“Quality is not an act; it is a habit.” That’s what Aristotle said, and we have to admit that Aristotle knew a thing or two about quality of life. This is someone whose existence made a difference in this world.
Have you ever thought about your habits? What are they?
- I like to sleep.
- I smoke and drink too much.
- I have a habit of walking my dog every single morning.
- I read and exercise.
These were only a few examples of possible answers. You’ll notice that some of these habits are positive, whereas others are negative.
Positive habits are what we should all be working on. When we get into the habit of doing something good for ourselves, we elevate our lives to a whole new level.
You want us to get into specifics? Sure! We’ll list 10 particular habits that will change your life for the better.
Top 10 Habits To Improve Your Life
1. Accountability
Strong people make big decisions, and hold themselves accountable every time.
When you do something and it doesn’t go as planned, you mustn’t transfer the blame onto other people. Let’s say you start a business and it doesn’t work. It’s not the staff’s fault. It’s not the audience’s fault. You’ll try to blame everyone and everything, but the one who you really need to hold accountable is yourself.
Michael C. Hyatt, an author, blogger, and businessman, has a habit of asking himself: “What is it about your leadership that produced these results?”
The habit of accountability doesn’t have to be associated to only business. It’s important for every aspect of your life: parenting, fitness, eating, personal growth, everything.
2. Making Goals
What’s the purpose of your life? What’s the purpose of this month? What’s the purpose of this day?
When you set out specific goals for your life, you’re living every single day with a purpose. You feel fulfilled and you’re not wasting time.
3. Kindness
Take Gandhi as an example. The circumstances were cruel to him and his nation. He had many opponents. How did he respond? He never showed anger; he only showed persistence and kindness. Kindness was the key to his meaningful existence.
When society and people treat you poorly, anger is your instinctive reaction. You shouldn’t allow that instinct to overcome your rational reasoning. You are a kind person. Respond with kindness and you’ll make a real difference.
4. Budgeting
Imagine two women working the same job, receiving the same salary, and living in similar family circumstances.
One of these women manages to achieve all her monthly goals and stay within budget. She lives a fulfilled life. She travels, eats out, and does everything else a young woman should do.
The other one has a similar lifestyle, but she can’t make ends meet. Do you know what the difference is? – Budgeting. Proper budgeting habits help you to live a more fulfilled and successful life.
The good news is that budgeting is not a complex skill to develop. Just calculate how much money you need to cover the basic expenses and lifestyle within a month. See how much you earn and arrange those funds in a way to cover all days of the month.
5. Reading
Did you know that Mark Zuckerberg set and achieved a goal to read 23 books in 2015?
All successful people read. That’s how they upgrade their knowledge on a daily basis.
But for this habit to be productive, you shouldn’t focus on summer reads. Choose really good books that will make a difference in the way you see life. Winners of the Nobel and Man Booker prizes are always a good start.
6. Stepping Up
Sometimes life brings you to an uncomfortable situation. You have to cold-call a complete stranger, start over on a project that took a lot of energy, or fire someone if you’re the boss.
It’s important to recognize what the right thing to do is, and do it without holding back. Take continuous steps forward; turn that into a habit!
7. Learning
Take any celebrity you admire and you’ll notice that they are committed to lifelong learning. It doesn’t matter whether this person gained a degree or not; they are still learning. Whether it’s an actor, writer, or a CEO you admire, this is the characteristic they have in common.
Keep learning. There are many online resources (Coursera, LinkedIn Learning an so forth) that provide all kinds of courses to cover different interests. Make the commitment and you’ll see how knowledge changes your life.
8. Informational Diet
We’re talking about gaining more knowledge and then we move onto an informational diet? Yes; you need to limit the intake of information that does not serve you.
Gossip, useless news, celebrity trivia, with tons of things you should focus on, unnecessary information imposes a huge strain.
Choose your focus: your industry and interests. Use a content curation tool like Pocket to get the essential information from all over the web, and stop paying attention to trivia.
9. Healthy Life
Health is not a matter of genes. It’s a matter of habits.How’s your diet? Do you exercise every day? Do you take care of your mental health?
All these are habits that immensely affect your life. Look after your health. Health is true wealth.
10. Journaling
Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Frida Kahlo, Fyodor M. Dostoevsky are a few famous people wrote daily in their journals or diaries. Journaling is a great habit not only because you’ll have a record of your life’s journey but also because it helps you to get in touch with your inner self.
This habit makes you face your deepest thoughts and emotions. You’ll recognize the triggers of negative behavior and you’ll work on them.
Conclusion
You love yourself enough to make a commitment towards a more fulfilled life. Right? Right!
Well, start working on developing good habits, which will change your life step by step.
