What is a Habit?
Habits are something everyone has, whether you know or not. Think of it as a constant companion in your daily life. But habits are either the greatest help to you or your heaviest burden to deal with. It can either push you to your best self or drag you back leading to failure. The fact is that a habit has a big effect on your life. This is because they are a constant routine or behavior you tend to repeat subconsciously. So it’s safe to say that good habits are key to a successful life. But the same goes for bad habits in they can make things worse.
What Makes a Good Habit?
Start the Day off Right
We firmly believe that how you start your day will set the tone for the rest of the day. So one of the best way to start your day is by waking up at the appropriate time. Now we’re not saying wake up at the break of dawn and make the most of your day. But you don’t want to wake up at 2pm and be left with no time to do your work. Choose a reasonable time that allows you to sleep enough through the night but gives you enough hours in the day to not stress about everything that needs to be done. If you’re having trouble waking up earlier than your current time, start with baby sets. Try a full week of setting your alarm 15 minutes earlier than your current alarm time. Once you get use to this, repeat this until you get to the wake-up time you want.
This might seem simplistic but the fact is that giving yourself time to get things done helps a ton. You’ll be less pressed for time which allows you to take your time with the task. You might find that you’ll be able to concentrate on the task better as well. This is because you’re not worrying about the next task on your list. This extra time is extremely beneficial if you have active kids or neighbors.
Something else you can do with this extra time is decompress. Some people like to use the quiet time to recollect themselves and plan for the day. Something as simple as making yourself your favorite breakfast. These small things will have a big impact on the rest of your day.
Wake Up Your Body
Exercise is a great habit to get into. Studies show that working out at least 3 times a week can significantly reduce blood pressure, stress and mortality. Also, you do not have to work out in the morning to benefit from this. Whenever you have time, try to make an effort to exercise. A simple 30 minute walk will make such a difference in your mood and physical wellbeing.
Make Your Own Positivity
There’s a saying that goes “When you think positive, good things happen.” Getting into the habit of a positive mindset can be hard sometimes. But one of the simplest ways to start is by simply smiling. It might be hard to believe, but research shows that forcing yourself to smile can trick your brain into being positive. Not only that, but it has shown to improve mood and lower stress and blood pressure. You can also makes someone’s day by just smiling as well. You never know what you can achieve by doing the smallest things.
Workout you Brain
It’s sad to say but reading is a lost art. It is so underappreciated as it can do wonders for the mind and soul. Now we know that the act of reading can be very time consuming and, sometimes, dull. But finding what interests you it worth the effort as there are hundreds of genres of literature for every type of person. Regardless of the genre, any type of reading is beneficial and enriching. Many people see an improvement to their vocabulary and eloquence while also improving their memory. You might also see an improvement in your attention span the more books you read.
Become More Money Conscious
Everybody knows that financials have a big impact on our lives. Many people are uncomfortable when speaking about their finances as they may be a bad financial position at the moment. So they don’t want to risk looking bad in front of others. But understand that you’re not alone. Only about 28% of Americans are financially stable at the moment. This might come as a shock but that’s because people aren’t openly talking about their situations. The best advice we have for you, sit down and create an expense log. List out all your reoccurring bills and costs and compare it to your current income. This gives you the best idea how much you can spend on nonessential expenses. This is a great habit to get into because you become better aware of your financial situation and better help you for the future.
Start Getting into the Habit
We know that this can be overwhelming to do in the beginning. But your future self will thank you so much. Remember, start off with with small baby steps. Jumping into changing every aspect of your life can be too much and discourage you when you fall short. So start off with small attainable goals. These mini wins are great motivators and help push you forward in the right direction. You can start off by creating lists on what you want to accomplish. And these lists do not all have to be tangible goals either. Something as small as “compliment one random person” is a great way of starting a habit. Remember, these habits are suppose to help you in life. If you begin to stress out about maintaining a habit, it may be time to reevaluate your overall goal and try something new.
Good Habits in Business
Habits come in all ways, shapes and forms. So it easy to assume that your habits should be implemented in all aspects of you life. That may be the case the majority of the time, but there are some lifestyle habits that are separate from your work life habits. Sometimes these habits overlap in both areas of your life and that’s not a bad thing. But here are a few habits that we highly recommend you gain for your work life.
Dress to Impress
Dressing well has many positive impacts for your work life. Surprisingly enough, dressing well can make you feel better about yourself. People can see confidence too and with them seeing you in a positive light. The best thing about dressing well is that you can outwardly express yourself. Dressing in a way that makes you feel good will help keep you in a positive mood the rest of the day. The overall benefits of dress well gives you is honestly the best habit you will get into.
Compassion is the Best Quality to Have
Some of the biggest smiles can hide the biggest struggle. This is sad but true occurrence that people go through on their daily life. So a small act of random kindness can go a long way with these people. It can be as simple as helping someone with a simple task or surprising someone with coffee. Being compassionate towards people has such a positive impact on others. And the great thing about this is that it does not take that much effort to do. Small actions have a big impact on the right people.
Organization is a Journey, Not a Destination
Let’s be honest, maintaining a neat and organized environment is hard to maintain. But your work environment does reflect on you and how people see you. And it is better than than the alternative; a chaotic mess. So getting organized can be annoying at first as you have to sort and move things accordingly. However, the end result may give a sense of calmness and clarity. After getting things organized, the only hard part left is keeping it organized. So make sure to set yourself up for success and create an organization system that you can stick to and follow easily. You’ll be surprised at how much of a difference it can make in your life.
Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help from your Team
It’s bad to say but most people would rather suffer in silence than potentially look dumb in front of their colleagues. Just the idea of asking someone for help is an immediate anxiety inducing task that some people would rather avoid. These kind of people get into the habit of bulldozing through any hardships they face. But what people tend to forget is that you are apart of a team and team members help each other out when whatever the situation. So try to break the habit of doing things by yourself and replace it with a better one. Don’t be scared to ask for help when needed. We’re positive that anybody would rather help you than seeing you suffer with any task. Trust us, we’re talking from experience.
Inspiration Comes from the Most Unexpected Places. So Be Prepared!
A good idea can happen at anytime. On the way to work, while getting lunch or even in the middle of a conversation. Now the hardest part is remembering the great idea before it’s forgotten forever. The perfect solution to this is keep a journal to write down each idea as they come. This is a great way to keep track of new future plans you have as a business owner. You can also keep these journals to reflect on years from now. Even if you’re not big on writing random things down, you can use it as a simple planner for your day. Honestly, the possibilities are limitless so make sure to start yours as soon as possible.
Motivation Gets You Started. Habits Keep You Going.
By reading this, you hopefully have become more aware of any habits, good or bad, you have. Depending on which ones you have, your habits will make or break your journey to success. The hard part of developing good habits is figuring out the good habits from the bad. Here’s the best piece of advice we can offer. Decide what your end goal is and try to learn a habit that will encourage you to achieve your goal.
At Reborn Consultants, we encourage our employees and clients to create these beneficial habits. This way, they can set their future up for success.