Good Habits to Develop This 2021
New Year's Resolutions have gotten a bad rap the past few years probably since we usually forget or neglect to follow through and then we feel guilty and frustrated that we never finished any of them. But it's still a good practice to try and develop new habits at the start of the year, make a realistic game plan on how you'll be able to follow through the rest of the year. Here are some good habits that you may want to try out and also at the end, we'll give you some tips on what you can do to make sure you follow through.
From Medical News Today
Drink more water
If you're well hydrated, you'll be healthier, you'll have great skin, it can help reduce cravings, and even improve your memory and mood. Just google benefits of drinking water and you'll see a lot of answers. Experts say you should drink 2 liters or eight glasses a day. Keep a 2 liter bottle (or something similar to that) with you always so you will remember to drink throughout the day.
Read your Bible regularly
As believers, this is of course a habit that we should cultivate to know God more. Sadly, it is not always our priority even though we know that we should crave it like a newborn craves for milk. So if you haven't yet developed this habit, now is the best time to start! Have a daily Bible reading plan (we'll be posting one soon!) or use a book to help you read through your Bible (ahem, we have some that can help you!). You can wake up an hour earlier than your usual to make time for this or schedule a "Bible break" in the middle of the day.
From healthline
Eat healthier
The goal of eating healthier isn't always just to lose weight (although that can be part of it). The point is, obviously, to be more healthy. Diet fads or starving and depriving yourself aren't the answers as well. Enjoy eating in moderation but also don't forget to include vegetables in your meals. Preparing something yourself is the best way to make sure what you're eating is healthy (well if you follow healthy recipes of course) so why not add cooking or food prepping in your habits to develop too.
Read more
Of course this will be on our list! The benefits of regular reading are endless. Some of our authors talked about it here. "But I have no time to read!" Well, if something is really important to you, then you'll make time for it. Commit to reading at least one book a month or a certain number of pages every day. Pretty soon, you'll be reading regularly and maybe even more than what you committed to do!
Be more grateful
Or, to be more accurate, you can practice gratitude. It's not always natural for us to have an attitude of gratitude so it needs to be practiced. Keep a journal or a small notebook where you list down things you're grateful for, from the small and the mundane to the big things that happen in your life. Keep a jar with tiny papers where you write down things you're grateful for. You can also have a daily post on your social media about 3 (or more) things you're grateful for that day.
Journal
We did a whole webinar on how you can start or re-start your journaling habit if you still need a bit of convincing. But journaling can help with your mental health, with your writing or artistic skills, with developing your memory, and so many other things. It doesn't have to be fancy or artsy journaling if that's not your thing. It can just be straightforward writing or listing.
Regularly unplug
The world will go on even if you don't go online for the next two hours or even for one whole day. You need to get out of the internet and your gadgets every once in a while to decompress, to spend time doing other offline things, or to spend time with your loved ones without any distractions. You have to be intentional in doing this and actually, physically remove any temptation (your phone, WiFi, etc) that will distract you from your goal. There’s a whole world out there outside of the Internet.
Pray for others
A lot of times, we tell people we'll pray for them but we never get around to doing so. Or we get caught up in our own concerns and issues that we forget to actually include others in our conversations with God. So why not spend a few minutes praying for others during your quiet time or all throughout the day. List down people you want to pray for. When someone asks you to pray for them, add them to the list and actually do it. It helps us to lessen the focus on ourselves and develop care and empathy for our "neighbors".
So how can you do one or two or all of these? Here are some tips
Write down an actual plan with goals, targets, and bite-sized action steps so you have something to look at to track your progress
Add some tasks and goals to your schedule / calendar / planner so you will not forget
Better yet, add an alarm or reminder on your phone or calendar
Post physical reminders like sticky notes or write on your white board around your room, work desk, or where you will always see it
Give yourself small rewards every time you get to a milestone
Remind yourself why you want to develop that habit in the first place
Share with us some other good habits that you want to develop this new year!