5 Daily Habits That Changed My Life In Unimaginable Ways

Discover the 5 daily habits that changed my life and beautified my routine in more ways than I’d ever hoped for.

I am a habits and routines girl through and through, but three months back, I found myself feeling stuck in my patterns.

The boredom of creating the same ol’ checklist every single morning finally got to me, and I finally understood why some people find it hard to make habits stick.

Now, I had a choice to either completely abandon my routine (lol, like that could happen), or go the smart way — Stop holding onto a dozen habits and embrace minimalism in my routine.

I mean, quality over quantity, right?

After giving it some thought, I sat down with my journal and came up with 5 key habits that I wanted to stick with for the rest of my life.

I gave myself 75 days to focus on just these 5 habits and be flexible with the other parts of my lifestyle (consider it my own version of 75-day hard).

The results have been astounding and life-transforming. I’m talking more energy, less stress, and a whole lot more happiness.

Intrigued? Keep reading to discover the 5 daily habits that completely changed my life and how you can adopt them too!

5 Daily Habits That Really Changed My Life

1. Eating A Balanced Diet

Over the years, I’ve gone through endless cycles of eating purely healthy stuff or just consuming all kinds of bad things.

This kind of all-in or all-out relationship with food is toxic for mental health as well as for the body.

So, I decided to toss out my list of do’s and don’ts for food and just focus on eating a balanced diet.

I start my day with a protein-rich breakfast that actually tastes good and fills me up.

If I feel hungry in between meals, I grab a snack I love and some hot tea or coffee.

For lunch and dinner, I eat home-cooked foods and always, always eat a simple salad alongside (just a cucumber, tomato, onion, and done).

On the weekends, I either eat takeouts while enjoying a good TV show or go out with my friends. So, happy eating, check!

At last, I try not to put too much pressure on myself to be super healthy or take it too seriously.

The fewer thoughts you have in your head about food, the easier you’ll find it to give your body what it needs and deserves.

Other tips that might help:

• Keep a water bottle with you to stay hydrated.
• Track your meals in a manual planner instead of counting calories on a food app.
• Eat slowly and mindfully.
• Be on watch out for signs of food intolerance in your body and once you know what isn’t settling well in your gut, DITCH IT.
• Black coffee in between meals really, really helps. Eat a cookie or two with it to keep things fun!
• Stock your refrigerator with different fruits and veggies.

P.S: It’s also fun to occasionally test out healthy recipes without any pressure to repeat those dishes.

2. Working Out (Even If It’s Just 10 Minutes)

Tell me if your workout routine fits any of these categories —

• It’s non-existent
• You work out a lot for a month or so and then stop completely
• You exercise just the way you want to and don’t need any help in this department

If you lie in the third category, congrats! You’re a rare species and I admire you.

But if you relate to either the first or the second one, take a seat, and pay attention to what I’m about to say.

If you want to start working out (as you should, coz it’s freaking awesome for your confidence), then aim for everyday consistency over anything else.

This means just getting yourself to show up to the workout mat, even if it’s just for 10 minutes.

I was someone who could sustain my workouts for a long time but once I stopped, I found it hard to go back.

And don’t even get me started on all the emotional whirlwind this caused me.

I would berate myself for not being able to finish insane workouts, and my body image was down to negative infinity.

As a part of my 75-day challenge, I decided to add workouts to my 5-habits list and challenged myself to do it for the right reasons this time.

I worked out every single day with no pressure and with pure joy.

Some days, I kept the workouts super simple and short. On other days when I had the energy and mood for it, I went all out.

I aimed for consistency, took it one day at a time, and my body and mind are both in better shape because of it.

Here are the workout channels I recommend:

• For fun and low-intensity workouts: growwithjo
• For intense workouts: POPSUGAR Fitness
• For strength training at home: Juice & Toya

3. Walking In Nature

I grew up surrounded by family members who were super enthusiastic about walking and running, so it’s always been very easy for me to walk long distances.

But again, this was not a regular habit, and I just had to add it to the list, because I know firsthand how life-changing it can be.

Workouts are great for sweating yourself and getting your heart pumping, but I don’t think they should be your only form of movement.

When it comes to nurturing your overall wellness through a single activity, nothing can beat good old outdoor walking.

Not only is it a gentle exercise for your body, it also gives you time to build a connection with yourself and your surroundings, something that we humans don’t prioritize enough.

You can listen to music, play a podcast, or just tune into your surroundings while enjoying the fresh air.

Even if you can spare only 20 minutes for a short walk in the evening, do it without a second thought.

Your mind, body, and soul will love you, and thank you for it.

I went hiking on my birthday this year. Look at the view from the top!!

4. Reading Self-Help Books

I’ve been a fiction reader for as long as I can remember, but when it came to self-help books, I hardly had anything on my ‘read’ list.

Now, self-help books do exactly what their name suggests — They help you help yourself.

In a world where there is so much noise and distractions, it can be hard to stick to your morals or be authentic.

But when you have the discipline to sit down with a good book and read a few pages with focus, there isn’t much that you can’t do in life.

Might sound like an exaggeration, but I really mean it.

Self-help books are motivating as heck, and reading them every single day will keep you inspired and fueled to keep working on your goals.

This is the habit that helped me keep up with the other four habits on this list.

When you find lessons in a book that resonates with you, please highlight them or write them down in your own words, and make efforts to actually implement them in your life.

Here are some books I’ve been loving lately:

• The Motivation Manifesto by Brendan Burchard
• Life Worth Living by Miroslav Wolf
• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig

Self-help books come in all forms. Some can teach you the art of productivity and some are awesome to boost your self-confidence.

Then there are the ones that are written with happiness and mindfulness in mind.

Pick up something that you think you need the most at the moment, whether it’s for your career, lifestyle, or mental health.

5. Meditation Before Bed

Alright, down to our last and best habit in this post.

Despite exploring a plethora of habits and having ditched a lot of them, I could never get myself to meditate for more than two days in a row.

I knew it was spiritual, cleansing, and life-altering, but it was a big mystery to me.

Adding it to the list was my stubborn way of standing against my mind that just wasn’t a fan of staying still.

Three months later, I am now a different person and a huge reason behind that is the 10 minutes of meditation I’ve been doing before bed.

There is a sharp contrast in the way I handle stress now versus how I’d dealt with it earlier.

I am calmer in the face of chaos, my sleep is more peaceful, and I have healthier boundaries with others.

If you really stop to think about it, these changes shouldn’t surprise you.

Meditation gets you to slow down and focus on the now. In those few moments of focus, you are allowing yourself to just be.

No matter how troublesome your day is or how uncertain your tomorrow is, you find an anchor within yourself.

Think how much your mind will strengthen and improve if you could do this practice every night before bed.

I for one know that I am never letting go of this habit, and if you stick with it for just a few days, you won’t want to either.

There are different ways to meditate, but I am a stickler for guided meditations as they do a great job of helping me visualize.

Hit play on this clip tonight to see what I mean:

These Habits Have Really Changed The Game For Me

Eating a balanced diet keeps my gut healthy and working out keeps me physically fit.

These two habits are mainly for the sake of my body wellness but they enhance every part of my being in many ways.

Walking in nature helps me maintain a happy relationship with myself, and it’s always pure joy to receive healing vibes from the green elements around me.

Despite never having been a fan of self-help books, they’ve now become one of my strongest confidantes, and I hope to explore more such thoughtful pieces in the future.

Meditation is that stabilizing ritual that fills me with peace and reaffirms my ability to stay calm no matter what’s going on around me.

If you want, these 5 daily habits can be yours too!

Try them out over the next 30 days (turn it into a challenge if you must) and see if you like the changes that they bring.

Read next: 9 Self-Care Morning Routine Ideas You’ll Love Waking Up To

I just blabbered on about 5 daily habits that changed my life. Now it’s your turn to talk. Share a life-changing habit that means a lot to you and give me some tips on how to get started with it. The comment box is all yours.