To become your best self, it’s likely that at some point you’ll want to develop strong personal growth habits that make it easier for you to live out your values. When you cultivate healthy habits or rituals, you get one step closer to the life that you envision for yourself.
I don’t think any of us are under the impression that it doesn’t take any effort to get far in life (even if Instagram makes us question that sometimes.) Healthy habits are one of those things that we know we need to work through to meet our amazing, big dreams.
The problem is a lot of us can take habits to the extreme and tend to get hyper-focused on a goal. It’s all or nothing. You need to have the best routine and habits in place, be 100% in, or you won’t do it.
Does that sound familiar? Perfectionism is common for a lot of us. Habits can feel overwhelming when you’re a perfectionist and it can become hard to keep up with.
You might have amazing habits in place for a month or two, but you find yourself burnt out after awhile, because you set extremely high expectations for yourself.
So, how you do you break the bad habits and replace them with better ones? Here are three ways you can restart your habits:
1. Pair your habits
You brush your teeth every day, so if flossing is a habit you want to add into your routine, associate it with brushing your teeth. Put your floss near your toothbrush, so you can do it right then.
2. Use Mel Robbin’s 5 second rule
Count backwards from 5-4-3-2-1 and take action! It will take some discipline, especially in the beginning. If you allow yourself to think too much about it, you’ll talk yourself out of it. So simply count, and go!
3. Make habits ridiculously easy
If you need to workout in the early morning, prep your workout clothes the night before. If you want to make a healthy breakfast before you head to work, lay out everything you’ll need. Make it hard to reject your habit and you’ll be much more likely to do it.
Here are some habit ideas to help you figure out what habits to work on.
- Wake up earlier
- Exercise regularly
- Drink more water
- Follow a budget
- Eat at least two healthy meals a day
- Make watching Netflix productive
- Take deep breaths before responding when stressed out
- Read 10 pages a day
- Plan your week every Sunday
- Listen to something positive every morning
- Keep only 1-3 tabs open on your computer
- Craft a mission statement and look at it nightly
- Get 7-9 hours of sleep every night
- Write a blog post every week
- Follow a morning routine plan
- Put your phone away during conversations
- Remove your makeup every night
- Learn a new language
- Take an evening walk
- Drink warm lemon water when you wake up
- Journal one line a day for every day of the year
- Automatically send 10% of your income to savings
- Practice a new skill
- Watch a new documentary monthly
- Add more greens into your diet
- Say thanks before meals
- Take old clothing to The Salvation Army after you buy new clothes
- Eliminate (bad) sugars from your diet
- See a therapist monthly
- Cook new recipes
- Visit a new place in your city
- Make an effort to do good deeds regularly
- Purchase only ethical beauty products
- Repeat positive mantras at the start of your day
- Take the scenic route
- Visit your family regularly
- Prepare for your day the night before
- Send thank you notes immediately after receiving gifts
- Take a class just for fun
- Make self-care your priority
- Create a morning (or evening) ritual of meditation
- Choose completion over perfection
- Write daily
- Set clear boundaries with people in your life
- Wake up without an alarm
- Make an effort to hang out with friends more often
- Put aside time daily for spiritual practices
- Take a lesson away from each experience
- Get together consistently with a like-minded community (Maybe a mastermind group?)
- Help those in need
- Open emails in the late morning instead of the first thing in the morning
- Tackle the most important tasks of your day in the morning
- As Marie Kondo says, ask yourself, “does this bring joy?” before purchasing
- Book your next appointments while you’re at the dentist
- Celebrate tiny victories
- Don’t multitask. Focus 100% on each task before moving to the next
- Try using a capsule wardrobe
- Listen to relaxing music before bed
- Don’t do any work after 6pm
- Make an effort to support local businesses
- Create your personal dress code
- Tidy the kitchen while you cook
- Meal prep on Sundays
- Dedicate a few hours each week for self-care
- Save 10% of your paycheck
Let us know in the comments below what habits you’re working on developing!