Habits that will change your life for the better!

HABITS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER 

Habits make our life what it is; they make us who we are. One good habit that you formed when you were little stays with you for the rest of your life. The same goes for bad habits too. Some habits are so destructive that they become the root of all the problems you’re going through, whether at work or at home. I’ve come up with a list of habits that will make your life; these habits are what changed my life and made me a better person.

Read the books that you like: 

You might go,” same old, same old” but trust me I wasn’t a huge fan of reading books or anything in particular. I’d read textbooks and that was it. Even reading my textbooks seemed like a huge burden that I didn’t want to carry. But after I went through depression, my whole idea of books changed; reading became a habit and this habit changed my life. I started reading books that talked about “pulling your life together”  and slowly dove into books related to becoming productive and efficient and exuding confidence. These books made a vital difference in my “not so perfect life”. By reading more, I learned more and by learning more, I knew more. I became more aware of everything that was happening around and how I was a part of a “bigger picture” in which every single human being had a part to play. Reading often put so many things into perspective for me. I felt like I had more under my belt after reading than when I didn’t even look at books outside my syllabi. 

“ Words can make a difference; they can make a difference on our minds and they can make a difference in the world”, this is a quotation I came up with while writing on my own blog. Reading is a powerful weapon that you need to possess.

Make your bed every day after you wake up:

This habit is one that not many people have but they should. Doing something as simple as wrinkling out your bed sheet and pillow can make your day better and productive.  It’s a fact that everybody loves to work in a clean environment ( unless you’re a college student giving their finals… am I right??).  A clean environment equals a clear mind. Doing something as simple as making my bed every day ensures a great start to my day and I feel like I’ve gotten something done just after waking up. Try practicing this for two weeks everyday and hopefully it’ll become automatic.

Exercising or working out every day: 

You might have divided opinions on this. Exercising regularly is a habit that all of us have tried to inculcate into our daily rituals and routines but have given up because “we didn’t have the time” or “ we didn’t really feel like going to the gym or getting out of the house that day”.

Statistics state that in 2016, just 22.5 percent of us met the physical activity guidelines, and while that exceeds the target for the Healthy People initiative (20.1 percent), it's still tiny. Also after a survey conducted it was found that more than 62.5 million gym members visit the gym 104 days per year while 9 million non-members hit the gym an average of 24 days every year. About 18% of members actually go to the gym consistently. Out of those who actively use their gym membership, 49.9% get to the gym at least twice a week.

Now, this might be reaching a person who already checks off the “Workout” box on their to-do list everyday or ‘today list’ as I like to call it; it reminds me that every day is a new day and I have to set out new tasks to accomplish, even if, I didn’t check off all the boxes on “yesterday’s today list”, I have a new day, a new chance and more boxes waiting to be checked off. Or this might be reaching a person who’s never ever worked out before and are laughing themselves silly at the idea of starting something like that or you might be the person who’s always wanted to workout but keeps procrastinating and putting off. Well, I’ll put this out for you in simple terms: If you want to develop any habit not just working out regularly, but in this instance exercising, you’ve got to be ready to be patient. Why do we start something?? Why do we sow something?? To see results and get rewards or in the latter case, to reap the harvest; right?? But we’re not always going to master what we want to learn or do just after we’ve started it — that’s not how the world works but if only. Ahead of every destination lies a journey, a journey whose intensity and difficulty changes as the goals change. Even if we’re halfway through a journey, we might stumble and lose sight of why we started the journey in the first place but that is okay; that is human. Just try to remember why you started. Not to toot my own horn but I work out every day, to the point where if I miss a day, I feel bad. Now getting up every day at 6:00 pm and putting on workout clothes has become automatic. It makes me happy and I feel strong every day after I pull off a good workout. Whenever you exercise your body releases endorphins which are essentially, hormones that make you feel happy by interacting with receptors in your brain, similar to the action of morphine but not entirely. Happy exercising!! 

Take a shower and dress up:

Whenever you feel like you want some clarity in life, hop into the shower, and let the water wash away your worries. Now, if you’re hydrophobic then maybe skip to the dress-up part but if you’re hydrophilic then welcome to my world. Remember don’t waste water, that is not what I’m asking you to do. Be mindful and take a short shower. Every time that I feel like things are too hyper in my life right now and I need to escape from the world, I let the water run and do the work. I meditate in their too, you might think that is gross but my bathroom is the place to be, it’s not pink but I love how clean it is. Here is something helpful for you, keep your bathroom clean and decorate it, light some scented candles, open a warm light, put on some soft music and you’ll have the time of your life. Taking a hot shower helps me get relaxed and comfortable which is important if you want to be happy and productive.

“Look great — feel great”, this is something that I believe and recommend. Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to put on a dress or something. Wear something which you think looks great on you, don’t care about what the world thinks because they’re probably too busy worrying about what you think about the things they’re doing. If you think, you look awesome with sweatpants on then you do you or if you think you look great with skinny jeans then rock ‘em. Who’s stopping you, huh?? NO ONE!! That’s it, if you look good then you’ll feel awesome, which in my opinion is an amazing mindset to be productive.

Self-love:

To quote my creation i.e, “The Red Diaries”, “Loving myself was one of the hardest things I had to do”. Which is awful because I’ve known myself for fifteen years now and I think I’m amazing. I also think that you’re amazing, different, and unique. You’re original which is a quality not many things have. Nobody is like you, no one has the same thoughts as you or even the same aura so congratulations, I think you are worthy of SELF-LOVE. Practice loving yourself because you’re “stuck with you” ( as Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber have beautifully explained in their song). Might as well start loving yourself, right?? It is not easy but after I had depression, I realized that I’m too good to be hated. I can’t do that to myself. You shouldn’t either. This is the most important habit out of all which should have instilled in our minds since the beginning but it is never too late to do anything. 

“Love yourself, love who you are and what you want to be. The world will have no choice but to bow to you and pave way for all the love that you deserve”

-Leah