Habits to Become A Better You
Welcome to the next few blog posts of 2021 dedicated to personal development, growth, and overall happiness! You might think that these are things only the "it girl" does, but you can do these things as well! Below are some of the habits I have been trying to implement in my daily schedule to become the best version of myself. Hopefully, you take some inspiration from this blog post and partake in one of these habits during your daily routine! Let's first talk about...
Filling out Morning Pages
If you do not know what Morning Pages are, let me describe them to you. Essentially, every morning you are journaling and filling three pages up with your thoughts. By doing this, you are freeing up your mind to think about more important things. You do not have to journal in a way where you are writing "Dear _______, today I am doing this." Rather... you are writing about the small things that are clouding your mind (such as: "Have I gotten the mail today?", "I need to go to the store to get ______", or "what is going to be for dinner tonight?"). These are just examples of what you can write about in your Morning Pages. But the ultimate goal is to free up your mind from these small things and for you to have the opportunity to think about more focus-centered things.
I believe that Morning Pages and journaling are two different things (in my head). Journaling is more for deep things that you will want to look back on and reflect on. Morning Pages are for the more mundane parts of life, where we just need to get shit done and clear our minds and to-do lists to feel better (for some people, that is).
Stretching/movement every day
I am not the most consistent with this habit at the moment, but I hope to be one day soon. Doing some type of movement and stretching every day is good for your body, as we have developed into human creatures who sit the majority of the day either at work or lounging around. Not that there is anything wrong with work or lounging, but our bodies need to stay limber and not tight — so stretching & movement are the key. For stretching routines, I use the FitOn app for guided stretches. I love guided stretches because I don't have to think about what stretch to do next, or what a certain stretch will help me achieve. The FitOn app just guides me through the stretches and leaves me feeling nice and nimble by the end of the routine.
When it comes to movement or workouts, I am trying to incorporate more dance workouts, since I find it more enjoyable than doing a crunch routine or planks. Dance workouts made by MadFit on YouTube are so much fun and are achievable for anyone at any fitness level. Not only does Maddie, the creator of MadFit, have dance workouts to popular hit songs, but also mashups of the best songs from the '90s & Christmas jams to dance and workout to. Don't knock it until you try it — I promise you will be sweating from one dance workout.
No more screens after ___ o'clock
Now, this is a hard habit for me to implement. I am trying to not have any social media after 9 pm, which is one of the main reasons I get on my phone, to be honest. By not being on my phone towards the late-night hours, I believe it helps me rest my eyes and do more enjoyable activities, like reading, painting, meditating, or journaling. Sometimes, I catch myself just mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and I look at the time, coming to find out it is 9:14 pm and I don't know the last time I checked the time. Whether your screen stop-time is 6 pm or 11 pm, having one set is a small step in the right direction of a new habit to help you get away from the screen & into your mind.
3 Meals per day — no excuses
Not many people are breakfast people, but I believe that having a concrete standard for yourself to have 3 meals every day to sustain yourself and fuel your body is a good thing to have. This is not necessarily a habit in it. But by preparing your mind to think about what you are going to eat that day, you end up creating a schedule based on those meals. For instance, if you plan to mow the lawn after lunchtime, maybe have a lunch that won't leave you feeling sluggish doing manual labor. Or maybe you are thinking you shouldn't have a carb-filled dinner that leaves you bloated and in pain all night long.
Reading 10-30 minutes per day
One of the key ways to get someone motivated to read is to read something they are interested in. For me, that is Colleen Hoover's novels and self-improvement books. Reading between 10-30 minutes per day is a good starting point & gets your foot in the door when it comes to reading. I love following an alternate timeline in a book and getting lost in it, thinking they are a part of my actual life. My current reads are Buy Yourself the Fucking Lilies by Tara Schuster and It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. I am trying to track my book reading progress on the Goodreads app, but we will see how long that will last.
Taking care of your health — physical, mental, and emotional
I always tell my loved ones to take care of their own health first, and then others. And health consists of multiple aspects — physical, mental, and emotional. Most people only consider the physical part of health. But the mental & emotional aspects can affect how your physical health performs. Going to your primary care provider to take care of your physical health is a good start. Whereas a psychiatrist or psychologist can assist you with your mental and emotional health. I am currently in the pursuit of getting an appointment set with a new psychologist, as there are things I think we all experience in life that I would like a professional's opinion on.
I shouldn't defend my mental/emotional health anyhow, and neither should you! Take care of yourself in all aspects of your health — you are worth at least that.
What did you think about this blog post? Would you read more blog posts like this?
Let me know in the comments!
