woman in sunflower garden exhibiting one of her habits

Adopting These Crucial Habits Will Improve Your Lifestyle

2022-10-10T18:44:41+00:00

By Rody

In the society we live in today, there are lots of vices that pose a threat to our well-being as women.The lifestyle habits we adopt as women tend to affect us a lot which is why it is necessary for us to be intentional about pursuing our well-being.This encompasses physical, mental and even spiritual well-being – depending on your beliefs.

What Are Habits?

Habits are actions that we’ve got used to over the years, making them a default part of us that plays out in our subconscious.They involve behaviour that we find ourselves doing on a daily basis, for example, waking up at a certain time every morning, picking up the phone, putting on our shoes the same way every morning, cooking for the family, eating patterns, and largely every single thing we do routinely in our lives.These habits we’ve built since we were young follow us for a very long time and hugely determine our productivity, lifestyle, behaviour and overall welfare.If we aspire to become better people, to become high achievers, we need to learn self-awareness. We need to be more aware of the kind of habits we have adopted since they influence the actions we take in all aspects of our lives.This is why this article will explore the very important lifestyle habits that can improve our well-being and ways we can make it a part of our lives.

5 Crucial Lifestyle Habits Towards Better Living

Be Active

Your body needs endorphins (important substances found in the brain) in order to improve your physical health, human connection, and mental activity, and these endorphins are generated when you are active.This doesn’t imply that you have to do all the strenuous activities that exist, though, so don’t panic!Even easy motion from daily activities is enough to get you the necessary amount of endorphins.

Having said that, the world has mostly gone remote with work and you might find yourself confined more and more to your home. If this is the case for you, it means that you’ll have to be much more conscious about being active.If you do not engage in too many activities that require you to move about (if you spend much of your day in your work chair in front of your computer, for instance) then you might consider taking walks in the evenings or mornings depending on how your schedule works.

Build Your Self-esteem

Your perception of yourself is a huge determinant of how others treat you. It also has an impact on the kind of energy you put into things that you do.Considering how we constantly have to prove ourselves as women in society, it is important for you to have the mindset that you have the ability to achieve great feats. This mindset goes a long way towards increasing your productivity and overall mental well-being.Now, one of the most important things to do when building your self-esteem is to practice self-love.This involves the ability to see the good in yourself and know that you matter, and that you deserve to have equal opportunities with others.This helps you to get ahead in your career by being open to opportunities. It also helps you to set boundaries, remain in a positive state of mind, and believe in your abilities, thereby catering to your social well-being.

Take Care of Your Finances

Money is not happiness but we all know money is a great instrument for getting so many things that contribute to our happiness.Making money is never easy, and managing it isn’t an easy task either. But it is necessary if we are to acquire wealth and lead the life that we want.Managing your funds includes personal budgeting, saving, and investing. It helps you project into the future, for example, creating a retirement plan, building emergency savings etc.

Feed Your Mind

Just as you have to eat healthy for a better life, you also have to be mindful of the things you feed your mind.What you watch, the book you read, the accounts you follow on social media – you have to be mindful of these things.There’s a popular saying that “What you feed, grows”. The things you constantly pay attention to constantly increase. This is why it is crucial for you to be intentional about the things you consume. They affect your output and your overall state of mind.Screen the accounts you follow, and read only the books that suit the kind of life you aspire to live.

Practice Preventive As Opposed To Curative Measures

“Prevention is better than cure” – a popular quote, and a true one too. It’s better to control than to salvage. There are lots of things that would have been better if we had taken the time to prevent them.Taking necessary vaccines, drinking water, studying hard before exams, doing regular check-ups for breast cancer, and taking note of irregular periods to prevent PCOS are all core preventive actions that will improve our overall well-being.

How To Build Good Habits And Be Consistent With Them

Since we often face busy schedules as mothers, daughters, sisters or wives, we may develop certain unhealthy habits like inadequate sleep, overeating, spending before saving, and not drinking enough water, among other habits that we have embraced over time that may be affecting our wellness.When one has a bad habit, it takes intentionality to turn things around. The most effective way to change a habit is to follow the following steps:

Recognize/Highlight Bad Habits

Take out time to carefully understand the pattern of your habits. For example, if you sleep late and wake up tired every morning, which ends up affecting your productivity through the rest of the day, then you need to devise a way to start waking up early.

Highlight your negative habits by writing them down. Then make a conscious decision to change so that you get increased productivity.

Replace the Bad Habits with Good Ones

Once you identify the problem, the next step is to devise a solution.For example, if you’re trying to change your sleeping habit so that you can start waking earlier, you have to change that by trying to make sure you sleep early, say 9 pm.As simple as replacing a habit sounds, it’s not an easy task to follow through. It takes utmost intentionality and conviction.

Stay Consistent

Perfection can draw you back if you don’t tread with caution.Even if you sleep at 10 pm on the second day, don’t give up. 1% progress is better than none.You continue until you get it right.Showing up is one of the most important aspects of building a habit. Keep at it even if it doesn’t seem like it’s working.It’s like exercising. Doing one burpee for one day isn’t all you need for better muscles. You need consistent, continuous actions.

Forgive Yourself

There will be days when you may not show up. Using it as an excuse to relapse can make you lose all your former hard work.If you missed it yesterday, today is another opportunity to be better. Don’t beat yourself up when you relapse. Just pick it up from where you left off and continue. Rodiat Ajuwon is a Human Capital Development Enthusiast.