Are you searching for ways to create change and growth in your life? From replacing bad behaviors to trying new things, these small changes are sure to deliver big results.
1. Hold Yourself to a Bedtime
Having a bedtime as an adult is a small change that will make a big difference. Establishing and maintaining a bedtime routine ensures you get enough sleep each night. A healthy sleep regimen can improve cognitive function, improve mood regulation, and create a stronger immune response.
Erratic sleeping schedules can lead to sleep disorders and even health-related issues. Adequate sleep is one of the most imperative activities to schedule in your day.
Related Reading: 10 Tips to Help Get You Out of Bed in the Morning
2. Morning Gratitude and Prayer
Spend your mornings with gratitude and prayer. The most significant change you can make in your life is establishing a direct line with your creator.
There are several ways to incorporate gratitude into your mornings. From gratitude journaling to writing three things down daily, practicing gratitude improves physical and mental health, sleep, happiness, and empathy while drastically reducing worry and stress.
3. Stop Complaining
Complaining is an unhealthy coping mechanism. The first step in replacing it with a healthy coping skill is identifying when and why you complain. While you may feel better unloading your grievances, negative talk has detrimental consequences.
Did you know that the acts of both speaking and listening cause your brain to release stress hormones? Why is that concerning? Over time, stress hormones can result in cognitive decline, cardiovascular issues, and gastrointestinal problems.
4. Stop Arguing With Strangers
Stop giving your energy to strangers. From cursing out the driver in front of you to frantically typing your anger away online in the comment section, arguing with strangers adds nothing positive to your life. Implementing small changes like this will lead to major differences in your mental wellness and overall health.
5. Turn off the News
Speaking of anger, turn off the news! You realize that all mainstream media is programming the masses (you) with their narrative, right? So why do you consume any of it? If you can’t trust one story, what makes you think you can believe the next?
Did you know that studies have linked the consumption of bad news to increased distress, anxiety, and depression, even when the news in question is relatively mundane?
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports Cecille Ahrens, clinical director of Transcend Therapy, says: “We are evolutionarily wired to screen for and anticipate danger, which is why keeping our fingers on the pulse of bad news may trick us into feeling more prepared.”
Unfortunately, the fear, sadness, and anger triggered by negative headlines can cause people to stay stuck in a pattern of frequent monitoring, leading to worse moods and doomscrolling. So, turn off the news and unfollow it on your social media platforms, too.
8. Uninstall Social Media Apps
On better thought, delete your social media apps from your phone entirely. Do you how much time you’re wastning checking meaningless notifications? Do you realize how frequently you interrupt daily responsibilities, work, and tasks when you reach for your phone? Remove the temptation, distraction, and mental health destroyer for good.
7. Move Your Body
Did you know that having a sedentary lifestyle increases your risk for premature death? A sedentary lifestyle is when you sit or lay down for six or more hours, lacking significant physical movement in your daily life.
Medline Plus explains that living this lifestyle increases your chances of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, and depression. Moving your body is one of the small changes that can make the biggest difference in your lifespan.
8. Write Down a Daily Goal
Goals help you align your focus and promote a healthy sense of self-accomplishment. Did you know that setting goals can trigger new behaviors that help you sustain that momentum in life? Start by writing one goal down a day and ensuring that you achieve it. You’ll be amazed by your newfound confidence and motivation to set and achieve more.
9. Stretch
Many people associate stretching as a pre-workout activity. However, one of the best small changes you can make for your overall health is daily stretching. It increases your range of motion, flexibility, and blood flow to muscles while reducing stress.
As someone who lives with chronic neck and back pain, I was flabbergasted when I started doing free Yoga videos on YouTube and immediately experienced pain relief. I highly recommend incorporating stretching into your day if you suffer from any pain.
10. Try a New Healthy Recipe Each Week
The majority of Americans need to eat healthier than we do. Most of what is in our grocery stores is processed garbage full of chemicals that cause disease and illness, including cancer, obesity, heart disease, and death.
Trying a new recipe each week is one of those small changes that can lead to big differences in physical health, weight management, skin health, and your overall eating lifestyle. Choose vegetarian and vegan recipes to incorporate more healthy vegetables into your diet.
Remember, don’t overwhekem yourself. It is impractical to do all these things at once. Making too many changes all at one time is a recipe for failure. Pick the low-hanging fruit and implement one until it feels easy and natural to accomplish. And then keep going; you’ve got this!
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Elizabeth Ervin is the owner of Sober Healing. She is a freelance writer passionate about opioid recovery and has celebrated breaking free since 09-27-2013. She advocates for mental health awareness and encourages others to embrace healing, recovery, and Jesus.