7 Habits you need in your life

I hope you have all had a wonderful start to the New Year and you are ready to smash all those New Year’s resolutions goals this year. This year is going to be your year where anything and everything is possible and together we are going to make it happen.

I thought I would share with you some of my habits and rituals to help start you off into the New Year. Some of you may already have these habits in place but if you don’t, now is the time to start.

Develop a morning and evening / night ritual

So many of us struggle to wake up in the morning. We hit that snooze button several times, have a shower, get ready for work and travel to work. Some of us may even watch television or read the paper or a magazine whilst having breakfast and you’re not really making the most out of your mornings.

Now, I know what you are going to say ‘I’m not a morning person”. Believe me I was never a morning person till I turned thirty and decided to make some lifestyle changes and although it took a while to adjust to, it has now become a habit to wake up, do some morning exercise, have my green smoothie and listen to some podcasts and learn while I get ready for work and on my way to work.

My night time routine consists of making healthy vegan dinners, if I have time I will go for a run or walk, and I always plan my next day and put out my workout clothes and work clothes for the next morning so I am all ready and good to go for the next morning.

Another habit of mine is to always make time to read a book or something educational every day (even for just ten minutes a day) can really improve your mindset while learning great new tools you may be able to use in life. So half an hour before bed, I like to read whatever book I am reading and if I am having trouble sleeping (because sometimes it is hard for me to switch off) I listen to meditation music and this calms my mind and puts me right to sleep.

Only surround yourself with like-minded people

I can’t express enough how important it is to only keep people in your life who add value and who make you happy. Sometimes we have good friends since we were younger and we realise that as we get older our values, beliefs, priorities all change and we adapt to the circumstances we choose to be in.

Sometimes our belief and values no longer align with other people over time and it is time to put your focus in people that align well with what you are trying to achieve in this life. For me, I want to be surrounded by people who add value, bring happiness into my life, who live a positive and healthy lifestyle. I love being surrounded by people who want the very best and more for themselves, who are driven, who work hard and who are like-minded people.

I have learnt to let go of negative people with negative mindsets, who don’t support me or add value to my life and I can tell you it wasn’t easy to let some people go, but you know in your heart that you need to do what is best for you and love yourself enough to only be influenced by people who are going to bring out the very best in you.

Choose a healthy lifestyle

Towards the end of 2016 I decided to do some research on why it is so important that we eat healthy foods and exercise. We all know it is good for us, make us live longer and may possibly prevent some medical conditions and serious health issues, but I wanted to really understand more just how it will benefit me and why it really is so important.

I read a book called “Skinny Bitch” and it goes into detail exactly what animals go through just so we can eat meat. Also how it is processed and the harmful effects meat has on our bodies. Did you know eating meat can create cancer in our bodies and also cause us to have osteoporosis later on in life? I’m not saying we should all become vegetarian but ask yourself how much do you really know about the foods you are putting into your body?

We also know we shouldn’t smoke, take drugs or drink alcohol and a lot of us seem to always want what is bad for us and do it anyway. The heartbreaking thing is seeing someone suffer an illness due years of smoking and drinking or even possibly being the one who is suffering. Our life can be cut very short if we don’t take care of our bodies. There is nothing worse than lying in a hospital bed and having terminal cancer wishing you looked after yourself a little bit better.

When it comes to fitness I am not a gym person but I do love hiking, running, martial arts and playing basketball. I also love my home exercises with my big Pilates ball for those days I’m feeling a little lazy to go out and exercise.

Exercise decreases our risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressures, stroke, cancer, diabetes, stress, anxiety and can even cure mental illnesses like depression. It also improves our metabolic processes, increase in muscle strength, allows oxygen to properly flow and regulate through our body, enhances endurance, have better sleeping patterns and its great for boosting our self-esteem and confidence levels. There is always some form of physical activity each one of us can enjoy, we just need to experiment and find what works best for us and our body.

Plan, track and review goals weekly/monthly.

We have all jotted down a few New Year’s resolutions but have you thought about how you are going to measure your success? Do you have a system in place to review these goals and know if you are making progress or not?

I have printed out my goals for 2017 and have them on my office walls so I can see them daily and know what I am working towards every single day. My planner and google calendar has been my best friend for keeping track of all my goals.

Work on self-love

I meet a lot of people that don’t truly love or value themselves enough to give them the very best of everything. People make excuses of why they can’t have, do or be something. You can have, do or be whatever you want in this life but the thing people dread is time and effort. People always say “I don’t have time” or “that seems like too much effort”. All great things worth having take time, patience, a lot of effort and hard work.

Life really is such a beautiful gift; why not make the most of it by always wanting the very best for you? Know your value to people and this world and raise your standards for you as a person and your lifestyle.

Learn to be mentally tough & develop your emotional intelligence

I wrote a whole blogpost on ways you can start to develop being mentally tough. Life isn’t easy and we will all be put through some type of adversity during our life. It is our choice how we respond to it but there are ways to handle situations and people a lot better to get the outcome we want.

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to be fully aware and in control of our emotions in handling interpersonal relationships. Some benefits of being able to master the art of emotional intelligence are:

· Building better relationships and being able to manage our emotions in our personal and professional life. This makes us better communicators and we can therefore handle our feelings in a constructive way.

· Good for our mental well-being as we are more capable of handling stress, anxiety and even depression a lot better.

· It is a great leadership skill to have to be able to really understand others and relate to people in appositive manner.

This builds stronger bonds which can benefit us immensely.

· Much easier to resolve conflicts as become better negotiators.

· Mastering the art of emotional intelligence can make us extremely successful in life making us more proactive, have stronger internal motivators, our confidence is increased and our attention to be able to focus on tasks are a lot higher because we are in control of our emotional well-being.

Practice mindfulness and gratitude daily

When I learnt to be more mindful, my whole life literally changed. An example of this is once I started to pay attention to my habits, how I ate, what I say to others and how I come across to others, I was able to make better choices and different decisions to enhance the quality of my life. I was also able to really focus on the things I needed to change and develop from my flaws before.

Every day I wake up, I see the sun, I am surrounded by the people I love, I have the best job in the world helping others and I can afford to have a roof over my head, food to eat and a bed to sleep in, so I am truly so grateful and blessed for my life and being able to live to see another day where I can share experiences with people I love and enjoy life.

Practising mindfulness meditation a few times a week can really give you clarity and improve your focus. Meditation took me a while to really get into and notice the difference but I have found it has made a huge difference to my peace of mind and the person I am choosing to be and start off each day.

Let me know what are some habits you have for yourself this year, leave me a comment below and I look forward to chatting with you guys in my next weekly blog that comes out every Tuesday.

Love, peace and happiness to you all.