What are your wellbeing habits?

Last time we chatted, we spoke about wellbeing habits and personal development. And today, I’d like to go a bit deeper in wellbeing habits so you can start building your own!

I think one of the best things about wellbeing habits is how small they can be, but can make such a big difference. Today’s world is filled with constant pressure that can be almost overwhelming, and the idea of trying to revolutionise your wellbeing (mental and physical) and make all these drastic changes can hold us back from making a start.

By creating small and gradual changes through little habits over time, we can create larger and healthier changes in our lives in a more accessible way.

I believe there are a couple of important elements involved here to creating successful wellbeing habits. Firstly, much like my tips for setting goals, make sure they are achievable! By keeping them smaller and achievable we can make sure we are actually able to do them each day (or at whatever frequency we wish). For example, to get more fresh air and get my step count up I might begin with walking to work, or even just walking to a bus stop.  I don’t have to just jump into running to work!  These more achievable habits can slot much better into our timetable allowing us to more readily make them a habit.

Secondly, wellbeing habits are not successful when we do them maybe today or maybe once a week. It’s about consistency and building them into a routine to make them habitual. Keeping in mind that we are aiming for larger change over time, we won’t be able to fully achieve that if they’re irregular. This can just come down to planning and setting time aside for them. Hopefully, if we’ve set up our habits to be smaller and achievable, we can easily find time to do them regularly. And sometimes, we may need to help ourselves get there with reminders be it putting into our calendar, or leaving sticky notes around. For example, I am aiming to drink more water. I remind myself by leaving my small empty glass next to the kitchen sink. So whenever I go through the kitchen I can see it and go “ah yes, let’s have a quick glass of water”. Eventually, I might not need the reminder, and I’ll automatically grab that glass of water without having to consciously think about it! Getting them into the routine forcibly can make them more routine – a habit!

So now we have a framework on how to build our wellbeing habits. What are our wellbeing habits!?

I’ve already mentioned a few examples, but wellbeing habits are routine behaviours that we repeat regularly that can become automatic. These specific types of habits are ones that are centred on improving our wellbeing. At the Mental Fitness Company we mainly focus on mental wellbeing, so aiming to help improve our resilience, mind-set, emotions, and happiness through routine wellbeing habits. Taking on board what we have discussed, have a think about what areas of your mental wellbeing are feeling a little lower than the rest and start brainstorming what wellbeing habits you could bring into your daily routine to boost them.

Is it getting more sleep so you don’t feel tired? Set an alarm in the evening for bedtime, or turn off all screens from 9pm onwards, or have a nice relaxing chamomile tea each night.

Is it reducing the stress of your morning commute? (Anyone from Auckland knows what I mean!) Perhaps listening to happier playlists or an engaging podcast will help, or working from home once a week, or even organising a car pool so you’re not the one driving?

Is it getting more fruit and vege into your diet? Packing your lunch instead of buying could help, or moving the fruit bowl next to the front door to grab on your way out?

Let me know on my social media what your wellbeing habits are! Look forward to trading habits with you!