6 Habits for a Better You in 2021
Powerful and positive changes can be made in life by inculcating simple habits in your daily routine. You will find below a list of 6 Habits that will transform and help you achieve more out of life in 2021.
1. Exercise
Why exercise is important?
Exercising has a host of benefits attached to it. Exercise will help you stay in shape and improve your mood. Given the nature of stressful and hectic lifestyles we lead, be it for a student, job worker, or housewife, we are bound to become unhealthy if we do not actively make conscious choices to stay fit.
How to exercise?
Fitness is a way of life and for you to embark on the journey, first decide what kind of exercises you will be doing and what time you will do it. Working out even 30 mins is a step in the right direction.
You can follow famous fitness YouTubers for their exercise program or just follow a sample plan from the internet.
The idea is to get yourself moving and then if you fall in love with fitness, you can advance to better exercise programs, hire a trainer or join a gym and reap the ever-increasing benefits.
2. Meditation
What is meditation?
Meditation helps to calm the endless chatter in the mind and help regulate emotions and feelings. Meditation helps to declutter the brain and bring perspective to our lives.
It is an experience of unity, which reduces stress and brings increased creativity and efficiency to the functioning of the inner faculty. This is an exercise that occurs without the mind directing the process.
In physical exercise, the mind does not tell the muscles to get stronger rather the muscles are strengthened automatically by the exercise process.
Similarly, in this exercise of consciousness, that is, meditation, the results are achieved automatically, not by controlling the mind or any other mental manipulation. The process of meditation goes beyond the mind to the deepest level of the inner Self.
How to meditate?
To begin with, the process of meditation, find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Then start taking deep breaths and try to focus on your breath. The monkey mind will not sit still and thoughts will come rushing but you have to be like an indifferent observer and let the thoughts fade away eventually.
The more you practice the more you can meditate and concentrate. Schedule your meditation sessions for at least 5 mins daily to increase your concentration, mental focus, and clarity.
3. Reading
Our little circle of knowledge and understanding expands each time by the sliver of knowledge added by a book. Developing a habit of reading books helps in developing vocabulary, comprehension, creativity, and imagination.
How to develop a habit of reading?
To develop a reading habit, start with any type of book you think you will like reading and then set a target of reading a particular number of pages in a day.
Keep the number of pages as per your convenience and time but try to keep more than 20 pages as a flow of reading develops by that time and you will start liking reading.
Keep following this for at least 6 months to truly assess your benefits associated with reading. You will undoubtedly fall in love with reading and might soon find yourself substituting your unproductive time with reading books. To keep up your reading habits, try a wide variety of books-fiction, non-fiction, biography, memoir, etc. Try reading up on topics you find interesting or are willing to explore.
4. Writing/Journaling
Writing is one of the powerful ways of expressing yourself. Penning down thoughts regularly helps in organizing thoughts, decluttering minds, and improving comprehension skills.
How to develop a habit of writing?
Develop a habit of writing by either writing a journal every day or writing on any topic that you like. Keep on doing this for more than six months and you will surely see a tremendous increase in your writing skills. To further improve your writing skills and create positive incentives for yourself, take part in writing and essay competitions.
Actively seek out writing opportunities in your school, college, or office. Winning writing competitions will give a boost to your resume as professional writing skills are very much in demand in the business world. This simple habit of writing has the potential to create a big positive impact in your life but you need to stay consistent to reap all its benefits.
5. Social Interaction
Man is a social animal. We all need daily positive interactions with other people to stay healthy and happy. In the year 2021, pledge to improve your people skills by talking to people without much thinking and the associated judging, strike a conversation with people at work/home or maybe strangers you feel comfortable with.
The traits of understanding people and their emotions and managing them are crucial skills to develop even for people eyeing great professional achievements.
Different sets of people will bring their own uniqueness into a conversation. Engaging in such conversations not only helps in bringing a different perspective to your life but also learning and understanding things directly from people.
6. Mindful eating
Practice mindful eating where you consciously choose the food to put in your mouth and not carelessly munch on anything given to you.
Mindful eating includes the process of eating your food with love and in peace without the unnecessary distractions of mobile phones, TV, Laptops, etc.
Mindful eating will help you to be watchful of your weight and help consume more nutritious foods. You will see yourself pushing for healthier food options with greater enjoyment and contentment.
Digestion will be easier and faster since the food will be adequately broken down and you will be less prone to binge eating. Improve your life for good and adopt mindful eating.
Conclusion
Rome was not built in a day and you must practice all the habits listed above to bring significant changes to your life.
Be consistent and see how much more you can get out of life by simply inculcating small simple but effective habits.
