People who know me tend to say I’m pretty disciplined – even to the point of being robotic.
While I have many areas to improve on, I want to share some habits and patterns that I have started that have been helpful to me. I hope that sharing how I started these habits can help you if they are habits you want to introduce in your life.
Methods and tips for introducing a new Habit
Healthy living tips aren’t just going to happen in your life. You need to figure out how to implement them in a way that works for you.
There are so many amazing things about how much information we have access to these days. However, I find it can be overwhelming to decide how to do something with so many approaches and options.
Just as it is with managing finances, I think the best approach is the one that works for you. It’s tempting to operate on absolutes, but for most of us life just doesn’t work that way.
That said, introducing a new habit is going to take discipline and sacrifice, no matter your approach.
Systems and Checklists
I’ve seen some debate online about whether systems or checklists are a better way of implementing a new habit.
I think each has a place depending on the habit you want to start.
Systems
This creates a situation where you are naturally inclined to take action on the habit you want to start.
An example is eating less junk food. Doing this from a systems approach would be consciously deciding to not buy junk food and replace it with easy-to-eat healthy snacks.
Checklist
This is simply a reminder to do your new habit daily. This can be a reminder on your phone, in your planner, or whatever planning method you choose.
For example, reading more – you might set a reminder on your phone to read at 7pm every day for 20 minutes.
Combination
While some habits lend themselves more to one method or the other, most will probably be a combination of the two.
Finding the right method or combining elements that will help you accomplish your goals in starting a new habit is the right method.
Reflect
When you’re trying to start a new habit look back on your past month and see where you made improvements.
This can be really motivating!
Maybe you are trying to workout 3x a week. Looking back on the past month you see that you worked out 3x a week for 2 weeks and 2x a week the other 2 weeks.
Okay, so it wasn’t every week but it’s more consistent working out than the previous month!
There’s grace!
Starting a new habit can be very difficult and demoralizing if you end up missing it for a few days. If you miss a day, just get back to it the next day or next month.
Guilt-tripping yourself will not end well. It just becomes harder and harder to get back on track.
Have grace with yourself and reflect on why you want to start your new habit.
Healthy living tips
Okay, here are 10 healthy habits and how I introduced them to my life!
1 - Exercise Regularly
I feel better throughout the day if I exercise regularly. I enjoy running, mostly to clear my head! I recently started strength training since I had some health issues come up and the doc recommended I build some muscle.
This is a habit I formed through the “checklist” method. I just kept putting it in my planner (and still do) but now it has become an integral part of my day!
When I first started running, I was always sore and I felt miserable most of the time. I only started it because I wanted to figure out some kind of exercise to do regularly and a friend of mine got me started by coming along with me.
It took me at least a year of running consistently before I actually started enjoying it. I’ve been running for over 10 years now and it has really helped me appreciate overall fitness. It’s been motivating to figure out what helps me feel good.
2 - Decrease Junk Food Intake
I LOVE sugar. If I have sweets in the house, I will eat them all. Since I know this is my habit, I don’t buy sweets or make sweets unless I expect to consume them within about 48 hours. It sounds ridiculous, but I know this is how I operate.
I have taken a systems approach for this habit. Writing “no junk food” in my planner feels like a punishment lol. However, I feel way better if I decrease junk food. Therefore, I plan to not have sweets in the house and plan for healthier snacks instead.
One way to replace unhealthy eating with healthier eating is to make healthy snacks easier to consume. I’ll put tomatoes on my counter or cut up a watermelon and put it in storage containers.
3 - Read the Bible
I have been on and off successful with being consistent about reading the Bible. I’ve had seasons where I study it consistently and other times when I’m lucky to read a devotional on Youversion a few times a week.
Overall, I consider reading anything in the Bible daily a win – even if it is just one verse and thinking about it for a few minutes.
I’ve done this by the “checklist” method. I put it in my planner or on my daily checklist.
4 - Journaling
I try to prayer journal with somewhat regularity. Again, I’ve had seasons where I do this nearly every day and seasons when I’m lucky to do it once a month.
When I’ve been successful at making this a habit, it has been through the “checklist” method. I put it in my planner every day. Some days I do it, some days I don’t. But I try not to beat myself up if I go too long without it.
5 - Gratitude List
I keep a list of 3 good things in my planner. These include something I’m grateful for about God, my husband, and life in general.
I used the “systems” method for this, though it’s easy to use the “checklist” method too. I keep a list of 3 good things in my planner for each day, so it is kinda included with my checklist anyways.
6 - Eat Healthy
Maybe you have heard of the “80/20” rule in business, where 80% of your outcome is produced by 20% of causes
While it doesn’t actually follow the same logic, I have adopted an “80/20ish” rule in eating. I try to eat well about 80% of the time and allow myself to eat what I really want when the occasion arises.
I have found that with meal planning, I generally am able to “eat healthy” for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As I mentioned before, I love dessert, so when there’s an option for a good dessert I want to fully enjoy it.
When I focus on eating well the vast majority of the time, I find that I enjoy the “unhealthy” food. I just try to be careful that I’m not indulging too much.
The systems approach has been useful for adopting healthy eating. I take the time to plan for healthy meals so that it’s easier to eat them when I’m tired or busy.
7 - Productive scrolling
Have you ever been on your phone for hours without realizing it?
About a year ago, I decided to delete almost all of my “scroll” apps. While I still manage to waste a lot of time on my phone, I have tried to replace those “scroll” apps with more productive ways to be on my phone.
I decided to take the “systems approach” by deleting my scroll apps.
I still have Pinterest, because there is so much useful information on there! One of my favorite apps has been Duolingo.
Although learning another language on Duolingo is unlikely to help me become fluent, I have found that it is a good brain exercise. Plus, there is a “social” aspect to it. I use the free plan, so there are ads, but hey it’s free!
8 - Prioritize close friendships
While I do value close friendships, it’s honestly been something I have really struggled to act on over the years. I think I have been the most successful at this in the past couple of years than at any other point in my life.
This doesn’t really fit squarely into the systems approach or checklist approach but I have used both in ways to prioritize friendships. I try to track in my planner when to reach out to certain friends and when to follow up.
However, prioritizing friendships is so important for a myriad of reasons!
Prioritizing relationships can add richness to life as well as combat loneliness, which can cause a number of health issues.
9 - Financially
I budget, give to charity, and try to be grateful for what I do have.
Personal finance is something I have always been interested in – from my elementary school days doing dog walking and pet sitting!
However, I have had to learn not to put too much of a priority and security from finances. While I’m sure I have a lot more to learn in this area, I do feel a lot more at peace about finances while also being as responsible as I can about them.
This is another area that I have used the systems and checklist approaches. I put items in my planner for when and how much to put money into savings or pay bills.
10- Planning
Planning can look different to each person. Some people prefer a phone calendar, some prefer a paper planner.
I love my paper planner. My sister and I both have planners and we get cute ones and put stickers throughout. It has been a fun thing for us to do – swap stickers and share tips for how we like to use our planners.
Obviously, the way scheduling is effective is if you put everything in your planner/calendar of choice. This can be tricky, especially if you don’t want to carry a paper planner around all the time.
Another thing I like about scheduling in my paper planner is that it sort of becomes a journal throughout the year. I keep my gratitude list for each day in my planner which is part of that. It is so cool to look back through the year and see what I did.
I have found that the systems approach for this is useful. For me, it looks like almost always having my planner with me. This way, I can add things as they come up.
Healthy Habits I Want to Pursue
While the above 10 habits are ones that I regularly pursue, and have heard others desire to pursue as well, I certainly have lots of room for improvement.
1 – Be more emotional – I’m pretty functional in general, and have always had a harder time processing emotions.
2 – Communicate more openly – I’m pretty shy and often have a hard time communicating what I’m actually thinking and feeling.
3 – Learn to rest well – Being more functional and a lover of to-do lists, I don’t like to just be. Due to some health issues, I have needed to rest, but I don’t know that I would call it “resting well” 🙂
4 – Read more regularly – Reading is valuable for a number of reasons. I’ve just never really enjoyed it – probably because it doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything…However, I have recently found some enjoyment in it.
What healthy habits do you partake in? Any that you want to pursue?
