8 Habits That Can Change Your Life For The Better

Improving your life for the better does not have to be complicated. All you need to do is to adopt simple habits that will help you move up a notch in your personal and professional life.

Here are 8 sustainable habits that will help you improve and change your life for the better.

1. Stop complaining

Complaining is a total waste of time and effort. And it does not solve the problem; rather, it exacerbates it by making you and others feel bad and stressed out.

This is because complaining has a way of affecting all aspects of your life. When you complain about your job, it affects your family, which in turn affects your health, which in turn affects your finances, and so on.

Furthermore, complaining takes up mental space that could be used to come up with creative solutions to the problem.

So, the next time you want to complain, pause for a moment and take a deep breath. If necessary, take several deep breaths and step away.

How to stop complaining

Here are some other things you can do to stop complaining:

• Recognize why you feel the need to complain. Complaining is a coping mechanism, and it may be your way of relieving stress caused by being overworked. To determine the core of your coping mechanism, consider how you are currently feeling. Is your complaint valid? What can you do to solve this issue? Once you’ve identified the source of your coping mechanism, you can train yourself to let go of the automatic need to complain and instead respond with purpose and clarity.
• Be mindful. When you find yourself thinking or saying something negative about something or someone, stop and either stay silent or say something positive instead.
• Practice gratitude. Instead of complaining, make a list of the things in your life that you are grateful for and appreciate. This will assist you in shifting your perspective from negative to positive.
• Look for solutions to the problems you’re complaining about. Particularly if you were the one who started it in the first place. Accept responsibility for your actions and regain control of the situation. If you are dissatisfied with something, take action. You can either change it or accept it.
• Sandwich your complaint in positives. If your concerns are valid, you can address them by beginning with a positive statement, then moving on to the complaint, and concluding with another positive statement.

2. Eat a healthy diet

What we eat has an impact not only on our physical health but our mental health as well. It is therefore prudent to follow a healthy diet because it benefits both your mental and physical health.

Among the many advantages of a healthy diet are weight control, reduced inflammation, increased energy, better sleep, and increased brain power.

Tips for a healthy diet

In order to improve your physical and mental health, incorporate these healthy eating tips into your daily routine.

• Avoid processed foods such as hot dogs, sausages, bacon, and other processed meats, instant noodles, chips, cookies, sugary beverages, soft drinks, energy drinks, etc.
• Plan your meals. When you have healthy food planned out for each day, you’re more likely to practice healthy eating.
• Drink enough water. Hydrating yourself maintains your cognitive functions, which allows you to better regulate serotonin which plays a role in regulating the digestive process, blood flow, and breathing. Water also helps keep your temperature regulated, clean out your system, and improve your performance.
• Balance your intake of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. At least half your plate at each main meal should consist of vegetables. One-quarter of your plate or roughly the size of your fist should be lean protein. Add a small serving of whole grains or a starchy vegetable for added soluble and insoluble dietary fiber, and to boost energy. Add a drizzle of olive oil, a small wedge of avocado, or a sprinkling of nuts or seeds for a good dose of heart-healthy fats that will leave you feeling satisfied.
• Include probiotics in your diet such as yogurt, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, pickles, miso, tempeh, kimchi, sourdough bread, and some cheeses.

3. Exercise

We instinctively know that exercise is good for our bodies, but we may be unaware that the benefits range from improved mood to better sex life.

Exercising, regardless of age, gender, or physical ability, can help you feel better, have more energy, and even add years to your life. It helps with brain health, weight management, disease prevention, bone and muscle strength, and daily task performance.

All of these advantages of physical activities and regular exercise can make a significant difference in your life.

Experts recommend at least 3 hours of exercise per week to reap the health benefits. You may argue, however, that your hectic schedule prevents you from exercising.

The good news is that you don’t have to complete the 3-hour exercise in one sitting. In fact, it is preferable to spread your activities out over the course of the week. Even if you only do a few short bouts of exercise per day, you will reap health benefits.

Simple ways to boost your activity level

Here are some creative ways to incorporate exercise into your daily routine:

• Talk while walking. You don’t have to be glued to your chair if you’re on your phone for work calls. Make talking and walking a habit.
• Walk or jog in place, do yoga or weightlifting, or walk on the treadmill while watching your favorite TV shows.
• Take the stairs whenever possible, even if only for a floor or two.
• Walk a bit more. Parking your car further away from your office or getting off the bus a stop earlier will allow you to exercise without the need for compression leggings.
• Stand up more. Sitting puts your body in neutral, constricting circulation, slowing metabolism, turning off muscles, and tightening connective tissues. Standing up, on the other hand, burns 1.36 calories per minute more than sitting and lowers your risk of a variety of cardiovascular diseases.
• Every day, perform a 10-minute deep squat. It greatly improves hip and ankle mobility while also providing a burst of isometric exercise. You should hold the position for 10 minutes, but if you can’t, just accumulate one minute at a time – perhaps during ad breaks or while waiting for the kettle to boil.
• Workplace exercises such as jumping jacks, fake jump ropes, leg lifts, shoulder rolls, toe taps, or toe raises can be done while typing on your computer, in between calls or emails, or when taking a break between meetings.

4. Control online consumption

The internet and social media are now an indispensable part of our daily lives. Without diminishing the benefits of technological advancement, it is impossible to deny that social media has negative consequences.

For starters, simply scrolling through the apps for updates and the latest happenings can completely waste our time. Another reason is that scrolling through the amazing posts of friends or friends of friends can make you feel insecure about yourself. It has the potential to arouse envy and resentment. Because the filtered reality of social media creates expectations that real life simply cannot meet.

Furthermore, uncontrolled online consumption lowers the quality of face-to-face conversations, interferes with sleep, and increases obesity and depression.

Although we cannot completely avoid social media, knowing how to manage our social media usage is beneficial. It will be difficult, but reducing your usage will free up time for other things and allow you to be more focused and productive.

Tips to reduce social media consumption

So, here are some tips for managing your online media consumption.

• Take a break from social media. You can plan a no-social media weekend or the opposite, allowing yourself to use social media apps only on weekends.
• Use apps to help you limit your time on social media. There are many apps available to help you limit your social media usage. Why not use one app to counteract another?
• Keep your apps hidden. Remove your apps from your home page to add some friction to your social media access. You can also organize them on your phone into folders or layers of subfolders. If you want to go even further, remove the apps from your phone. Something that is out of sight is out of mind.
• Put your phone away. When you’re out with friends, in a meeting, or getting ready for bed, it’s a good idea to put your phone away; keep it in your bag or drawer so you’re not tempted to check it every few minutes. This can help you enjoy your time with friends more, be more present and helpful in a meeting, and sleep better.
• Build self-awareness. Before you pick up your phone, consider what you want to achieve when you visit your social media app. If you want to stay up to date with family and friends, be aware and mindful when you are about to comment on the latest gossip or check out the latest entertainment antics. You may have stayed logged in for too long, in which case you should log out.

5. Connect with positive people

Having people by your side, whether friends, family, or acquaintances, is beneficial for social interaction. However, not everyone in your life will bring out the best in you. Worse, some people may be rubbing off their negative energy on you. Making you feel bad, which can have a negative impact on your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions.

As such, it is important for you to seek out positive people. People who lift your spirits, bring joy into your life and assist you in becoming the best version of yourself.

Additionally, surrounding yourself with positive people can have a significant impact on your mood, mental health, and overall well-being. Spending time with positive people can help you feel more at home and boost your self-esteem and confidence.

Finally, surrounding yourself with positive people can help you cope with depression and reduce the effects of stress. Positive people share your joy, support and encourage your growth, and provide comfort during difficult times.

6. Learn something new

Learning does not end in school. It is a continuous process that we must maintain in order to keep our minds active and up to date.

Also, whether you’re bored, have spare time, or want to break out of a routine, learning a new skill can provide you with the mental and physical boost you require.

Learning new skills will help you discover your talents and abilities, as well as boost your confidence and sense of well-being. Your new skills can also have a positive impact on others.

How to learn something new each day

Learning something new does not imply overloading your brain with information all at once. Rather, you can take it slowly by simply attempting to learn something new every day.

Here are some ideas for incorporating the practice of daily learning into your life.

• Keep learning interesting by thinking about what topics interest you and what you’d like to learn more about. Learning about topics that interest you will help you stay motivated and focused.
• Determine which learning style works best for you. Some people learn visually, while others prefer audible learning, and still, others prefer learning through experience. To determine your preferred method of learning, experiment with a few different approaches and see which one keeps you engaged for the longest period of time without becoming distracted.
• Use the online resources that are available. Learning something new has become easier in recent years due to the availability of a wide range of learning materials. You can set aside time to read articles, PDFs, ebooks, podcasts, or YouTube videos on your chosen topic. Having several reliable resources will ensure that you can access new information daily.
• Playing games like Wordle or crossword puzzles, participating in trivia night, joining a book club, taking an online course or live class, and watching a documentary are all excellent ways to learn something new. Engaging your mind in something enjoyable makes learning easier and more enjoyable.
• Learn from other people. When it comes to learning new things, the people in your life can be a great help. They can share information or ideas that you might not have thought of but are interested in, such as books they’ve recently read or a documentary they’ve recently watched.

7. Commit to your goals

For sure it’s very easy to be distracted by shiny objects, they make you drop whatever you are holding or working on at the moment and go grab that next big thing.

This shiny object syndrome can occur when you start something with good intentions, but when you don’t see results quickly or as planned, you give up too soon, conclude that it’s not for you, and move on to the next thing that promises instant fame, success, or reward.

But if you commit to your goals and hang in there when the going gets tough you will surely reap the rewards of your efforts. Because commitment allows you to persevere in difficult situations in order to achieve your goal.

Commitment to your goals also assists you in overcoming obstacles on your path to achieving them. It encourages you to think creatively about how to get around or through any obstacles that may arise on your path to your goal.

Finally, committing to your goals provides you with direction, helps you focus on what is important, and provides you with a sense of purpose and meaning.

8. Maintain a neat space

According to a survey of 1,200 Americans conducted by the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO), people who are organized feel more relaxed, in control, fulfilled, at ease, and successful. These positive feelings also extend to family members who report feeling less stressed, irritable, good about themselves, self-motivated to clean up, and more creative and productive.

This is because your physical environment influences your behavior and how you work.

When you are surrounded by clutter, it causes stress, which causes the release of cortisol, our primary stress hormone. Constantly feeling stressed in a cluttered environment can lead to a variety of health issues such as anxiety, depression, concentration issues, difficulty sleeping, weight gain, and heart disease, among others.

Given the negative effects of a disorganized environment on your health, it is critical that you declutter your surroundings. You will definitely reap the benefits of mental and emotional well-being, reduced stress, improved focus and motivation, and more time for activities and leisure if you keep your workspace and home neat, tidy, and free of clutter.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Please feel free to share your thoughts or ideas about 8 Habits That Can Change Your Life For The Better in the comments below.