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This blog post contains affiliate links.
If you follow those links and purchase the product I make a small profit.
Thank you for the support!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Success is not an action but a habit.” – Aristotle

Considering it is the New Year, I was inspired to write about habits. Everyone has habits, good and bad. However, some people have more good habits than bad and vice versa!

Why are habits so important?

Honestly, habits make you who you are. Your everyday life, your body, and your actions are a reflection of them. If someone is fit and muscular, you can look at them and know that they have made a habit of working out and eating right. If someone is always losing things or forgetting important dates and such, you know they have a habit of being disorganized. If you really think about it, the stuff we do in a day are all built from habits.

Waking up strictly at 5 am every morning…habit. Versus hitting the snooze button 20 times…habit.
Arriving to work 15 minutes early…habit. Versus running inside to try to clock in on time…habit.
Eating a healthy prepared lunch…habit. Versus running to the gas station for some junk food…habit.
Drinking water and tea all day…habit. Versus chugging soda and coffee…habit.
Finishing all your work with time to spare…habit. Versus barely finishing anything and having to stay late…habit.
Going to the gym right after work…habit. Versus turning on the television right when you get home…habit.

Ok you get it. And you can clearly see the difference between those two lifestyles. Unfortunately, us humans like to make our life more difficult. Sometimes it is easier to just lie down and watch tv instead of meal prep lunch for the next day. Or it may feel good to sleep an extra hour, but by developing poor habits your life can become a lot more stressful.

It’s super important to stick with positive habits because your quality of life will improve drastically. Positive habits can improve your health (mental and physical), your relationships, your efficiency, and your general outlook/personality. Good habits may not be the easiest, but stick to them for a few weeks and they will become so natural you could never imagine going back to how it was!

How do you develop a positive habit?

Just start. Right now. Don’t give in to the lazy sayings in your head, you just have to do it. Don’t keep putting it off. I love that quote that says, “Yesterday you said tomorrow,” because this is what many people do. Tomorrow becomes never and you create a monster of a bad habit. Don’t overwhelm yourself with 10 new habits, start with one or two for a couple of months and then keep adding on!

Daily positive habits you can start today (or tomorrow)

• Drink a gallon of water
• Meditate (for at least 10 minutes)
• Read 20 pages (or 20 minutes) of a book
• Stretch for 20 minutes
• Night time routine
• Tidy up
• Write down 10 ideas
• Wake up at the same time (early!)
• Go for walks or walk 15,000 steps per day
• Morning routine
• Drink green tea
• Write down 3 things you’re grateful for
• Journal for 10 minutes
• No screens (phone, tv, computer) after 9 pm
• Floss twice a day
• Write down your goals for the day

There are so many habits you can start! There are also many bad habits that I’m sure you can put an end to. For me, my bad habit (that I just picked up within the last year) is shutting off my alarm and adding more time…usually way too much time. The new habit I want to start is waking up at 5 am every single day, even if I went to bed late and even on the weekends. I used to do this and I would NEVER hit the snooze button, but that has changed and I want to get up earlier so I can get more done. Waking up at 5 am is not fun, but until I reach where I want to be (financially, with my blog/business, etc.) I want to wake up early and work on my blog and other ventures before I go in to actual work!

I am proud to say that I’ve made a daily habit of drinking at least a gallon of water (since August 21). I also have meal prepped every week (maybe I missed one week) since March 2016. And I go to the gym 5 to 6 times per week. The gym is my favorite habit! Working out is a part of me now, I’ll go crazy if I don’t go!

That’s the beauty of positive habits! You are going to feel so good about what you are doing and how you feel that it’s going to become your lifestyle! Everyone has room for improvement, why not start today?

What is a bad habit you want to end? What positive habit do you want to replace it with?