11 Unusual Daily Habits that Will Improve Your Life Today
Invest at least in 3 of them and see how life can change
It’s so easy to lose the taste for life. Just enough to listen to news from media about the events in the world and everything around becomes gloomy. Energy depletion, loss of desire to enjoy life. You feel tired and sad and don’t know how to get it all back.
I strongly advise implementing these mini-habits that will make you feel like enjoying the life again 🙂
1. Read the book in the morning
The first thing we do after waking up is checking all the messages and read some news, usually negative ones. We let destructive thoughts into our minds first thing in the morning, which then interfere with us during the whole day.
When I noticed my morning habit to pick up the phone get worse, I put a book next to my bed and hid my phone in my purse, away from my eyes and out of my reach. Then I’d wake up, my hand would automatically try to reach for the phone, but it was not there. Instead of a phone, I grabbed an interesting book.
I read a couple of pages for 5–10 minutes, and completely different thoughts and emotions would overwhelm me at the start of the day.
Later in the day, even the same negative media news would not put me in a miserable, hopeless spot.
2. Count to 10 before reacting emotionally to familiar things
Your child broke the dishes, you scratched the car, you learned about something unpleasant. Our brain works in mysterious ways! There are a million automatic emotional reactions to such events saved in our brain. As a result, we get annoyed, scream, feel sad, nervous, afraid, etc. without taking a step back and reevaluating how to react more appropriately. How to avoid this?
Counting helps me! When some kind of trouble happens, before the brain gives out its automatic reaction, I slowly begin to count to 10: 1,2,3,4 …
By counting, you give yourself the valuable time that you need to take control of the negative emotion that is trying to take control of you! Try this trick!
3. Remove trash from your space
Throw away everything you don’t need anymore! This applies to the physical dimention (throw the trash out of the house, clean the phone or the computer) as well as to the information dimension (block the information noise around us).
Even 1-to 2 days of informational detox will give you a feeling of lightness, and the thoughts in your head will become much clearer!
4. Remind you about your achievements every day
We are too obsessed with the outside world. What happens around us influences our inner state. Let’s try to shift the focus to yourself. This may seem selfish at first, but then you will realize that you have done yourself and others a big favor with this.
Write a list of all your achievements on a piece of paper — 20, 30, 50… Type as many as come to mind.
Keep this list in front of your eyes every day. You can put it by the bed and read it in the morning, or hang it on the fridge, whatever works best for you. The idea is to read it every day.
Give it a few days and you will feel inner strength, your energy levels will gradually increase, and you will adapt your reaction to external stressors.
5. Do not engage in unhealthy conversations, including political ones
This mini habit is the continuation of the previous one. No conversations with people who can hurt you by their words. If you feel that the conversation is moving in the wrong direction, immediately and firmly say,
“Let’s not talk politics/problems/negativity. Let’s talk about…”
Let your friend know what would make a better topic for the moment. If he does not understand you and leaves, congratulations, as you just saved yourself a lot of energy :)
Surround yourself with people that give away a wave of strength and positive vibes or at the bare minimum, don’t take away yours.
6. Notice the best in people
Don’t take habit #5 as an advice to dismiss people or isolate yourself. Yes, you avoid an unpleasant conversation, but you also offer an alternative topic. At the same time, try to mention something nice about your friend.
For example, “Listen, let’s not talk about politics. Instead, tell me please how you manage to always look so young?” 🙂
And when you learn to notice the good things in strangers, you will begin to look at the world from a different perspective.
Try this: observe some passengers in a bus, some have beautiful eyes or hands, some have shiny hair or a kind look.
7. Thank people for the little things
The habit of saying “Thank you, you are very kind” or “Thank you for your work” does magic. People like when their contribution is noticed. We tend to obsess over our problems and not notice what is happening around us. Even a short, simple “Thank You” to the janitor who woke up early in the morning to do his job will make his day especially joyful.
The exchange of a small portion of positive energy will give strength and a good mood.
The more you notice the little things and thank others and yourself, the brighter our world becomes.
8. Walk the untaken paths
Suppose you are driving home, walking with your kids, or just going to the store… which path do you usually take? The most “popular” that the body and brain are accustomed to. We walk automatically, our feet carry us along this path. Even driving has become second nature, our hands know where to turn the steering wheel, where to stop at a traffic light etc.
At this time, there are a lot of junk thoughts in my head, which form similar neural connections and expand their network. Stagnation and obsession with intrusive thoughts take over…
What if you consciously take a different path? Then our focus is on the new path — new facilities, new homes and new thoughts.
The brain starts structuring the new views and rearranging the bricks in our heads. As the process unfolds, it is very likely that the brain will find solutions to our problems.
9. Write a list of “unusual things” and do something every day
This habit is also somewhat similar to habit #8. In addition to starting an untaken route, you can make other “deviations” from your everyday life.
For example, you always drink a double cappuccino in the same cafe. Now you can go to another place and order a latte.
Such minor deviations keep our brains in a good shape and prevent us from falling into the hands of harmful thoughts.
If you learn to change the course of habitual actions, then you can also easily learn to change the habitual train of thoughts.
10. Listen to instrumental music
My favorite one is Jacob’s piano on YouTube. Find his music and enjoy….
Music without words helps not to fall into the trap of your emotions. The ideal option is instrumental music, jazz, and relaxing music.
If, you have a song that is associated with positive memories and helps to restore a smile on your face, then listen to it. If the song makes you longing and sad, then don’t even turn it on. Otherwise, from the very first chords, the brain will remember the whole storm of negativity that is associated with this song. Each word will strike deeper and deeper into your inner state. Turn it off!
11. Before going to bed, program your brain for the next best day of your life
Self-programming is a superpower. But we don’t know anything about this skill. Neither in our families, nor at school we received the knowledge! If we received it, maybe we would live much easier :) Well, if you weren’t taught, you’ll have to master everything on your own.
The period before sleep is intimate and mysterious. The conscious brain stops working and our subconscious mind comes into play. It can be sculpted like clay as desired. Right before going to bed, before almost falling asleep, try to keep in mind one simple thought:
“Tomorrow will be the best day”
At first, the brain will rebel: “What else is better? You have a job in the morning, a lot of problems, war, mortgages, banks, children …” But the brain seemed to be going to sleep soon… 🙂 Send him to rest and just repeat this thought until you fall into a deep, restful sleep.
These mini habits helped me get out of lingering negative thoughts. If you take at least 3 habits from this list and practice them regularly, I am sure that good changes and outcomes will not keep you waiting for long.
Even external factors and circumstances that seemed impossible to change will develop in a favorable way for you!
I wish everyone more love for themselves, for their thoughts and actions!
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My warmest regards to you,
Lilit
