How to improve your life in just one month
Change is a journey, but you don’t have to wait forever to see results. Transform your life for the better in just one month with these easy habits.
by: E.B. Johnson
As life wanes on, we seek to grow and change ourself in beautiful and inspiring ways. Change, however, is a journey that takes time and many of us find ourselves shorter on time than any other commodity in our lives.
Though major transformations do take time, it’s possible to enact positive, radical change into your life in a much shorter time frame. By focusing on a few key habits you can your life in unexpected ways — and in as little as a month.
The 20 Simplest Habits to Transform Your Life in Just One Month
Major transformation is built up over time in incremental blocks. Studies have shown us that we can grow dramatically when keep things manageable and resist the urge to do-it-all at once. By integrating doable practices and changes over shorter periods of time, we can build even more radical change than we imagined possible.
1. Learn to honor the power of downtime.
Everyone needs their space to refuel and recharge their batteries. Learning how to honor the power of downtime will allow you to tap back into your full potential and recenter around the things that matter most to you.
For just one month, build in some “me time” and stick to it — no matter what. Taking a little time to unplug and recharge will allow you to get back in touch with yourself and replenish the spirit that keeps you going. Use the time to journal, exercise or just relax. Be present and exist in the moment. When you get back in touch with yourself, you can plug into the change that’s coming just around the corner.
2. Take up meal planning.
Your month transformation doesn’t just have to be a spiritual journey. It can be a physical one too.
Take an hour each weekend to sketch out a week’s worth of meal plans and grocery lists. Try to incorporate easy, healthy meals into your diet that align with the fitness and health goals you have for yourself. Collect the recipes that you need and source lists and ingredients that you can reuse in the future.
True change takes place not just on the inside, but the outside too. If you want to get serious about transforming your life in a month, consider getting serious about the way you fuel your body as well.
3. Start a journaling practice.
Journaling is a great way to free up space in your mind. You can remove the things that are troubling you (and the feelings you have that surround the situation) and put it somewhere safe; somewhere separate and free of judgement.
A journaling practice is a great way to get to know ourselves and a great way to get perspective on our lives and the decisions we make. There is power in the written word and there is especial power in the words that we give to ourselves…though it is seldom easy to accept their wisdom.
Carve out just 10–15 minutes each day to record what’s going on in your life or your mind, and don’t forget to include how you’re feeling and why you feel that way. Don’t edit yourself and don’t judge yourself. Only when you have the freedom to speak freely with yourself, will you. Be as kind to yourself as you would be to a friend and write your truth as it exists.
4. Reassess your sleep needs and habits.
The average adult needs 7.5 hours of sleep or more in order to function normally throughout the day. If you’re looking to make big changes in a short amount of time, your sleep habits and needs are often the best place to start.
Assess how much sleep you are getting and adjust your nightly routines to make sure you’re getting the rest that you need. Set a goal to not only figure out what your Golden Sleep Number is, but stick to it for 30 days and you’ll quickly find yourself feeling more energized and driven to succeed.
5. Get outside every day.
Whether it’s raining or shining, set yourself a goal to get outside for 15–20 minutes per day. Research has shown that getting outside for even a short period of time each day has the ability to improve our mood and perspective dramatically.
6. Set up a social circle.
Socializing is a great way to boost our self-esteem and it’s also a great way to get excited about the change that is coming to our lives.
Set up a monthly or weekly social event and stick to it as an automatic part of your schedule. You can go for a walk or a run with friends, or set up an evening of cocktails and movies. It really doesn’t matter, just get out there make yourself reconnect with the people that inspire you to do more.
7. Respect the way you feel.
Emotions are a difficult thing to master, so it can be best to come to terms with them in bite-sized and manageable chunks.
Pay attention to your feelings and experiment with new ways to take care of yourself when you’re feeling vulnerable or anxious about the things that are going on.
Learn to identify the things that make you uncomfortable and the things that help you to feel empowered.
Only when we learn how to identify and live with our emotions can we unlock the power of our full potential. Spend a month getting to know your feelings and embrace them like the friends that they are.
8. Learn to be curious again.
Life is little-lived unless you learn to reignite the curiosity that makes us what we are as humans. Ask questions and get curious about the world around you and the situations and circumstances that affect you.
Ask yourself why things fall through and be open to learning what might work better next time — no matter how uncomfortable that might be. Curiosity is inherent; tap into yours and you’ll get in touch with the true power of change.
9. Manage your multitasking.
Whether you’re a busy mom or a busy professional (or both), odds are you’re multitasking far more than you should.
When we get caught up in the manic multitasking storm, we lose focus on the things that actually get matter and become blinded to anything but results. By learning to multitask less, you can actually keep yourself focused and grounded to produce better work in whatever field you choose.
Studies have shown that focusing on one big (or a few small) tasks at one time we actually set ourselves up for success. Focus on one big goal this month and don’t let yourself deviate into a never-ending set of subtasks. Your sanity and your self-esteem will thank you.
10. Learn how to forgive yourself.
The journey to change starts with forgiveness, but you can’t forgive those that have hurt you if you can’t forgive yourself. Holding onto all the thousand little hurts we inflict on ourselves is draining. All of our guilt, shame and anger builds up over time and eats away at us, until we find it hard if not impossible to go on.
To change — truly change — you have to learn how to forgive yourself.
Accept your failures and accept your mistakes; accept that you’re human and therefore incapable of ever reaching “perfection”.
Hating ourselves and staying angry only holds us back. It keeps us stuck in a negative feedback loop that leaves us feeling hopeless, isolated and depressed. Use your energy to move forward, rather than staying stuck, and decide who you want to be.
11. Prioritize the things that matter.
Before you start each day, list the 3 most important tasks that you have to conquer for that day. Begin with the hardest task and end with the easiest task. Conquer them all as quickly as you can and get started as soon as you’re up and ready for the day.
You might feel like you’re getting a lot done when you have an endless task list, but you’re actually keeping yourself stuck. By prioritizing our tasks and our goals, we can focus on what’s important and recognize the urgent and not-so-urgent in our lives.
Prioritization helps us to clearly define our goals and our visions and allows us to cut out the things that don’t actually matter. Create a daily action list and try not to focus on anything outside of it until it is completed in full. The closer you move toward your goals, the more motivated you’ll become. Try this habit each day for a month and see how it it impacts your growth.
12. Start a dream list.
Dreams are a great way to inspire ourselves to do better. Start a list of things you would love to do or have and add to it every week, avoiding practicality at all costs.
Look at this list whenever you’re feeling down or whenever you feel like you’re losing sight of your goals. You’ll be surprised how much a dream — no matter how ridiculous it may be — can inspire us to initiate the change we need in our lives.
13. Get creative again.
Use your “me time” to get in touch with that creative spirit that once drove you as a child. Write, paint, draw and bring to life the things that dwell inside your heart and head. It doesn’t matter how you create, it only matters that you create.
14. Learn how to ask for help.
Everyone needs help sometimes, but asking for help can be a skill all on its own.
When things feel like they’re overwhelming, learn how to reach out and ask for help from the people you love. If you can’t cope or even if you’re just having a bad day, it can help immensely to reach out to someone you trust who can share the burden of your feelings.
Feeling low and vulnerable isn’t a bad thing and no one will think any less of you for it. While asking for help is hard, it’s necessary, and can open the door to a world of endless possibilities.
15. Get in touch with your inner romantic.
It feels good to want and be wanted. Reconnect with the one you love by planning a romantic rendezvous or special dates. If you’re single, make an effort this month to reach out and connect with someone, even if it’s only in the short-term.
Feeling lonely can be a major stumbling block when it comes to changing ourselves and our lives. While we should never change ourselves for someone, having a partner that loves you and supports you can inspire you to change yourself for the better.
16. Drink more water.
This is one of the easiest ways to transform your life dramatically in a very short amount of time. Drinking more water helps to lubricate the joints and assists the digestive system in getting down to business. It helps to cushion our brains, regulate body temperature and even helps us achieve that glowing, dewy skin that’s all the rage on Instagram.
Each morning, as soon as you wake up, drink at least 500 mL of water. This will help your body to flush waste and will even help improve your metabolism (for those with short-term weight loss goals in mind).
17. Unplug for a few minutes each day.
We are a society obsessed and possessed by social media and technology. It seems like our phones are never far from reach and our entire lives are lived through a tiny glowing screen.
If you really want to transform your life, try unplugging each day — even if only for a few minutes.
Technology has made our lives better in so many ways, but the endless barrage of texts, emails, calls and push notifications can seriously frazzle our nerves and leave us feeling anxious and depressed.
Start with short “no-tech” breaks of just 15 minutes. Turn off your phone, computer or tablet and put it out of sight (if possible). Do something else to distract yourself and increase the amount of time you go without your phone gradually.
There’s no right way to do it and there’s no wrong way to do it, but see how long you can go without access to the constant feedback that your phone offers. Your weakness (or strength) might surprise you.
18. Be proactive.
As we begin the next month, take a few moments to consider the days ahead and the things that you need to achieve in that time. Identify any challenges you will face and consider the options you will have for overcoming those challenges.
Get the jump on those challenges before they get the jump on you. Be proactive about going after your goals and get proactive too about facing the things that prevent you from getting what you want.
19. Get organized.
We often underestimate the power of a clean space, but getting organized can work wonders when it comes to inspiring us and motivating us to get going on all that growth.
Pick one manageable area for the month, or focus on one area each week and spend time organizing it. Purge it of the things that you no longer use, want or need and give up things that keep you stuck to the past and the person that you once were.
Memories can be stored in pictures and folders and frames. We don’t need our past cluttering our present. Get rid of the junk and get your space organized and you’ll find freedom lurking right beneath your nose.
20. Remember to be grateful.
Getting stuck in the negative is an easy thing today, especially in a world that seems to be so fixated on negativity itself. Having bad days is inevitable, but wallowing in those bad days is a choice. When we forget to be grateful, we lose touch with the things and the people that matter most to us.
If we want to generate real transformation in our lives, we have to remember our gratitude.
Gratitude is being present in the moment and accepting things “as is”; it is also seeing everything for what is — an opportunity to learn — and being thankful for that opportunity.
When we are grateful we are able to get reenergized about our lives. Gratitude makes it possible to appreciate the little things in our life and pay it forward in ways that allows growth in not only ourselves but the world around us as well. Being grateful means never taking advantage. Being grateful means seeing the good when everything is going wrong.
Gratitude is a conscious choice and one that takes refreshed commitment every single day. Start a gratitude journal and reconnect with the things in your life that bring you joy. Life is worth living because of the people and experiences we are surrounded by every single day. Learn to see the beauty in them and be grateful for the chance.
Putting it all together…
Imagine what your life would look like if you could change it in just one month. If you changed just a few simple habits, could you transform yourself and your circumstances for the better? Science says yes.
Remember to be grateful and get proactive about the goals that light the fire in your belly. Prioritize the things that matter and learn to forgive yourself for the missteps and mistakes you’re going to make along the way. No one is perfect, but we have to learn how to respect our feelings in order to make a true and lasting change.
Transformation is a journey and, like any journey, it occurs in stages. Take those stages one month at a time and institute some truly powerful and sweeping changes in your life by cultivating a few of these simple habits.
You’ll be surprised what a difference 30 days can make.
