Habits for a Better Life

Habits take 21 days to stick. So it's not that much time that you have to enforce these to yourself. It takes a bit of self-discipline, but I have faith in you. If you want it, you have to put in the effort to make it happen. So here is a few small things you can do in your daily routine for 21 days to create habits for a better life.

1. Wake up at a consistent time.

This makes it a hell of a lot easier to make up every morning, let me tell you. but the trick to waking up at a consistent time is to go to sleep at a consistent time, too.

2. Stretch and/or meditate daily

this helps get your blood flowing while keeping you relaxed. You'd be amazed at how good it feels to just stretch out your whole body. And you can turn on a guided meditation while you stretch and feel even more relaxed and at peace. I usually do this at night though, it helps me get relaxed and clear-headed before I go to bed. The less I have on my brain before going to bed, the easier it is for me to fall asleep, meditating has really helped me shut down a bit and actually get my brain in the mindset of going to sleep.

3. SELF CARE IS IMPORTANT.

I don't know how many times I have to tell my friends, self care will change your entire energy. Treat yourself to a bubble bath, put on a face mask, paint your nails, do a lotion sock treatment on your feet. You deserve to be pampered, and as much as possible. Somehow coordinate a self care routine into your day/night to feel like a whole new person.

4. Set goals.

To get to a better life, you have to make sure you are moving forward. Sit down one day and listen your goals for your life. Make goals for one month from now, three months from now, six months from now, one year from now, hell what about five and 10 years from now? But the trick to moving forward is making REALISTIC goals.

5. Eat healthier.

Obviously, this goes without saying, but you aren't going to get any healthier if you keep eating a lot of bread, pasta, sugar, drinking juices, alcohol, sodas, so you need to make an effort and slowly cutting those things out.

6. Honor your commitments.

If you make plans with someone, don't cancel. If you tell your family that you'll take the trash out, take the damn trash out. Be about your word. Don't make empty promises.

7. Quality over quantity.

This is super important. You don't need a lot of people in your life. You need people who love and care about you and want the best for you. No drama, just love. No sitting in the house all day, but hanging out with decent people who have goals and aspirations for their lives, too.

8. Exercise daily.

I would say at least 30 minutes every day. Go for a walk, jog, run, whatever, get yourself warmed up, and then go on Pinterest and find a workout that works best for you. Then go for another walk to cool down. Stretch out your body so your muscles don't get tight, it also helps with taking the soreness away a little bit the next couple days.

9. Plan your day ahead.

Get your journal or planner and plan out tomorrow. Create a to-do list and schedule it, making the most difficult the first to be done. No procrastinating. Successful people did not get where they are today by putting everything off, they put their big kid pants on and got it done.

10. No more eating in front of the TV.

Eat your dinner with your friends and family around the table. Unplug from the screens for 30 minutes to eat and talk about everyone's day, what they have going on.

11. Create a skincare routine.

Pinterest is amazing for finding the perfect skin care routine for your skin type, try some and see what works best for you. Do three face masks a week, whether they are DIY or from your favorite beauty store. When I do my skincare routine, I take a makeup wipe all over my face and get the makeup off the surface. Then while I'm in the shower I'll take a washcloth and sit it on my face and let the heat open my pores up. After about thirty seconds, I remove the washcloth and exfoliate my face, then use my favorite cleanser, and once I'm out of the shower will take another makeup wipes and get whatever I missed that came smudged in the shower, and moisturize.

12. Take time out of your day to journal how you're feeling, what you're thinking.

There is a time when I feel journalling really helps me. Which is when I bite my tongue. If I get in heated discussion with a friend or coworker, I will just keep my mouth shut and listen and write alllll my feelings down later on in the day after I've reflected on it. Which has been hard to do because I have a very bad temper, but we're getting there. Little progress is better than none.

13. Drink more water.

Water is great for your health, it's great for your skin. Other drinks like juices and sodas have too much sugar in them and will break your skin out and it's not the best if you're trying to lose weight. It can also make you very lazy.

14. Leave FOMO behind.

FOMO is the fear of missing out. We don't need to worry about that. Because from now on if we want to do something, we're doing it. We are saying yes to all of it starting today!

15. Learn something new everyday.

I usually go on pinterest and type "#didyouknow," and it brings up all sorts of interesting facts. Some are pretty cool, not going to lie though, some are a bit corny. So bare with me.

16. Listen when people speak to you.

When someone is telling you how they feel, actually listen to them. Not only is it a respectful thing to do, but if they are coming to you to get out their feelings they must view you as pretty important. Hear what they are saying, take it in, and offer them the best version of you possible.

17. Journal daily.

I prefer to journal at night to reflect on what happened in my entire day, how I was feeling, what I could change to have a better tomorrow, while I journal I will write my gratitudes.

18. Make time for loved ones.

Call a family member, text a sibling, see how everyone is doing. Check in texts can feel so good, just knowing you're thinking about them will make their day even better.

19. Be consistent.

Don't change who you are for the crowd that is around you, always be true to yourself. Always be there for the people you love. Always stick to your word.

20. Challenge yourself.

All I'm going to say is comfort zones are for wusses.

21. Be confident.

There is nothing more ATTRACTIVE than confidence, okay, whether you're male, female, black, white, whatever, when you are feeling yourself, others are feeling you, too. It's okay to love yourself.

22. Learn from your failures.

You should never regret anything, and you should never view anything as a mistake. Get up, figure out where you went wrong, and try again. You got this, I promise. It's a cliche, I know, BUT YOU CAN DO ANYTHING IF YOU JUST BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.

23. Budget.

I'm not getting into budgeting again, guess you'll have to go check out my post on how to start saving money ;)

24. Cook at home.

Cooking at home can feel so rewarding at times. Not only that, but it's healthier than eating out every night—AND it saves you money. Cooking at home is a triple win.

25. Take Responsibility.

No more trying to find someone else to blame. You are the reason you are where you are. You made the choices to get you here. The faster you own up to that, the faster things will fall into place for you and you can actually move on to a healthier, happier, all around better life.

26. NO MORE DAMN EXCUSES.

Listen, y'all. If my mama can work two to three jobs, go to college, AND raise a baby... we can better our lives. It does not take as much work as you think it does. So let's pull up our big girl pants for 21 days and get these habits going.