Our habits are our foundation. As Roman poet Ovid said, “Habits change into character.”
If you work on that foundation, we rounded up eight super-simple habits you can consider adding to your routine:
Read 30 minutes a day.
Whether you like sci-fi novels, poetry, or nonfiction, just set aside a little bit of time to read. Bonus: Reading before bed has been shown to improve the quality of people's sleep.
Stretch every single day.
Stretching is important before and after exercise, but that's not all! Building flexibility will also help prevent injury in the future, help with stress relief, and increase blood flow. Next time you are watching TV or waiting for your food to warm up, try incorporating a few minutes of stretching.
Drink 1 tall glass of water right when you wake up.
After sleeping all night you need to rehydrate your body! A glass of water in the morning will jumpstart your day by improving your mental clarity and even helping you lose weight.
Eat breakfast!
A lot of people skip the first meal of the day, but having something for breakfast can have a major impact on your school/work performance, mood, and physical health (especially for athletes)! Not to toot our own horn, but we recommend trying out our healthy bars that you can batch make each week.
Keep a gratitude journal.
Gratitude is a great way to boost your baseline happiness and appreciate the people and things in our life. Before bed, reflect back on your day and jot down three simple things that made you smile.
Go for regular walks.
Being in nature is amazing for mental health. Even just a quick walk around the block can help to clear your mind and get a little movement in each day. Or, if you want to be really impressive, you can level up to the Japanese practice of forest bathing.
Connect with friends.
Try reaching out to someone every day. It could be your best friend or someone you haven’t spoken to in a while. Either way, they will be happy to hear from you and the social connection will boost your own mood and well-being.
Cook your meals.
As difficult as this can be, home cooking is normally considerably healthier and cheaper than takeout or pre-made frozen meals! Have a list of some meals that are quick to whip up on those extra busy days.
And that's it! Super simple, we know, but remember... Habits change into character!