203 good habits that will improve your life

Habits, whatever they may be, greatly influence a person’s way of life and thinking.

Bad habits have a negative impact on health and can be associated with stress. Experiences often lead to the choice of a bad habit, which provokes new stress for the body.

Some people believe that healthy habits do not have such a quick impact and are therefore ineffective. However, positive habits form the basis of a healthy life, improving physical, psychological and emotional indicators.

Laziness is one of the main enemies of good habits. It is this that pushes us into inaction, postponing things until later, and slows down the desire to change our lives for the better.

It's hard to take just the first step. The main thing is to overcome yourself, laziness and fears. Start life from scratch, change what you don’t like about yourself, about your work, about your environment. Introduce healthy habits into your everyday life, make a little effort and you won’t even notice how happy you will become.

Wellness goals

If you want to be happier

Hang out with positive people.
Every day, write down three good things that happened to you that day.
Laugh. Even if sometimes you force yourself to do it. Joy hormones will come in handy.
Spend more time in the sun. Or in well-lit rooms if it’s cloudy outside.
Move (walk or exercise) for at least 20 minutes every day.
Walk the dog or pet an animal.
Hug at least one person a day.
Call an old friend or loved one.
Devote 30 minutes of your time a day to an activity you love that brings you pleasure and relaxes you.
Buy something new (even something small, like a new type of coffee).

If you want to manage stress better

Breathe deeply for two minutes. Concentrate on your breathing.
Do 10 minutes of exercise.
Listen to something calm and distracting that doesn't relate to the source of stress.
Snuggle up with someone close (spouse, friend, or even a pet). Physical contact quickly calms.
Get rid of the source of stress for a while. Leave the meeting for five minutes or take a break from your current tasks. Just switch to something.
Smell geranium or lavender essential oil. They lower blood pressure (can be combined with point 11).
Sit in the sun for five minutes.
Draw something or color a picture.
Talk to a friend for 10 minutes.
Dedicate 10 minutes to self-care (take a shower, get your nails done or do your hair).
Take a nap.
Chew some gum.

If you want to become more confident in yourself

Write down three things you like about yourself. Then read them out loud.
Stand up straight and lower your arms, letting them hang in a natural position.
Wear clothes that suit you.
Prepare for a difficult situation in which you need self-confidence. Write down your thoughts or speech and take the cheat sheet with you to the speech.
Don't let yourself get nervous. Instead, go to a private place (such as the restroom or an adjacent room) where you can stretch and calm down. After this, concentrate on relaxation.
Pay attention to the other person instead of feeling insecure.
Repeat the mantra in your head.
Make a list of things you like about yourself.
Ask a close friend or relative to give you a compliment.

If you want to develop spirituality

Spend 15 minutes reading spiritual texts (such as the Bible).
Take a walk in the forest.
Perform one thoughtful act of kindness for a stranger.
Give up one physical pleasure or material thing.
Join a group of like-minded people from whom you can learn and gain inspiration.
Look at the stars.
Enjoy sunset or sunrise.
Write down how the person you met that day could enrich your life.

If you want to become more attentive

Meditate. Start with 15 minutes a day, find a quiet place, close your eyes and focus on your breathing.
Pay attention to the details around you. What color are the wings of a butterfly? What does this salad taste like? How many shades of green can you see now?
Consciously let go of worries or regrets. Tell yourself: “I will take care of this in the future” or “The past is the past.”
Focus on how you feel at that moment, such as how good you feel lying in your bed, or how invigorating the wind blowing on you is.
Be emotionally invested in the current interaction. How does your friend feel about his problem? What emotions are you experiencing right now? What can you do to please or calm the person who is with you?

Morning Pages

What do you do immediately after you wake up? Are you opening your Instagram feed? Do you think this is a good habit? Nothing like this. A habit that will change your life for the better is morning pages. Immediately after waking up, you need to sit down at the table and write three pages of text by hand.

What to write about? About everything that comes to mind. Think of this kind of writing as a kind of meditation method. You throw out all the negativity and all the emotions accumulated in your soul onto paper, thereby clearing your consciousness.

Why should you write in the morning and not in the evening? After awakening, the subconscious has not yet fully awakened and you can establish productive communication with it.

A person does not always understand his problems. By regularly writing morning pages, you will better know yourself, your problems and desires. For example, if you complain to yourself about work every day for a week, you will finally be able to realize that the activity is not enjoyable. There is no need to show the results of your writing to anyone. You shouldn’t re-read the pages at first either. Hide them in your desk and come back to what you wrote in a month. This way you will be able to look at problems with fresh eyes and better understand your feelings and sensations.

Social goals

If you want to make new friends

Make a conscious effort to smile.
Make eye contact with someone new.
Introduce yourself to a new person.
Ask the new person a few questions about their preferences.
Talk about common earthly problems.
Find a way to laugh together. Tell a joke or do something funny together.

If you want to go on a date with someone

Spend an extra 20 minutes on your own hygiene. Don't leave the house without showering and getting ready.
Smile more often.
Avoid talking about negative topics or complaining about anything.
Relax. Straighten your shoulders, sit up straight and straighten your arms, placing them palms up. An open posture will emphasize your self-confidence and approachability.
Maintain eye contact.

If you want to appear sexier (to women)

Open the skin a little. Pick your favorite body part (shoulders, legs, arms, cleavage) and wear clothes that leave it exposed.
Give preference to red. Choose red lipstick or red nail polish, buy a red blouse or red shoes. Men will find you more attractive in red.
Lean closer to him.
Touch it.
Wear heels.

If you want to appear sexier (to men)

Keep your posture.
Pull your shoulders back.
Initiate gentle touch without hesitation. For example, touch her with your hand during a conversation or touch her back when you open the door for her and let her go forward.
Wear fashionable clothes that are required for each specific situation.

If you want to become a better lover

Extend foreplay five minutes longer than expected.
Pay attention to your partner's reaction.
Don't eat heavy food two hours before physical intimacy. If you must eat something during this time, choose foods that are easy to digest.
Practice prolonged eye contact.
Create the right atmosphere. Light the candles.
Relax, laugh - have a fun time.

Eat green vegetables every day

It's not easy, eating something green every day. Many are not used to this since childhood. However, you need to understand that it is full of nutrients. Therefore, it is a good idea to eat something green every day. This way you will get a variety of vitamins and minerals. The easiest way to add green vegetables to your diet is through smoothies.

Fitness goals

If you want to lose weight

Eat six small, healthy meals a day to help prevent hunger and overeating.
Eat breakfast within the first 30 minutes after waking up to activate metabolic processes.
Dedicate the first 10 minutes in the morning to exercise. A brisk walk or 10-minute exercise routine is an ideal way to jump-start your metabolism.
Exercise for a total of one hour a day, five times a week. If you can break this time into two sets per day, you will create two additional boosts to your metabolic processes.
Drink a glass of water before every meal.
Fill your plate with vegetables and lean meats. Use fat, grains or foods high in starch and sugar as seasonings.
At each meal, replace one white food (such as starches or processed foods) with something green, orange or brown (vegetables, protein, legumes).
Try a new physical activity (such as rock climbing, rafting, yoga, dancing, etc.).
Walk your dog (or your neighbor's dog).
Park in the farthest spot in the parking lot.

If you want to build muscle mass

Focus your diet on protein.
Do squats every morning. Increase the number of squats every week.
Do push-ups in the morning. Increase the number of push-ups weekly.
Exercise with dumbbells or a barbell in the morning.

If you want to start exercising

Start doing light exercise every day. Gradually increase your exercise time by five minutes until you reach your desired workout duration.
Keep a training diary. Gradually increase the intensity of your exercise.
Monitor your heart rate during exercise. Calculate your heart rate, which should be maintained throughout the entire workout.
Pay attention to your own well-being. Determine for yourself the intensity of the exercise, when you are already making an effort to do the exercises, but are not torturing yourself to the fullest.
Make exercise a must in your daily schedule.

If you want to improve your performance in sports

Achieve one micro goal every day. To do this, set a main goal and the period within which you want to achieve it, and then break the plan into daily tasks and micro-goals, the achievement of which will help you achieve the main goal.
Find yourself a mentor and discuss your achievements with him every day. This could be a personal trainer, an exercise partner, or communication on a specialized forum.
Take 10 minutes every day to analyze what you can learn from someone who is better than you.
Organize regular classes with such a person several times a week.
Read specialized Internet resources every day (for example, about running, swimming, etc.).
Read books on topics that interest you.

Learn foreign languages

The main nine habits that will change your life were discussed above. It was the tenth's turn. What should a person do to become better? To learn foreign languages. Having learned at least English, you will be able to talk with people of other nationalities, learn their culture, traditions and customs.

In order to learn a foreign language, you need to integrate it into your schedule on a daily basis. If you have initial knowledge, you can strengthen it by watching films and listening to songs. And if you want to learn a new language from scratch, you should enroll in language courses.

If you know that you have problems with discipline, you should also go to specialized classes, where the teacher will help you gain the basics of language knowledge and also keep your motivation at a high level.

Health

If you want to fall asleep quickly

Don't drink alcohol at night. Instead, make yourself some herbal tea an hour before bed.
Exercise at least two hours before bed.
Go to bed at the same time every day.
Wake up at the same time, including weekends and holidays.
Turn off or dim the lights half an hour before bed.
Take 3-5 mg of melatonin half an hour before bed.
Avoid drinking highly caffeinated drinks after 2 p.m.
When you lie in bed, think about something good and calming.
Get cozy with a loved one or pet. His/her rhythmic breathing will help you relax.
Tighten all your muscles and then relax them completely. Repeat the exercise several times until the tension is completely relieved.

If you want to sleep peacefully all night

Sleep in a cool room, covered with a blanket.
Remove all LED lights from the bedroom.
Play the sounds of the ocean, rain, or other soothing tunes at night.
Meditate for 10 minutes before bed.
Use the bedroom only for relaxation and go there half an hour before bed.

If you want to eat healthy

Plan your meals in advance.
Take food from home for the entire day.
Eat one fruit or vegetable salad in the morning.
Don't buy ready-made snacks. Instead, bring a snack from home.
Always have something healthy to snack on on the way home from work. Then you won’t give in to temptation and buy fast food along the way.
Do not buy processed foods in the store (convenience foods, ready-made breakfasts, etc.).
Divide your restaurant meals into two parts: eat one on the spot and take the other home.
Share your lunch with a colleague or friend.
Make a promise to yourself and order only healthy dishes from the menu.
Order children's portions.

If you want to drink healthy drinks

Add a slice of lemon or lime to a glass of water.
Replace carbonated drinks with mineral water.
Drink iced herbal tea or iced coffee instead of sweet sodas.
Skip hot chocolate or coffee with cream in favor of tea and aromatic black coffee.
Replace high-sugar juice with freshly squeezed juice or juice without additional sweetener.
Skip (or minimize) cream and sugar.

If you want to speed up your metabolism

Drink green tea without sugar several times a day.
Do a vigorous 10-minute exercise every morning.
Have breakfast in the first half hour after sleep.
Eat six small meals a day.
Add pepper and cinnamon to your dishes and drinks.
Drink cold drinks with ice.
Exercise in a cool room.

If you want to live longer

Walk for half an hour before bed every day.
Use dental floss.
Hug the people you care about every day.
Eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
Cook a new healthy recipe every day.

If you want to minimize your risk of developing cancer

Eat a portion of fresh, colorful vegetables every day.
Drink green tea.
Avoid fried foods.
Quit smoking and avoid secondhand smoke.

Meditation

Meditate for 10 minutes every day. Some people are skeptical about meditation. However, the benefits of meditation are supported by scientific research. Meditation can help overcome feelings of anger, improve the immune system, and reduce pain. But the biggest change is a clear mind and a sense of calm. If you're a beginner, meditation may sound intimidating.

Adviсe:

Be open to meditation. The first 10-15 sessions may seem very difficult. However, over time, you will get involved and feel the changes. If you're just starting out, try meditation where you're told what to do instead of meditating your way. This will help you stay on track. Try the Calm or Headspace app.

Career

If you want to be more productive

Plan your day by making a list of things to do and stick to it.
Take breaks from work every hour. Get up from your desk, stretch, walk around the office, or drink water.
Schedule your most difficult tasks for the part of the day when you are most productive.
Come to work 15 minutes before work day.
Set aside 45 minutes in your routine in which no one will disturb you, and concentrate on the most important tasks. To do this, you can go to another room, put on headphones, or leave the office altogether.
Avoid looking at your email for one hour during the day and turn off all notifications.
Set aside separate time to check your social media accounts.

If you want to accelerate your career growth

Take an active part in every meeting you attend. Set yourself a goal to speak each of them at least once.
Show up to the office regularly and maintain personal contact with colleagues. If you work from home, your work may be rated lower.
Rehearse your speeches in front of a mirror, working through all possible questions and difficulties.
Take care of your appearance by dressing better than your colleagues.

If you want to start your own business

Dedicate 15 minutes every day to creating a portfolio of your work.
Always carry business cards with you.
Introduce yourself to a new person every day. Identify a list of people who are potentially important to you and set a goal to meet one of them every day.
Review your business plan every night before you go to bed.
Set aside 15 minutes every day for self-development by reading relevant literature, listening to lectures, etc.
Dedicate 15 minutes every day to activities that move your business forward (write a blog post or comment on a forum, make an important phone call, etc.).

If you want to remember new information

Read aloud.
Record the main points on a voice recorder and listen to the recording before going to bed.
Underline or highlight important information.
Chew peppermint gum while studying.
Pinch yourself or hold ice cubes in your hands while working with difficult material. Physical sensations stimulate the production of adrenaline, helping to remember complex formulas.
Create a poem or song to help you remember difficult material.
Use visualization to connect definitions of new words or meanings.

Sort your trash

In 2021, the world's concern for environmental issues has increased, with “climate strike” and “climate emergency” becoming the words of the year. Even if Greta Thunberg’s speeches don’t really move you, the statistics make you think: the worst flooding in Venice in the last 50 years due to global warming, a snowless December in the European part of Russia, melting glaciers in the polar region, hungry polar bears wandering through cities and landfills ( The total area of Russian landfills, by the way, is already equal to the area of Switzerland). At the same time, most of the garbage can be recycled, but so far this is done only with a minimal percentage. According to Greenpeace, about 3 million tons of plastic waste are generated in Russia every year, and no more than 12% of it is recycled.

Separate waste collection in Moscow will be introduced from January 1, 2021; a ban on the use of plastic bags will not be introduced yet. But you can sort and hand over paper, metal, glass and plastic yourself - you can find the addresses of organizations accepting recyclable materials in Moscow and the Moscow region on the website of the environmental movement "Separate Collection", a map with recycling collection points in other cities can be found here, batteries - here .

Personal projects

If you want to write a book

Write 500 words every morning before you leave for work.
Send your work to critics or post it for public discussion.
Read something from your genre for at least 15 minutes before bed.
Dedicate half of your work break to editing what you wrote in the morning.

If you want to unleash your creativity

Spend 10 minutes a day watching/reading a piece of fiction that inspires you.
Keep a diary. Write down thoughts about what inspires you, what colors, textures, shapes catch your eye.
Use your camera to capture all the inspiring things you encounter every day.
Spend some time before bed working on your creative project. This will also help you relax.
Make time in your daily schedule for art.
Play musical instruments or listen to music.
Watch the topical video on YouTube.

Early rise

Any person who has ever thought about how to make their existence more productive has come to the conclusion that they need to get up earlier. Today it is fashionable to complain about lack of sleep. The first thing many people talk about when they come to work is the lack of time to sleep.

But if you want to develop healthy habits that will change your life, then you just need to come to terms with waking up early. It will help you accomplish more and work more productively. Morning hours are the best time to engage in self-education, work on improving your body, have breakfast, and also leisurely do all your household chores.

Do you already want to get up earlier, but don’t understand how you can develop such a habit? Everything is very simple, you need to go to bed not at 23:00, but at 22:00. Then you can get up an hour earlier without any problems. If waking up in the morning is a big problem, then start forming the habit gradually. Wake up 15 minutes earlier tomorrow. In a week you will be able to get up not at 7:00, but at 6:30, and in a month you will get up at 6:00 without any problems or internal tremors. The morning time will be all yours, and you can spend it as productively as possible.

Lifestyle

If you don't want to be late

Plan your day based on your meetings.
Leave a 15-minute gap before meetings that take place outside the office.
Schedule internal meetings with five minutes to spare.
Include time in your schedule for breaks, short phone calls, and ad hoc discussions about work issues with co-workers.
Insure yourself in case of force majeure.
Set reminders on your phone.
Map out alternative routes to places you travel frequently to avoid traffic jams.

If you want to be more organized

Get rid of unnecessary correspondence on the way to your workplace so as not to clutter up the space.
Pay your bills the same day you receive them.
Add paid bills as soon as they are paid.
Always return things to their place.
Throw away at least one unnecessary item every day to avoid accumulating clutter.

If you want to get rid of a bad habit

Make it a habit to spend 10 minutes doing something else before you decide to smoke, for example.
Identify the emotions, places or things that make you want to engage in a bad habit again and again, and come up with a solution for each situation. For example, if you bite your nails while driving, wear gloves, or pick up a pencil and a piece of paper as soon as you start to feel nervous and draw until you calm down.
Come up with a list of things that you will use to replace the bad habit during your next impulse.
Write a list of punishments in case you do show weakness. For example, a fine.

If you want to quit smoking

Remind yourself that the most important thing is to control the first impulse, and if you wait 10 minutes, the craving for a cigarette will decrease.
Before smoking, put a mint leaf or mint candy in your mouth and wait until the taste disappears. Only then ask yourself whether you really want to smoke.
If you usually smoke outside, take a few circles around the building or smoking area before picking up a cigarette. The desire to smoke may evaporate.
Change your smoking habits. For example, go to a non-smoking restaurant, or only drink coffee indoors rather than outside with a cigarette.

If you want to drink less alcohol

Drink a glass of clean water before each drink. At holidays and parties, make it a point to talk to a specific number of people before refilling your glass. For example, you won't be able to take a new drink until you've had a full conversation with three people.
Alternate alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic ones.
If you're in the habit of having a drink at home when you get home from work, replace that habit with a new one. For example, walk the dog, take a shower, watch a movie, or eat a salad before picking up a glass.

Don't make promises if you can't keep them

How to change habits and lifestyle? You need to start changing yourself and your character. Do you often make promises that you can't keep? Always find excuses not to do work or not to take responsibility for your actions? It's time to grow up. A good habit of being responsible for your words will always help you in life.

Understand that you can't promise a friend to move things and then agree to go on a date with your loved one that same evening. To whom do such incidents happen most often? With people who always forget about their promises.

If you can’t improve your memory, then set reminders on your phone. Moreover, develop the habit of doing this. If you made an appointment with someone, immediately put it on your calendar. Promised your mom to help you sort out the closet? This matter should also be immediately included in the plans. This way you will be able to avoid getting confused about dates and always remember the actions you plan to take and the promises you made to other people. Never put off recording events until later. Do it right away, otherwise there is a high chance of forgetting about the promise and letting the person down.

Complex Habits

If you want to improve several areas of your life at once

Walk for at least 30 minutes every day. Daily walking will improve your mood, tone up and help cope with stress, and also help you lose weight.
Replace one main dish per day with a salad or vegetable soup (such as lentil soup). Several servings of vegetables a day will improve digestion, relieve stress on the body, help get rid of extra pounds and will be a good preventative measure for many diseases, including cancer.
Sleep at least eight hours a night. Adequate sleep will improve your mood, memory and learning new information, and increase productivity.

Personally, I found a lot of things that I already do, as well as a number of useful details that are worth incorporating into my daily schedule. I hope this list has inspired you to look at your life from a slightly different angle.

Tell us, what useful habits can you identify in your life?

Don't put things off until later

One of the useful habits that can change your life is the ability to do everything on time. One should realize a simple thing: the magical tomorrow, on which many place such high hopes, simply does not exist. You go to bed today and you will also wake up at the present time. Do you not know which way to approach a task, or do you need to do something that is unpleasant? Nothing will change tomorrow. How can you overpower yourself and force yourself to take action today, without delay?

The trick is to plan. A person must break a large task into several small parts. For example, you have been wanting to renovate the hallway for a long time, but you have been putting it off for several years. Tonight, sit down and break down a big project into small steps. First you need to draw a corridor design yourself or with the help of a designer. Then it is necessary to find suitable materials for the implementation of the project, as well as a team of builders who will finish the premises.

Now the project does not seem so difficult when you know what to do and what you need to tackle first. Such a planning system will help you implement your plans much faster and more efficiently.

Live according to circadian rhythms

Circadian rhythms are the body's internal, biological clock: in 2021, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Michael Young, Jeffrey Hall and Michael Rosbash for their discovery of the molecular mechanisms that control the circadian rhythm.

Depending on the time of day and sunlight or darkness, the body produces different hormones. Humans have photosensitive cells (acting as light sensors) in their eyes. They send signals to the brain, and it begins to produce different hormones depending on whether it sees light, receives energy, or relaxes. Even the skin, for example, produces more oil during the day to protect itself from harmful environmental influences, and at night it triggers the process of autophagy and the growth of new cells. There is even such a thing as social jetlag: when people have to get up for work in the dark in winter, their productivity is greatly reduced. So the advice here is simple: if possible, sleep at night - and in a room with thick curtains, and work during the day and closer to sunlight.

Maintain financial discipline

If you read books by American writers from the beginning of the last century, you will get a very interesting impression. Every second hero necessarily puts aside a small part of his income into a bank account in order to open his own business in the future. This even applies to laundresses and loaders, not to mention successful businessmen. It was not for nothing that America experienced an industrial and economic boom at that time.

Here are some simple tips that will allow you to save:

don't risk your money. Pragmatic people rarely go all-in and try not to take risks;
Keep records of all income and expenses, even personal ones. There are plenty of applications for home accounting - download and use;
save part of your income for the future. It's not about money, but about the habit of saving money;
Don't make rash purchases. More than 30% of purchases are made spontaneously. This is evidenced by research from Visa. A gigantic amount, you will agree. Therefore, learning to control expenses and not buy too much is the basis of financial literacy.

Take care of your psyche

The number of mental disorders is on the rise worldwide: according to WHO, 246 million people suffer from depression, and recent surveys of workers in the United States show that almost half of employees aged 22 to 38 years and 75% of 18-22 year olds have left their jobs due to worries about your psyche. Yes, depression is a disease that can be treated with medications, but it is possible and necessary to relieve daily stress: aerobic exercise (running, swimming, walking), meditation or working with a psychologist will help. Going to a psychologist in Russia is still stigmatized and in some circles is considered something shameful, but in vain: firstly, psychologists exist precisely to help healthy people, and secondly, gatherings with friends in a bar go to a psychologist will not be replaced.

Use sunscreen

Malte Mueller/Getty Images

Ultraviolet radiation is the main proven factor in aging (tanning is a thickening of the top layer of skin as a reaction to a burn, the skin loses its elasticity, and wrinkles form more easily on it). In addition, ultraviolet radiation promotes the appearance of pigmentation and the development of melanoma, and is also a provoking factor for the development of oncology. Apply sunscreen not only at sea or in the mountains, but also in the city. If you use care products with acids, you should use sunscreen even in winter (we wrote about them in more detail here).