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Habits have the enormous power to make or break us in life.
Whether our days are primarily made up of good habits or bad ones, the evidence will show itself in our health, happiness and productivity.
Clearly negative habits are much easier to adopt than positive habits.
Positive habits require discipline and routine, but once we design a life that consists primarily of good habits we begin to move through our days with more ease and consistency.
There is less effort required once we have created systems that lead to positive results and outcomes.
Let’s take a look at some of the super simple habits that can have a dramatic effect on our lives.
1.MAKE YOUR BED
Yes, something as simple as making your bed every morning has a significant impact on your life.
Always keep in mind, how you do one thing, is how you do everything.
Making your bed every morning sets the tone for your entire day. When you put in the simple effort of making your bed, you are subconsciously reinforcing the type of person you want to be.
It gives you an immediate sense of accomplishment on a subconscious level and encourages you to finish more tasks throughout the day.
Take pride in the little things and you will be more likely to follow through on bigger things as well.
2.DECLUTTER
Whether it’s your car, your closet or your pantry it’s time to clean things out.
We often overlook the fact that clutter is actually a form of mental and physical constraint.
There is a sense of harmony that comes from things being neat and orderly and this has psychological benefits.
You don’t have to be an “OCD” type all the time, but the mere act of cleaning and decluttering is extremely calming and liberating.
A lack of cleanliness and organization often leads to elevated stress and depression.
It also suggests low self-worth as your outer world is a reflection of your inner world.
You’ve most likely heard the saying: out with the old, in with the new.
Make space for new opportunities to flow into your life by releasing items that keep you tied to the past and see if it doesn’t have a positive effect on your happiness.
“With the right habits, anyone can dramatically increase results and become a high performer in almost any field of endeavor.”
3.USE A DAILY PLANNER
If you want to accomplish more in your day, why not get into the habit of writing things down ahead of time.
I like to keep a planner where I keep track of all of my tasks and obligations.
I also make a list of the things I want to accomplish each day.
By keeping a written list of my daily tasks, I am able to keep track of important things I need to complete.
As I check off each task throughout the day, I have a sense of pride that I am staying on track and being productive.
This often leads to me achieving more than I originally anticipated.
The simple act of visually seeing what you’ve accomplished will help build momentum.
4.DAILY AFFIRMATIONS
Daily affirmations are like food for the soul.
With affirmations we are priming the mind to look for the positive and challenge the negative.
As we read affirmations consistently, we are encouraging our subconscious to experience love, faith and trust in ourselves and the universe.
Positive affirmations break the pattern of negative programming and help us view ourselves and the world around us in a positive light.
5.DRINK MORE WATER
If you want to lose weight, have more energy or live a healthier life in general, drinking more water is one of the simplest ways to get you started.
Replacing even one soda or sugary beverage everyday will reduce calories, improve organ function and increase energy through hydration.
Here are just a few of the incredible benefits water has on the body:
Increased focus and concentration since the brain is mostly water
Promotes weight loss: reduces hunger, raises your metabolism and has zero calories
Flushes toxins from the body
Improves skin complexion as it moisturizes and hydrates the body from within
Boosts immune function
Elevates mood and energy when the body is functioning more efficiently
6.LIMIT SOCIAL MEDIA
We are all aware of social media’s addictive nature. It’s incredibly tempting to reach for our phones at the first sign of boredom throughout our day.
While a few minutes of scrolling wouldn’t be an issue, for most of us getting sucked into the vortex of social media is a very real and regular occurrence.
All of this time spent mindlessly scrolling and absorbing other people’s content is robbing us of time well spent doing things that would move the needle in our own lives.
Start bringing conscious awareness to the amount of time spent on your phone by going to settings and putting limits on specific apps.
Related: Is Social Media Hijacking Your Life?
7.PAY YOURSELF FIRST
This is a big one when it comes to money management and working towards financial independence.
Make a habit of saving a minimum of 10% of your earnings right from the start, before you do anything else with your money.
Most people pay their bills first and then contemplate saving after. What typically happens is they spend their money on other things and never get around to saving.
Instead, create a savings account and have a specific amount automatically withdrawn from your checking account every single month.
If you make a habit of automatically depositing a minimum of 10% of what you earn every month into a savings account (preferably a high interest account like an Index Fund or IRA) you wont even have to think about saving.
You will naturally begin adjusting your spending based on the amount of money you have left over.
8.READ DAILY
Consider reading a minimum of two pages every single day before you go to sleep.
A personal development book, an autobiography, or a book that you can learn something from would be my suggestion.
Make the habit as feasible as possible by only setting the expectation of two pages every night before you fall asleep.
Perhaps, you can leave your book on top of your pillow after you make your bed, to remind yourself to always read at least two pages before you fall asleep.
Ideally you will enjoy this habit so much, you will gradually increase the amount of pages you read over time.
For a list of some of my favorite personal development books click here.
9.LISTEN TO PODCASTS
Podcasts have been absolutely transformational in my life over the last two years. They have given me so much insight into the minds of some of the most incredibly wise and successful people in the world.
Make good use of your time spent in the car or when you are home folding laundry and absorb as much knowledge as possible through podcast episodes.
Personally some of my favorite podcasts include:
Addicted2Success
The School of Greatness
Self Improvement Daily
Impact Theory
The Ed Mylett Show
10.VISUALIZATION
It’s absolutely mind blowing to me how many people never even take the time to revel in their imagination and visualize their dream life.
The mere act of visualization has profound effects on the brain.
As we use our imagination to visualize our dream life we trigger the Reticular Activating System to seek out opportunities to make these dreams a reality.
Athletes are commonly known to use visualization to picture themselves playing in their sport before each game. They use vivid detail as they imagine themselves performing at their very best.
Rather than spending mental energy on contemplating what could go wrong, use the power of your imagination to envision yourself succeeding in your chosen field.
Allow yourself to feel the emotions associated with that success.
Related: How to Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind for Success
Oftentimes we assume success is due to some grandiose endeavor when in actuality it’s the culmination of small, incremental, seemingly insignificant, habits over time.
Make the decision to implement one new habit a week. Focus on implementing new habits and gradually you will notice your negative habits begin to fall away.
What is one new habit you will begin implementing in your life? Share in the comments!
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