Maybe you’re tired of feeling down all the time, unhappy with your current living situation, or have very low self-esteem and want to change for the better of yourself. Most people change and strive for greatness because they are unhappy whenever they look at themselves in the mirror, tired of living everyday life, and want to begin working towards their purpose in life.
Rebecca Strong from Healthline wrote, “Doing something repeatedly makes you more likely to stick with it since behaviors eventually become automatic and effortless. When a habit benefits your life, the rewards you reap can motivate you to stick with that behavior.”
Becoming your best self means excelling in all areas, whether mentally, physically, spiritually, or financially.
Here are five healthy habits you can adopt starting today to place you on a path headed toward greatness.
1. Delete all social media platforms/Limit social media usage
Social media is everywhere nowadays. It’s how we interact with friends, families, favorite athletes, musicians, and celebrities. As a small business owner, social media can be a great tool to help you grow your brand and establish a small following, but it can also be a significant time consumer. Social media is a double-edged sword that allows us to interact with friends and family but is detrimental to our mental health because when we scroll down our timeline, we naturally compare ourselves to others and grow envious of others’ success.
As a result, we should try to replace time spent on social media with time spent focusing on our goals. Becoming your best version is all about you, so when we spend hours on Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter, we’re wasting time that could’ve been towards exercising, meditating, studying, or working on our business, which would benefit us long-term.
For more on why you should limit social media usage, read here.
2. Meditation
Becoming our best version is all about being happy with who we are. When we start meditating, we become more aware of our thoughts and what we’re thinking. Regularly, we are unaware of the negative thoughts we are consistently feeding ourselves, which lowers our self-esteem and confidence.
As a result, we start to believe those thoughts, even though they might not even be true. Meditation builds self-awareness, so when a negative belief naturally emerges, such as “I’m not good at this,” “Nobody cares about me,” or “My life is a complete waste,” we’re able to recognize it and channel that with more uplifting and positive thoughts.
Starting now, take 5 minutes from your day to sit in a quiet room, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing. Naturally, your mind will wander, and you’ll start to think about something else, but remember to refocus on your breathing. Meditation takes practice, but eventually, you’ll get better and start meditating daily for ten, twenty, or twenty-five minutes.
Here’s a free meditation guide if you’re a beginner.
3. Exercise
Exercising is single-handedly one of the best habits you can build to level yourself up. Waking up and seeing your body transform into a healthier physique gives you a sense of accomplishment that you’ll always be proud of. Even for myself, when I wake up in the morning, I am bewildered to see my body transforming into the dream body I never thought I could achieve.
Additionally, exercising is proven to increase confidence, happiness, and higher self-esteem-improvements, which are all critical to helping you achieve your best self. When you begin exercising regularly, you start building healthy habits, reducing the risk of health problems in the future. Not only that, it teaches us how to be disciplined, consistent, and patient, which are skills we will gradually adopt in our careers and benefit us in the future.
4. Gratitude
Simply naming five things we’re grateful for today enormously impacts our mood and overall attitude throughout the day. It might seem insignificant to sit and list a couple of things we’re grateful for, but it serves as a quick slap-in-the-face that exposes us to the things we shouldn’t take for granted. The breakfast we just ate, the car we drove to work, and the clothes on our backs are all small, but significant items that make our fulfilling.
We’re all humans; it’s easier to complain about what we don’t have rather than appreciate the things we do have. Practicing gratitude each day, whether by simply naming three things we appreciate at the end of each day, is an effective strategy for reaching overall happiness. When we’re happier, we have more mental clarity and stress reduction, helping us improve ourselves even more.
5. Read/Learn
Books contain knowledge and ideas that help us in whatever niche we pursue. If you want to learn how to cook, hundreds of cookbooks teach you the basics of cooking a delicious meal. If you dream of becoming a business owner, some books teach you the steps to building a successful business and the mistakes you should avoid.
Whatever field you are interested in pursuing, books are a great resource if you don’t know where. They’re also vital resources in gaining more knowledge, so you can further develop in your field.
