Kickass Habits for a Kickass Life

How many of us think, “I am surrounded by people who have their shit figured out”? I have always had those friends who wake up early or who work out everyday or friends who have dedicated time set aside each week to work on their hobbies or crafts and I have wondered and wondered for years how these people actually manage the time? As I started my journey into personal development and growth, there were a few things that kept popping up. But at the base of it all, there was one underlying constant that every development guru kept talking about, that one thing that seemed to be a theme on which most successful lives today are based on: Habits!

Google defines a habit as, ‘a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.’ And I think the key here is regular tendency or repetition. A habit is anything that you do repeatedly over a period of time till it becomes an inseparable part of our routines. Brushing your teeth, taking a dump, having a shower, smoking a cigarette, watering your plants, drinking, having coffee, sleeping at 1 am every night, doing drugs: all of these are habits. Anything that you do as a part of your routine where you don’t have to think too much about your actions is a habit. Making anything a habit in your life can miraculously free up some mental space and can help with reducing decision fatigue.

Disclaimer: This in no way is a sermon on what are the bad habits and what are the good habits and what you should give up and what you should not.

But here, I am going to talk about a few habits that I have personally been following for a while now and which I have also heard a ton of successful people talk about. There is loads of scientific research that have gone into these habits and I really do hope this article can help you get clarity on some essential habits to work on your Life Résumé. Also, I realised, those ‘friends who had their shit figured out’, also had some damn good habits in their lives. Of course, in subsequent posts I do plan on digging deep into each of these habits.

So here are the five kickass habits crucial for success, that we are going to talk about here:

1. Early Rising
2. Reading
3. Meditating
4. Exercising
5. Journaling

1. Early Rising:

This is the one habit I have struggled with for years. There was always some excuse. I cannot sleep early, I have to finish watching this ‘X’ TV series, I have gotta finish reading this book, I got too late at work so I need some time to wind down and the list would go on. Every time I got even close to making a habit of waking early, there would be something to derail me.

But I have finally got to a point where I can comfortably get up at 5.30 am every morning. And believe me when I say, my life has transformed! I get plenty of time to focus on my priorities, I do not have to rush to catch my bus to work, I get time, not just to make a breakfast meal, but also to actually enjoy eating it.

Another result of waking up super early is that I have automatically gotten rid of all the “bad” habits I had, like binge watching TV shows, spending hours scrolling through my social media feed, ordering a late-night snack because it’s been a while since I had my dinner. When you wake up super early, you get to experience the quiet around you before most people are up in the world, you get to see and smell and hear the sunrise and set the pace of your day. There are so many benefits to this!

And the best part of being an early riser is that you have so much more time in life. Because let’s face it, how many of us actually end up doing anything productive post 9 pm? And you don’t have to make a drastic change today. Just start with small baby steps: 15 minutes at a time. Whatever time you wake up today, just wake up 15 minutes earlier and thank me later!

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

Benjamin Franklin

2. Reading

Reading has been close to my heart and my being since I was a child. And I have my beautiful, non-reader mother to thank for this habit. She gave me everything I needed in order to foster this habit. Be it taking me to the library and spending hours, buying the books I wanted to read, subscribing me to library memberships, she honed this liking into a lifelong habit. You will never find me without a book on me, be it in a train, bus, cab, at home or even while using the loo! I know, I know, TMI!

But on a serious note, reading helps you, not only in the obvious way of improving your language proficiency (which is important for someone whose first language is not English), but it opens your mind to newer perspectives and possibilities, it introduces you to people (characters, yes, I think of them as people!) from completely different backgrounds and cultures, it teaches you about things you would never have actively thought of learning about (like trilobites! Yes, I actually read a fiction book once where one of the characters was obsessed with trilobites and I found out so much about them!) and can provide you with entertainment in the way that no other source can.

And when I say reading every day, I don’t just mean reading personal development or philosophy. Though of course if you love reading that, you must! What I mean is you can read anything. Be it fiction, non-fiction, science fantasy, philosophy, spirituality, autobiographies, novels, absolutely anything. To begin with, just set aside 15 minutes daily to read and observe the transformation you feel in your life!

3. Meditating

Nothing I write here is going to sum up meditation as beautifully as this:

The goal of meditation is not to get rid of thoughts or emotions. The goal is to become more aware of your thoughts and emotions and to learn how to move through them without getting stuck.

Dr. P. Goldin

I have to admit here, like most millennials, I have been a little sceptical about this habit. Reading about it just didn’t seem to drive through the point. Meditation is made out to be this life-transforming practise that we know for a fact is recommended and followed by yogis and monks. For a long time, it just didn’t seem like anything that would help me, a mere mortal going about her regular job with a few skills here and there.

That’s when I came across a few tools of guided meditation like Calm and Headspace. I started regularly meditating since the beginning of this year and believe you me, it has grounded me in so many ways. And there does not have to be a grand ‘ceremony’ of meditating. Just sitting on your couch, or in a coffee shop, or in the park near your house is good enough. Some of the very obvious benefits of meditation that most people talk about are: Improved mood and positivity, enhanced emotional maturity, increased level of connections with others and, believe it or not, controlled addiction.

Just see if you can go onto one of these apps and try a 10-minute meditation session. And then try to do this for a week. You will notice a difference I promise. I personally love using Headspace.

4. Exercising

I know this is a no-brainer for most people. But unlike so many people who are dedicated to this habit, I have been somewhat an irregular follower till recently. Now, I have come to a point where I realize what my body and I need is variety. I get easily bored of only one kind of workout and hence, I have started mixing and matching my workouts. I have been doing this for a few months regularly now and I feel so much better about myself and my body!

The key to find when exercising is what works for you. Listen to your body, do not do anything that your body doesn’t enjoy doing (And here I don’t mean don’t work out if you don’t like it!). But all our bodies are different. What is important is being active and constantly working on doing something you have not done before. Be it gymming, dancing, swimming, yoga, hiking, trekking, acrobatics, rock climbing or dancing. Find what works for your body and mind and do it regularly. It’s as simple as that!

Exercising regularly has a ton of benefits from improving mood, better sleep quality, increase in stamina and immunity, and of course combating various health conditions and controlling weight. So, go ahead, find what you love, and do it at least 3 to 4 times a week.

5. Journaling

I have been an ardent follower of journaling for a few years now. One of my most favourite types of journals is the bullet journal. I love spending hours making spreads and doodling on it and trying out my calligraphy skills. But this post is not for that.

This post is for letting you know all the amazing benefits of journaling in your life. And this journaling can be in any shape and form. You may write down the things you are grateful for, you may write down any business ideas you may have and brainstorm, you may write down just the normal, mundane events of your every day life. What benefits could this possibly have in my life, you ask?

Well, there are several benefits right from improved mental health, reducing stress, improved emotional response and better analytical thinking. But most of all, what I find is the most beautiful aspect of journaling is the meditative nature of the practice. So, if you have a new notebook or diary lying around somewhere, go ahead and start journaling. See how it feels and if you find any benefit to the practise.

So, here are my five kickass habits for a kickass life. Of course, over the subsequent posts we are going to dig deeper into each of these and actually explore what aspects of these habits can help you with improving your Life Résumé. All of these habits in some way do connect to the ingredients of your kickass Life Résumé which you can find here and here.

That’s all from my side today! Do let me know your thoughts on these and if there are any more habits you feel are quintessential to leading a successful and purposeful life. Until then, keep working, keep growing!

Subscribe!

Photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
Photo by Federica Giusti on Unsplash
Photo by Kumiko SHIMIZU on Unsplash
Photo by Bryan Garces on Unsplash