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Useful Habits: 20 Daily Goals That Lead to Lasting Change (Part 2)

Habitual behavior makes up 40-90% of what we do every day. The thing about habits is that they are not so easy to change. By definition, a habit is something you do that you don’t consciously think about. Habits occur when triggered by a place, an event, or another action. For example, you might have the habit of stretching right after getting out of bed. Or you might head immediately to the bathroom without even realizing it. Habits, in simple terms, are automatic. Immediately checking your phone when you wake up is a habit. Checking your email just after opening your work computer is a habit. Dialing your mom while eating at lunch is a habit.

Habits can be powerful tools for change. If you are able to establish habits that positively contribute to your well-being and to your long-term goals, you are virtually setting yourself up for a life of fulfillment and success.

Curious about which habits can create lasting change? In part two of our four-part series, we explore 5 more powerful habits to fuel your long-term growth.

Journaling

Journaling is the practice of regularly recording your thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a notebook or digital platform. Your journal serves as your personal space for reflection, exploration, and self-discovery.

Why you should start journaling

Journaling offers a range of benefits that extend far beyond simply putting pen to paper. Let's delve into some of the ways journaling can positively impact your life.

Enhances mental health

Journaling fosters a space for self-reflection, allowing you to untangle the complexities of your emotions and identify the root causes of your inner conflicts. Interestingly, incorporating humor into your entries can be a powerful tool for managing stress and anxiety.

Builds confidence

Journaling can be your personal cheerleader. Talking to yourself in writing in a positive way and using affirmations within your entries can help counter negative thoughts and cultivate a more self-assured outlook.

Sharpens emotional intelligence

The act of writing down your thought processes fosters self-discovery. By understanding your emotional triggers, strengths, and weaknesses, you gain valuable insights into your actions and reactions. This increased awareness equips you to navigate similar situations more effectively in the future.

Helps you achieve your goals

Your journal becomes the perfect canvas to take those wild dreams and ambitions swirling around in your head and actually start mapping out how to make them a reality. Writing out your goals, brainstorming concrete action plans, and tracking milestones - it's like sketching a turn-by-turn roadmap to guide you on the journey to success.

Sparks creativity

Your journal becomes a judgment-free zone to let your mind wander and explore uncharted creative territory. Free from any constraints, you can chase intriguing thought trails as far as they'll go and express yourself in startlingly new ways through the written word. Who knows? You may just unearth hidden sides of your personality or an exciting new creative voice you didn't know you had.

Boosts memory

Keeping a journal strengthens your memory in a powerful way. As you write down your experiences and observations, you solidify and encode those memories more vividly. The physical act of writing clarifies and crystallizes events in your mind, making it easier to revisit detailed memories from your journal later on.

Improves critical thinking

Writing in a journal isn't just documenting events - it pushes you to critically analyze experiences from all angles. As you mull over stories from your day, journaling forces deep reflection on their meaning and significance in the broader context of your life's journey. This practice sharpens crucial skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and navigating complexity that extend far beyond the journal's pages.

Helps you excel academically

Keeping a journal is an incredibly useful study tool for students. By documenting observations from daily life, academic concepts come alive and click into place in a deeper way. Connecting textbook theories to real-world examples makes it much easier to fully grasp and apply that knowledge when exam time rolls around.

Improves physical fitness

Studies suggest that expressive writing, a form of journaling, can have a positive impact on physical health. It has been linked to improved liver function, reduced blood pressure, a strengthened immune system, and even enhanced athletic performance.

Strengthens communication skills

The process of journaling acts like a communication workout. As you strive to clearly express thoughts and experiences through writing, you're flexing crucial skills around organizing ideas coherently. This consistent practice strengthens your overall ability to articulate yourself effectively, whether it's through the written word or verbal expression.

How to start a journaling habit

Journaling is one of the most effective tools for self-growth, allowing you to stay in touch with yourself in the simplest yet most intimate way possible. Here’s how you can get started.

  • Decide where to write. Get yourself an elegantly bound journal or type away on a free virtual diary. Choose a medium that you’re most comfortable with.
  • Journal prompts can serve as a springboard for your entries, especially when you're feeling uninspired. Here are some examples.
  • Establish a routine that triggers your journaling habit. For instance, you could grab your journal immediately after waking up or before turning in for the night.
  • Honesty is key in journaling. Write everything and anything that comes through your mind. You will be surprised by how much it frees you.
  • Make your journal accessible. Keep it in the same place or bookmark the site for a one-click access.
  • And lastly, aim to write daily, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

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Staying hydrated

Did you know that 60% of the adult human body is made up of water? Every cell, tissue, and organ in the human body needs water to work properly. Among the benefits of proper hydration include temperature regulation, keeping joints lubricated, and preventing infections. Being properly hydrated also helps you sleep well and think clearly.

When you don’t drink enough water over a long period of time, you put yourself at risk of developing urological diseases, stomach issues, heart, and cognitive problems.

It’s a simple thing that could create health problems and impair your quality of life when overlooked.

Look out for the signs. Here are nine tells that you may be dehydrated.

  • Little or no urine
  • Dark urine (or darker than usual)
  • Dry mouth
  • Sleepiness or fatigue
  • Extreme thirst
  • Headache
  • Confusion
  • Dizziness or lightheadedness
  • Lack of tears when crying

How to start hydration as a habit

Everything that affects your body needs priority. Remember: poor health is equal to poor quality of experience. If you want to experience life fully, it’s important to invest effort in keeping yourself healthy — that includes proper hydration. The following are useful tips to help you start hydrating on the daily.

  • Drink on schedule. Use a timer to remind yourself to take a sip every now and then.
  • Keep a bottle of water with you during the day. Make it easy to hydrate by always having your water bottle within reach.
  • Invest in a good water bottle. Invest in a water bottle you love – a stylish one can serve as a visual cue to stay hydrated, and options with volume markings can help you track your intake.
  • Add flavoring. Add slices of citrus and cucumber, infuse the water with berries, pineapple, or melon, or add cilantro, mint leaves, ginger, oregano, and basil to enhance its flavor.

Spending quality time with people you love

Harvard’s longest study on human happiness reveals that social connections are crucial for living longer and happier. Despite the pervasiveness of social media in modern life, it’s not a sufficient replacement for meaningful, real-world connections. On the contrary, social media use is the biggest risk factor for loneliness.

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As social animals, we thrive on belonging. Being part of a close-knit group where we feel accepted as we are, where we can give and receive kindness, or be as honest as possible without being coarsely judged benefits us in more ways than one.

Enhancing physical health

A strong family life lays the foundation for overall healthier living. Simple acts like sharing meals together make it easier for everyone to eat more balanced diets, compared to families who always dine apart. Getting outside for activities like hiking, playing sports, or even just tending a garden kills multiple birds with one stone - squeezing in exercise while also strengthening those precious familial bonds.

But beyond just the physical benefits, quality family time provides immense emotional nourishment too. Having a loving support system surrounding you acts as a buffer against life's stresses. You'll find healthier ways to cope and manage anxiety. Plus, studies show strong social ties to better cardiovascular health and immune function. With people you cherish in your corner, you're less susceptible to infections and other illnesses.

So while prepping veggie-laden meals and hitting the trails together is great, the comfort and security of family may be an even bigger driver of holistic well-being. Those loving connections do a body good, both inside and out.

Bolstering mental well-being

Spending quality face-to-face time with your nearest and dearest acts like a powerful antidepressant and anxiety inoculator. Having that reliable supportive family surrounding you creates a safe haven where you can open up emotionally without judgment and get the reassurance needed to push through life's tougher moments.

Of course, no family is perfect, and disagreements will inevitably arise amid all that quality time together. But those conflicts, when approached by level-headed parents, reveal their true value. They become teaching opportunities to model constructive communication, compromise, and conflict-resolution skills that kids can carry into future relationships. A little family friction handled the right way, can be highly instructive.

So while quality family bonding nurtures emotional fortitude, it's a two-way street. The family unit is strengthened in the process as well by cultivating those interpersonal skills and that bedrock of mutual care and understanding.

Benefits for children

Children who spend quality time with their families, particularly when they receive engaged support in their education, tend to achieve greater academic success. When parents focus on the things that their kids do right, it reinforces positive patterns and provides a safe space for the kids to express their emotions, potentially mitigating behavioral issues like substance abuse and violence.

Additionally, witnessing and participating in the mundane activities of family life instills in children a desire to replicate the loving environment they experience, which lays the groundwork for nurturing and caring behaviors that they often can carry into their own future families.

Lifelong impact

At the end of the day, nothing quite anchors you like those deep family ties. Having that inner circle of loved ones who unreservedly care about you gives you a profound sense of belonging and purpose that's irreplaceable. That foundation of security and "having your back" no matter what instills a resilience that allows you to brave even the rockiest of life's storms with determination.

The benefits of nurturing those family bonds go even further than just feeling emotionally supported. Numerous studies reveal that strong social connections can quite literally extend your lifespan - by up to 50% according to some research. Having that web of loved ones seems to have profoundly positive effects on our mental and physical health at a core level.

Planning the day

Planning may not be the most glamorous habit, but its benefits are undeniable. It acts as a roadmap for your goals, helping you navigate effectively and making the journey smoother.

Benefits of planning as a habit

  • Planning serves as a guide for action. A well-defined plan breaks down large tasks into manageable steps, providing you with a clear direction and preventing you from feeling overwhelmed.
  • Planning helps you identify and allocate necessary resources efficiently so you can prevent dedicating time, energy, and money to things that don’t benefit you in the long run.
  • Planning gives you a sense of ownership and accountability. When you plan, you feel like you’re in control. This bolsters motivation in many people.
  • Regular planning helps you regularly keep in touch with your goals and track your progress. It helps you see what works and what doesn’t so you can change course when needed.
  • Planning can help you pivot and change the direction of your goals as soon as necessary. Contrary to popular belief, plans aren't rigid. They can be adapted to accommodate unexpected changes while still keeping you on the right track.

How to develop a habit of planning

If you’re someone who procrastinates a lot, becoming a planner is one of the best decisions you can make. Here’s how to get started.

  • Write your to-do list every night. Before ending your day, take a few minutes to jot down tasks for the next day, prioritizing them based on importance and urgency.
  • Pair your planning sessions with an existing habit such as making your bed or after doing your skincare routine.
  • Prioritize effectively. Learn about different methods of prioritization. Check out this guide on the Ivy Lee Method.
  • Use the right tools. There are plenty of habit apps, goal management tools, and life management resources you can use for free! Or simply use good old pen-and-paper.

Schedule break time

Many people pride themselves in their ability to power through and hustle and grind without pause. Yes, this approach, while admirable, is unsustainable. If you push yourself to the limit without rest, you risk burnout, creative stagnation, and a decline in your productivity.

By intentionally building pauses into your daily routine, you unlock a host of benefits that benefit you beyond physical rest.

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Think of your brain as a muscle, and just like any muscle, it needs rest to perform at its best. Pushing through exhaustion might seem productive in the short term, but it leads to faster burnout, higher stress levels, and ultimately, decreased productivity.

The benefits of taking a break

The good news? Even short, intentional breaks can have a profound impact. By giving your brain a mini-reset, you'll unlock a cascade of benefits including the following:

  • Improves focus
  • Relieves stress
  • Increased productivity
  • Contributes to job satisfaction
  • Improves mental health and well-being
  • Improves engagement at work
  • Helps you make better decisions
  • Reduces the likelihood of decision fatigue

How to take a break

  • Shift your focus: Engage in activities that use a different part of your brain than your work. Go for a walk, chat with colleagues, listen to music, or do some stretches.
  • Get active: Physical movement is a powerful stress reliever. Take a short walk, do some jumping jacks, or climb the stairs. Even a few minutes of activity can make a big difference.
  • Don't feel guilty: If you're feeling overwhelmed, don't force yourself to take a full-blown break. Sometimes, even switching to a different task can help clear your head and rejuvenate your focus.

Final word

No matter how old you are or where you are in life right now, choosing to focus on building positive habits can only bring you good results. 

Stay tuned for the third installment of this four-part series on habits.

Related: Useful Habits: 20 Daily Goals That Lead to Lasting Change (Part 1)

References

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