74 Healthy Habits That Will Improve Your Overall Well-Being and Make
You Feel Good PART II
Healthy living habits
16. Stop
weighing yourself
This ties
in with my earlier comments about calories (see No. 6). Some people – perhaps
including yourself – are fixated on their weight. They weigh themselves every
morning and every night. If they lose weight, they’re ecstatic. But if they
gain weight, they can quickly sink into depression.
Now,
please don’t get me wrong, you certainly should be aiming to have a healthy
weight. However, this will be a natural consequence of eating healthily and
exercising regularly.
17.
Choose enjoyable exercise
You might
be putting off exercising as you don’t like going to the gym or running in the
cold weather. Instead, why not choose fun exercises like dancing, yoga or a team sport? When
exercise is fun, you’ll have much more motivation to do it regularly.
18. Avoid
over exercising
People
who over exercise tend to age quicker than they should. Most
things in life come down to balance, and exercise is no exception. Over
exercising for months and years will deplete your body of its vital energy –
leaving you drained and feeling out-of-sync.
19. Go to
bed 30 minutes earlier than usual
In
today’s age of Netflix and YouTube, it’s all too easy to find yourself
watching just one more video. Pre-internet, you’d have
probably gone to bed two or three hours earlier than you currently do. My
suggestion? You have an alarm to wake you up in the morning. How about setting
an alarm to notify you when it’s time to turn off the TV and get yourself to
bed.
Sleep is a powerful restorative – so make you’re getting an
adequate amount of it.
20. Turn
off technology from time to time
Technology
is a great thing. It enables me to type these words – and for you to read them.
But let’s be honest, it’s all too easy to become addicted to our TVs, laptops,
tablets and smartphones. The majority of people are staring at one of these
devices for most of their morning, afternoon, evening and beyond. It’s a
non-stop world of emails, SMS messages, news feeds, social media updates, etc.
My
advice? Make sure you step out of this cycle of distraction by having regular breaks
from your devices. For example, why not switch off all of your devices when
you’re eating with your friends and family. Make conversation be your focus,
instead of being absorbed by online stuff.
Healthy habits for a peaceful
mind
21. Spend
time in nature
Being
outside has found to have a profound effect on your mental wellbeing mainly due
to exposure to sunshine increasing your serotonin levels. Research has also
found that spending even a short amount of time around nature boosts your mood. Imagine spending a day in a
place like this:
22. Have
something to look forward to
Being in
a state of positive anticipation and expectancy can increase your happiness
level according to study published in the Official Journal of the
International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies.[3] Planning
something you enjoy and take comfort in, whether it’s a trip, a planned run,
meeting friends or curling up with that book you’ve always wanted to read can
keep you from dwelling on any negatives.
23.
Meditate
Meditation
is probably the most talked about concept in the happiness camps and it has
good reasons to be synonymous with good mental health. Studies have shown
regular meditation practices reduce stress, anxiety and health issues. The
main reason is it can help reduce overthinking and create a more mindful
mindset. It can come in the form of just sitting quietly, yoga, prayer or
purposeful breathing.
24. Move
your body
Endorphins
are the chemicals in the brain that basically reduce the perception of pain.
When you move your bodies, these are released and essentially tell your
brain that all is well. Even if it’s just getting up from your chair, dancing
around when doing the housework or taking up a regular exercise routine, these
actions can increase the feel-good chemicals and elevate your mood.
25. Learn
something new
People
who continue to learn into adulthood have greater overall
wellbeing. This could be because the brain is constantly being refreshed and
rewired but also the sense of achievement, optimism and distraction it creates.
In other words, it gives you purpose and focus increasing the ability to cope
with stress. So learn a new language, take up painting or enrol in a course
you’ve always fancied doing to create more mental wellbeing.
26. Do
something nice for someone
Kindness
may be seen as just good manners but being genuinely kind towards others
increases your own happiness as well as theirs. Positive social interactions,
no matter how small they may seem, boosts your feel-good vibrations. Giving compliments with pure intentions, holding a door open or
offering to pay for a stranger’s coffee will keep you feeling good for the rest
of the day. Do this on a regular basis and you’ll keep your positive mindset
topped up as well as creating happiness for someone else.
27.
Re-evaluate toxic relationships
Sometimes
people’s mental wellbeing declines because they get used to being around people
who bring them down. This can damage their self-esteem and self-worth but they
often don’t associate this with others. You are the sum total of the five people you’re around the most. Ask yourself are
these five people supportive, kind and fun to be around? If not, it may be time
to rethink your relationships.
28. Detox
digitally
The
dangers of too much social media is commonly said. The comparison game can
cause you to feel deflated and like failures if we’re not living how others are
currently living. This in itself is reason to have a period of detox from your
phone or computer. The digital world, as much as it enhances our lives, can
take away our present moments and allows us to miss what’s really going on
around us. Detoxing will
give you that sense of freedom of time to do other things that will boost your
mental health.
29. Sleep
more
Sleep
often gets ignored when we’re living busy lives but that’s no excuse.
Getting adequate sleep is paramount to an optimum healthy mind.
Sleep deprivation causes mood swings, irritability, health issues and all-round
disfunction that affects how we think and causes us to react negatively to
things happening in our daily lives. More sleep equates to a sense of peace and
motivation through your day instead of stress and anxiety.
30. Do
things by yourself
Low
self-worth or self-esteem can cause people to believe that they can’t do things
by themselves. The need to always have someone to do things with can create a
sense of neediness and lack of self-love. Going off and doing things by
yourself builds confidence and a sense of freedom.
Don’t be
afraid to be alone and make time for yourself; it’s a wonderful way to really
reflect on yourself and have a breather away from others.
31.
Express gratitude
Gratitude has been found to increase happiness and
reduce stress creating a more positive mindset. People often get caught up on
what didn’t go well in their day even if the majority of what happened was
positive. A good habit to start is to think through your day and note
everything that was great – from the straight-forward commute to work, a smile
from a stranger, the delicious food you had for lunch or a text from your
friend.
32. Sit
and stand up straight
Body language is tightly connected to our mindset. When you
slouch, it subconsciously creates the overall feeling of hostility,
sluggishness, and negativity. When we sit or stand up straight it creates the
feeling of power and confidence.
33. Find
something to laugh about
Laughter is powerful as it reduces stress
levels, improves mood and even short-term memory. Laughing together with
someone is probably the best kind of laughter but just watching a funny TV show
or even laughing by yourself can do the trick.
34. Write
things down
Writing things down is very powerful because in the act of
writing, the brain processes what’s being written down more slowly and so it
becomes a kind of therapy. It can help you process emotions and identify
difficult areas or limiting beliefs that continuous overthinking makes worse.
Writing down goals and dreams can bring about a positive boost and making lists
of past achievements can help show you successes in your life.
35. Spend
time with your pet
Any
loving animal can increase your feelings of positivity in small and meaningful
ways. They decrease loneliness, get you active, create loving bonds, keep you
present in the moment and give you purpose.
36.
Change your routine
While
routine can keep us comfortable, it also creates a sense of mundane life and
can result in depression. Making just small changes in your routine can trick
the brain into thinking you’re doing something completely different. It could
be taking a different route to work, walking instead of taking the bus, going
somewhere different for lunch or getting up slightly earlier in the morning.
Changing things up creates variety and opens you up to different experiences
and opportunities.
37.
Explore your city or town
Being a tourist in your own town or city is not something
people tend to consider. Pretend you’re visiting for the first time – what
neighbourhoods would you visit? Where would you eat? Doing this can help you
appreciate where you live and gain a different perspective to a familiar place
which helps open up the mind.
38.
Practice forgiveness
Forgiveness
can be a hard concept for many. But a lot of our angst is caused by our
inability to let things go and move on. This doesn’t mean condoning what
someone has done but just dropping the negativity around it and moving forward.
Studies have shown that forgiveness protects against stress and forgiving yourself is important too in order to release any
baggage and self-hate and create a happy life.
39.
Connect with someone
As social
beings, we thrive on connection. When you’re feeling depressed, the last thing you
want to do is talk or reach out to others. Keep in mind that talking to people, even just
short conversations with friends or in support groups, can repair your sense of
disconnection immensely. Relationships with others builds a sense of belonging
and self-worth so make time to connect with someone.
40. Spend
a day being mindful
This is a
great way to examine how you move through your day. How does your breakfast
taste? How do your legs feel when you’re walking? Where did the ingredients for
your lunch come from? What emotions are you feeling in each moment?
Don’t
judge yourself but just be in each moment. Bringing your mind to the present moment can help
reduce depression in the process.
41.
Consider a more positive perspective
A
negative mindset creates a negative life. If you’re in this category of seeing
the glass as always being half empty maybe question why you think this way. It
could simply stem from beliefs you’ve picked up but understand there is always
a choice in how you see things.
Choose to
consider a different, more positive perspective next time. Doing this regularly
will slowly help change the way you look at the world around you.
42. Stop
taking photos of everything
While
it’s great to take photos for keepsakes, spending too much time taking the
photo rather than enjoying the moment can decrease our happiness. Psychologist
Maryanne Garry of the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zeal has found
taking endless photos “manipulates both our memories and subjective
interpretations of lived experiences,” meaning we end up
remembering less and don’t fully appreciate the moment.
43. Smile
(even if it’s fake)
Genuine smiles portray our inner happy feelings but research
has found even fake smiling tricks the brain into thinking we’re happy. So
even if you’re in a quiet room by yourself, smile and you’ll notice overtime,
it creates a sense of mental wellbeing.
44. Do
something that’s out of your comfort zone
One of
the main reasons people can become depressed is their need to stay comfortable.
Blame this on the brain; it’s doing all it can to stop you from doing something
fearful because it’s a survival mechanism – if you’re comfortable then you’re
safe.
Breaking out of comfort zones is never as scary as your
brain imagines it to be and it creates confidence, wellbeing and opens up new
and exciting possibilities.[The result? Better mental health.
COTINUES IN
PART III
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