So earlier this week I decided that I would share the fifteen habits I adore the most and I believe for one’s who are reading this in your tens, the twenties and thirties or as a matter of fact any age can be worth trying! Habits are one of the most important aspects of our life. They define our lifestyle, our identity is influenced by our habits and most of the time our thinking and choices reflect in our habits. It is also said that our habits define our life. So it’s almost very necessary to choose our habits with intention, maybe not all our habits but at least some. So without further ado, I am ready to share some of the basic yet simple habits I adore the most and follow in my life.
Habit 1: Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
Leonardo Da Vinci once said that “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
To most simplicity means unintelligent or dumb but to me leading a life with simplicity is an art. Simplicity is a perfect realization of life. It is the achievement of something on which we work so hard. Bringing simplicity into being is highly difficult since it involves working on and with the self and goes on working throughout life. To me, this is more of the principles of life that I follow rather than a habit.
Habit 2: Make your bed
Starting my day with a small accomplishment is something I love. The first thing I do every morning is make my bed. It’s a very teeny tiny task but doing this one thing can be fruitful. It’s important to note that when we lack discipline in doing the easiest task of the day and try to skip it, then it can be hard for us to conquer the rest amazing things awaiting in our life. Well, this is what I think. To me, this is a discipline in life that I must follow and believe me, do try it for a few days and you will experience a boost in your energy and after a couple of days, it won’t look like a chore for you anymore.
Habit 3: Smiling at the mirror
Sometimes there are points in life where we self-doubt, feel lost and incomplete. Then taking a moment to smile can give us a sense of calm and move on in our life. It can be tough to smile at that time and that’s the first challenge we need to overcome in such circumstances, smiling at the mirror can do wonders but very few know about this and acknowledge it.
The simple habit of smiling at the mirror makes me drop all my emotions for just a second and makes me acknowledge and appreciate myself, for who I am.
Habit 4: Taking the first one hour of your morning, for yourself.
This is something I always stress in my newsletter editions. It’s very important to get that sixty minutes for ourselves in the morning. It’s also important to note that please don’t start this with your phone. Just you, your thoughts, some lasting memory of your dreams and so on. This can be a good time for self-exploration. If you don’t want to spend an hour you can at least start with 15 minutes and then increase the time gradually. Once you start this you will soon appreciate the power of slowing down. Quick tip, I once used to spend my first thirty minutes meditating and the process is quite simple, close your eyes and just focus on breathing. It’s the time I try to think about all the wonderful things present in this world and show gratitude. I sometimes try to imagine I am in space and just let things go with ease. Try it once, you will feel something special!
Habit 5: Write every day
Not typing but writing with a pen or pencil on paper. When we write, we slow down our thoughts, we structure our thoughts and we train our minds to think coherently. I once mentioned this in one of my previous editions: Five things you should do to keep that brain working.
It is very important that we spend some time actually writing, instead of typing. It may look silly but it can help us in many ways we may not realise. This is something I personally enjoy the most.
Habit 6: Don’t complain!
This is something I realized a little late but maybe for the best!
We get good at whatever it is we do every day and this can also include complaining. It’s very important to quit complaining every day. It’s okay to complain once in a while when we are just flowing with emotions and are filled with overwhelm. It is plausible because we are human and we can’t just control ourselves every time. We may be angry, sad or bitter and that’s normal, that’s what life is about. But it is important that we don’t complain about stuff always. This brings a sense of dissatisfaction in our life and can resist us from being happy for what we have.
Habit 7: Don’t judge or comment!
Again something I mentioned back from my previous editions.
It’s easy to comment from the other end but when we are actually in it, we realize how tough something can be. It is intensely hard to be the one in the arena and fight. We need to appreciate the courage. Never be the commentator. Commenting good or bad both in one glance is never the right action.
Habit 8: Read books and ask questions
Two fun things to do every day!
There are two ways to learn from mistakes. One is to make them, two is to read about mistakes others made. Just try to fall in love with reading or if not just read a book or anything that you love (journals, articles, newsletters, comics) once a month. Once you try reading a book that fits your style, it’s almost impossible to stop you from reading it. The books will automatically happen!
Asking questions is completely fine. Do not pretend to know the answers always and do not assume you know the answers already. Ask as many questions and as dumb as they are, it’s completely fine. You won’t lose your cool, you will instead learn something better. Sometimes the questions may not be right but it’s okay we all make mistakes, so just brush it off and never stop yourself from asking questions.
Habit 9: Try to do one thing that scares you at least once a while
We are surrounded by unexpected events and fear of things and maybe stuck in difficult circumstances. The only thing we can do is to try to step into it, fight it and get comfortable with it. We need to face the fear. Building resilience is one of the most important qualities in today’s world and this habit will help you build resilience.
A simple anecdote of me trying to get over my fears is something I want to share. Though it may sound a little unusual but I am insanely scared of bugs and as a matter of fact, even the tiniest insect-like ants freak me out. This seemed stupid to a lot of people when they got to know about this fear of insects. Well, it’s true. I am even scared of butterflies but recently I decided to fight this fear. I started working on staying calm when I see a bug and instead try to shoo it away. This happened over a course of time and in small steps. Though I am not perfect, but at least if I see an insect now I don’t cry. I wanted to share this to let you know that we can fight our fears, it may look scary but trying to overcome them is the best thing to do and that in itself shows how brave we can be!
So this edition involved some of the daily small habits you can try to adopt! It will definitely create a change in your life! If you got some more simple habits you like, do share them over here and keep adding to the list. I decided to share only the top 9 of the simple habits I follow in life because these are something that can impact our lives and change our perception of how we perceive life! So don’t forget to give them a shot. You can try to pick one which you find super easy and then add on!
Until then take care! Bye for now!
Cheers
Ganga
Disclaimer: All the thoughts and ideas discussed are exclusively the author's individual thoughts and do not represent any association/foundation/individuals the author is related to. Anything that may have hurt the sentiments of any group or groups of individuals is inadvertent and without malice. The author at no point means to demonize or insult any religion, practice, gathering, or individual.