If you’ve hung out with me on any social platform for basically any length of time now, you’ve probably heard me talk about these five best daily habits.
These are the habits that drastically changed my life, amped my energy level and set the foundation for me to be joyful and wildly productive. At first glance, they’ll probably strike you as super simple. And maybe you’ll think that nothing so basic could ever have profound results in your life but dude, it’s the simple things, done consistently that change everything. Trying adding even one to your daily routine for a month and see what happens.
Here are the five daily habits that changed my life:
1 // WAKE UP ONE HOUR EARLIER
This habit came in response to really crappy mornings. Seriously. I was a young mother and every single day was a battle to get the kids out the door for school. We started each and every day as one giant stress ball. To counteract that feeling (for me and for them) I started getting up earlier to get organized before they woke up. That little extra time worked wonders, so, I added a little more time and used it to journal. When that made me feel great, I added some more time and eventually my early morning habit was born. Over a decade later and I still wake up before my 6AM alarm every morning because I’m genuinely so excited to start the day.
Want to try this one? Get up one hour earlier than you normally would and use that time for morning routine and self care. Use it to work on that book you’ve always wanted to write. Use it to workout, read a great non-fiction book, meditate, exercise, or just have a cup of coffee in peace while you journal.
Two important caveats with this one. If you have a new baby or if you work crazy middle-of-the-night kind of hours, please be smart about this. Sleep is essential, so in order to pull this one off you’ve got to go to bed earlier and be in a season of life that can accommodate this habit.
2 // START A DAILY GRATITUDE PRACTICE
If you decide to choose only one of these habits to incorporate into your day, please let it be this one! A daily gratitude practice will fundamentally change your life. Gratitude helps to ground us and keep us calm. Gratitude is antidote for anxiety, fear, stress and anger and the key to living more joyfully. It’s easy to access at any time of day and will reframe the way you see every single part of your life. You can do a gratitude practice inside a guided meditation, as part of prayer or if you’re like me, you can write down what you’re grateful for each and every morning in your Start Today journal.
My best advice for this habit is to really focus in on little blessings. Many people will list out massive things (I’m thankful for my house, my job, etc) and those are wonderful but they can become a bit stale. Instead, try and focus on little blessings, moments of serendipity and special moments within the last 24 hours. They’re always around us but can be hard to see if we don’t look for them.
If you’re not already journaling and writing out your gratitude, we highly recommend you listen to THIS where I talk all about why you need a journaling practice in your life!
3 // DRINK ALL THE WATER
Aim for half your body weight in ounces of water each day (I actually drink my full body weight in ounces of water but it took me years to work up to this point). Hydration is so essential for health, it’s great for your body and your skin and it’s totally free. Also, I always think it’s easier to add something into our lives than to remove something, so this one is usually where I tell people to start if they’re beginning a health journey.
Whenever newbies to our community hear this they always say something like, “Oh my gosh! That’s a lot of water. That’s way more than I’m drinking now. Doesn’t that make you have to pee every five minutes?”
In a word: yes. Of course, it does. But it’s also flushing toxins out of your system, helping your skin to look better, and getting rid of headaches before they have a chance to irritate you. So grab a reusable water bottle and start chugging!
4 // MOVE YOUR BODY FOR 30 MINUTES
Move your body for 30 minutes… every single day. Around here we believe that when you “move your body, you change your mind” so we commit to 30 minutes of good-feeling movement each and every day. Depending on your level of fitness, 30 minutes a day for you might be time at the gym, a Zumba class, cardio kickboxing, or working out with a trainer. For others, maybe you’re at the beginning of your fitness journey. So 30 minutes might just be an easy walk outside in nature, playing in the backyard with your kids or dancing around in your kitchen as you make dinner.
5 // RELEASE SOMETHING
Choose one category –something you know is keeping you from being your best self– and give it up. Some members of the community choose a new item to release each month. They choose things like alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, junk food, social media, etc.
We’ve seen the most incredible stories of transformation come out of these experiences. But however you choose to pursue this habit, know that what you remove from your life is often just as powerful as what you add to it.
