Cynthia's Story

Here is a list of good habits that I try to implement into my life on a daily basis. I do most of these daily EVEN if they seem like small tiny micro wins.

The point is that little baby steps ADD UP over time. I didn’t start doing it all at once. It did take me a while to work on some of these as my body was used to sleeping in till 7am, and I have gone back in forth to my aspirations of becoming more healthier in my eating, and weight management. I hope these will help in your quest for a more successful healthy lifestyle.

1. Mood– Check your mood. When we wake up in the morning, it is a chance to direct any thoughts that may enter our minds. It is a great opportunity that we have to change the way we want our day to look. Instead of rushing to open up your smartphone, and check all social media platforms, use this time to just be in the presence of the morning with you. With no distractions, you will stop giving your most powerful waking minutes to people you don’t even associate with in your closest circle. The phone can always wait. And there will always be someone doing something dumb, that makes us feel a little bit better about ourselves, another Headline story in the paper and the news will repeat everywhere anyway. You’re not missing out on anything, except the time to spend with God, and yourself. SO make that time reserved for the most important people in your life, and keep that sacred.
2. Make Your Bed – Making your bed has long been said, but there really is something powerful to it. When I wanted to see a change in my life, the quickest result was for me to make my bed. For years, I would get up, rush to jump in the shower, and head out the door. Meanwhile, my bed wasn’t made up all day. One day I decided to experiement and see what would making my own bed before I left effect. The impact was magical in the sense that when I got home, I always felt a bit more organized, and somehow that boosted this confidence in me, that triggered the mindset, that I was someone that cared about me. Plus it is really nice to have your bed ready for you at night as you retire from a long day’s work. It’s just a little treat that we can give to our future selves.
3. Journaling – Something I recently picked up is Journaling. I now won’t start my day, without my Journal time in the morning. Wake up pick up a paper, and pen, and write down whatever thought may come to you. If it’s a dream that you still can remember that you had that night, write it down. There are also many resources online, for Free Journal writing prompts. I have used this in helping me work through some past experiences. Get everything out on paper. Plan your day, write in any quotes you really love, bible verses, and time with the lord. Write your to-do, you can organize this in any way you’d like. It’s yours. Journaling is effective and useful. I spend at least 20 minutes in the morning to take the time to plan out how I want my day to look and all the things, I want to have accomplished that day. And then, DO IT. Start Journaling, you may even be surprised where it leads you towards.
4. Have a To-do list – ✨️ Having a To-Do List! This keeps you structured, organized, and on top of the things that need to be taken care of. A simple list of 3 or 4 things that you’re going to take action on for the day. These are your top priorities. I’d say anything over 5 and 6 things have now become a Master To Do List. I write out my To-Dos the night before and even early in the morning before I’ve made my bed. Sometimes new ideas come to mind in the morning and I find that one item gets added or 1 may get bumped off. But the plan is to HAVE A PLAN for the day. If you don’t plan out how you want your day to take shape, life will make it for you. One of the worst places to be in is always reacting to life especially when unfortunate circumstances come our way. Instead, decide for yourself how you are going to respond.
5. Keep Positive people around you– It’s only a matter of time before we begin to start behaving like those we choose to have around us. So, this means, we should be extra careful, that the people we have around, are the ones we have intentionally decided to be inside our inner circle. The ones we decided that we want to be more like. Certain qualities and characteristics about them make you want to become BETTER. If you want to change it’s important that you are surrounded by others that can hold you accountable to the areas in your life that you want to grow in. If that isn’t something that your current circle of peeps you spend your time, with, consider, venturing off into other endeavors for a while, until you find a place where you are trying to go. Positivity is not overrated. It breeds more positivity and is contagious. Others just may be inspired by your choice to change and have a better attitude about how you choose to live your life. I try to implement this one every day, because I know that my son’s need it, and so does my spouse.
6. Exercise – Your body will thank you for every day you got up and continued your workout on the days you didn’t feel like it. Me personally I have never really felt that the word “exercise” in itself, actually motivated me to hit the gym. I always liked the way “caring about my physical endurance” rolled off the tongue. It just seems more of a lighter way to say ” I am focusing on working out” which makes me want to actually do it more. If you haven’t started, perhaps now is a good time too! It is never too late, and you are worth taking care of. You are worth the time in the gym, getting that run in, extra muscle built, and so forth. Our bodies do so much for us every second, so choosing to eat cleaner, and getting some physical activity in will only reap better outcomes for you in the long run. I used to go to the gym consistently. I would spend a lot of time there. Maybe even too much, that I realized, I was missing the whole reason why we go to work out in the first place. It’s to give our bodies healthy needs. I needed to start listening to my body and do more of that. So, instead of lifting weights every day, I did it a few times a week, I stopped neglecting the power of WALKING, and went back to a good old fashion walk in the evenings after meals. I got better quality sleep, just in case you didn’t know (exercise+sleep=Results) go hand in hand. Go for it, and keep moving. DAILY.
7. Get outdoors More – AH, the fresh air. It will instantly make your day brighter even if it hasn’t been going all that well. When we are working all day, it’s so easy to let the day get ahead of us. If you work inside a corporation, you may not even get to see daylight. There is something about time spent in nature, that just gives you an energy boost to finish the day stronger. I have made it my best effort, every mid-day to go outside, and take a few moments to walk around the buildings, listen to some calming music, and just escape, the demands of the constant decisions we have to make at the drop of a hat. You will feel so good, your lungs will breathe in the fresh air, and your mind will be instantly filled with endorphins. Make this something to do every day, and you will see a change in your life.
8. Self Care – Self Care, can look very different to anyone. Some look at trips to the spa, and grooming services as a form of self-care. It is. But it’s just the surface of self-care. Caring for yourself is actually all the items I listed here in this article. It is resting, exercising, journaling, taking the time out for you. To heal, to give yourself what you need. There are tons of videos on YouTube about self care and articles so I won’t dive too deep about that in this article. Life has changed so much for me when I started to see how my choice to choose to take better care of my health, and wellbeing. I can honestly say that without learning how important this all was, I wouldn’t be writing about it now.
9. Education – Read a Book. These days, if you can’t find extra time to sit down and pop open a physical book, you can always YouTube audiobooks, and listen to them. I really enjoy listening to podcasts during my work hours. It also helps at night to make my cleaning routine more enjoyable. Cleaning the restrooms, like those not so pleasing moments us homemakers have to do has actually been transformed into a time of fun for me, as I expand my mind on any topic. All you need are some Bluetooth headphones, and your good to go. I also recommend gaining more knowledge if you can in enrolling in classes at the local community college. You don’t have to go all in, maybe one class at a time if you can, if that isn’t an option, you can always use the internet. There are so may courses and classes you can take that are for FREE, just do your research. But keep growing in wisdom.
10. Outreach – Get Involved. Yes, I said it. For my introverts out there, as an introvert myself, I know how difficult it is to put yourself out there. It can be very scary. I recommend finding something you are interested in, and going after that. Get involved in the area’s in which you are really passionate about. It’s so good to try to help other’s. It may not be something you can do everyday, but make an effort to do the smaller things. Offer to help a neighbor clean up their home, yard. Meet up with a friend or relative for coffee and just give them a chance to talk about anything that maybe going on in their lives and just listen. Visit a childrens hospital and see where you can help bring more enjoyment to the kids that are sick. Look into your church and take that leap of faith by reaching out. Maybe your really handy with things around the house, they’re are tons of people that could use your ability. You’d be surprised how this goes a long way. Once a week, once a month or a few times a year.
11. Declutter – Get RID of the clutter. Clutter is anything that is not bringing joy, or is adding value to your life. I know, it’s nice to have NICE THINGS. I like things, in fact, I like a lot of things. Especially shiny things. I have had my share of items, and I have purchased things, sometimes out of boredom, like we all do at one point or another. But the problem was that these things were starting to accumulate to be more than I can physically manage. I was beginning to tire from all the things I tried to organize, and I decided the only way I would feel better about the amount of clutter in my life I had, was to let some of it go. I started with small things, one drawer, one room, one outfit, daily. Decluttering daily became something that I realized I needed to be doing instead of buying more. I was consuming to feel a void, that void of feeling unsafe because believe it or not, your things can make you feel unsafe. It was a bad cycle. But I kept going. I am now 5 years in. In a better place, and my tip to you is to get started if you haven’t already. One thing I learned about decluttering, is that just because you have a wall in your home that isn’t marked by a picture hanging on it, doesn’t mean you should put one there. Clutter can creep in fast if we aren’t on it daily. So also being mindful of the new things that we chose to bring into the home, isn’t going to add to the clutter in our lives that we are trying to part with.
12. Practice Gratitude – being greatful every day to wake up changes your own perspective on how the day might go for you. It opens your heart, and keeps you in a place of humility. We should practice the art of being greatful for the people in our lives, and all the things that bring joy. Everyday in itself is a gift, so approach it like it is.