When it comes to behavioral adjustments, there really are only 5 key lifechanging habits that matter. They build that solid foundation that you can then rely on to continue your climb to the top and become the best version of yourself, one healthy habit at a time.
One may walk over the highest mountain, one step at a time.
1. Stalking Your Pray
Answer me this – how do lions hunt? They stalk one pray and put all their energy and focus into that one target. I’ve always prided myself in being a multi-tasker until chasing all my goals at the same time lead me to the emergency room. (Oh and spoiler alert, I caught none of them.)
Taking the time to first identify and develop a realistic goal is the beginning of your lifechanging habits journey. Looking at your wants and needs and immediately thinking of setting SMART goals is the first habit you need to implement into your life. This skill will help you succeed in adopting change quickly and sticking with your routines.
2. Stabilizing the Core
A habit that has completely changed my life is frequent mood checking. Three to five times a day, I pick some of the top emotions that I am feeling and then try my best to pinpoint the key factors that contributed to each of them. Managing our own emotions, or being emotionally intelligent in general, is a huge contributor to us maintaining a habit or keeping a promise to ourselves. It’s the reason why some students can keep studying even when they don’t feel like it. Practicing self-awareness is a key component of emotional intelligence.
3. Accountability & Action-Oriented
The natural reflex of looking inward when facing a challenge is a powerful habit to adopt. Most people are reactive, immediately looking to blame someone else for their shortcomings. Taking ownership for your behavior and practicing introspection are two essential ingredients to maintaining any habit. Because building routines and maintaining lifechanging systems that work takes discipline. So make sure you check yourself before you blame the bus driver for missing your yoga class.
4. Everything is Temporary
The habit of being comfortable with being uncomfortable is probably the hardest one on this list. The unknown and the unfamiliar is scary, even when it means something good like a promotion. Our brain is wired to lead us away from what we don’t know, it’s trying to ensure our survival. Lifechanging habits begin and end with change. But how does one get used to the idea?
The most impervious to change will collapse first.
Successful people and successful students are like clay, they are malleable. A simple way that you can practice becoming more malleable yourself is doing one thing differently, every day, for a week. Take a different road to school, try using almond flour instead of regular flour when baking muffins, watch a sports anime instead of your usual adventure genre, etc. When you make these small alterations to your day-to-day life, it will keep you inspired, growing, flexible and it will train your brain not to fear change so much.
5. The Big Investment
You will never regret investing in yourself, because unlike that fancy car you’re eyeballing, you will not depreciate in value over time. On the contrary, regularly spending time/money/energy on yourself is one of those habits that keeps on giving. If you prioritize your personal growth, this mindset will make any other productive or healthy habit that you are trying to incorporate into your routine feel like a walk in the park!
Of all the things to cheap out on – your mind, body and soul are not it. Treat your body like it belonged to someone you loved.
