Positive Life-Enhancing habits
It has been a rough year and a half. We all feel the stress of COVID, world violence, or just trying to make ends meet. A positive that has emerged from all these struggles is many of us have a new sense of appreciation. Appreciation for the simple things like finding toilet paper on a store shelf. Like having a job when others are still searching. For being alive, when so many of our friends and family have been taken too soon by COVID or violence. Let us take this new founded appreciation and start over, but to be better than we were “before” the world went to pot. Together, let us learn how to develop positive life-enhancing habits within the next 30 steps.
DISCLOSURE. The following post contains affiliate links. Should you access a product through my links, I may make a commission at no added cost to you. I only promote products or services I personally use and endorse.
Now the journey begins
This article will cover the very first step of 30 towards developing positive life-enhancing habits. You are challenged to take each step to heart. Practice each step and embrace it before moving onto another. Did you know that in order for something new to become a habit, it does not depend on the number of days in which you practice? It all depends on the frequency of which you do it! So pay attention and take notes, as you are taking the 1st step on a powerful, positive journey!
Write Down 3 Things You’re Grateful for Each Day
The very first habit of importance to incorporate into your daily life is the habit of gratitude. Being grateful is more than looking on the bright side. It is actually about being realistic about what is good in your life. When we feel grateful for our blessings in life, our appreciation deepens and stress starts to relieve.
To record your gratitude, use whatever method works best for you, whether it is to email yourself, using a paper journal, or some other method. The important thing is that you acknowledge in a way that can be tracked. I prefer to use a planner, this way I can at any time flip back and read again if I am feeling overwhelmed. It is important to write at least three things for which you are grateful so that you can look back on them and measure how far you have come.
Planting the positive benefits of appreciation
You will feel happier! Have you ever noticed when you think about something unpleasant you feel worse and worse? Well, the same is true when you focus on something positive, except you feel good about it! When you can see the good in your life as it is happening, you will be much more likely to keep that feeling going.
You will be more satisfied with your life! It is so easy to focus on things when they go wrong. You missed your alarm clock, you got caught in the rain, you spilled food on your new shirt. It all seems like bad things until you realize oversleeping enabled you to cuddle with your spouse longer. Maybe the rain cooled you down after lunch. Perhaps you only spilled the food because you were laughing with your best friend.
Did you know this helps you to become less materialistic? When you focus on the positive, it becomes clear that it is not the things that make you happy or successful – it is your experiences. As you realize that, your life becomes so much richer. Then, of course, you feel more comfortable and experience your life as successful.
Health benefits of positive life-enhancing habits
You will be less likely to suffer from burnout. If you are aware of yourself and stay mindful, you can avoid experiencing burnout in the first place. Taking the time to record your gratitude lets you concentrate on the good parts. This can calm you down and let you place your focus where it belongs.
You will experience better physical health. People who can turn their focus to what’s good in their life are more likely to exercise, eat right, and stay mindful about their health. Exercising mindfulness – being in the here and now – allows you to focus only on what you are currently doing. Stress comes from worries of the past and anxieties of the future unknowns. If you are mindful at the moment, there is less to stress about.
If you need help sleeping, getting everything out on paper before bed is a great time to focus on gratitude. You will fall asleep faster as your good mood will result in reduced anxiety. This will help clear your head for a peaceful nights’ sleep. When you sleep better due to less anxiety, you are naturally going to feel more well-rested and sharp during the day. In addition, you will also start to feel healthier due to less inflammation. Sleeping better and being less anxious have great effects on body-wide inflammation, which is thought to be one of the driving factors in disease. Poor sleep also affects memory negatively. If you are experiencing memory problems, you may also want to read an article entitled “Proven Memory Loss Solutions – A Series to Remember”.
So many reasons to develop positive life-enhancing habits
You will actually feel more mentally resilient. Not having your mind clouded with all the negativity of the day is going to help you bounce back when things do go wrong. When you can turn your brain toward what’s good about something, you can usually get back on the path faster.
You find you are more patient. Not being on edge due to anxiety and bad thoughts will also increase your patience with others and yourself too. After all, there is often something good you can take from almost everything, eventually. My favorite saying is “silver linings”. Among all the bad, there is something good that comes of it.
You will also find your relationships strengthen. People like being around those who are more positive than they do people who are always on edge and anxious. If you really want to build strong relationships, focus more on the positive. Think about it. Do you enjoy hanging around others who only complain all the time? Those who are positive have a greater following than negative nellies.
Your first assignment
As you can see, being grateful carries many benefits that will make your entire life better. No one is asking you to be thankful for a bad situation, especially something beyond your control. Yet, you need to look at what is working in your life. Analyze why that is working, and then do more of the same. The best way to do that is to look for things to be grateful for each and every day.
Your first assignment in developing positive life-enhancing habits in 30 steps is this:
Each day, write 3 things for which you are grateful. Decide on the best time of the day to do this task, and do it at the same time every day. It is best to do this when you are least distracted, and preferably at home. Do not just say you will do this. To be successful, you need to choose your time, location, and in what medium are you going to write. For example, I will do this every night before I go to bed. I will write this in my daily planner, which is located on my bedside table. There is always a working pen in the planner. All my tools are available, my location is chosen, and the time in which I will complete this task is decided. Setting yourself up for success isn’t hard. Will you take this challenge and implement step 1 with me?
Come back next week for step 2 of 30
Each week we will review another step that will get you closer to your goal of developing life-enhancing habits. We will together work on each step and implement it for a solid week before introducing the next step. Remember, practice makes progress, which is what we are all searching for. Please leave a comment and let me know how it’s going for you!
Looking for deep savings for tools to help you grow your online business? I discovered Appsumo, which is the #1 software deal site for entrepreneurs to make money online. Get the Software, Tools & Apps You Need to Grow Your Business at Over 90% Off Retail. I use it for purchasing stock photos twice a year at jaw-dropping savings! It is well worth checking out! Spread the cheer, say I!