The right healthy habits can transform your mood (and your life!). Life Coach and Co-Founder of The Coaching Masters, Lewis Raymond-Taylor, reveals 8 habits to practice daily
Everyone’s version of happiness is a little different, and so is their path to achieving it.
Put simply, happiness is all about creating healthy habits which make us happy, satisfied, and content to help us lead a more fulfilling and enjoyable life.
Healthy habits encourage us to think of happiness as a skill to be cultivated or a practice to be learned, focusing on forming habits out of the things which make us feel fulfilled and positive.
happiness is all about creating healthy habits which make us happy, satisfied, and content
The human brain is wired (and re-wired) through positive and negative reinforcement. Habits form as we learn to identify a cue with a certain reward and enact a specific behaviour to obtain that reward. Doing what makes you happy is for most the ultimate reward.
Here are a few healthy habits that can help to transform your mood and your life. If any of these suggestions create added stress or just don’t fit your lifestyle, ditch them.
With a little time and practice, you’ll figure out what does and doesn’t work for you…
#1 Add a smile to your morning routine
Smiling when you’re happy is common and normal, but did you know that smiling when you’re sad can causes the brain to release dopamine, which makes us feel happier?
This doesn’t mean walking around with a ‘fake’ smile on your face, but simply try smiling first thing in the morning and you never know how much that can have a positive effect on the day ahead.
#2 Walk at least 20 minutes every day
Exercise isn’t just a great to look good or keep fit.
Exercising regularly can reduce stress, feelings of anxiety, and lessen symptoms of depression while boosting self-esteem and happiness.
If you’re not someone who exercises regularly, then start off slow with a 20-minute walk or a simple stretching routine before you go to bed or when you first wake up in the morning.
#3 Go to bed and wake up up at the same time every day
An adequate amount of sleep is harder to get than one may initially think. Adults need between 7 and 8 hours sleep per night, but we tend to average 6 hours.
use your bed only for sleeping – this means no TV or Instagram scrolling
If you find yourself dozing off in the middle of the day, or find it hard to focus, then it’s likely your body trying to tell you it needs more rest.
To get into a good sleep routine, start by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day and use your bed only for sleeping – this means no TV or Instagram scrolling.
#4 Face stress head on
Everyone will experience stress at some point in their lives but pushing it away and avoiding it will likely make it worse.
Instead of letting yourself get overwhelmed, try to tackle the stressor head-on. This might mean initiating an uncomfortable conversation or putting in some extra work, but the sooner you tackle it, the sooner the pit in your stomach will start to shrink.
#5 Socialise with friends and family often
Being around the people we love is the best way to transform your mood.
Reach out to your friends and family, organising regular meet ups and it’ll have profound effects on your happiness.
#6 Ditch your phone for an hour a day
Many of us are attached to our phones, so it can be difficult to unplug and get away from social media or work emails and phone calls.
This doesn’t mean spending a week or more with no phone, but even an hour away from your phone can have a huge impact on our happiness and overall wellbeing.
#7 Let go of grudges
Even if you’ve forgotten about it, resentment can take up a lot of space in your mind. Sometimes, offering forgiveness or dropping a grudge is more about self-care than compassion for others.
Holding a grudge against someone can make life harder to navigate, so whether you drop the grudge mentally (for yourself), or you reach out to them and mutually agree to reconcile, it can be extremely freeing.
#8 Find the right work/life balance for you
A recent TUC study shows employees in Britain spend 42 hours a week at work.
That’s an incredible amount of time and if your job doesn’t make you happy it can be detrimental to your health, not to mention your mood.
If you aren’t happy in your job, making a career change can be instrumental in discovering happiness.
making a career change can be instrumental in discovering happiness
Whatever your life experiences or qualifications, you may want to consider training as a coach and building a business which gives you career and financial freedom.
If you’re not sure how to get started, The Coaching Masters is a brilliant online resource which can set you on the path to success, featuring in-depth information and tutorials on everything from coaching fundamentals to social media, business, emotional intelligence, mindset, lifestyle, and technology.
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