Good habits will change your life.

There are many automatic behaviors that we repeat everyday such as brushing our teeth, walking the dog, or taking a shower.

The good thing about habits is that we don’t have to think about them.

Wouldn’t it be nice to make good choices more consistently?

What are Habits?

Habits are behaviors that we repeat frequently without thinking. There are good habits and bad habits.

For example, we may snack when we feel overwhelmed, check social media when we are bored, or watch TV when we are tired.

Moreover, we can also change our habits or adopt good ones.

Good habits will make us feel more energetic, healthy, and happy.

10 Good Habits to Have

If you are not sure what new habits would improve your mood and make you happy, here is a list.

Choose one habit to start with and focus on it until it becomes automatic.

However a common problem with habits is that they can feel boring after a few weeks or months.

You will have to change and tweak the habit a little bit to feel motivated to keep it. 

1 – Get Enough Sleep

“Sleep is the best meditation.”

Dalai Lama

Getting enough sleep starts with a good bedtime routine not only for you but also for your kids.

For example, start getting ready for bed at least one hour before you would like to be sleeping.

The one hour can be used to prepare everything for the following day, tidy up, and read.

Moreover, it will take some trial and error until you find a bed time routine that works for you and your family.

My bedtime routine has changed as my kids grew. A few years ago, there was a lot of reading, cuddling, and story telling to put my kids to bed. Nowadays, there is more tiding up and preparing everything for the following day.

What matters is that you get to bed early so that you have enough time to rest and wake up refreshed and ready for an awesome day.

Getting enough sleep, usually between 7 and 8 hours each night, has many health benefits such as:

• Boosting your mood

• Improving your memory

• Lowering blood pressure

• Boosting your energy

• Helping with weight control

• Improving your immune system

How will you make sure that you get enough sleep? 

2 – Meditate

“Meditation is like a gym in which you develop the powerful mental muscles of calm and insight.”

Ajahn Brahm 

If you feel stressed or overwhelmed, meditation will make you feel more focused and in control.

Meditation is a good habit to have if your brain needs a break from the whirlwind of thoughts.

It is always a good time to meditate but if you want to create a habit, the easiest way is to attach meditation to something you already do everyday.

You may meditate right when you wake up. 

Moreover, in the early morning, there aren’t so many distractions around you or thoughts in your mind. It may be easier to start the habit of meditation in the morning. 

In addition, it’s a good way to start your day calm and centered on what is important to you.

Another option is to meditate right before or after lunch. It is nice to give the brain a little break in the middle of the day.

Finally, some people enjoy meditating as part of their night routine. It’s a good way to quiet your mind before going to sleep.

Here are more tips on How to be happy practicing meditation.

3 – Exercise

“Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.”

Thomas Jefferson 

There are many health benefits associated with physical exercise such as:

• Lower cholesterol level

• Stronger muscles and bones

• More energy

• Lower risk of heart attack

• Improved blood circulation

• Maintain a healthy weight

• Improve your mood by producing serotonin and endorphins

With so many benefits, why do so many people struggle to include more exercise in their life?

We start with a lot of enthusiasm but it wears down quickly and we end up dragging ourselves grumpily toward our exercise routine.

My main problem with exercise is that it ends up being boring and even if I feel good after exercising I can predict most movements and stretches in gym classes.

Some ways to freshen it up are:

Listen to something interesting such as a podcast or audiobook

Go with a friend and challenge each other

Change the work out routine and classes frequently to stay motivated 

Walking is a great choice to include more exercise in your daily habits.

Here are some well known people who practiced the good habit of walking:

Henry David Thoreau

Winston Churchill

Ludwig van Beethoven

Friederich Nietzsche

Soren Kierkegaard 

Here are more tips on How to be happy by exercising your body.

4 – Write Down Your Thoughts

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”

Anne Frank

Keeping a journal or writing down your thoughts in a notebook is a good habit to have because you get your thoughts out of your mind and on a piece of paper.

Moreover, if you are feeling confused, anxious, or overwhelmed, writing down your ideas will help you to gain clarity. 

Once your ideas, thoughts, and feelings are on a piece of paper you will be able to understand them more clearly.

If you write down your thoughts in the morning, it will help your to start your day on a positive note. You’ll be able to reflect and make sense of your feelings and emotions.

Some well known people who wrote or write down their thoughts:

Albert Einstein 

Leonardo Da Vinci

Emma Watson

Tim Ferris

Jennifer Aniston

According to research, one hour of writing down your thoughts every day will reduce stress and help you to make sense of what is happening in your life.

Here are more tips on How Writing Can Make You Happy.

5 – Be Grateful

“You radiate and generate more goodness for yourself when you’re aware of all you have and not focusing on your have-nots.”

Oprah Winfrey 

Being grateful is a good habit to have because it helps you appreciate more what you have and love in your life.

There are many ways to include more gratitude into your life.

You may try a gratitude journal, where everyday you write 3 things you are grateful for.

In addition you may share with your family, around the dinner table, one thing you are the most grateful for.

Another option is to choose an object that will remind you to be grateful. Every time, you see the object, you will find one thing to be grateful for. It could be a pen, book, notebook, phone, or jewelry item.

Here are some examples of gratitude practice:

“Every day, at the end of the day, grab your gratitude journal and write down in it the happiest moment of the day. Even on lousy days, you do this. Because even on lousy days, there is one best moment (or at least, one least-worst moment).”

Elizabeth Gilbert

“I make it a habit to say three things I’m grateful for as soon as I open my eyes and then at night when I’m lying in bed I list three good things out loud that happened that day”

Jennifer Lopez

“Before bed, I’ ll jot down a few things I’m grateful for in a journal. It focuses my mind on all the blessings in my life, big and small — and diminishes the running list of unresolved problems.”

Arianna Huffington

6 – Eat Healthy

“Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments.”

Bethenny Frankel 

The most effective way to eat healthy is to create a system that will support this good habit.

If you want to automatically choose healthy food, make sure you have plenty of healthy food choices available at any time.

Buying only healthy food is the first step to be successful with this good habit. 

7 – Work on Your Goals

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act.”

Pablo Picasso

Set up a habit to work on your goals.

It’s important to have goals to know where we want to go or what direction we want to give to our life.

Think about one habit that you could adopt that would move your goal forward.

If your goal is to become a successful blogger or writer, your habit could be to write a specific number of words per day.

When I wrote my book, I wrote 1000 words per day. After two months I had a first draft of 60,000 words.

If your goal is to save  more money, you could set up an automatic transfer from your checking to your savings or investment account.

8 – Plan Your Day

“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

Having a written plan for your day is a good habit because you don’t have to think about what you need to do throughout the day.

You already know what you want to accomplish and what your priorities are.

A good habit to have is to plan your day the night before.

As soon as you wake up, you know exactly what you need to do. During the night, while you are sleeping, your mind gets ready for the tasks of the day.

9 – Do Something that You Love

“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Marc Anthony

Make sure that everyday you include something that you love in your day.

Think about what brings you joy.

Maybe adopting a hobby, learning a new skill, or tiding up some part of your home.

It is important that you clarify what makes you happy. Moreover, it’s not necessarily something that everyone else is doing.

10 – Read

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”

J. K. Rowling

Reading is a good habit to have because it helps you relax, get new ideas, and reflect on your experiences.

Moreover, make sure you have one or two books available that you are interested in reading.

I always have a regular paperback book that I read before going to bed, an ebook on my phone in case there are delays or I need to wait, and an audiobook for when I have to complete boring tasks such as driving or doing the dishes.

Having interesting books handy will encourage the habit to read.

Think about one boring task that you need to complete and does not require a lot of thinking. Try listening to an audiobook while you complete it.

In addition, keep a book next to your bed so you can read a couple of pages before going to sleep.

Keep a list of books you would be interested in reading.

Here you will find The Best Happiness Books that will Change Your Life.