They say you can’t change a habit but you can replace it with another habit especially if it’s a bad one.
Habits are easy to form but difficult to break. Habits can limit or expand your reach in life.
These are my top 14 habits you can develop to replace old, bad ones this new year.
1. Start keeping a journal. It’s good to document your thoughts, emotions, what’s happening or happened to you. It helps to see how far you have come.
2. Start saving. “The ant doesn’t save because of surplus – it saves because the future depends on it.” Adeolu Akinyemi.
In order to live above your income, you need to start saving monthly. You can start as little as 5% of your income every month. You can increase it gradually till you are comfortable with the habit. Start today, you will never have enough to prompt you to save. For business owners, my recommendation is 20% saving from every profit.
3. Start charitable giving. Irrespective of your belief, you can give to a charitable, good cause in your community, nation or abroad. It’s fulfilling to live for something greater that yourself. My heart was filled with joy and fulfilment when I recently recieved a picture of the child we’ve been sponsoring through Compassion UK since 2007.
4. Start exercising 15-30 minutes daily. You don’t have to register at the gym to exercise daily. You can start walking to the train station instead of taking the bus. There are plenty exercise regimes on Youtube you can do in the convenience of your room. Health they say is wealth.
5. Start reading and expand your mind. Most people are lazy to read, we all have to read constantly because importance is placed on it. Break away from this laziness and start reading again. There are great resources online and many at affordable prices. Invest in your mind.
6. Start spending quality time with family. Don’t wait till your health deteriorates to really appreciate your family. Make them a priority in your life.
7. Start doing something that scares (challenges) you at least once monthly or bi-monthly. You will be surprised what you can achieve and the demons of fear you will get rid of.
8. Start daily improvement. Thrive to do better than yesterday. Don’t let your success and achievement ground your motivation and possibilities. Yesterdays success is old news.
9. Start being truthful to yourself and people around you. You can never go wrong for being truthful, it can get you into problems but the truth will always prevail.
10. Start reflecting on your day and your actions. You can easily identify what you need to change or improve before it becomes a big problem for you.
11. Start being grateful and stop complaining about everything. It could be worse. Be grateful for what you have and make the best of it. Let thanks be first nature.
12. Start to declutter your life both physically and mentally. Get rid of what you don’t need or haven’t used in the last six months. Declutter your mind from those toxic thoughts. You don’t need them.
13. Start eating healthy. Obesity does not happen like magic, its overnight. It’s a gradual process.
14. Smile often. It’s a great non expensive universal medication that can cure most emotional illness.
