17 Small Daily Habits to Instantly Improve Your Quality of Life

Your quality of life depends on the habits that make up your life. As Samuel Beckett once said, “Life is habit. Or rather life is a succession of habits.” Your daily habits shape your life. The good news is, you have the power to deliberately shape the habits that are unconsciously shaping your life. You can improve the quality of your life by improving your habits. But how do you know that you are picking the RIGHT habits for you? Don’t waste time guessing; try one of these 17 small daily habits to instantly improve your quality of life!

The Quality of Your Life is the Quality of Your Habits

It is worth examining how we are living our life on a day-to-day basis by examining the habits that make up our day-to-day lives. The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your habits. Focusing on your goals is well and good, but your life is always right NOW, so put a little extra energy into making it excellent.

You can choose to prioritize your quality of life by identifying habits that are hindering you and choosing new ones that bring you happiness, even if you start with something small and uncomplicated. Choose to do things that will nourish you and feed your soul.

The Power of Habits

Up to 45% of all our daily behaviors are automatic. That’s almost half!! Of what we do every day! Automatic!!! That means we don’t think about what we are doing very much; We just do it. Isn’t it worth taking some time to think about how we’re spending that time? 

Think about the power of one thing repeated over and over and over. Your habits have immense power over the shape of your life! So be MINDFUL about them. You are in control of what you do and what you don’t do. 

“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” ―John C. Maxwell

How Long Does It Take to Form a Habit?

I’m sure you’ve heard that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Unfortunately, that’s not really accurate. That myth stems from a widespread misunderstanding of one person’s ideas. There is no magic number of consecutive days that you need to do something before it magically becomes a habit. The reality is not so neat. As with most things, everyone is different, and the amount of time it takes for a habit to become ingrained and automatic is going to depend on the person and the habit. 

And of course, the longer you stick with something new, the easier it gets. But there’s nothing wrong with using that 21 days as a baseline. You can do anything for 21 days, right? 

And the most important factor, of course, is this: you have to believe in yourself. If you don’t believe you can do it, well, you are absolutely right.

3 Ways to Change Your Habits

There are 3 different ways of changing your habits:

1. Add a new habit
2. Remove an old habit
3. Modify an existing habit

I think it’s much much easier to add in new positive habits than it is to take away a negative habit. Modifying existing habits falls somewhere in the middle. It all depends on what kind of habit you are trying to modify. But if you are just trying to improve the quality of your life as quickly as possible, I suggest starting with adding in small daily habits.

17 Small Daily Habits to Improve Your Quality of Life [Nourish Your Mind, Body, and Soul]

When you are ready to change your habits, you don’t have to shoot for the stars. Stack the deck in your favor by picking something pretty small. It should be so easy that it’s practically unthinkable that you wouldn’t be able to do it. You want it to be something that you can do every day no matter what, no excuses. 

The habit you pick should:

• Be very specific
• Not take very long to complete (think 15-30 min MAX)
• Be easily completed at home
• Not cost any money

Here are 17 Ideas for Small Daily Habits to Immediately Improve Your Quality of Life

1. Read 1 chapter of a new book
2. Read a poem
3. Write 100 words
4. Meditate for 10 mins
5. Say positive affirmations to yourself 
6. Dance to a song that makes you FEEL
7. Add an extra vegetable to every dinner
8. Drink 1 glass of water as soon as you wake up
9. Get outside for at least 15 min
10. Start your day by stretching for 5 min
11. Write down 3 things you’re grateful for before you go to bed
12. Tell your plants you love them
13. Do a brain dump every morning – write, type, or speak it out. No  topping, no censoring, no editing
14. Text someone you care about just to say hi
15. Take a walk around the block every night after dinner
16. Smile at yourself in the mirror every time you wash your hands and tell yourself you love yourself
17. Go to sleep 15-30 min earlier than you are used to

Experimentation and Flexibility are the Keys to Getting Your Nourishing Habits Right

Always remember that you can keep changing your habits. In fact, you SHOULD keep changing your habits your whole life, as YOU change. So don’t be afraid to experiment and adjust.

Say you decide to try out a new habit for 21 days (because it’s a fun number!). Throughout that time period keep checking back in with yourself. At the end of the time, ask yourself: 

• What were the benefits? 
• Were there any downsides?
• Has it made my life better? 
• Is this something I would like to continue doing? 

Decide if you like your new habit and want to keep it around. If it’s made your life better, keep doing it! Keep doing it for the rest of your life if you want. If not, discard it! Try something new. It’s your life after all. Do what YOU want.

In Conclusion: You Can Improve Your Quality of Life

Habits matter. Your habits will make or break your life. Your quality of life depends on what you do every day. And unfortunately, changing habits is really hard! There is no magic formula shortcut. You just have to put in the work – try new habits, adjust your routines, and keep experimenting. The quality of your life is up to you – and what you choose to do day after day after day. Take responsibility for those choices.

What small daily habit would you like to add to your daily life?

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Check Out the Rest of the Series!

This‌ is the ‌eighth ‌week‌ ‌of‌ ‌our‌ ‌8-week‌ ‌series about setting yourself up for your best ‌year ever! ‌This‌ ‌week‌ ‌is‌ ‌about‌ ‌choosing habits that nourish you.

‌You‌ ‌can‌ ‌check‌ ‌out‌ ‌the‌ ‌other‌ ‌posts‌ ‌here:‌ ‌

• How‌ ‌to‌ ‌Prepare‌ ‌for‌ ‌the‌ ‌New‌ ‌Year‌ ‌[an‌ ‌8-Week‌ ‌Plan‌ ‌for‌ ‌Your‌ ‌Best‌ ‌Year‌ ‌Ever]‌ ‌
• ‌How To Do a Year-End Reflection ‌‌[Make peace with 2020]
• How to Let Go of the Past and Move Forward Into the New Year‌
• What You Allow is What Will Continue
• In-Between Moments: Sitting in the Space Between Two Things ‌
• 7 Powerful Questions to Help You Create a Vision For Your Life ‌
• A 5-Step System for Breaking Goals Down Into Manageable Steps ‌
• How to Create a Morning Routine and Stick To It [Even When You HATE Mornings!]