10 Habits For Improving the Quality of Your Life

How to improve the quality of your life

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Sometimes, life can be overwhelming. Whether it is a complicated personal life, a frustrating career, or just dealing with the stresses of being a functioning human being in the 21st century, it can all be a bit much to deal with. That is why it is important to take time to make small adjustments to improve your quality of life. These little changes can have a lasting and positive effect on your long-term mental health and outlook on life. Here are 10 easy ways to improve your quality of life.

“Fact: If the standard of living is your number one objective, quality of life rarely improves. But if the quality of life is your number one objective, the standard of living invariably improves.” — Zig Ziglar

Appreciate the Good Stuff

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Do you truly notice a gentle breeze? Or appreciate fine wine in front of a warm fire?

The MOST imperative step to improve quality of life is savoring the simple. Therefore, begin with a simple daily list of all the things going well in your life. A warm place to live and fresh food on the table are great places to start.

Then, remind yourself to stop and notice throughout the day. The blue of those flowers is gorgeous, and the sound of laughter is so sweet. Write down those things at night.

It takes a little training, but appreciation is the BIGGEST step to living more in the magic.

Smile, even when stressed

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The effects of smiling on stress have been well-documented. Smiling helps to send a strong impulse to the mind, which then alters your neurochemistry. Studies have shown that people who were told to hold a genuine Duchenne smile on their faces had lower heart rates after stressful activities.

If you can’t force yourself to smile, put a pencil in your mouth and the natural curvature of your mouth will help you to engage s standard smile. Try this for 15 to 20 minutes per day. You’ll be surprised, even if you feel depressed, at just how much this elevates your mood.

Connect and spread love

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One sure-fire habit to develop that will boost overall happiness is the act of connecting and spreading love. Hug someone or let someone hug you. Pick up the phone and tell someone that you appreciate them, or simply listen to what someone has to say. You’ll be surprised and just how satisfying it will be to take an interest in someone else’s life.

This takes one phone call or in-person meeting per day. It can be with someone that you have already spent your time with. Tell them how much you appreciate them. Show them love and kindness; pour it from your heart. What you put out into the world, you receive back 10-fold. Make this a habit and you will live a much happier life.

Daily Gratitude

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Spend 15 to 30 minutes every single day listing off what you have to be grateful for. Even if you feel like you have nothing to be grateful for, search for something. Maybe you’re in a financial hole, but at least you have the intellect in your mind and the ability to walk, talk, and reason. If you search, you can always find something to be grateful for.

Oftentimes, when we think about it, we dwell on things that we’re unhappy about. Until we lose something that we took for granted, such as a person, health, freedom, job, or anything else, we don’t realize just how good we had it. But you can change that. Thank the universe every single day for all that you have every single day. Put it out there in the world. Make it a habit.

Daily Learning

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Daily learning is critical for our happiness, but it also affects other spectrums of our life’s quality as well. It allows us to grow, mature, and gain experiential knowledge of the world. It allows us to put life into perspective, and ultimately achieve our dreams by laying the groundwork for our personal and professional lives.

Find a newspaper, magazine, video tutorial, blog, or anything else that you enjoy using as a learning resource. Learn every single day and spend 15 to 30 minutes doing this. You don’t have to commit to huge blocks of time. As long as you do a little bit every single day, but you do it every single day, over time, this habit will help you to be a much happier and more well-rounded person.

Meditate

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This doesn’t have to be a religious experience. Simply practicing the art of meditation will boost your overall happiness, decrease stress, lower blood pressure, and ease anxieties. One recent study, published in JAMA’s Internal Medicine states just that: mindfulness meditation will ease the psychological stresses associated with depression, anxiety, and pain.

All it takes is 15 minutes of mindful meditation to achieve this habit. Sit quietly and be present. Don’t think about the past or the future. Don’t dwell on things or worry, just be in the moment. Sit silently with your eyes closed and listen to the sounds around you. Feel the air moving in and out of your lungs, the warmth of the sun on your shoulders, the coolness of the breeze moving across the room, and so on. Just be present. That’s all it takes.

Time Management

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People who effectively manage their time have an increased amount of energy and vitality. Managing your time demands daily attention and a pursuit of the important over the urgent. This means delineating your tasks so that you’re pursuing those all-important long-term goals and not simply reacting to the urgent matters that come up in your day.

Time management can be achieved by creating lists and building tasks for the day based on their order of importance and urgency. This also involves the elimination of bad habits such as procrastination, over-watching television, over-surfing the internet, and so on.

Get at least 7 Hours of Sleep

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Getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night is critical to your vitality. So many important functions take place in the mind and body when we sleep. It’s our body’s chance to rest, unwind, and recharge. While we’re consciously out, so to speak, our unconscious mind and body are busy at work restoring, recharging, and re-energizing.

Most people suffer from sleep deficiency, which has an overall effect on mood, energy, health, and mental well-being. Multiple studies have suggested that not only doe sleep help to improve things like memory, but it also helps to boost the longevity of life, increase awareness, and spur creativity.

Exercise

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Exercising at least 20 minutes each day can have enormous health benefits. Most people don’t make exercise a habit, and in turn, suffer from a lack of vitality. The body needs to move and you need to break a sweat, for it to be considered exercise. And, while walking 10,000 steps each day increases your overall health, it’s not the same as exercising.

Find a simple exercise regimen and stick to it. Regardless of what kind of exercise you do, simply do something. Whether it’s light jogging, weights, yoga, or some other lightly-strenuous activity, merely getting started will help to build the habit. Don’t expect to go from zero to hero overnight. Building this habit takes time. Start small and build slowly over time.

Inspirational Input

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One of the best ways to add vitality to your life is through daily inspiration. What’s your inspiration? What inspires and motivates you to push towards your dreams? Give yourself the added boost needed by seeking out some form of information, whatever it may be.

One of the best ways to achieve this is through imagery. Pictures are most certainly worth a thousand words, and by hanging those photos somewhere you’ll see daily, you can help to inspire and motivate you towards your dreams. We all get a little bit frustrated from time to time, but if you spend 15 to 20 minutes each on inspirational input, you’ll see enormous results.

CONTRIBUTED BY Owolabi Judah

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