13 Healthy Habits That Will Transform Your Life In 2021

Are you finding it difficult to reach the levels of success you always dreamed of? Whether it’s getting your dream job or starting your own business. Whatever it may be, to reach the level of success you desire, developing healthy habits are a foolproof way to get there.

The most successful people have one thing in common, they have healthy habits.

Until two years ago, I was living my life with no obvious structure or purpose. Each day I became more aware of how many things in my life were at a standstill.

But after a while, I was ready to make a change, but for real this time. So, one step at a time, I removed all the things that were no longer in line with what I wanted to achieve.

Eventually, I developed daily healthy habits that transformed my life!

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WHAT ARE HEALTHY HABITS?

Healthy habits are behaviours beneficial to your mental, physical and emotional health.

It can be the food you eat, the information you take in, how you treat yourself and others or how often you exercise.

Developing healthy habits gives you the best chance of improving your well-being and living the healthiest and happiest life.

Healthy habits go hand in hand with having self discipline, being motivated and wanting to make a change. If you truly want to be your best self, be prepared to put the effort in.

HOW DO WE DEVELOP BAD HABITS?

We all know that we should do the right things to look after ourselves, but we often do the opposite. Some of our daily habits have a negative impact on us without us even realising it.

Instead of having an early night after a hard day, we stay up watching Netflix until 2 am, and deprive ourselves of rest.

Or we get into the terrible habit of speaking negatively about ourselves instead of accepting our flaws and practicing self love.

We all have habits, behaviours, thought patterns and beliefs that are second nature and we may feel like they are impossible to change.

Over time, those habits remain because these are the things we’re used to doing.

Once your brain and body becomes accustomed to something it wants to hold on to those things, because, well, it’s easier that way.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t change our bad habits and develop healthy ones. It just takes a little patience, dedication and altering our mindset.

HOW TO FORM HEALTHY HABITS?

Starting and maintaining healthy habits all boils down to shifting your mindset, being positive and being consistent. It’s not as hard as it sounds as there are things you can do to help you along the way.

MAKE A PLAN

Start off by doing a habit audit and make a list of the habits you have, habits you’d like to change and healthy habits you’d like to introduce.

Once you have that all figured out, you can start planning.

For example, if want to stop procrastinating and be more productive, create small actionable goals and achievable actions to help you achieve that.

Or maybe a healthy habit you’d like to introduce is more exercise. Plan how many days a week you’d like to work out, what time, where and for how long.

You can even go further by planning what type of workout you’ll be doing on those days and what equipment you’ll need.

Having a plan in place will help you stay focussed, measure your success and meet your goals.

FOCUS ON 3 HEALTHY HABITS AT A TIME

Habits are formed through dedication and repetition.

Don’t overwhelm yourself by introducing or correcting too many habits at once. Start off with 1-3 habits at a time.

It’s also important to be realistic, introduce habits in line with your lifestyle that you can realistically stick to.

Once you have reached a point where those 1-3 habits have become second nature, you can move on to the next batch of three.

USE A HABIT TRACKER

Habit trackers are a great way to stay on top of your goals. Having a habit tracker makes it easy for you to be precise and remain consistent.

Having a visual representation of your goals is also an excellent way to hold yourself accountable but will also remind you to act.

Tracking your habits allows you to monitor your progress and gives you immediate feedback that shows you’re on the right path and should keep going.

If you’d like more amazing tips about habit trackers check out this post by James Clear, he breaks down the benefits of having a habit tracker and how to do it properly.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HAVING HEALTHY HABITS?

By making some adjustments and incorporating more healthy habits into your routine, trust me, you will see how much your life can evolve in a short period.

Shifting your mindset and making the effort to take care of your well-being has so many benefits –

HEALTHY HABITS THAT WILL TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE

1. WRITE IN A JOURNAL DAILY

I am a huge advocate for daily journaling!

It’s the one place where you can truly be yourself and let go. It’s a great way to relieve stress, seek clarity, or just vent your anger or frustrations.

You can write brain dumps, lists or if you need some guidance use journal prompts or guided journals.

Here are a few of my favorites.

2. GET MORE ORGANISED

Having structure and being organised can make your day to day so much easier.

Stay on top of things by taking one day out of the week to prepare. Organise the tasks you need to complete for the week ahead, meal prep, organise your home and create some structure for your week.

Becoming more organised will help you be more in control of your life and stop you feeling like a headless chicken playing catch up all the time.

3. EXERCISE A FEW TIMES A WEEK

This goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway–exercise is important!

You may not be a gym rat, but make it a priority to add some physical activity into your weekly routine.

This could be power walking, going for a morning jog or doing yoga at home.

Exercise is great for the body but is also a great way to clear your head, destress, and rebalance your mind.

4. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in work and other people’s crap, so much so you end up not taking care of yourself. But it’s so important to take the hints your body is sending to you.

If you feel burnt out and straight-up exhausted–rest!

If you feel run down, drink water, take some vitamins and fuel your body with nutritious food and a good night’s rest.

There will be days when you’re swamped with work or other commitments, but it’s okay to take some time to prioritize self-care.

Use up some of your holidays from work to take a day to curl up on the sofa and do nothing or take a week to jet off to somewhere sunny.

Work isn’t everything and taking time to yourself is not selfish, it’s necessary!

5. SPEND TIME WITH POSITIVE, LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE

Have you noticed how draining it is being around negative and self-indulged people?

It can really rub off on you and affect your mood and even your day. Try to spend time with like-minded people who have a positive outlook on life.

Now life isn’t perfect.

I’m not saying cut off a friend because they’re going through a rough time.

But if you notice a person is constantly negative and sucks all of your energy, let them go or keep them at a distance.

It is so powerful having people around you that constantly uplift, motivate, and empower you.

Be around people that push you to do well, whose experiences you can learn from and those you can grow with.

6. HAVE A MORNING & NIGHT ROUTINE

Making time for yourself in the morning and the evening should be compulsory!

Life is fast-paced, but making time for a bit of self-care is so valuable and the key to our well-being.

Ease into your day by having a morning routine, I give myself 15-20 minutes every morning before I get my day started.

Having a morning routine gives you the opportunity to structure and set the tone for your day.

Everyone’s morning routine will vary depending on how they live their life, so create one that fits in with your lifestyle.

Similarly, create a night routine that will help you unwind or plan for the next day.

I like to do my skincare routine, write in my journal, and read a few pages of a book.

I love to read but hardly have time, so reading a few pages a night helped me create a habit I easily can stick to.

Alternatively, you can listen to audio books if you reading difficult to stick to.

7. SET GOALS & STICK TO THEM

Writing out a list of goals is a great start, but take it a step further.

Once you have identified your goals, create actionable steps that will help you achieve them.

Make those steps as detailed as possible so you have a clear, concise plan that gives you the best chance to achieve your goals.

8. READ/ LEARN NEW THINGS

Knowledge is power, and in this digital age, it is so easy and free to learn new things. It doesn’t have to be anything ridiculously hard or even business-related.

But being curious is a way to not only learn more about different topics but also about yourself.

Learning how to edit on Photoshop, for example, might uncover your passion for photography, you just never know.

There are so many great resources online such as Skillshare and Udemy that have some great courses you can take online.

9. WAKE UP EARLIER

I have probably said this a million times on my blog–I am not a morning person!

But, waking up early has so many benefits and can help you set the tone for your day.

Getting up a little earlier gives you time to plan, energise and even relax so you can start your day feeling refreshed, well prepared and calm.

10. WORK ON SELF IMPROVEMENT

The fact that you are reading this post shows you want to work on improving yourself.

Working on yourself doesn’t just mean eating more broccoli and going to the gym, it means actively taking steps to improve your wellbeing. Be it exercise, journaling, or getting a good night’s rest.

Being mentally, physically and emotionally well is crucial, and we should all be making it a priority every day.

11. DON’T BE AFRAID TO FAIL

For a lot of us, failure is not an option!

But over time I have realised that this is the wrong way to view things.

Although failure can be discouraging, it shouldn’t be something we fear.

Failure is inevitable, no matter how much money you have or how smart you are.

Everyone fails and personally I think we all should.

Failure can teach us so many lessons and help us gain perspective and approach things differently.

Maybe you failed a test, don’t focus on the failure, reflect on what you could have done differently or what you need to revisit.

Don’t let the fear of failure stop you in your tracks.

For a long time, I was so scared of being bad at something or failing that I would stop myself from going for things I wanted.

It held me back for years!

But once I let that fear go, things changed for the better and guess what- I still fail!

12. COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY

Yes, the cliché line is coming—communication is key.

But seriously, it really is.

I am so shy and hate confrontation, which used to make me silence myself and not communicate how I really feel.

But with that, I was blending into the background, going unnoticed and sometimes being mistreated, all because I didn’t communicate how I felt or how I wanted to be treated.

Communicate how you feel, your opinions and ideas politely.

Everyone deserves to have a voice, but without communicating, that doesn’t always happen.

13. LET GO OF GUILT

This one is major, particularly for me!

I’m such an over-thinker and with that comes guilt-tripping myself all the time.

Oh no, I snoozed my alarm. I forgot to send an email. I didn’t work out today; I missed a friend’s birthday event.

Blah, blah, blah.

After years of making myself feel rotten over every little thing, I stopped caring so much.

Ok, so you forgot to do something, it’s not the end of the world!

You can’t remember, do or control everything. Try your best to do what you can, but it’s not always going to work out.

Bear that in mind when you make yourself feel guilty.

It’s one of the hardest habits to stick to, I know. But If you find yourself heading on a guilt trip, just stop and recenter yourself.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There you go. I hope you found these tips and ideas useful and give them a try. I promise these healthy habits will transform your life if you create a plan and incorporate them bit by bit.

What are some healthy habits that have changed your life?

Free Daily Habit Tracker

Want a ready-made daily habit tracker? Well, here you go! My habit tracker will help make it easy to track your healthy habits and hold yourself accountable.

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