Developing healthy habits is essential if you intend on achieving your goals in life. It is a challenging, yet fun endeavor that can mold you into an independent and confident person. While helpful, effectively learning healthy habits requires more than reading journals or online content. It demands commitment and dedication to adopt each habit and harness it well.
In this article, I will expound on the various healthy habits one should learn. You will also get to know in-depth descriptions designed to enhance your understanding and creativity in your day to day activities. Hopefully, you will end up in a unique position to improve your communication skills, confidence and productivity with your peers.
The healthy habits of successful people are:
- Physical exercise
- Practicing the art of forgiveness
- Healthy eating
- Regular health screening
- Getting adequate sleep
- Trying new hobbies
- Laugh
- Spending ample time with family and friends
- Deal with addictive behaviour promptly
- Meditation
- Gratitude
- Straighten your posture
- Staying hydrated
1) Physical exercise
Striving to attain healthy habits won’t count for much if you aren’t willing to exercise frequently. Physical exercises benefit your mind and body in more ways than you can imagine. They help to fight off chronic illnesses, improve your mood, elevate your mood, control your weight and replenish your desire to accomplish goals. If you are having a hard time finding a solution to a niggling problem at work, don’t hesitate to exercise.
Exercising doesn’t necessarily mean spending substantial hours at the gym. Instead, you can consider adopting small changes in your daily schedule designed to yield similar results from a gym session. For starters, taking a 30-minute early morning walk can help clear any stress plaguing your mind. Not only that but the 30-minute morning walk aids in the secretion of endorphin hormones which to improve your mood. With this type of exercise, you are assured of a replenished mindset ready to tackle any challenge.
The weekends provide abundant opportunities to engage in other physical exercises proven to yield significant productivity. If your daily routines don’t to live up to your needs, then feel free to do yoga, go on hiking expeditions, or walk whenever you can as instead of relying on your car.
To make it more fun, you can encourage your family or friends to take part in these life-changing exercises and witness the remarkable transformations in their lives. These joint exercises serve as an opportunity to bond with your loved ones as well. To achieve the best results, it’s imperative to find one physical routine that complements your efforts and stick with it.
2. Practicing the art of forgiveness
It’s a no-brainer that forgiveness plays a crucial role in achieving healthy habits despite the inadequate attention it receives. Practicing forgiveness accords you with multiple health benefits in today’s complex occupational environment. When you are willing to forgive a transgression, especially without an apology, it alleviates tension, stress and anger. Harboring substantial anger can take its toll on your physical and mental wellbeing by wreaking havoc on your productivity and performance. As such, replacing such negative emotions with positive feelings brings you much closer to achieving a healthy habit.
Failing to forgive someone induces loss of control often associated with increased blood pressure and muscle tension. Over time, such symptoms can affect your decision-making and ultimately harm your health.
On the other hand, learning to forgive someone frees your subconscious from the burden of constant pain. This means that you can sleep in peace and any thoughts associated with retaliation are extinguished. Learning to forgive someone puts you in a unique position to let go of any pain and focus on your growth and wellbeing.
If forgiveness is your forte, you will be able to live in the present as opposed to getting stuck in the past and reliving the transgression. This means that retiring to bed becomes a joyous and peaceful experience daily. Alternatively, you could strive to see the positive traits of your loved ones as opposed to pointing out their shortcomings. Remember, no one is perfect and taking responsibility for your own shortcomings brings you much closer to building lasting relationships with your peers.
Practicing the art of forgiveness can be tricky, but observing instead of judging should illuminate your perception on synergetic relationships with people from various walks of life. As an advocate of healthy habits, it’s imperative to acknowledge your growth from each learning experience. More importantly, it’s critical to remember the multiple times that others have forgiven you for your own shortcomings
Most misdeeds surprisingly stem from your own actions as opposed to those around you. While you may be tempted to lash back at them, you might want to take a step back and understand your role in this predicament. This approach helps in identifying your weaknesses and motivates you to turn them into strengths. Suffice to say, developing healthy relationships is a vital aspect to practicing healthy habits.
3. Healthy eating
Healthy eating goes way beyond the content of food that you consume. The quantity of each serving is arguably of greater importance. For instance, avocados are widely credited for their nutritious value. However, they are incredibly calorie dense, making their overconsumption rather unhealthy.
Eating shouldn’t be misconstrued as a senseless indulgence in food, but instead approached as a healthy strategy to ensure that nutrients and vitamins are replenished throughout the day. To do so, eat until your physical satisfaction is attained then pause for a glass of water afterward. This strategy aids in minimizing the need to indulge in another serving.
Healthy eating should be considered to be a vital process that demands your undivided attention at specific times. Mindless eating just to pass time isn’t a wise course of action especially when it can lead to additional health problems.
To attain maximum benefits, it’s prudent to learn to listen to your hunger cues by eating during appropriate times and considering the right quantities to indulge in. For instance, you can consider drinking healthy smoothies as opposed to eating large meals before noon.
Planning your meals every week can also help you in more ways than you can imagine. With this planning, you can curb your hunger pangs by preparing meals in time. This strategy aligns your internal clock to respond to hunger pangs during specific times as opposed to mindless eating.
Limiting distractions during meal times should be on your priority list if you intend to develop healthy eating habits. It’s important to avoid browsing on your phone or computer to provide your body with sufficient time to digest and absorb food during a single meal session.
4. Regular health screening
It’s a no-brainer that prevention is better than cure, and when it comes to your health, nothing should be left to chance. Most invalids often visit the doctor when they experience disease-related symptoms, hoping to receive urgent treatment. But what if you could visit the doctor before adverse symptoms appear? Wouldn’t this put you in a better position to avoid serious diseases?
For instance, a simple mark on your skin might not appear to be a serious condition, but this innocuous mark could be the inception of skin cancer. Rather than wait it out, it’s crucial to visit your physician regularly for checkups to identify any suspicious symptoms.
By visiting your physician beforehand, they can advise you on preventive options for prevalent diseases in your family or treat a health concern promptly.
Visiting your physician for an annual physical exam is quite general and breaking it down to specific tests should help in weeding out potential problems. You can begin with the standard eye, hearing and dental tests before proceeding to the more complex examinations. Remember, screening for blood pressure, cholesterol, and sexually transmitted infections might be expensive but they are definitely worth the dime.
An ideal routine health screening for men encompasses a physical exam every two years. Eye examinations should be given a priority past 30 years while a hearing and colonoscopy should be conducted every three years and seven years respectively.
Ladies should prioritize getting a bone mineral density test beyond 65 years while a clinical breast exam is advised between 20 and 40 years. Enrolling for a dental cleaning test twice a year especially beyond 18 years and a cholesterol screening test every 5 years beyond 35 years should be enough to monitor her health status. Pap tests are ideal for women aged 21-29 every 3 years while a 5-year interval for women aged 30-65 is highly advised.
5. Getting adequate sleep
Obtaining adequate sleep is not only beneficial in ensuring your general wellbeing but also safeguarding your healthy lifestyle. Getting adequate sleep daily is widely credited with protecting your physical and mental health and improving your general quality of life.
Your immediate reaction and productivity is highly dependent on the quality and duration of sleep you get each night. During each sleep session, your body self-replenishes to support your brain function and enhance your physical health. Not only that, but sleep plays a vital role in your growth and development.
Sleep deficiency can progressively become a challenge based on your hectic work schedule. By losing sleep regularly, you run the risk of contracting chronic health problems associated with declined productivity, delayed physical reactions and distracted focus.
Vesting your body with sufficient time to rest allows it to replenish expended energy during the day to ensure optimal productivity to complete upcoming tasks and protecting your health.
To optimize productivity and ensure adequate sleep, it’s in your best interest to avoid caffeine in the afternoon. Caffeine, a strong stimulant, is scientifically proven to increase alertness and cause insomnia. When consumed in beverages, caffeine blocks sleep-inducing chemicals and increases adrenaline production in the brain. It also causes nervousness, dizziness, headaches and much more.
Heavy meals have become a popular sight in most households. As delicious and appetizing as they might be, such meals can adversely affect your sleeping pattern when consumed before bedtime. Spicy foods rich in acidic content can distort your sleeping pattern by causing severe heartburn. The discomfort from the resulting heartburn is excruciating, which can severely affect your sleep. Consuming alcohol before isn’t a good idea when you’re trying to get some good night’s sleep. Based on proven research, alcohol might serve as a self-medicated sedative but it ultimately leads to a rebound effect, denying you the much-needed sleep.
6. Trying a new hobby
Doing mundane activities everyday can get boring and hinder your productivity in various ways. From encouraging the safety of comfort zones and mastering the art of repetitive actions, you are less likely to develop new skills. However, you can spice up your schedule by trying something new designed to harness your creativity. You might be hesitant at first to try something new but the prospect of meeting new people and trying the new activity should propel you to conquer your worst fears.
You don’t have to try anything risky to begin with. You can try learning a new language to broaden your vocabulary and mastery of sentence structure and communication. Learning a new language not only opens up new opportunities for you but also cements your status as a confident and fluent speaker. To kick-start this new hobby, you can begin by watching a foreign language film with subtitles to enlighten you on what to expect from the new language.
If you are an athletic person, then trying a new sport should be well within your comfort zone. Participating in a new sport, such as biking, helps in working new muscles that had previously been neglected in your previous sport. This strategy elevates your overall body strength and stamina and also serves an ideal healthy habit.
Taking a road trip is an excellent alternative to trying a new hobby. You can consider travelling to a new destination that has always been on your bucket list. To make more interesting and memorable, feel free to bring along with loved ones on your epic journey. Once at the destination, you can indulge in the local delicacies as well as mingle with the town’s folk. Suffice to say, travelling opens up your perspective regarding new cultures and traditions.
7. Laugh
Laughter is undoubtedly the best medicine. Not only does it help in reducing stress but also improves your mood and self-esteem. It’s advisable to spend ample time having fun and through it, laughing abundantly. Developing a sense of humor plays a vital role in developing meaningful relationships and synergetic partnerships with other people.
Based on proven research, laughing induces the brain to meditate, which makes you more refreshed and eager to conquer daily life challenges. There are various strategies you can consider in your pursuit of healthy doses of laughter in your life.
Watching silly movies and TV shows can undoubtedly crack your ribs. The joy from watching ridiculous acts from such movies can overshadow any sorrow or pain plaguing your existence. Alternatively, you can also browse YouTube’s collection of funny videos that will definitely leave a lasting impression on you.
If you are in the mood for a live performance, don’t hesitate to attend a live stand-up comedy show in your city. Such experience is not only liberating to the soul but also provides a perfect opportunity to distract your thoughts from complex life challenges and identify lasting solutions.
8. Spending ample quality time with family and friends
It doesn’t take a rocket science to figure out that humans are social creatures. Throughout various life stages, you have consistently relied on family and friends to achieve various goals and objectives.
Achieving such remarkable feats demand cooperation from likeminded individuals. Having the reliable support of family and friends equips you with a sense of belonging and allows you to relate with persons sharing similar values.
While maintaining healthy human relationships can be a tall order based on diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, it’s imperative to strike the perfect balance to associate with them and achieve your goals.
Enjoying dinner as a family is widely considered to be an ideal way to forge lasting relationships. These intimate moments provide you with an opportunity to take an interest in the welfare of your loved ones. Regardless of their struggles or triumphs, family dinners serve as strong bond in nurturing healthy habits.
Yearly family vacations never fail to disappoint especially when families put in the effort to show up and spend quality time with each other. While conflicts might occasionally crop up, it’s important to cherish the reasons behind such a union and pulling out all the stops to ensure that they are a success.
9. Deal with addictive behavior promptly
Contrary to common belief, addiction stretches way beyond drug use, tobacco and alcohol. It includes behavior that when uncontrolled, they can spiral into addictions. From internet usage to gambling and caffeine, it’s important to exercise restraint when engaging in such acts.
Personality traits also play a crucial role in influencing addictive behavior especially when such traits are associated with compulsiveness. If you are focused on pursuing healthy habits, then it’s in your best interest to self-reflect on any behavior that might induce addiction.
Therapy measures aren’t as difficult as commonly perceived. You can begin by admitting that you have a problem in need of urgent remedy. By accepting beforehand, you are in a unique position to counter this addiction head on and seek lasting solution from seasoned physicians.
Addictions vary in magnitude and assessing the extent of damage is important to your prompt recovery. Addictions detected at an early stage are much easier to treat compared to full blown addictions. However, you can take control of the situation by enlisting the services of a specialist.
If you intend to break your cycle of addictive behavior then it’s high time that you understood your addictive triggers. Triggers simply refer to individuals or situations that elicit adverse reactions. When someone annoys based on their constant criticism or mockery, they are considered to be your addictive trigger.
Breaking addictive behavior isn’t as difficult as perceived. It demands commitment and dedication to neutralizing your triggers and living a healthy and productive life. For starters, you need to plan for the habit change by focusing on a new course of action based on meditation. Remember, planning isn’t enough if you aren’t willing to transform it into actions.
Afterward, your priorities should revolve around completing a 30 day habit challenge to evaluate your resolve and progress. Once satisfied with the results, you can incorporate the new habit into your daily routine.
10. Meditation
With the hectic work schedule on your plate, it isn’t surprising that meditation barely features in your diary. Nevertheless, it’s in your best interest to harness the various benefits associated with meditation to lead a healthy lifestyle. Taking adequate time out of your hectic schedule to meditate is widely believed to reduce stress. It provides a soothing sensation through which built-up tension is released from your professional and personal life.
Meditation also provides you with a unique opportunity to reflect on challenges that are inhibiting you from achieving set goals and objectives. During this process, it’s imperative to ensure that your mind is relaxed and prepared to tackle upcoming challenges.
Meditation entails a systematic process that includes practicing morning breathing exercises to weed out distractions and providing you with the much needed peace. You are at liberty to do such meditation sessions at your preferred location.
To spice up each session, you can incorporate a tea or coffee drinking ritual to increase your focus and alertness to your problems and their subsequent solutions. Remember, each session shouldn’t span more than 30 minutes, to minimize the chances of drifting off into sleep.
Meditation sessions aren’t productive if you aren’t willing to make significant changes to your diet. It’s in your best interest to cut down on read meat and alcohol but increase your vitamin intake.
Introducing music breaks is highly recommended to make each session interesting and worth adopting daily. If music breaks aren’t your forte, then don’t hesitate to recite your favorite mantras.
11. Gratitude
Healthy habits define your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. These fundamentals pillars are directly rooted in gratitude to every blessing that comes your way. Being grateful to each outcome helps in feeding positivity and confidence to tackle life challenges. When you focus on the positives, you subconsciously train your mind to view each day as an opportunity to grow and achieve various objectives.
Being thankful for everything, both good and bad, is essential to your overall wellbeing and happiness. You might take for granted the small blessings but learning to appreciate everything empowers your perspective regarding the universe and its abundant success.
Being grateful doesn’t necessarily demand large displays of appreciation. Instead, you can begin by giving one compliment and saying thank you whenever someone helps you out.
Each morning shouldn’t be a dash to work but an opportunity to remember at least three things that you are grateful and exercising gratitude through various ways.
More importantly, gratitude isn’t just limited to daily compliments. You can seek extensive gratitude by volunteering for organizations specializing in human welfare. Such programs include poverty alleviation, the provision of safe drinking water and healthcare. These community programs serve as a platform to manage socially responsible programs designed to nurture healthy living.
As an advocate of healthy habits, I recommend incorporating rewards to celebrate attained goals and objectives. By rewarding yourself or someone else for their exceptional performance, their motivation and confidence is elevated to pursue and attain higher goals. Celebrating successes, both small and large, are a reminder that hard work yields excellent results.
12. Straighten your posture
Healthy habits speak volumes about your nutrition, sleep duration, physical fitness and more importantly, your sitting posture. Since most school or office tasks are executed behind a desk, it’s important to learn the ins and outs of an ideal sitting posture to reap optimal benefits.
Preferably, it’s highly advisable to adjust your hips and neck in a neutral position while pulling your shoulder blades back. This position helps to work every muscle and avoids pressure on your joints. Over time, it significantly reduces the risk of back aches and elevates your productivity to complete tasks.
13. Staying hydrated
Everyone knows that water plays an essential role in our diet. Not only does it improve digestion but also neutralizes fatigue and headaches. Having a reusable water bottle is handy when quenching regular thirst and keeping migraines at bay. You can spice up your fluid intake by consuming unsweetened coffee or tea at regular intervals daily.
Conclusion
Adopting healthy habits doesn’t lead to universal solutions to everyone. They are highly dependent on your personality through which you can derive tailor-made solutions. Each habit demands consistency and longevity over time to attain unparalleled success. They aren’t a one-off sum of activities but a deliberate desire to stimulate healthy lifestyles.
Related Questions
Do I have to adopt each healthy habit as outlined above? It is important to adopt each healthy habit especially if you are wallowing in personal or professional challenges.
Am I at liberty to tweak any healthy habit to my specific needs? Healthy habits are not set in stone. You can pursue various recommendations based on each healthy habit to match your exact needs.
