Embrace these 5 Habits for a Healthy Lifestyle

Atomic Habits | Power of Habit | The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — all of these books have one thing in common — Habit.

Our habits define how we go out and perform our daily life. They influence both our personal and professional life.

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you want to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity”

James Clear — Atomic Habit

What James means in that line is that the habits and the actions we perform as part of those habits basically build up a new identity of ourselves. If we fill the fountain of our personality with strong, healthy habits, they will eventually come together to form a strong, confident personality. If all we do is think negatively and build up habits that bring down our value, we lose in the race of life.

Science has claimed time and again that the actions we perform each day eventually become habitual inside our minds to the point that we start performing them subconsciously. They become ingrained in our mental fiber that responds automatically to the triggering events.

Think about that time you said you would work out but then you didn’t even get out of bed. Or the time you had to complete an important assignment but you just started a 4-hour binge-fest on Netflix.

At the end of the day, habits are something we have full control over. It is we who decide whether we build healthy habits or unhealthy ones. It is us who decide whether we devote time to our meaningful side hustle and not a binge-fest on Netflix. I am not against that binge-fest by all means. I am a strong advocate for finding balance — spending sufficient time on the serious stuff (work, assignments, side-hustle) and the fun stuff (hanging out with friends, Netflix).

So how do I form habits? More meaningful ones?

According to research, “a habit is formed when we perform an action frequently and consistently over a period of time”. For example, if you consistently eat fast food over a long period of time, there will come a time when you’ll refuse to eat anything other than fast food. Your body will internally get used to that feeling that fast food gives — and it won’t accept any other feeling.

While some habits are easier to form (binge-watching Netflix, fast food, etc), habits that have transformative effects and are generally more beneficial in our lives are difficult to master. Transitioning to vegetables and healthy food when all you used to eat previously was fast food is a tough journey albeit not an impossible one. At the end of the day. It comes down to two things:

1. Hard Work
2. Consistency

Habits don’t form overnight. It takes time for our body to fully acclimatize to a new habit and ingrain it into itself. I usually have a three-pronged strategy for habit formation:

1. Research — The internet has a wide variety of resources for any topic. If you want to build a habit, utilize that vast network and explore different options as to how you can gain control over that habit
2. Action — This is the toughest but the most important step of all. Like I stated before, a habit takes consistency and frequency to master. The research you performed in step one will provide a direction that you move toward and gain control over that habit
3. Reflection — I am a strong believer in making small improvements in any part of life. In the same way, when you master a habit, you don’t just leave it there hanging out by itself. You find ways to enhance that habit and make it more enriching for yourself. For example, you have made working out a habit — now to enhance that habit, you can change your environment — working out in a gym or outdoors instead of at home — or you can get new equipment that gets you better results

You can read the full article on the PlayTru Media website. Thanks and see you next time! :)