24 Daily Habits to Make the Most of this Life
June 9, 2023
We first make our habits, and then our habits make us - John Dryden
I have previously written about how the habit of Exercising Every Day has helped me tremendously. Doing something every day is such a powerful way to form a habit that I thought I would make a list of 24 habits that are worth doing on a daily basis. Note: I have divided these into morning, day and night although some could obviously be under different headings.
The Morning
1. Wake Early: I am a big fan of waking at 5am and spending time working on myself before going to work. I have written more about this habit here.
2. Exercise: when I had the goal of exercising 4 times a week I found it was very easy to tell myself I will exercise tomorrow instead. Setting the expectation of daily exercise removed this as a potential excuse and I have since reaped the benefits of this daily habit.
3. Review or (even better) Rewrite Your Goals: each day I try to get closer to achieving my short, medium and long term goals. Starting the day by reviewing or rewriting my goals means that I have better awareness of them throughout the day. As Robin Sharma says:
With better awareness you can make better choices and when you make better choices, you will see better results.
4. Read and/ or Listen to Motivational Material: in the morning a whole day of endless possibilities lies ahead. I motivate myself to play my best game by reading and listening to inspirational books/ audiobooks.
5. Visualise the Day Ahead: I like to take a few minutes to shut my eyes and visualise what I want happen in the coming day. It’s amazing how often my desires become reality when I do this.
6. Write a “To Do” list: I like to write out a list in my diary of the important tasks I need to do that day. As they are completed I put a line through them. So simple, yet so effective.
7. Check the News Headlines: I think it’s important to have an idea of what is happening in our community and the world. Also if don’t at least check the main stories, I find it is easy to feel left out of conversations throughout the day.
8. Take a Multivitamin: I try to eat a well balanced diet, but taking a multivitamin daily reassures me that I obtaining the proper amount of vitamins and minerals that I need (**Update: see comments).
9. Tidy Up: a cluttered house can lead to a cluttered mind and fuzzy thinking. I find it’s best to stay on top of things by tidying up each day.
10. Take Time to Look Good: it’s a reality of life that people judge us by our appearance. I take a few minutes each morning to ensure I go out into the world looking the best I can.
The Day
11. Put First Things First: Many people have their day controlled by tasks that are urgent , but not necessarily important. Examples include interruptions, some email and some phone calls. The habit of putting first things first is about organising and executing your life around your deepest priorities.
12. Connect with Nature: I find spending time outdoors in nature is great for my sense of wellbeing. I have written about this here.
13. Blog: blogging makes me think and write - two things that I can’t get enough of each day. I have written more about the benefits of blogging here.
Make a Binding Agreement with Yourself for the Life of Your Dreams
May 13, 2023
Date: May 13th, 2008
I, the undersigned, commit and agree to furnish all materials and labor necessary to design and create the LIFE OF MY DREAMS.
I hereby commit to doing whatever it takes while being honest and truthful to achieve the greatness that I know is within me.
I will pay the price that is necessary to reach my life’s dream and destiny, because I know that not fulfilling my destiny will leave me feeling short-changed in my life. And I deserve to achieve and cultivate greatness!
I understand that my life’s design plan is going to be reached one step at a time, with each step, bringing me closer to the LIFE OF MY DREAMS.
I will only settle for achieving the LIFE OF MY DREAMS.
I have the power, I have the knowledge, and I have what it takes to make my dreams come true.
Enjoy each moment. Be here now. With Love, Joy, and Gratitude.
____________________________________
Signature of Commitment
Inspired by John Assaraf’s The Foundation, Self-Study Program
100 Simple Ways to Change Your Life for the Better
May 10, 2023
No matter how perfect you may think you are, the fact this there’s always some small way you can improve upon yourself. Whether it’s broadening your knowledge or reducing your impact on the earth, there are seemingly endless little things you can do to make a change for the better. Here, we’ll discuss 100 of these steps, and how you can go about doing them.
Health
Good health is the foundation of a good life, so make these improvements, and they’ll resonate out to the rest of your life.
- Eat breakfast every morning: Eating breakfast is important for your health and mental power, supplying essential vitamins, minerals, and energy for your day.
- Get a good night’s rest: You just can’t have a happy and productive life if you’re tired all of the time, so get some quality shut eye.
- Drink water: Step up your water intake to lose weight, feel better, and improve your skin.
- Eat slowly: Slow down when you eat, and you’ll find that you consume less while still feeling satisfied.
- Cut down on junk food: Junk food has a nasty way of bringing your health down, so avoid it whenever possible, opting instead for healthy food like fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Practice good dental hygiene: Researchers have found that dental hygiene is important for more than cosmetic reasons-it can help you chew food and even avoid heart disease.
- Drink tea: Be sure to check out the powerhouse of benefits that tea can deliver, which includes improved memory and prevention of ills such as cavities, cancer, and heart disease.
- Get some exercise: Whether you need to lose weight or not, exercise will have a positive effect on your overall health and quality of life.
- Improve your energy: If you’re feeling sluggish all day, chances are you’re just not going to feel good about yourself. So take a few steps to boost your energy, and you’ll be better in your daily life.
- Intensify your workouts: Researchers have found that by doing more intense workouts, you can enjoy similar benefits that you would with a more relaxed workout for a longer period of time.
- Enjoy fish a few times a week: Eat fish, and you’ll get a serving of Omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce heart disease.
- Wear better shoes: Don’t torture your toes with restrictive shoes all the time-limit the amount of time you spend in uncomfortable shoes.
- Protect your skin: Stay out of the sun to avoid skin damage, or use sunblock to help.
- Eat at home: It’s easier and cheaper to prepare healthy foods on your own at home, and skillfully cooking a meal is sure to impress just about anyone.
- Get tested for prediabetes: Diabetes is a disease that many Americans are susceptible to, and by discovering it early on you can prevent it or lessen its impact.
- Take a daily walk: Get a little bit of movement and clear your mind with a walk every day.
- Lose weight: One of the best things you can do for your health and overall quality of life is to shed a few pounds.
Mental
Improve your mind by taking these simple steps.
- Go back to school: Continuing your education does not have to be a complicated endeavor. Take an online class, or just a weekend seminar.
- Read classic books: Improve your mind by finally picking up all those books you were supposed to read in school.
- Plan: Always have a plan for your life, so you’ll know what you’re working toward.
- Quit procrastinating: Resolve to get moving, and you’ll find that you have much more time than you originally realized.
- Get inspired by a book: Read a book that will help you spark positive changes in your life.
- Learn from your mistakes: Don’t let mistakes get you down. Instead, consider what you did wrong, and how you can avoid doing so again in the future.
- Stop worrying: Let go of worry, and know that the future will come no matter what you do about it.
- Learn to play a musical instrument: Pick up a guitar, or even a harp, to improve your mental capacity and have something fun to do.
- Work to your own advantage: Improve upon what you can, and let the rest fall away.
- Think slowly: Instead of jumping to conclusions, carefully calculate what a situation means. Doing so can help you save relationships that might be damaged by rash thinking
- Participate in a debate: Have a rational discussion with someone of similar intellect to improve your knowledge.
- Learn a new language: Broaden your horizons by learning how to speak a new language.
- Visit Wikipedia: Spend some time on Wikipedia learning lots of interesting facts you’ve never realized before.
Don’t Dog on Yourself about the Dumb things You’ve Done.
September 27, 2023
Give yourself pep talks.
Take a moment in the morning of each day, to actually tell yourself how much you love yourself. Talk to yourself and remind yourself of your successes. Focus on the future, and live in the moment. Learn to get better each and every day.
The more that you focus on the negative and dumb stuff that you have done, the more that the guilt and the feelings of inadequacy pops into your existence.
Gratitude is the most powerful word in the English Dictionary.
Here is a podcast that I did back in 2005 for Hunatrainer.com Community Boardcast. It was an interesting moment in my life where I had an epiphany pertaining to relationship and abandonment. I let it go, and with the magic of a song it creates a pretty interesting 15 minutes or so of audio.
CG019.mp3 Abandonment Issues via HunaTrainer, Sept 2005
Successfully,
Travis Wright
