Ten Healthy Habits For A Better Quality Life

Healthy KidThe quality of your life depends on many factors. The good news is that many of these factors can be influenced to a great extent, so that your quality of life can be improved. Human beings are creatures of habit. By cultivating good habits, you can improve your health, relationships, and emotional well-being. The following habits have been known to change people’s lives for the better.

  1. Waking up at 5 am

Benjamin Franklin. Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1735.

The virtues of waking up at 5 am are numerous. A day has 25 hours if you wake up an hour earlier! You have time for a jog, any other quick workout, for meditation, or to make a healthy breakfast. If you decide to work early, there is no other time as conducive as these early hours. Your brain is fresh from a good night’s rest, and you can focus without distraction. The virtues of getting up early are borne out in the lives of many successful people. If you want to get up early, however, you have to go to sleep early. Night owls cannot wake up early.

  1. Drinking 1-4 glasses of water on empty stomach

Kid Drinking WaterThis is one habit that may have the greatest impact on your health. water cleanses your blood, eliminating toxins. It also results in the creation of new muscle and blood cells. As toxins are eliminated, your skin looks healthy and glowing. Keeping the body hydrated and clean is the first important step towards a healthy life. Last but not the least, drinking lots of water in the early morning leads to happy journeys to the toilet.

  1. Standing and walking instead of sitting

The health hazards of sitting are quite known now. It just takes a bit of conscious effort to get up and walk after half an hour of sitting at your desk. Prolonged sitting has been shown to cause problems to the back bone including disk damage, degeneration of the muscles, slowing down of brain functions, and leg disorders. When you have to sit, sit in the right way. Sit up straight, with shoulders relaxed and elbows at 90 degrees. You should not lean forward. Feet should be flat on the floor.

  1. Being punctual

Though not directly connected to health, punctuality is a virtue that is well worth cultivating. Being punctual is the right thing to do. There is a reason for scheduling an event at a particular time. Being punctual shows you are trustworthy and reliable. If you are habitually punctual, you will never be stressed about being late. People trust you more, and they take your word seriously.

  1. Being connected

Connectivity is very important for your emotional and psychological health. You should have a network of family and friends with whom you are in touch often, and a couple of friends who will be your ‘go to’ people when times are bad. Maintain your friendships. Cultivate and cherish positive relationships, but run away from people who bring negativity into your life. People who gossip constantly, who complain all the time, and cling to you to satisfy their every need, drain your energy. Surround yourself with people who give you positive vibes. Relationships with such people enrich you.

  1. Minimizing social media

Being connected does not mean being on Facebook, Twitter or Whatsapp 24/7. Do not fall into the trap of posting every single thing happening in your life or just sharing inanities on Facebook, for example. Do not be a slave to social media. Check your email just twice a day – once in the morning, and once before sleep. Schedule just half an hour every day for all your social media activities together. That is more than enough time to catch up with your friends and relatives. Finally, when you are at work, keep your smart phone on silent mode or switch it off. If anyone has to contact you urgently, they will find other ways to do so.

  1. Work out/exercise

Children Playing in GroundGo for a walk or do a workout. Move your body and see that every part of it gets some exercise every day.  These days there is a lot of awareness of the benefits of exercising your body. Other than controlling weight, regular exercise wards off many diseases including depression. It oxygenates your body and improves your sleep. Exercise for at least 30 minutes per day.

  1. Do gardening

Do you do gardening as a hobby? If not, it is high time you did. Researchers in the Netherlands has found gardening to be a better stress relieving activity than other leisure activities. It leads to better mental and brain health, and provides you with good exercise. What is often not mentioned among the benefits of gardening is the sheer joy you experience when your vegetables finally grow, and you are able to harvest. Last but not the least,  you will be eating vegetables without any harmful chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

  1. Reading

Reading develops the mind. The great men and women who are our contemporaries and who have lived and died before us enjoyed reading. To quote the famous author Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice, ““I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” A person with a reading habit has a broad and wise mind. He/she is never bored in life due to lack of activity.

  1. Sleeping enough

Boy Child SleepingSleeping well is important for healthy brain functioning, emotional stability, and physical health. It also improves your daytime performance and the ability to make sound decisions. Your sleep needs vary at different ages. The duration of sleep you need to have as a child is much more than that you need as an adult. Lack of sleep has serious consequences for both physical and mental health.

These ten habits will help you greatly in life, both personal and professional. Start one habit per week or even per month. Slow and steady wins the race!

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