Five daily habits that changed my life

Not to be dramatic… but these things really did change my life. In all the best possible ways.

As a girl who has shared before about living in survival mode and how it created chaos in my life, I know this for sure:

The things you think create the things you feel, create the things you do, which creates the reality of your life.

You get to choose the thoughts you think. And when you learn to do this with intention rather than letting your subconscious run the show, then life starts to change. Because your thoughts create your emotions – whether those are conscious or subconscious. And most folks take actions or do things in life because of the way it makes them feel.

But what you consistently do determines your life. So when we choose better thoughts that lead to better emotions that create better actions… our life improves.

Can you just choose new actions without changing your thoughts? Sure! You do that with willpower.

But how long does willpower last? Certainly not forever. So you have to change your thoughts for real change.

HOWEVER… with all that said, here are the five habits (aka actions) that changed my life. And I am saying this after months, if not years, of doing them daily. This isn’t the typical influencer list of habits I picked up last week to try to sell you a fancy new amazon find.

These are all FREE things you can do that will literally change your life. And I’m going to break them down. Not only what to do – but WHY to do them.

1. Wake up to watch the sunrise.

There is a special wave of sunlight that is best for us in the morning, especially as the sun rises. This special sunlight increases serotonin in our body naturally that helps to combat depression, anxiety, overwhelm as so much more.

Personally, it’s also helped my insomnia. I get better sleep, as well as more sleep, by going to bed around 10 pm and I’m up between 5-6 without an alarm clock. This wasn’t always the case. But within 3 days of intentionally getting up before sunrise, I noticed a HUGE shift in my mood and overall mental health.

2. Walk barefoot in the grass.

I typically do this while I’m watching the sunrise to get both things at once, but even if I don’t get it done during the morning hours then I do it later in the day. As a child, I was constantly barefoot in the summer… and turns out there is a reason why I was almost never sick.

Grounding has a TON of physical and mental health benefits, it is literally one of the easiest and best things you can do for your body. Once again, it also increases serotonin, which improves your mood, stabilizes your blood pressure and can even reduce chronic pain.

Plus – the bonus combination of the two of these means that you are outside. And if you listen to birds for as little as five minutes a day, it can calm anxiety and increase your mood for up to 8 hours. Studies have shown that there is a response in our nervous system that is calmed by the sound of birds… probably because caveman era humans knew it meant that there were no predators around.

3. Journaling three pages a day.

I’ve talked before about the benefits of journaling, but there is just something so valuable in getting all of your thoughts onto paper. When we dump the junk drawer of our noggins onto paper, we have more clarity throughout our day.

It also helps you to process problems, find your patterns so you can rewrite them, as well as track all the parts of your life that you love. There are so many ways you can journal, from making a list, to jotting down a line or two of thoughts… but for me, it takes about 3 pages for me to feel a difference in my mind. It really is the baseline for finding calmness (which is always needed in my ADHD brain.)

Some days I do more, occasionally, I do less, but I strive for at least 3 pages a day. Journaling daily increases your oxytocin, which is the “love hormone” because it’s literally spending time building the relationship within yourself.

4. Spend time in daily meditation.

Mediation can be hard for those who think you have to “quieten your mind” – I know it was for me at first. But now that I’ve been meditating daily for about 6 months, I can tell you that the before and after are insane for me.

It was the single greatest tool that I have utilized in shifting from external validation to internal validation – which is TRULY the key to inner peace and happiness. Meditation can be a lot of different things, but if you are just beginning, I highly recommend doing guided meditation videos on youtube. They are typically visualization meditations so you can focus on what the sound is, rather than trying to quiet your mind.

But just like the others, this one gives you all the good hormones, including endorphins which will increase your happiness naturally. It’s like a free version of an anti-depressant!

5. Drink enough water.

I remember watching the series finale of The Andy Griffith show as a child, with Aunt Bea leaving her wisdom to Opie. The only one I really remember is “drink 8 glasses of water a day.” And she was right (she was Aunt Bea, after all!)

Being dehydrated causes SO MANY issues within our bodies, especially our brains. Humans are about 65% water, so if you are dehydrated, then you will have brain fog, will most likely confuse thirst for hunger, will be irritable, it can cause skin issues, not to mention joint pain, constipation, kidney stones, UTIs and more.

This one isn’t about increasing hormones… it’s about creating a better environment for your body. Forests need rain to be lush. Flowers need water to be vibrant. We need water to be our best selves.

And it is honestly one of the keys to my weight loss success of over 120 pounds! Drink your water. I promise, you’ll feel SO MUCH better.

See… as promised… simple, free solutions, with science backed reasons why they give you a better life.

I find that when we understand WHY they are important, we are far more likely to actually do the things that are best for us. At least, I know that’s what it took for me to make them stick.

So I hope this has given you a bit of inspiration to curate habits that help you live your best life, too!

If you wanna dive deeper into this, I have an entire ebook on it. Inside you’ll learn even more habits, even more science behind it, and all of the research-backed ways I got out of survival mode and stepped into a whole new life. One filled with more happiness and joy than I’ve ever known was possible.

You deserve that life, too, my friend!

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