple in theory, when it comes to real-life it can often be more complex, because nowadays there is more processed food available than ever before, making junk “food” more convenient, affordable, and accessible wherever we go. Because of this, it is that much more important we take care of what we eat and be mindful of what we are fueling our bodies with.
Excessive consumption of highly processed food such as regularly consuming fast food, sugary sodas, and desserts, and snacks with lots of added sugar has been increasingly linked with poorer cardiovascular health, which puts you more in danger later on of developing type II diabetes and obesity. Furthermore, these medical conditions can lead to other unwanted health issues such as poorer oral health, more inflammation in your body, and a greater risk for the development of various types of cancers.
As a general recommendation, limit your intake of highly processed food that is full of chemicals and artificial additives that in the long term, don’t bring many benefits to your body at all - apart from your taste buds. Try incorporating more foods in their whole food form, and try making more meals at home by yourself, since that way you not only save yourself money from takeouts but also learn to budget your groceries better and have more control in terms of what you put in your food.
IMPLEMENTAITON STRATEGIES
Focus on eating natural and whole grains and limit processed food
Avoid excessive added sugar consumption
Eating enough calories for your needs
Drink more water during the day, especially if you are more physically active
Aim to eat at regular intervals
Aim to space out your meals into smaller portions throughout the day
Eating larger meals can often lead to feeling heavy after eating
Try to not eat too late at night as that can interfere with your sleep
Incorporate more fruits and vegetable into your diet with a higher water content
Limit alcohol consumption
Alcohol is a sedative, which slows down and relaxes our body, by slowing down our brain functioning
4. STRESS MANAGEMENT
You might not be aware of this, but stress and anxiety are very energy-intensive states for our body to maintain, due to having a more rapid heartbeat as a result of the hormone cortisol. From an evolutionary point of view, stress was useful and told our body to respond quickly in times of danger so that we were able to survive.
However modern-day causes of stress are much different than what they used to be because we no longer have to run away from lions and worry about making it through the night. Nowadays, stress arises not from physiological factors, but from psychological factors that are a result of our environment - which is becoming ever more busy and demanding to upkeep.
Stress in the right amounts is actually believe it or not, beneficial to us, however, it is crucial that we maintain stress at healthy levels as otherwise many other aspects of our health can suffer as a result. I have talked more about the dangers of chronic stress in this article here
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
Try different things to calm yourself down: Meditation, exercise, journaling, reading, taking a bath, seeing or talking to a friend (Doing something you love)
Try breathing techniques
Become better at managing your time
Become better at prioritizing your work
Self-reflect: Why am I stressed? Is this in my control? Is this an appropriate reaction?
5. LIFESTYLE CHOICES
In terms of lifestyle choices, I am referring to smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, both of which strongly influence our energy levels throughout the day.
Smoking has been around for a long time and even though we are now more aware of the danger of smoking than ever before, people still persist to smoke nonetheless.
Several clinical studies have shown that smoking several cigarettes per day has been associated with the development of various types of cancers, heart disease, a greater risk for stroke, a weaker immune system, type II diabetes, and serious respiratory conditions such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
There are now plenty of available methods such as various cigarette replacements, with which you can try and reduce your smoking.
In terms of alcohol, moderate consumption shows less serious health effects, however excessive drinking of highly alcoholic beverages has been associated with increased levels of inflammation, a rise in blood sugar, and causing a slower response rate.
Alcohol is classed as a sedative drug, which works by slowing down the electrical impulses carried by never cells across our nervous system, which results in a slower reaction time and responsivity.
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES:
AIm to reduce your smoking, or even better if you quit completely
Drink alcohol in moderation. If drinking is not your thing, simply don’t feel pressured to do it
How To Make The Best Of 2021
With 2020 now behind us, it is time to start looking ahead into the new year, 2021. In order to make the best of the year ahead, we have to make sure to set our goals, our intentions, and establish a vision in terms of what we want to achieve for this year.
Creating the "best year of our life" is not something we are just given, so we have to input effort and work into making it the "best" we can.
With this blog post, I hope to share some advice on how to make this year great and full of amazing opportunities, how to set goals for the new year, and how to get what we want from this year.
If you want to join me in the journey of making 2021 an amazing year, I encourage you to read on and I hope to fill you with inspiration, motivation, and ideas to power you up for the upcoming year.
You got this :)
SETTING GOALS - THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFOREHAND
Consider the 5 W's:
What resources will I need to achieve my goal?
How long will I need to get to my goal?
Why do I want to achieve this?
How will I achieve this?
When will I make time to work towards my goal?
Have a source of feedback throughout the process of getting to your goal
Identify some potential problems, setbacks, and distractions before starting
Breakdown long complex goals into simpler and shorter ones
Frame the goal as a learning task and not just a performance task
In order to make sure that you get to the end, consider potential outcomes and rewards you will give yourself to motivate your progress further
THE PROCESS OF SETTING GOALS
START WITH SOMETHING GENERAL
I am pretty sure that the majority of you who will be reading this will have already been familiar with the SMART format of setting goals, where the S stands for Specific and requires us to set a goal that is primarily specific and requires us to know exactly what we want to achieve.
However, whenever I try to use this template, I find that trying to be too specific in the beginning is not the right approach because a) I’m either not sure how specific to get about a goal and b) because it actually hinders my process of getting to the goal because it encourages the mentality of having to have everything figured out before you can start moving towards your goal. I am not however saying that this is a problem for everyone, however, if you do find this issue familiar, then I suggest first set a general direction in which you want to go.
For example in the case that you want to be more of a physically active person, say that you want to start running more. This is your general direction. If you instead straightway force yourself to be super specific about what you want to achieve, you are more likely to get stuck before you even start.
GET SPECIFIC
Once you have a general goal in mind, start thinking about the specific of it and begin to narrow down what exactly in that field you want to achieve. This stage is also where you implement all the other aspects of the SMART goal format which are also essential to consider when setting goals.
Other areas to consider:
Measurable: How can I measure my goal? When will I have known that I have achieved my goal?
Attainable: Is this goal realistic with my current circumstances and will I be able to properly manage my time and energy to achieve it?
Relevant: Is the goal that I am heading towards relevant to me and meaningful enough for me? If it is not relevant enough to your personal interests, you are likely to lose motivation in the initial stages
Time-bound: In what time period do I want to achieve my goal? How frequently will I be working towards achieving my goal? On a daily, weekly, monthly basis?
IMPLEMENT
Now that you have made your goal much more specific and you are much more precise in terms of what you want to achieve, start to implement the necessary actions that will take you towards your goal.
Put aside one week to test out and see how you do with sticking with your goal and how realistic it is for you. This is the time where you are able to see all of the faults in your goal and all the other things you did not take into account during your goal-setting process.
For example, if your goal was to read 50 pages of a book each day for 7 days a week, and you found out that realistically you were only able to read that 4 days in a week, then that is a sign that you need to adjust your goal.
The point of this step is not to make you guilty that your goal was set inadequately, but instead to allow you to see the ways in which you have to alter your goal in order to actually achieve it. The theory is often very different than when we practically apply something in our life.
ADJUST AND IMPLEMENT AGAIN
After you have tried to implement the necessary actives on a daily basis you would have likely noticed that more adjustments have to be made to your goal. Maybe you were expecting too much from yourself, maybe too little. Perhaps you did not have enough disposable time in your day, or you simply did not find the goal enough interesting or meaningful by the end of the week.
This is all okay and all should be treated as valuable feedback towards creating more realistic and relevant goals.
Now take these adjustments and changes and input them into your initial goal. Change things around based on your previous experiences, and give things another shot. Set aside once again another couple of days of experimenting and see whether this time you do better with sticking to the goal.
If you find yourself still slipping back and not sticking to what you set out to do, look towards making changes once again or perhaps considering other areas that may be preventing progress, such as maybe not having enough personal discipline to stick with it. This simply means that you have to improve on some other areas before starting out on achieving your goal since you will need some other skills r knowledge in order to get to the finish line.
For example, if your goal is to make 3 drawings per week in order to make you fit for an art competition and you are a beginner at drawing, maybe the issue is not that you don’t have enough time or motivation, but perhaps you would need a little more work on your art technique in order to enhance your drawing ability. This will later then greatly help you out with coming closer to your goal.
GO AND ACHIEVE IT
Once you have made your goal specific, have tried it out in practice, and had made sure to make any necessary alterations to it, now is the time to go out, commit to your goal, and also achieve it.
You will with no doubt encounter setbacks and delays in between the progress, but just keep pushing, adapting, and pursuing your goal. Let your goal be flexible because life around us is constantly changing so make sure to take that into account when moving towards the finish line.
I recommend that you do this exercise with a maximum of 3-5 goals per time because otherwise it just becomes too much to handle and think about, especially if we have already got plenty of other work on our back.
QUESTIONS TO REFLECT ON
What are my top 5 intentions for this year?
What am I going to continue doing?
What do I want to change completely?
What will I do to step out of my comfort zone?
How will I make sure to learn from my future mistakes?
What are the top 3 things I want to accomplish this year in my academic life/ career?
What are the top 3 things I want to accomplish this year for my health and personal wellbeing?
What are the top 3 things I want to accomplish this year in terms of my health and personal interests?
What will be my purpose this year?
Which existing relationships do I want to focus on and strengthen?
What kind of new people do I want to attract into my life?
In what ways will make this year matter to me when I look back?
How will I help and provide value to others?
What personal qualities do I want to strengthen?
What skills do I want to learn?
How will I take care of myself?
What places do I want to visit?
What occasions and opportunities will I say “no” to?
Who will I ask for help and support from?
What kind of person do I want to become next year?
Habits For A Meaningful Life
Throughout my exploration of personal growth, that included exploring what personal growth meant for me and referring to external sources for ideas as to how to improve yourself as a person, I had collected a list of habits which seemed to constantly get mentioned and talked about. These habits, by many, have been claimed to be the foundational building blocks of a healthy and meaningful life, which we all desire. I already implement some of these habits myself on a daily basis but would like to start or improve my consistency with others, because after all, the purpose is not to be perfect but to put your best effort into everything you do.
Some of these habits are most beneficial when implemented on a daily basis, however keeping track of 15 habits all at once is a lot to expect of somebody, especially if you are new to the world of self-development, so I would recommend focusing and picking 1-3 habits you feel like you could implement on a daily basis and seeing how you stick to them and what kind of benefits you gain.
I have also written a separate blog post; Habits Are The Key To Your Success that goes more into the depth of habits themselves and also discusses some practical tips for how to implement new habits into your life. Therefore, I would recommend you read through that first to get some background understanding of habits, but for your convenience, I have also included a short explanation below, about the importance of habits in our life and exactly why they are so important for our personal development.
WHY ARE HABITS SO IMPORTANT?
I have previously already spoken of the hidden superpower that good habits can have on our well being, so here I have provided a short iteration of why habits play such an essential role in our life.
The point of habits is not to look at them from a short term perspective, but to focus on the long term, because habits require consistency and discipline to build and maintain, which can then yield in long term result and prosperity for all aspects of our life. When looked individually, habits can seem very small and futile, but a daily incremental action and change that we set ourselves to do, can overtime accumulate and result in many desired outcomes, ranging from an improved mental and physical performance, as well as impacting our relationships.
Our lifestyle and identity is largely a reflection of our habits. It is estimated that roughly 40% our of daily actions are habitual, meaning that habits form a large chunk of our life, which is why we have to take advantage of them. If we can take control of these subconscious actions and substitute them for actions which do us and others good, then that is one of the best things we can spend our time doing, and we won’t even mind or notice we are doing those things because they become an effortless habit. But consistently takes time and effort, so we have to be willing to invest our time and energy into sticking with these habits that we believe will have the largest impact on our life.
Don’t let negative habits sway and determine your direction of life, but replace them with beneficial and worthwhile habits that will bring meaning to your life and the lives of others.
BEST HABITS FOR LIFE
HABIT 1: Fueling your body correctly:
Everything starts with what we choose to input into our bodies, which can be summed up with the Aruvedic proverb “When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need”. What we choose to eat and drink, not only has direct impacts on our physical health, but can tremendously impact both our mental and emotional health, so it is important to place our foremost focus on our health - because we only get one. In terms of taking care of your health through healthy eating patterns, it involves increasing your consumption of minimally to non processed foods, eating seasonal and varied produce as well as eating in healthy portions (Both eating too much and too little does our body harm).
It is also important that we establish a good relationship with the way we choose to view “healthy” food because that relationship determines ultimately what we will eat, and therefore our overall health. Avoid the regular consumption of highly processed artificial foods that yes, may taste and feel good at the moment, but for the long term, they are not a good investment in your health.
In life there are things that are within our control and things that we don’t have control over; food choices are something that we can control, so it is up to us to fuel our bodies with what makes us feel, think and look best for the long term benefit.
HABIT 2: Getting enough sleep
Sleep is the second-best way to take care of our health. I had recently read the book “Why we sleep” by Matthew Walker, and my mind was opened to a whole nother dimension of benefits that sleep can bring to us, instead of just the usual “recharging our batteries”.
The benefits of sleep are widespread and include aspects such as:
Improved heart and circulatory health
Grater stability in energy and mood during the day
Muscle regeneration
Improved memory formation and knowledge association
Weight management
Regulation of blood sugar and hormone levels
Keeping a healthy immune system
Reduces stress and anxiety
Nowadays, sleep can be looked down upon, especially since it is seen as a “non-productive” use of our time, however, with all the evidence and research that support the plethora of gains that result from sufficient sleep, it is fair to say that that statement is false. Teenagers and young adults should be getting minimally 8 hours of sleep per night, however that is often not the case because we stay up late and stare and screens from our electronic devices, all of which emit blue light that suppresses the release of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, meaning that our brains do not become tired and do not feel the need to go to bed, so we end up falling asleep later - a recipe for disaster especially if we have to get up early the next day.
If you are interested in the topic of sleep, I would highly recommend you check out the book “Why we sleep”, and start with taking charge of your sleeping schedule, because it impacts your health in more ways than you would think.
HABIT 3: Daily movement
Exercise is another habit to implement on a daily routine, because just like sleep, it has plenty of health benefits for both our mental and physical health, such as increased, strength, flexibility, bone density and decreased chances of chronic diseases, stress poor quality sleep. To find more benefits and to find out how to implement exercise as part of a consistent habit, I have written another blog post on this topic.
Exercise comes in different forms and types, and the foundation in building regularity in our exercise habit is to find something which we enjoy, based on the benefits we get from it. Experiment with activities that you enjoy and occasionally step out of your comfort zone to try out a new sport or activity that will keep you challenged but also improve you as a person. To keep yourself motivated to exercise, track your own progress and results, or join a community where exercising becomes a part of a social event.
Even the famous Greek physician, Hippocrates, had stated “Even when all is known, the care of a man is not yet complete, because eating alone will not keep a man well; he must also take exercise. For food and exercise, while possessing opposite qualities, yet work together to produce health”. The relationship that we have with exercise is crucial in forming a long term exercise routine and it is also important to mention that exercise should be kept in moderation; not forcing our body too much or not doing any at all, but finding just the right balance between deriving the benefits and finding enjoyment in a challenge.
Reframe your mindset by saying that exercise is something you “get” to do, not “have” to do, especially in the case that you are a healthy individual, that is fully capable of exercising.
HABIT 4: Meditation
This is another habit that I have recently integrated into my daily morning routine and have now, after more than a month of doing it, found plenty of benefits, which I have talked about in my blog post Benefits Of regular Meditation.
Meditation is a practice that you have to go into with an intention - why you want to so it - and also be very persistent and regular with the practice because meditating once will only produce short term benefits when we should be looking for a long term benefit in our health.
If you would like to pick up the habit of meditation and have heard about all of the benefits it can bring, I would recommend exploring different apps that focus on meditation or engaging in online or real-life courses that teach you how to meditate, that will both provide the benefits of meditation but build you up with enough knowledge and independence to be able to meditate then on your own.
HABIT 5: Journaling
Journaling has become quite a popular form of personal growth and has recently become one of my favourites too. Journaling itself is not a purely defined action and can mean different things for different people. For example, for some, journaling may mean simply wiring down their thoughts and feelings, while for others it might be a time to reflect and plan for the future.
For me, journaling is a mixture of both of those ideas, along with doing regular gratitude writing, planning different life events and setting goals for the future. The act of journaling is a great opportunity to squeeze in some gratitude writing, which could be a habit in itself, but I have started to include it in this section since at least for me, I like to express gratitude writing when I am using my journal.
Many people enjoy the act of journaling because it is non-restrictive, non defined and the journal will not judge you for what you write, so it is a great way for people to declutter heavy and unnecessary thoughts and worries onto a page. As far as neatness and aesthetics go, perfectionism should not be a barrier or a limiting factor in your habit of journaling, since journaling is meant to be unedited and imperfect
HABIT 6: Learning time
This is a habit that I would like to start doing myself, in the near future, because I have heard of just how impactful it can be to take 20-30 minutes each day to learn something new about a topic we are interested in. I believe that investing in your knowledge, personal growth and education are some of the best areas that you can invest your money and time in since it overall improves you as a person.
Nowadays, there is so much information available online, so it is literally possible to learn almost anything we want just from looking through books, online videos, courses, classes and audio recordings. All of the information we need is out there, it is just a matter of picking a topic that we want to learn about and finding suitable sources for it.
I think that each of us has some topics that we are interested in, however, we rarely take enough time to explore them and enrich our knowledge in those aspects. So I encourage you to read, watch, teach and listen about topics that spark your interest because it just might be so that if you are interested in something, you can use that knowledge to spark someone else’s interest in that topic. Don’t just assume that if you find something interesting, that no one else will.
HABIT 7: Reading
The habit of reading is a very popular one that is endorsed by millions of people throughout the world and is also a great way to keep our brain active and our imagination swift, as well as having a chance to expand our vocabulary and reducing stress. Furthermore, reading can strengthen our storytelling skills and give us a chance to learn about something we find interesting, which links to the previous point I made above.
Reading is so popular because everyone can find something they enjoy reading about, whether its fiction or non-fiction, both are beneficial. Nowadays, you also have the option to read on e-readers and tablets which are a more practical and cheaper book reading alternative, but many people still prefer psychical books because of their size and front covers.
If you find it hard to include reading as part of your daily routine, I would recommend either designating about 30 minutes a day that is meant for reading (Right before bed for example), or you can use your time commuting on public transport or during your time that you are eating, to pick up the habit of reading.
HABIT 8: Stepping out of your comfort zone
While we often hear the advice of stepping out of our comfort zone, not many take the self-initiative and really propel themselves into an unfamiliar situation, but those who do and manage to implement that as part of a habitual mindset, obtain a great array of benefits. The issue of not challenging yourself is that you essentially become too comfortable and your brain becomes untrained when it should be active and efficient. When we let our life be controlled by the walls of our comfort zone, we gradually become less comfortable with doing tasks; even tasks that before were inside our comfort barrier, therefore we spiral down a vicious cycle of eventually losing the majority of our self-belief, our capabilities and our discipline.
However, stepping out of your comfort zone can yield amazing benefits such as:
Giving you an opportunity to learn and gain valuable new experiences
Learning more about yourself and what truly interests you
Expanding your confidence and self-esteem
Becoming a more flexible and adaptable person - which are key qualities in today’s world
Becoming more creative and productive because our brains require a challenge to keep active and to come up with new ways of looking at a situation
If you can adopt a “stepping out of your comfort zone” mindset, every so often, then that is amazing, because that is how you will be able to learn and grow the most as a person.
HABIT 9: Managing your personal finances
Everyone has the urge to want to earn money, however, when it comes to managing and dealing with money, many of us freeze and like to leave that to others when really our money is our responsibility. This means that the money you earn is yours to take care of and you are the one who decides whether that money will be saved, spent or invested.
If you are new to the world of (personal) finance, it is always encouraged to learn about it and familiarize yourself with smart ways to manage your money, because money nowadays plays a big role in determining the quality of life you live. I encourage you to read books and articles, watch videos as well as part take in interactive courses or workshops, to get a grasp of your own finances and how you can learn and transition to a more financially independent lifestyle.
HABIT 10: Managing distractions
In today’s world, one of the best and most worthwhile skills you can have is the ability to stay focused for extended periods of time. This skill, however, is becoming more scarce and harder to master simply because of the mass influx of information and distractions that occupy our environment; whether that is from people, our devices or events that are happening around us. It is up to us to intentionally try and manage our distractions and identify how best we are able to stay focused on the task.
The ability to efficiency avoid distractions can be learnt and strengthened over time, and when it becomes part of our work ethic, we are able to manage our time better, be more productive, increase the quality of our output and also get a sense of accomplishment out of it because staying on task is not an easy job.
Here are some methods for how you can minimize distractions in your environment, while you work:
Temporarily disconnecting yourself from the internet
Muting your phone or putting it on do not disturb
Placing your phone or potentially distracting devices further away (For example: Not keeping them around in your workspace)
Implementing the Pomodoro technique or any other time tracking system, where you set aside a period of time for which you will stay focused and setting a scheduled break. This way you are able to tackle one task at a time and set yourself deadlines, which motivates you to stay focused
If you like to listen to music while you work, choose longer study playlists instead of picking individual songs that will wase you more time
Keeping your environment clean and organized
Choosing a time of day to work on you right energy consuming, or difficult tasks, when you feel most calm and least distracted (For example in the morning hours)
HABIT 11: Treating failure as growth as improvement
This is another beneficial mindset habit where we teach our brains to start viewing challenges and mistakes as an opportunity to learn and improve ourselves. We need to start looking at setbacks as a chance to readjust our current technique or strategy, identify what caused the setback in the first place and try again to be able to grow and exceed our expectations.
If we do not view failure in a positive light, we risk becoming someone who is easily hurt, offended and unmotivated - none of which are qualities we should be striving for.
HABIT 12: Focusing on the process instead of the end result
This is something that I am trying to implement more in my own life because I have just recently realized how important it is. We are often used to going into a task or action simply because of the end output that will come out of it, whether that is money, recognition, status, enjoyment or love. The catch here is that, the more we become focused on the end result, the less enjoyment and motivation we finding executing the action, even if previously this action was something we loved to do.
The solution to this issue is to switch our focus onto the action process, instead of the action outcome. By enjoying and finding pleasure in the process, getting to the result will not be an issue, it will take care of itself. We will face less resistance to keep going and generally be more motivated to complete the action, simply because we enjoy it.
The idea of being result-focused can also be applied to setting goals, where our goals act as our “end outcomes”, however, I among many others, think that goals should be used in setting a general direction for where we are headed, they should not take the spotlight of our life. They should simply play the role of a guiding direction, but should not necessarily act as a measure of our success or achievement, because if we do not achieve the goal, we have the tendency to view ourselves as incapable and as a failure.
Therefore whenever we feel an increased resistance to doing or starting something, it might be because we are too focused on the end result and are not actually finding satisfaction in the process. If we don’t like something, how are we expected to pursue it? See how you can alter the process to make it enjoyable.
HABIT 13: Always trying your best
Trying your best is quite a self-explanatory mental mindset shift, but it should nonetheless not be neglected.
By trying our best we are able to:
Produce the highest quality output of work, with which we are able to overtime, surpass our own expectations and thus gain an opportunity to learn and develop our knowledge and skillset
Improve our trust, reliability and reputation with other people's especially in the case that we are producing work for them
Overtime your esteem and confidence can improve because you are constantly pushed to learn and experiment with new things
HABIT 14: Surround yourself with inspiration
This idea is so important but is one that we like to overlook and not assign much importance to. Inspiration is vital for our work and the generation of ideas, so it is important to be submerged in an environment that has a variety of inspiration, which can come in plenty of forms, such as people, art, music, writing, poetry, books or anything else that fills you with creativity.
When we surround ourselves with people that act as our role models and place ourselves in an inspiration-rich environment in which we able to generate richer and more valuable ideas, we have the chance to adopt some of the qualities of the people that we aspire to be similar to and ultimately, grow as a person.
HABIT 15: Doing things you love
Our greater life purpose should be to fill our life with actions and opportunities that we love and that bring a sense of deeper fulfillment to us. We should design our life around the things we enjoy doing and assign them as “high priority” because otherwise if we miss out on pursuing things that spark our passion, we may adopt a depressive and non-positive outlook on life, that will get us to nowhere.
To identify where our passions and deeper interests lie, we must take personal time to self reflect and become more self-aware of our own preferences and dislikes. The more time we spend actively reflecting and identifying what we enjoy doing, the more precise we are able to become with our preferences and therefore, have a clearer image of how to pursue a life that is filled with passion and intention.
If we don’t know ourselves and don’t know what we want or desire, then how are we going to know what we want out of life?
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Hacking Your Negative Exercise Habits
Exercise; We either seem to love it or hate it. It seems like some people are just naturally born as being more athletic and sports-driven while others simply just don’t fit into the category of “athletes” and rather find exercise annoying or treat it as a chore they know they should do but don’t like to do. Well, I believe that both of those assumptions are wrong. I believe that through the right shit in mindset, the implementation of correct habits and tailoring exercising to our preferences is the correct way forward in making people believe and understand that everyone is able to become physically fit - while also enjoying the process.
Proven by a multitude of existing studies and more that are in the process, scientists are now starting to unravel the array of benefits exercise can bring to our physical, mental, and emotional well being, so it is our job to implement a sustainable exercise habit/routine into our life.
Want to know how? Keep on reading to find out.
I want to first begin by defining what “exercise” even means, because from the majority of people that I have encountered in my life, they seem to have a misconception of what exercise actually is. Exercise, for many, is associated with going to the gym, more specifically either running on the treadmill for hours on end or lifting heavyweights. Now, I am a big fan of going to the gym and if you are too, then great, but exercise is most definitely not only just defined by going to the gym and doing endless cardio and weight training. The gym can be so much more, and so can exercise.
Exercise can come in hundreds of different forms and types, ranging in intensities, time lengths, techniques, and results. Below I have listed four of the main categories of exercises we usually sort exercises in.
TYPES OF EXERCISE GROUPS:
Endurance exercises: These are high-intensity cardio-based activities such as running, sprinting, high-intensity workouts, dancing, aerobics, and swimming that use up a lot of energy and increase our stamina and coordination skills.
Strength training exercises These exercises are specific for toning our muscles and focusing on slower and more controlled movements, such as weight lifting, using resistance bands, walking up the stairs, and carrying heavy objects.
Balance exercises: These are slow and controlled movements that target our main balancing muscle groups, and involve using a balance ball/board, doing exercises on one leg, yoga and many martial arts.
Flexibility exercises: Usually implemented before and after endurance and strength training in order to warm our bodies up or to stretch out and dissipate the lactic acid that has gathered in our muscles after an intense workout (Which usually results in muscle soreness the following day). These types of exercises include dynamic (before activity) and stationary (after activity), as well as gymnastics and martial arts.
The reason why going to the gym is usually associated with the word “exercise” is because, at a place like a “gym”, we have the chance to do all four of these types of exercise groups, which makes it very convenient for people and one of the reasons why gyms are so popular. Some physical activities can fall into two or even more groups depending on the intensity and pace we do them at. For example, swimming done at a slower pace is a great exercise to focus on specific muscle groups but done at a faster rate it becomes much more of an endurance exercise
WHY WE FACE RESISITNCE TOWARDS EXERCISING:
Often when wanting to implement a positive change into our lives, we faced what is called “resistance”. Resistance is a nonliteral obstacle in our life, something that prevents us usually from starting or continuing something, but it is something that we all battle with.
Resistance in our lives usually arises because we see the action that we are trying to implement, as something foreign. The resistance that we encounter at times where we are potentially putting ourselves in an unknown territory, is there to act as a safety caution, where it is warning our bodies that whatever we are wanting to do will likely be hard, dangerous, and uncomfortable. Once we get used to staying within the walls of our comfort zone, our comfort zone actually stars to shrink so we become comfortable with doing and trying fewer and less things in our life - which is exactly what happens to us with exercise. We want to start a regular exercise routine, however, we face resistance towards it because a) it is hard and requires effort and discipline, b) we are maybe not yet at a level where we feel comfortable at executing the exercise and c) we may feel like we don’t have the self-esteem or needed abilities and capabilities to start it. But guess what? All of those 3 doubts are removed once we start what we want to start.
By starting, you learn along the way, adjust your goals, master new skills, and practice new knowledge along while expanding your comfort zone.
Isn’t that what we all want to do?
Below I have listed some common excuses we may come up with to avoid us starting to exercise, even though most us realize and acknowledge that exercise is good for us. It is in human nature to face resistance to anything that is harder or more strenuous than what we are currently doing, as it requires more thought and energy, but overcoming that resistance can have profound and positive long term benefits on all aspects of your health.
EXCUSES FOR NOT EXERCISING:
“I don’t like exercising”
Identify what about the idea of exercising you don’t like and how you could change it. For example, if you don’t like hard physically intensive exercises, perhaps try starting out with something like slower and more controlled strength/resistance training, or maybe you like yoga that is both good for your mind and body.
Pick an exercise or pick several exercises that you enjoy, whether that is a sport like football, basketball, hockey, or tennis or pick another activity like dancing, running, hiking, martial arts, or rock climbing. There is something for everyone, and it’s up to you to find what you enjoy and focus on doing more of those things, while also gradually improving in your skills in exercises you are less comfortable with doing.
“I don’t have the time to exercise every day”
This is often the result of the idea that exercise has to take a large chunk of our every day, but that is simply not true because even just 30 minutes a day can have profound impacts on our health. A small amount is always better than nothing.
Another cause of not having “enough time” to exercise because exercising simply is not high enough on your priority list. I firmly believe that whatever you prioritize in your daily life is what is most important for you to get done that day, so by doing the same with exercise whether that is on a daily or weekly basis, we are on the right path to creating positive change in our wellbeing.
“I am too tired to exercise”
Everyone has moments where we feel tired and exhausted, but how often do we ask ourselves what caused us to feel this way; was it our own actions or something else, and what can we do to get out of the trap of exhaustion. These are important questions to identify.
Some of the most common causes of lethargy or a lack of energy are insufficient sleep/poor quality sleep, an unbalanced and highly processed food diet that makes our blood sugar levels fluctuate, thinking too much all the time and dehydration. Exercise, even though it is seen as an energy-consuming activity, actually recharges our bodies with more energy during the day and makes us more tired in the evening, meaning that we will sleep better at night and have more energy the following day. As counterintuitive as it sounds, exercise can wake you up from a state of drowsiness and fatigue, powering you up with energy.
“My health is not good enough right now to exercise”
We often have the idea that “When we will be….” or “when we will have..:.” then we will be able to pursue whatever is in our intention of doing, however, that in other words, is simply just a method of procrastination.
The same concept can be applied to exercise, where we make unnecessary excuses such as “I am not fit enough to do that”, “I am not flexible enough to try that” or “I can t exercise because I have pain in my arm”. Here it is crucial to realize that in the case that “we are not strong enough” to do a certain exercise or sport, that we will get stronger by doing more exercise, so if we don’t start with any exercise, we won’t get anywhere to a position where we will have a chance to improve our strength.
While it is important to respect our bodies needs when we are ill and listen to it regarding what feels right for it and what doesn’t, it doesn’t mean that we can’t do any exercise at all during this period. Perhaps if our ankle hurts, we might not be suited for running at the moment, but maybe we could replace running with walking or something less intense. Adjust exercise to your current needs and abilities.
HOW TO BUILD A CONSISTANT EXERCISE HABIT
Things to consider, which will help you stick to your exercise habit:
Changing your exercise mindset
Start treating exercise as a gift: It is important to realize that the ability to be able to move your body and to be in a healthy state, is not something that should be taken for granted. There are so many people in this world who are physically ill, missing a limb, mentally unwell or unable to move by themselves, so if you are lucky enough to that your body and mind are well, use that and invest it in exercise because it is something, not everyone can afford to do.
Identify, why you want to start exercising: Everyone has different goals for wanting to start something and the same, goes for exercise. Some people focus on physical results such as losing or gaining weight, more muscle definition, etc. , while others prefer to integrate exercise into their life because of the mental benefits that come from it such as increased energy, clarity of thinking, and having a more positive mindset.
Starting with what you have: We often think that we need to have the newest running shoes and most prestigious gym membership or that we have to be in a certain shape for us to start exercising, but all of those thoughts are just a form of procrastination that is preventing us from starting. The best way to combat this is to just start with what you have around you; furniture, outdoor space, indoor space, and people that you can be active with.
Not being too harsh on yourself: Everything that is usually worthwhile to implement requires time, energy, and effort making it hard. While doing any action that is hard for us, we will likely have moments where we will struggle keeping on track and even experience thoughts of quitting, it is important that in the case that we do go off track, it doesn’t mean that we completely quit, but we simply pick ourselves back up and continue onwards. Stopping temporarily and continuing is better than stopping permanently.
Personalizing your workout
Type of exercise: Chances are that if you like and enjoy your exercise regime, then you are much more likely to stick to it. So it is up to you to identify what kind of physical activity you enjoy thinking, and again don’t only feel constrained to the idea of going to the gym. Feel free to add variety into your exercise regime and keep it exciting but also challenging for yourself.
Clothing: Perhaps you are the type of person who gets motivated to exercise by the clothes you wear or the gear you use, which is great. Find something you feel good in while allowing you to stay practical and flexible.
Audio: Some people enjoy listening to music during their exercise, however, it doesn’t end there. Instead of music, you also have the option to listen to audiobooks, podcasts, and speeches - all of which can add value to your life alongside being physically active.
Scheduling your exercise
When will you do it: it is important to in advance roughly determine the time we plan to be active because it is up to us to set exercise as a priority for ourselves and whatever we prioritize in our day, we will usually get done.
What sort of exercise will you do: This is another decision that is good to make in advance because believe it or not, but our brain can only make so many well thought out decisions in a day before it starts resorting to irrational choices. Therefore, by picking our workout in advance, we save our brain energy and time, which can instead be spent on making more important and impactful decisions during our day.
How long will you exercise for: When deciding on the duration of our exercise, it is important to be realistic with ourselves and also not to start to overwhelmingly huge, since our goal is to gradually build progress and increase our performance through regular practice.
Rewarding yourself afterward
Exercise really becomes a repetitive habit once we fall in love with the process of doing it, because we get pleasure from its results. In the case of personal benefits, exercise offers a myriad of health benefits for our mind and body, both of which can act as rewards to continue the habit.
Mental benefits of exercise: Exercise releases chemical endorphins into our bloodstream, which are known to stimulate a more positive outlook on life, thus increasing our self-esteem, as well as reducing stress, anxiety, and depression rates on a long term basis, as was proven by several studies. Apart from endorphins, exercise recharges our mind with more energy, greater clarity of thinking, as well as showing vast improvements in sleep quality which has been scientifically shown to greatly improve our memory.
Physical benefits of exercise: Several studies have shown that people who exercise have lower rates of chronic diseases are generally at a healthier weight, have a greater bone density as well as having increased flexibility and strength.
Having accountability
Social connectivity: Through a social basis you can stay accountable and on track with your fitness goals by working with someone else or a group of people that encourage and care for your progress, as well as perhaps getting involved with a personal trainer that will make your health and progress their priority.
Progress tracking: Nowadays there are plenty of fitness tracking applications and gadgets you can buy to help keep you on track with your exercise habits as well as connecting you to an online community of people that will keep you motivated to exercise.
Designing your environment accordingly
Our environment plays a huge role in either the continuity or cessation of our habits, so it is important as to how we design it so we enforce the correct habits.
Examples of environmental design: Preparing your exercise clothing and gear in advance, keeping around a gym bag or running shoes in convenient places such as a car or in a hallway, preparing healthy meals and snacks in advance, and fueling your body with the correct food.
DISCRETE WAYS TO BE MORE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE
Using your cleaning chores as a way to be active
Opting for stairs when we can, instead of the escalator or elevator
Opting for walking, biking or any other nonmotorized transport method, instead of relying on vehicle transport like cars and buses
Taking breaks during work, to get up for a quick stroll and stretching our legs, especially if we sit at a desk for the majority of our day
Try seeing if there are any lunch break or coffee spots next to your workplace, that are within walking distance
Organize or propose ideas for active team-building with your coworkers, that can be either indoors or outdoors
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Benefits Of Regular Meditation
“Your goal is not to battle with the mind, but to witness the mind.”
I have always heard of the many benefits that meditation can bring along with it, but I have always had a hard time comprehending them or believing they are true since I had never integrated meditation into my lifestyle as part of a regular practice. To test these benefits for myself, about a month ago I had decided to try and start a daily meditation routine, to see whether these benefits are as widespread and impactful as meditation articles make them seem.
After having done more than a month of regular daily meditation now, I can firmly confirm that I have uncovered some of these benefits for myself and I hope that with this article I can convince you to at least try meditation once and that the benefits will show themselves if you are consistent and intentional.
Before I start stating and explaining some of the most profound benefits that I have discovered with a regular meditation routine, I would like to first open up by clarifying what meditation even is - as many people have an incorrect assumption of it- as well as providing insight into how meditation is carried out and some practical tips that we can all use to integrate meditation into our lifestyle.
LEARNING THE BASICS
WHAT IS MEDITATION:
If we simplify the idea of meditation, we can define it as a practice or skill in which we are able to sit in stillness, not forcing our mind to think or reflect about anything, while becoming an observer to our behaviour, emotions and thoughts. The point of meditation is not to be perfect or to experience zero thoughts during our practice - which is very unlikely if you are a beginner since during the day our minds are exposed to a constant influx of information from the outside world - but the purpose of meditation is to be acceptant to anything that comes and goes through our minds while being submerged in the present moment, not worrying about the past or future.
During meditation we often turn our focus to our breath as it is one thing that is always with us in the current moment, meaning that it helps keep us grounded to the present moment.
Meditation is also a time we choose to schedule purely to ourselves, not having to worry about worries and thoughts arising from our external situations, meaning that it is a time that we can calm down, get a new perspective on things and find moments to slow down in this fast-paced lifestyle that we live.
HOW TO MEDITATE:
Sit down in a crosslegged position that you find comfortable with your hands resting on your knees or in your lap, and your shoulders being pushed slightly back to open up your chest and maintain a proper posture.
Relax your muscles thought out your whole body, but still keeping yourself in an attentive and upright position.
Close your eyes and take a couple of deep long breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling out of your mouth.
Once you feel your body has started to calm down, resort to following your natural breathing patterns, keeping your eyes closed and the focus on your breath or an area of your body where your breath can be felt (nose, expanding of chest or stomach).
Focus on your breathing for the majority of the practice and when you start coming to the end of your practice, slowly start bringing awareness to your body and space around you, until you are able to fully open your eyes.
GENERAL MEDITATION TIPS:
Turn your mindset from being a perfectionist to being accepting of everything that comes your way and not letting it make you get off track permanently. In the beginning, everyone finds it hard to quiet our minds, but forcing this will also yield in no beneficial results.
The more consistent and intentional you are with your practice, the more likely you are to find purpose in doing it and the more likely you are to integrate it as a habit. Reflect upon your practice and identify whether afterwards you feel any different and try and set up an intention for why you want to start meditating.
People tend to often assume that meditation is a very strict, perfectionistic and hard to do practice, however it is not. Meditation can be a very easy and effortless process to follow as long as we do not become judgemental of whatever wanders through our minds. Just like it is not a practice of being a perfectionist, meditation can also come in different styles depending on your preference for sound, pace and technique, making it a universal skill that people can master if they put their mind to it.
Meditation can be done in silence or with accompanying music or instrumental background sounds. Which one you prefer is up to you.
Nowadays there are also plenty of meditation apps that help you with starting or continuing the habit of meditation. Many apps offer the option of guided meditation where you are listening to another person that it systematically guiding you through the process of meditation.
Meditation does also not have to take up plenty of your time, but can instead range anywhere from as little as five minutes to more than an hour, depending on which level you are and the amount of time you choose to dedicate to this practice. As a beginner, I would recommend starting with five minutes and then slowly progressing to ten minutes and eventually twenty minutes until you are able to do the practice on your own for however long you feel like.
Whether you decide to meditate in the morning, evening, during the day, or all three, it is up to you. Many people prefer to meditate first thing in the morning as in the morning hours our brain is not compleltčey clouded with thoughts of the upcoming day, making it easier to focus and relax into the practice itself.
MY MEDITATION PRACTICE:
I have been meditating for a little over a month now, doing between 10-20 minutes every morning right when I wake up. I personally like using the app Oak as it is free of charge (except their mantra meditation course) and it provides the chance of guided meditation that I am a big fan of as it helps me enter the state of meditation quicker.
In the background, I often like to play relaxing instrumental noises such as a flute or rain falling, but sometimes I also just do it in silence.
If you are someone who is a big app user, there are many different apps out there that specialise in meditation, so experiment with them and find which one brings you the most value, enjoyment and regularity in your practice
PERSONAL BENEFITS OF MEDITATION
BENEFIT 1: Becoming an observer
The first benefit that had uncovered itself to me after starting a regular meditation routine, was that I became an observer and spectator to my own life. Becoming an observer has firstly benefited my life from an emotional standpoint, where I was able to assess the way I reacted to a certain situation, whether I reacted appropriately and why did I react in that way. By improving the way I reacted to situations, I was able to influx more positive opportunities into my life, as well as maintain or build new social connections.
Furthermore, gaining the perspective of an observer also enabled me to become a better decision-maker as I was able to look at a situation objectively and start relying on rational thought instead of just emotional drive.
BENEFIT 2: Feeling more calm and centred
The second benefit comes with no surprise, but undoubtedly meditation has allowed me to become calmer, more level headed and more focused on my work, where I was able to approach situations with a clearer mind and produce less of an anxious response. By feeling calmer, it has lead me to improve my work prioritization which manifested itself into being able to focus on a given task for longer periods of time and becoming better at avoiding distractions - all of which are needed for a balanced and productive lifestyle.
BENEFIT 3: Increased gratitude
By becoming more of an observer through the process of meditation, you are able to self reflect, gain more control throughout different areas of your life, which leads you to become a more present person. The ability to be present in a situation is becoming rarer but it is also one that is becoming more necessary to do. By being more present we are able to truly assess our life and look at it through a lens of gratitude for all the things, experiences, people and opportunities we had, still have or we will get in the future.
I believe that we should not label situations as either being “good” or “bad” because that can predetermine our response to them when it is still in our control to choose the way we intentionally react to them. The focus in your life should not only be on “good” situations because we also need “bad” situations to learn from them and be able to appreciate and realise what a “good” situation even means for us. Through expressing gratitude, you are able to view even the most negative situations with at least a hint of positive light, which is always better than seeing only the bad in something negative, as dwelling on your losses never gets you anywhere, but learning from them does.
BENEFIT 4: Increased mental clarity
Another benefit that came to me through the practice of meditation was that I experienced greater mental clarity during my day, with which I was able to react more appropriately in situations, make better decisions, stay focused on the task consistently and live more in the present moment. “Mental clarity” means something different for everyone, but in my terms, it meant that I became a generally all-around more rational person with the things I said and did which made me become more intentional with my actions and the way I choose to spend my time. I realized that it was up to me how I spent my time and how much time I choose to allocate to a specific task. It was up to me to decide how much focus to bring to the table and where to concentrate it on.
Lastly, because I started viewing life events in a more objective light, I was able to tune into my intuition more, which simplified and quickened the process of decision making that so often usually drained me of energy.
BENEFIT 5: Becoming less judgemental and more accepting
The last point links to the idea of neutrality and not labelling something as being “good” or “bad” but simply being acceptant and aware of it. By labelling something as “bad” or “good” you are in a way predetermining your response and thus the outcome from that situation, that would otherwise have been up to you as to how you choose to react to it. It is crucial to realise that we will be okay even if we encounter a “bad” situation and that we can use those situations that make us struggle and fail, to our advantage, to fuel our growth as a person and to strengthen our mindset.
ADVICE FOR PICKING UP THE HABIT OF MEDITATION:
Start small and be consistent. Even just five minutes a day can be sufficient as a beginner, and when you feel ready to extend that time period, go for it.
Involve the use of a meditation app that will make it easier for you to stick to your practice and encourage you with your progress thus far.
Understand and figure out why you even want to start meditating in the first place. What do you think or want to get out of this practice?
Adapt the practice to your preference in terms of the length you choose, time of day you do it, your choice of having music, background vocal guidance or silence. Design it so that it will be enjoyable to you, increasing your chances of sticking to it.
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Habits Are The Key To Your Success
“Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
There is a reason as to why habits get so much praise in the “productivity world” today, and that comes with very good reasoning behind it. Habits, when implemented correctly over time, can have massive and incredibly positive effects on our life and well being, but that also means that if they are not used correctly, they can quickly lead us to stumble down negative habit loops that do us no good.
So how exactly do we make the most out of our habits and implement them in a way that we will derive the most benefit from them? Read on to find out.
Before we delve into the topic of habits and how exactly they are able to transform our lives, I would like to mention that the information in this post is partly based and built upon from the points that James Clear has made in his best selling book, Atomic Habits, that explores the science behind habits and how we build new ones and break bad ones. I would highly recommend the book to anyone interested in improving their life by using habits.
I would like to first begin by giving some introductory information on the topic of habits, that will enable us to grapple and understand the forthcoming content with much more ease.
WHAT ARE HABITS?
In basic terms, a habit is any automatic behaviour that we execute without having to put mental thought into doing it, meaning that it is largely unconscious. We all perform habits, however, most of the time we do not even realise that something is habitual behaviour since we are not applying conscious thought while executing the action.
A prominent study done by Duke University has concluded that about 40% of our daily actions are said to be habits, meaning that habits form a large chunk of our daily behaviour. What is the reason behind this? Why such a big percentage?
ROLE OF HABITS
Well, the answer quite plainly lies within our brain, that functions, in simple terms, like a big energy conservation machine. Even though our brain only takes up about 2% of our total body weight, it uses an astonishing 20% of our total energy intake for performing its daily functions. Because of its large energy use, the brains main goal is to use the energy it receives with as much efficiency as possible, meaning that not much of it goes to waste. And that is exactly what habits are here to do. They are unconscious actions, meaning they do not require thinking - or the use of mental energy - for them to be executed, allowing our brain to save this precious energy and use it for more important matters.
Apart from the fact that habits allow our brains to save energy, they also save our brain time, as habitual behaviour happens subconsciously and is in a way almost predetermined, meaning that we lose less time with coming up with a final decision, that would otherwise lead to the commonly known “decision fatigue”.
Therefore, because habits form such a large chunk of our behaviour, they can have very large and noticeable effects on our lives and well being, either being good or bad, depending on which ones we prioritize.
BUILDING BLOCKS OF HABITS
In order for us to understand how we can build long-lasting positive habits and break negative habit loops for good, we have to first understand the actual structure of a habit and what causes them in the first place. The first two components (the Cue and the Craving) are part of the problem phase that are based on input actions of the habit, while the last two components (Response and Reward) form the solution component as they focus on the outcomes of a habit.
CUE: This concerns an exterior stimulus in our environment that acts as a trigger to our habit. This is exactly why our habits are based so much in our environment because our environment provides most of the triggers to those habits.
CRAVING: The carving is all about the emotional drive behind a habit, and acts as a main reason of power for our brain to execute the action automatically. After all, if an action was not being craved by our brain, then why would it be done? While the craving is all about wanting the action, the response concentrates on performing the action.
RESPONSE: In other words, the response is the action that is triggered by the cue and is accelerated by the craving. Over time this repetitive response will form a habit loop, however, your responsibility to a cue is determined by a) how determined you are to complete the action and b) your level of ability to perform the action.
REWARD: Finally, the reward focuses on stimulating our brains with a positive reward that will encourage the repetition of the same behaviour later on, because the action will become associated with the same reward.
EXAMPLE OF A HABIT LOOP:
CUE: The sweet smell of a doughnut shop that you walk by on a street.
CRAVING: The sweet smell of fried doughnuts makes it hard for your brain to resist it because if something smells good it makes us want to eat it, as it will likely also taste good.
RESPONSE: You walk into the doughnut shop, purchase a doughnut and eat it, as a result of the initially enticing smell.
REWARD: Your taste buds are immediately rewarded by the sweet and fatty taste of the doughnut, so now walking by a doughnut shop will become associated with a sweet-tasting reward.
BUILDING NEW AND POSITIVE HABITS:
GENERAL TIPS:
Starting small and easy: When trying to implement a new habit into our routine, we have to start small as otherwise we feel overwhelmed as to how to start or we simply lose motivation to keep executing the action that has not yet become automatic, meaning that we will face more resistance to it.
Small daily imprvements: In his books Atomic Habits, James Clear often emphasizes the point that if we improve for even juts 1% each day, that over the course of months and years can accumulate to a large and noticeable improvement. The same can be said if we decide to pursue a negative habit and get worse for 1% each day. Small changes add up through consistency and effort.
Breaking down your habits: To once again not get too overwhelmed with the expectations that implementing a new habit brings, it is very useful to break up a large and hard to do habit into smaller easier to do actions. For example, if you want to start running every day, you can split this large habit into two smaller habits of fueling your body the right food to have enough energy and to get into the habit of finishing your work quickly to have more time to run, both of which will contribute towards your overall habit.
Getting back on track and tracking your progress: Many of us, when trying to start a new habit we wither forget about it rather quickly or we fall back into our previous habitual actions. These situations are completely normal, which is because when we try and introduce a new habit, old habitual neural pathways never get deleted, because they are only replaced by new habits, which explains why we often slip back into our old routines. To remain consistent with our new habit, I would also recomed tracking our progress, whether that is from a visual, numerical or emotional perspective, that when seeing positive results, will motivate us to continue the habit.
Have patience and consistency: Humans are wired to function based on instant gratification which allows us to receive immediate benefits from doing something but with habits it takes more time for the results to show, which is why it is important to keep trying our best, be consistent and be patient as the results will eventually come as long as we work for them.
RULES FOR STICKING WITH NEW HABITS:
Make the habit:
Have an obvious trigger (Desing your environment accordingly)
Attractive (Increases our likeness to do it)
Easy to do (Makes starting less daunting)
Satisfying (Ensures that we will repeat it)
QUITTING BAD AND PERSISTENT HABITS
GENERAL TIPS:
Replacing your habits: By replacing a bad habit with a good one that brings about the same reward or feeling, we will find it less tempting to slip back into our old habit routines as by doing the habit that is good for us we will still be getting the same or at least a similar reward as previously with the bad habit.
Social environment and Accountability: By working or partnering with another person or a group of people who support you in your habits and motivate you to keep persistent, that will greatly increase the chances of you a) sticking to the new habit and b) quitting a bad habit, as someone can hold you accountable for how much time has passed since you last did the bad habit. Accountability does not only have to wor with real-life people but can also be done with digital applications that help track your habits if you prefer.
Environmental design: Our environment is the largest sources of our, good and bad, habit triggers, therefore it is important to surround ourselves in an environment that will promote the formation of good habits while preventing the continuation of bad habits.
New identity: By adopting or quitting a habit, we essentially want to become a new person. For example, someone who might want to start eating healthier could identify themselves as a “healthy eater”, while someone who is trying to quit smoking will refer to themselves as a “non-smoker or ex-smoker”. By giving ourselves a new identity based on our habits, we become more intentional behind our habits as to why we would want to start or quit one, in order for them to align with our new persona.
RULES FOR BREAKING BAD HABITS:
Make the habit:
Have a non-obvious trigger (Designing your environment accordingly)
Unattractive (Decreases our chances of doing it)
Difficult (Requires more effort to do it)
Unsatisfying (Ensures we will not repeat it)
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