Happy Monday, my friend! I seriously cannot believe that 2020 almost over. Through all of the ups and downs, this year has brought upon us, it’s hard to believe that we will be ringing in the new year in 18 days! With that, in honor of 2021, I want to share with you 7 life-changing habits for the new year that you can easily incorporate into as soon as the new year ball drops on the 1st! Or, even before that if you want to get a head start!
As many of you probably know, it takes 21 days to break a bad habit, and it takes 90 days to make it a permanent lifestyle change. Therefore, be sure to keep that in mind as you begin to think about what you want 2021 to be!
As you read this list, maybe start to think about how you could slowly start to incorporate these healthy habits into your life right now. Rather than thinking “I’m going to do all of this come January,” start thinking about what you can do today or this week to begin working towards these habits. Since starting sooner is always better than waiting until later!
With that, let’s get into these 7 life-changing habits for the new year!
1. Be generous
Not only with money but with time. I know that we live in a very fast-paced society or we want to do things when we want to do them. However, being generous with your time by helping people, helping your parents, and being mindful that time is something that we can be generous with is a very good mindset and habit to have to lead into the new year.
For instance, listen intently when someone is talking to you, without taking glances at your phone. Really make eye contact with someone and show them that you are giving them your undivided attention and all of your time at that moment. Let them know that you hear them, that you see them, and that you are there for them by listening to them without getting distracted because that is you being generous with the time that you have been given!
2. 8 hours of sleep each night
Try to aim for 8 hours of sleep every night. I know how difficult this may be for some people, especially at the beginning, but trust me, your body and your overall wellness with appreciate it! Getting 8 hours of sleep has drastically helped me stay in a good routine where I don’t feel like I have to take a power nap after work every day. Not to mention, I am much more productive since I’m well-rested and I don’t feel the need to rest in the middle of the day. Therefore, getting 8 hours of sleep isn’t only crucial for your health and wellness, but for your day-to-day routine as well.
Establishing a set nighttime routine definitely helps with this tip so that it will set you up for a successful 8 hours of peaceful sleep and wake up the next day feeling refreshed. I know that so many of us have gotten used to running on 5-6 hours of sleep, but I can assure you that your body is not happy about that. This is why aiming for 8 hours of sleep is so important and will life-changing once you start incorporating it into your daily routine. Check out this post for some inspiration on how to create a healthy nighttime routine!
3. Establish a set morning routine
This brings me to my next tip which is establishing a set morning routine to complete every day when you wake up. There are a ton of morning routine posts on my blog, but for all good reason! This is because I whole-heartedly believe that a go-to morning routine has helped me establish a more productive lifestyle.
A morning routine is basically what you do for the first 1-3 hour(s) after waking up. I think it’s so easy to end up lying in bed scrolling on our phones for way longer than we expected or planned to the night before. This is why establishing a set morning routine allows you to get up and get your day started in a calmer way. As a result, you feel way more productive and prepared to start your day.
4. Change your perspective
Think about how many times you say the phrases, “I have to do this,” or “I need to do this,” each day. Whether each phrase pertains to work, school, working out, or whatever you don’t particularly enjoy doing. Rather than saying one of those phrases, try changing your words into “I get to do this.” For example, rather than saying “I have to go to work,” think of it as, “I get to go to work.” This helps to remind us to be grateful for the things we have and that we get to do a lot of the opportunities that many people don’t get to do right now.
Especially if you think of those who’s job has been effected or even terminated due to this pandemic and the state of the world right now. Many people lost their jobs or are struggling to keep their business going. Therefore, it’s so important to take a step back and look at what we GET to do each day from a new perspective and be grateful for what we have each day.
5. Mute certain people on social media
A good habit to start soon is to begin muting people on social media if they start to bring up some negative feelings within you. Now I don’t mean muting or unfollowing those who don’t agree with; because sometimes it can be good for us to see people who maybe don’t agree with us and to see their point-of-view on certain situations. This is because, in life, we are always going to encounter those who don’t agree with us. And that is okay! That’s how we learn to love people and respect people even if they don’t agree with our opinions and open our minds to different insights.
However, if you start to feel negative emotions where you don’t feel good enough, you start comparing yourself, you feel like your life is inferior compared to someone else’s, this is definitely a sign that looking at their posts is not helpful for you. So if you don’t want to unfollow them or block them, what you can do is mute their posts and/or stories. Or on your explore page, you can actually click not interested so that your explore page can be filtered to what you actually want to see. This way, you’re being proactive and not allowing social media to influence your mood, mental health, or self-image!
6. Check your posture
Now that many of us are still working from home or taking online classes, it’s so important that we are sitting up straight and having good posture. This is a healthy habit that is so essential but often overlooked. Not to mention, as we get older, our back and spine tend to feel the wear and tear of having bad posture. Therefore, it’s important that we take the time to focus on how we are sitting as we are working at our desks each day.
One thing that has helped me improve my posture is doing back workouts. Or, I’ve seen a lot of people have great results from using posture correctors while sitting at their desk each workday. This is such a thoughtful, inexpensive gift to give someone as well if they are currently working or doing school from home!
7. Let go & accept the things you can’t change
This is probably the biggest lesson I learned in 2020! This was difficult because I am such a control freak and I like to control my environment. However, in hindsight, I really appreciate this wake-up call and the resilience and growth this year has brought me. That being said, it is still important to be able to push past any limits that you know you can breakthrough. If you can, you should, and you should definitely go for it, my friend! It’s crucial to find a balance between when it’s time to take charge and go for it, and when it’s time to let go and say, “it’s simply not for me, and that’s okay!”
I hope you found this post helpful, my friend! I know that 2020 hasn’t been the easiest year, but with 2021 around the corner, I really hope that you can try to implement these 7 healthy habits into your everyday life. Or if you have any other habits that you are going to be aiming for this new year, definitely let me know in the comments!
Until next time, I hope you have a beautiful day, my friend!
xo, Cydney
So inspiring🤗🙏🏻