Most of us have probably made our New Year decisions but failed to achieve most of them throughout the year. Well, it isn’t too late for you to still change your situation and create some good habits before 2018 runs out. Here are 6 habits that you can work on during the remaining three(ish) months.
6 Feel-Good Habits to Embrace Before 2018 Ends
1. Cook more often
Cooking at home will have numerous benefits for you and your family. First of all, cooking more at home will prevent you from eating too much junk food that does nothing good for your health. Next, you get the opportunity to choose what you put on your plate. That means you can pick fresh, organic ingredients which are full of nutrients your body needs to function properly. And let’s not forget the lesson you’ll be teaching your kids – you will show them how to eat healthily and help them develop an important skill for the future.
2. Relieve stress through meditation
A lot of people think they need a lot of time to practice meditation. That’s simply not true – you only need a couple of minutes a day to reap benefits (but of course, the longer you meditate the better). Meditation will help you quiet your mind and prepare for the chaos that waits for you throughout the day. It also helps you reduce your blood pressure and your anxiety level, and it can even reduce the risk of stroke.
The easiest time for most people to meditate is morning, the moment you get up – try that first if you are a beginner. Or you can meditate before you go to bed – it could help you sleep better.
3. Learn to be grateful
There are many things in our lives we take for granted and we shouldn’t. This is something you should try to change – it will improve your psychological health, but also increase your empathy and reduce your anger. Also, feeling grateful will help your self-esteem and strengthen your relationships with others.
The key is to really pay attention to all the small things that happen to you throughout the day that you could be grateful for. It can have amazing results when it comes to the quality of your life. Changing your mindset to always noticing the good little things in your life will bring you incredible benefits.
4. Start exercising regularly
This has probably been one of your New Year’s decisions. It’s difficult to dedicate yourself to regularly exercising but just remember how many benefits for your physical and mental health it will bring you.
To really persevere in being physically active, don’t set up unrealistic goals for yourself. Try to exercise at least 40 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. It can be just a simple walk, a game of tennis or swimming at the local pool. Just make sure that you help your body with appropriate supplements to achieve better results. High-quality supplements like protein powder will help you feel stronger and more energized, which will motivate you to persist in regular exercise.
5. Avoid too much sitting
This may be the easiest habit to create, but highly beneficial. Most of us have jobs that need us to sit for many hours in the same position. Sitting too much can seriously damage your health, increasing risk for obesity, heart disease and diabetes. So, you need to force yourself to stand out more. Yes, it’s a challenge if you have an office job, but here are two tricks for you: first, drink plenty of water – that way, you’ll go to the toilet more often. Second, set an alarm on your mobile phone every 45 minutes to remind you to take a quick walk around the office.
6. Become nicer
Acts of kindness do wonders for both the person who receives it and the person who does it. The great thing about acts of kindness is that there are so many ways in which you can do them. You can do them on daily basis, like helping an old lady cross the street or help somebody with their grocery bags in the supermarket. There are tons of opportunities to be nice if you pay attention.
Also, you can volunteer at the local old age home in case you want to make a stronger impact or organize a charity event. Acts of kindness are wonderful as they make both you and the other person feel better.
All in all
It’s never too late to start creating new habits that will improve our health and help us become better. Every day is a fresh start – a chance to make a good decision. So, make sure you really make the best out of what remains of 2018.
