10 HABITS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
I wake up at 5am, turn on the lights, and then start making my bed. Most mornings I am not even sure how it happens. The process is on autopilot. My entire morning ritual is just a collection of great habits that I have installed. It took time and self-discipline to develop each one, but once they were established they became second nature.
Every habit can either serve you or set you back. You choose your habits, and then your habits create your results. Are your habits helping you move in the direction of your dreams? Do you want to implement some better habits? Here are my top 10 recommendations for habits that can change your life.
1. Wake Up Early
The early morning hours hold a peaceful and calm vibration. When you wake up early, you take advantage of these hours, and set the stage for the rest of your day. With additional time, you can create a morning ritual, and hopefully implement 1 or 2 of the habits below. Upon waking your subconscious mind is dominant, and thus, it’s highly susceptible to new programming. This is a perfect opportunity to do inner work that can prime and direct your brain towards success. Waking up early creates momentum that will carry you through your day.
2. Stop Using The Snooze Button
Snoozing starts your day off with procrastination. You are training your mind to delay and avoid the beauty of starting your day. Each day presents you with the opportunity to live on purpose and with inspiration. When you wake up, you want to be excited and enthusiastic about life. Snoozing makes it challenging to have a good mindset. Train your body and mind to love waking up. In order to do this, you must get to bed on time and have good sleep preparation. Considering these PM tips before bed will make it easier not to snooze:
Say 5 things that you are grateful for while putting yourself to sleep.
At the end of the day, always reward yourself with a good night’s sleep.
Go to sleep on a flat stomach. Don’t eat or drink too much or too little.
3. Make Your Bed
If you make your bed in the morning you have already accomplished one thing. When you finish, give yourself a pat on the back, and say ‘that a boy’ or ‘that a girl.’ By doing this, you have also validated yourself. The little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things, you will struggle on the big things. Always strive to master and love the little things. Make your bed beautiful, and then go make your life beautiful.
4. Meditate
Meditation connects you to your soul. Your soul provides you with inner guidance. By simply doing nothing, you get insight into everything. Meditation allows you to appreciate every moment and helps you stay present. When it comes to meditation the key is consistency. Don’t worry about how long you meditate, just strive to meditate everyday. The habit of mediation is more important than the duration. The benefits will come with persistency.
5. Read
One idea from one book can change your life. Spend time everyday with a great author. Hey look at that, you already are! Authors spend a tremendous amount of time organizing and clarifying their thoughts and ideas about what they want to say. You cannot read something without taking away a little bit of their knowledge. When you read you are adding increase to your life. It doesn’t matter how you read, just read. You might like actual books, or a screen (Kindle, tablet, computer, or phone), or even an audio book. Or you can combine them. The encouragement here is to develop the habit of reading every day. If the average book is 250-300 pages, this is about how much you would read:
10 pages/day = 13 books/year
20 pages/day = 27 books/year
50 pages/day = 60 books/year
6. Dance (Elevate Your State)
What is one simple thing that you can do everyday that will put you in a better mood? For me, that one thing is dancing. Ever since I was a kid, I loved dancing. I wanted nothing more than to jump, dance, and go crazy. I can still remember the pure excitement that I had towards my first middle school dance. Whenever a circle opens up on the dance floor, the kid inside my comes out and says, “That’s my circle, and I am going to go break it down.” With all that being said, I created the habit of dancing every morning while I cook breakfast. I tell Alexa the song of my choice, and then let my body flow.
What can you do that will elevate your emotional state? This is about creating a habit that will put a smile on your face and improve your vibrational frequency. When you feel better, even 1% better, you will increase the likelihood of having a better day. So, what do you love doing, just because you love doing it? Finally, on a practical note, don’t make it complicated and don’t make it long. Keep it light and have fun.
7. Create
One of the greatest gifts we have all been given is the ability to create. Do something creative everyday. Creativity is about creating something new. This could be anything, from singing, to dancing, to playing an instrument, to drawing or painting. Or, this could be creating a business, a relationship, or a family. When you express your creativity you are contributing to the collective experience of this world. So be mindful and take responsibility for what you are creating.
8. Meet One New Person a Day
This habit is about courage, curiosity, and change. Depending on your personality, meeting new people might be easy. Or if you’re like me, it’s a major challenge. My personality type is more introverted. Meeting new people is scary and requires courage. Fortunately, this is a GOOD thing, because I get to demonstrate my courage (that’s who I am) by meeting one new person a day. This habit is also about curiosity and learning. Every person is uniquely different. Meeting someone new is like exploring another world. How awesome is it that each person is completely new and has something to teach us? When you meet new people you venture into the unknown. And the unknown promotes change and inner growth.
9. Save Money Once a Week
Money is like a friend. Spending quality time (saving it) with money once a week is caring for that friend. If you do this, money will want to stick around. If you hate money and have negative feelings towards it, it will disappear. Having a good relationship with money is one of the major keys to being wealthy. When you save you are making a contribution for the betterment of your life. Every time you save you create momentum. Make it a habit to deposit money into an account once a week, preferably on the same day—and never touch it. This money is for saving not spending. If you feel capable and knowledgeable, invest this money, and start compounding it. Above all, this habit is about valuing yourself and demonstrating it by paying yourself once a week.
10. Journal
Writing your thoughts and emotions down can be a powerful tool for self-improvement. In many cases, the mind gives you an explosion of information (thoughts) and energy (emotions) and expects you to make sense of it. Journaling allows you to capture this overwhelming nature inside your mind. It helps you organize and clarify your thoughts and ideas. Journaling is an amazing tool for documenting your goals, dreams, and life progress. Furthermore, journaling allows you to channel your emotions onto the page. Feel your feelings and then put them on the page. It’s a great means of expressing emotions.
Your mind does not work in a linear fashion. Because of this, I recommend buying a journal that does not have lines. This is where art and sketch notebooks are great. One of the best ways to journal is to mind-map. Reference the picture below of my journal.
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