Small Habits to Improve Your Well-Being
How to incorporate small daily habits for big returns.
It’s hard to believe that something like a small daily habit could have such a huge effect on your life.
But it’s true: small habits can change the way you show up, and they can make all other goals easier to achieve because it’s about making good choices every day.
Incorporating small habits into your daily routine can have a big impact on your life.
When we start small and reward progress, we end up achieving more than when we set big, lofty, and often impossible goals. And as a bonus, the act of positively reinforcing our successes allows us to reap more enjoyment and satisfaction out of the process. — Greg McKeown
What are small habits?
When it comes to habits, we often envision the negative ones.
Habits such as smoking or procrastinating can be what comes to mind when you hear the word “habit.” But there’s another type of habit that people may forget — good habits.
Good habits are small things that we can do each day that will improve our health and well-being. These little actions will pay off in large dividends later on.
Small habits are the stepping stones to a life well-lived. Small habits are easy to incorporate into one’s daily routine. We don’t need much effort, yet they make all the difference in how we show up in our lives and who we become over time. It is important to remember that small things add up — even when you don’t realize it!
Examples of small habits could be (some of these could only be for a few minutes) :
- Drinking more water.
- Reading.
- Moving your body.
- Meditating.
- Journaling.
- Spending time outside.
- Taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Getting up every hour to stretch.
- Cooking a healthy meal.
- Having a bedtime routine.
Small habits are important because they help you show up in your life — mentally, physically, energetically and spiritually.
Over time, small actions build into bigger changes that can profoundly impact one’s well-being.
When you want to change behavior, jumping headlong into a major goal with both feet is often a waste of time. Instead, make tiny, incremental adjustments until they are part of your muscle memory. By starting small, you can attain big results. — Harvard Business Review
Incorporating the right habits.
To live a healthy and happy life, it is important to incorporate small habits into your daily routine. That way, you will be able to show up as the best version of yourself each day, stay energized and rested, and have time for all those things that matter most.
The key is identifying the right habits and ones that are realistic for you, given your lifestyle. It’s easy enough to identify good behaviours related to something we already enjoy. But it’s much more challenging when they aren’t meaningful in our lives.
The power of incremental change.
Incremental change is the idea that you need to do a little more each day to make a significant improvement. It’s about making small adjustments and taking baby steps towards your goal.
Incremental change will help you build momentum. It’s better than trying an all-or-nothing approach, which can be discouraging when things don’t go as well as planned.
The beauty of incremental change is that it can apply to anything, from your finances to your relationships to physical health. It doesn’t need a major life overhaul or some dramatic action. All you need are small steps taken consistently over time, and before long, you’ll be amazed by how far you’ve come.
Starting today.
It can be hard to know where to start when looking at a list of different things you could incorporate into your life. There are so many habits and tasks, but how do you know which ones to choose?
The best approach is to start with one small thing you can do each day; it is easier to set it as a priority. It also lets you take it slow and adjust when necessary. It will also improve your self-confidence because when we execute well, we feel better about ourselves.
Maintaining momentum.
It’s easy to get discouraged when you don’t seem to be making progress. But if you want your goals to come true, it’s important to maintain momentum.
Here are some tips on how you can maintain momentum for your goals to come true:
- Prioritize and make time every day for your habit
- Know that relapses happen; relapses don’t mean it’s time to pack up and go home; they mean it’s time to re-evaluate where you are at in your journey.
- Remember that you are human, and you will make mistakes
- Continue to work hard despite your setbacks;
- Remember why you started in the first place.
- Don’t compare yourself to others.
- Use your small wins as fuel for growth.
- Follow through on your promises.
- It won’t be easy (but worth it).
Of course, some days, you’ll feel sluggish and won’t feel like getting out of bed. But remember how energized you feel when you get up, move your body and make that one habit that gets you closer to your goals. Never forget the end goal and why you’re doing it.
Small habits that are making a big difference in my life.
- Having a bedtime routine. For me, it looks like winding down around 8:30 pm. The nights when I get to take a long warm bath are the best. Reading is a must for me every night. Not to help me fall asleep, but because I enjoy it and find it helps to wind down and ensure I go to bed at a reasonable time.
- Knowing when to quit. Knowing when things are not good for us anymore and not continuing with something because we’ve already invested so much. It is better to quit now and focus our energy where it’s most valuable than to keep going in the wrong direction.
- Saying no more often. Prioritize yourself and stop doing things out of obligation or out of scarcity. It can be hard but can be so powerful in what you’ll gain in time and peace of mind.
- Walking every day. Moving my body every day has been an on-and-off struggle for years. But for the last couple of months, I’ve been going on walks every day. When I don’t feel like it, I tell myself to only go for five minutes — I always end up going longer, but if I don’t, I give myself grace that I made it a priority.
“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice.” — Octavia Butler
Final thoughts.
Having the right habits and incorporating incremental changes into your daily routine can make a big difference in your life.
The idea of changing everything at once is daunting, but remember that small steps taken over time will lead to success.
To recap :
- Incorporate the right habits.
- Incremental changes win the race.
- Start today.
- Maintain momentum.
- It’ll be hard but worth it!
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