Personal
My 7 Healthiest Habits
*#7 is my most important*
Most of us know the power of habits.
But which ones are the most important?
A couple of my favorite quotes on habits:
“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”
- James Clear
“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.”
- F.M. Alexander
Given the significance of habits, we all ought to take a close look at our own.
Or the lack thereof.
As someone who is determined to succeed in all areas of life, I’m always evaluating my habits.
Which habits are serving me? Which ones are not?
What am I NOT doing that I need to be doing?
What am I doing that I need to STOP doing?
These questions are what we should all be asking ourselves on a regular basis.
After an assessment of my habits, I wanted to share the 7 healthiest habits that I do daily. When I say, “healthiest,” that doesn’t necessarily mean they are all habits that would traditionally be under the “health” category.
But I believe they all lead me to feel like a mentally, physically, spiritually, relationally, and emotionally healthy person.
My 7 Healthiest Daily Habits
1. Drink 16oz Of Water First Thing In The Morning
Every morning I get up to my alarm (yes, even on weekends), brush my teeth, and then go drink 16oz of water.
With. Out. Fail.
It doesn’t matter where I am, whether it’s at home, at my parent’s house, in a hotel, on vacation, or anywhere. I’m drinking water first.
Hydration is critical for your overall health. Having water first thing in the morning does a great job of providing you with energy and flushing out your system.
It also reinforces to you, first thing in the morning, that you are the kind of person who prioritizes your health.
I went to a Catholic High School - Marist School in Atlanta, GA - and we were taught that your priorities should go in this order: Faith, Family, School, Sports.
After college, I revisited this list of priorities, and I didn’t feel like I was truly living that out.
I told myself internally those were my priorities, but in reality my schedule didn't reflect that.
So, I sought out how to fix that.
I thought, what better way to prove to myself that faith comes first then to start each day with faith.
That was in 2018. And I went on to read the entire bible in 365 days. Did I retain much? Eh, some but not a ton.
But I proved to myself that faith was a priority by spending the time with it every morning.
Transition to today, now my habit is to open up the YouVersion app and complete the verse of the day. It only takes about 5 minutes, but it reinforces that faith comes first.
Is it everything I could be doing? No.
Is it working for me now? Yes.
Will I try to do more in the future? Probably.
But right now, doing this daily practice makes me feel like I’m on track with the spiritual area of my life which is critical for me.
3. Read For 45 Minutes
I don’t read for 45 minutes every single day. But I always do it at least 5 days a week, if not 6.
I started reading after college.
Don’t misunderstand me…yes I could read, I wasn’t illiterate. But I chose not to.
Summer reading in high school? Nope. Thank you spark notes.
Reading textbooks in college? Not very interested.
But once I found books that I liked after college, I dove in. And I’ve stayed super committed and consistent with it ever since.
Reading is one of the best habits all of us can implement in our lives. I think if you’re reading fiction, it’s still good…I think you can still learn a lot from fiction books and be entertained by fiction books, but I think adding at least some non-fiction is important for everyone.
You can learn from other people’s experiences, and you can learn about topics and skills that can truly change your life.
Reading can provide you with knowledge that will transform your confidence. It can provide you with mindset shifts that will transform your perspective and so much more to improve your overall health as a human.
Reading has forever changed my life, and I’ll never stop.
5. Exercise
Yes I know…very specific Nick.
But everyday looks different. I usually do intentional exercise 5, 6, or 7 days a week.
Sometimes that’s weight lifting, sometimes it’s running, sometimes it’s yoga, cycling, etc.
You name the type of fitness and I’ve done it.
I love the way moving my body makes me feel. It gives me energy. It makes me happy. It makes me feel productive. And allows me to push myself outside of my comfort zone.
If you’re reading this, you can find plenty of my blogs that dive more specifically into fitness routines like “3 Steps To Build Muscle” but for this one, I’m leaving it at that.
Move. Your Body.
Now and forever.
If you don’t use it; you’ll lose it.
6. Cook Dinner At Home
This is the habit of all my habits.
The first six habits wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for this last one.
It is the most important of them all.
The last thing on my to do list every single day reads, “Plan Tomorrow.”
At the end of every day I look at my Google Calendar and I look at my weekly to-do list. I look at what I haven't done yet, what do I have on my schedule for tomorrow, and what will be the best use of my time.
Then I plan my next day hour by hour.
And I finish with a crystal clear plan of what tomorrow’s objectives are, what I need to do, when I need to do it, and when I need to be where.
This allows me a few things.
I am able to go to sleep more quickly. I’m not sitting in bed mulling over all the things I need to do tomorrow, because it’s already planned out.
It makes me much more efficient the next day. Instead of wasting time thinking about what I should do next, I simply refer to my notebook and jump from one task to the next.
I don’t experience decision fatigue. With every decision you make, you're losing energy. The decision can be big or small - what you’re going to wear, what time to leave, what to do next, who to call, etc.
If you make your decisions in advance, then you’re able to devote your full energy and attention to the task at hand, and finish the day with a whole lot less mental exhaustion.
Take the time today to determine how you're going to spend your time tomorrow and you’ll save yourself a ton of time and energy.
Conclusion
I attribute my good mental, physical, spiritual, relational, and emotional health to my habits. 100%
If someone asked me how I got to be in good shape, why I experience minimal bad stress (I say "bad" stress because I think a lot of stress is good), how I got to be strong spiritually, relationally, and emotionally, I would say because of these 7 habits:
1. Drink 16oz Of Water First Thing In The Morning
2. Complete The Verse Of The Day In My Bible App - YouVersion
3. Read For 45 Minutes
4. Write Down 3 Things I’m Thankful For
5. Exercise
6. Cook Dinner At Home
7. Plan My Day The Night Before
What are your most important habits? DM me @carrier_bestyou on Instagram to let me know. And let me know which ones, if any, you are trying to form or want to form.
I’d be happy to help.
To deciding your habits and therefore deciding your future,
Nick
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