Personal Lifestyle Choices

Make Habits your lifestyle

We all have a choice. One of the most important choices we make are our daily habits. Creating good habits and routines are important in achieving a healthy ageless lifestyle because if we don’t have our health we can’t do the things we want. Lifestyle choices are personal for each individual person, which is why I have called them personal lifestyle choices. The secret is to make lasting habits so that they become part of your lifestyle. It is about making them as effortless as possible, like brushing your teeth. Create habits you can repeat daily without struggle.

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Habit Forming

It took trial and error to figure out the best way for me. Some people like to start small and some people like to go all out. Find what works for you that will keep momentum. You need to sustain the habit for a period of time in order for it to become automated. Studies show that in order for a habit to become automated it needs to be repeated for approximately two months. Start now! Don’t wait for Monday, don’t wait for the New Year! Do it now! Like I said in my article on “What is holding you back?”, the moment is now because this is when you are feeling most inspired.

So the following method is what worked for me.

Step by Step

1. Start with one habit. Just pick one simple habit. Mine was to drink water in the morning.
2. Make it obvious. Prepare the night before, I always leave my glass on the kitchen counter next to the kettle that’s filled with water. I made it obvious by putting the glass there ready so that it’s the first thing I see when I walk into the kitchen in the morning.
3. Make it easy. I half fill my glass with cold water because I like my water warm, so I just have to boil the kettle and top up with hot water in the morning.

Every morning I come down the stairs and the first place I go to, is the kitchen. My glass is already there on the counter and I just have to press the kettle to boil and top up my glass. I didn’t need to get the glass out of the cupboard, or top it up with water or even fill up the kettle. I just prepared myself not to fail.

The methods I adopted were based on the theories I took from a fantastic book I read by James Clear called “Atomic Habits” .

4. The final step to habit forming, is accountability. Every time I completed this habit I recorded it on a Habit Tracker chart where I ticked it off each day. It is satisfying to see when I complete a week. I had a tendency to stick to it just so I don’t break the chain.

You can have up to 3 habits a day to start with. I advise you to only add other habits once you establish the first 3, or it will become tedious and NOT easy. Just comment the word “Habit” if you would like a copy of this Habit Tracker Chart, and I will forward you a copy. Accountability is key here.

Another method is to just use a calendar and cross off each day as you complete a habit. This is called the Sienfeld Strategy.

Examples of habits I managed to create into my lifestyle using “Atomic Habits” methods.

Getting up earlier in the morning – I set my alarm and put it somewhere out of reach, so that in order to shut it off, I have to get out of bed. As I’m out of bed anyway, I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth and get ready.

Exercise – I wanted to do some physical activity every morning.

• I created a space of my own to exercise.
• The night before, I would lay my gym gear out ready.
• I placed my trainers right in front of the window of the room where I exercise. Every morning when I go to draw the blinds in the room, there they are.
• My rebounder would be pulled out ready .
• I also had a workout playlist all ready (you could have your favourite podcasts if you wanted) and I made sure my ear buds were charged. As soon as my ear buds are connected and in my ears in the morning, the music lifts my mood.
• My Water bottle is filled and in place.

I made it as effortless as possible and harder to fail.

Daily Journalling – My journal is right next to my bed with a special pen.

Go to bed earlier – I set an alarm on my phone to prompt me to go upstairs and next to my bed is a book I placed there that morning, that I really want to read before bed.

Can you think of some habits you would like to create? How can you make them simple, obvious, easy and satisfying?

Good lifestyle habit ideas

Here are some suggestions of daily habits that I have introduced into my lifestyle which have had a positive effect on my health and wellbeing.

Rising Early

I like to get up earlier so I have some time to myself before I start the daily grind of chores and work. It sets me up for the day.

Make Your Bed

This might seem small. However this is one thing I have always done since I can remember, but I never knew how significant it was to my state of mind for the rest of the day. Even if I have a bad day, I still managed to accomplish that one task, and it’s so nice to come back to my tidy bed at the end of the day.

Drinking more Water

This has many benefits. Drinking water first thing in the morning helps rehydrate your body after a long period without water. Also consuming it throughout the day helps to flush toxins out of your body, which gives you healthier skin, and helps with digestion and weight loss.

Exercise

I always start with a warm up jogging on my rebounder. It’s low impact, I can jog on it without worrying about causing any joint pains or aches. If I feel up to more of a workout I will add on a tabata session, or do a weights session. Sometimes it could be a kettle bell session or just some flexibility and stretches.

Daily Fasts

Our body is either in a fed or a fasted state. Everybody should be doing a 12 or 13 hour overnight fast anyway. This allows the body to take a break from digesting and start doing some cellular cleansing. This process called ‘autophagy’ means ‘eating of self’, it allows the body to get rid of damaged cells. The accumulation of cellular damage can contribute to accelerated aging.

Silence/Relaxation/Meditation

The ideal time for me to do this is after my cool down after doing my morning exercise. This can take the form of a guided meditation by Emily Fletcher on Ziva or using my Calm app. Some days I just sit in silence and do some deep breathing for a few minutes. It allows me to focus and reduce any anxiety I might be feeling. Whatever form of relaxation this takes, try it for 10 minutes a day and see the difference.

Journaling

Journaling lets me put all my thoughts down on paper, some call it a brain dump. It allows me to clear my mind, which helps me focus and get organised. My journal consists of tasks I wish to complete for the day. Throughout the day I would write down notes, things that might trigger an interest, or maybe a good quote. Also it’s a place for me to reflect.

Learn

Everyday I put aside at least 20 minutes to learn. I might read something off the internet, or from a book. Or it could be watching something on You Tube or listening to a podcast or a book on Audible. (If you’re new to Audible you can get a 30 day free trial and a free book, just remember to cancel after the 30 day trial and you get to keep the free book. Just click here). Learning is an important part of living ageless. The day we stop learning is the day we stop growing……….

Prepare for the next day

The night before, I do what I can to prepare for the next day. You can read my post on “why it’s important to have a morning routine”.

To Summarise

So to summarise. Start small. So if you want to start an exercise routine, make a small action each day, don’t create a monster of a workout that you dread doing.

Next, make it obvious. Use prompts.

Then make it easy. Preparation is key.

Finally, accountability.

You need to decide what personal lifestyle choices and habits you wish to adopt. This is just a brief outline of mine. I will cover some of the areas more thoroughly in later posts.

If there’s any area that sparks an interest, please comment below.

If you want more, my next post is about how to stay consistent.

Living Agelessly

Kath

This article may contain affiliate / compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.