Introduction

Has there ever been a time you wondered, “Oh my goodness, this routine is so awesome and has a lot of benefits; I should do this regularly?”. But you couldn’t do it or continue doing it. Or do you want to start practicing something to succeed in your life? One way to deal with it is to form a habit. This blog will discuss:

• What is a healthy habit?
• How do you create a habit?
• How do you maintain a habit?

What is a healthy habit? 

Habit is something that you do naturally, without giving a lot of thought. A practice that helps you to grow is a healthy habit. To grow in all aspects of your life, include healthy habits in the six areas below. Here are a few healthy habits that I follow in each region.

Career:

• Take a shower in the morning before you start your work, as you feel fresh and awake.
• Sit at the work desk (not on the bed) while working to maintain the right posture. 
• Take shorter breaks to recharge and adjust the posture. 
• Use vacations to relax and rejuvenate.
• Avoid the mental work during off-hours to live in the moment. 
• Keep annual learning goals for continuous growth.
• Track and talk about your key achievements for career growth. 
• Be honest and admit mistakes, thereby developing trust and respect.
• Develop and maintain good relationships at work; foster clear communication; and seek and seek help as needed.

Personal growth through continuous learning:

• Follow the news every day.
• Give and take learning by volunteering.
• Keep motivating the company.
• Read every day.

Family and Home:

• Set time aside to keep in touch with family and friends to nourish the relationships.
• Keep your surroundings clean and organized to be more productive.
• Spend time with family on key festivals and special occasions.
• Lean on your family and friends for support.
• Pay attention and help the family as needed.
• Build and follow family traditions to help with family bonding and maintain the culture.
• Have open and candid conversations with family. This habit is crucial for resolving conflicts and avoiding misunderstandings.

Fun:

• Vacations with family and friends. 
• Listen to music.
• Learn new hobbies or skills.
• Keep an open mind and try new food items.

Health:

• Eat healthily and exercise at least 5 days a week.
• Hydrate (8 glasses of water/day).
• Sleep well (6 to 8 hours/day). 
• Limit screen time after work hours. 
• Be with nature whenever you can. 
• Reduce your stress by not worrying about the things that are beyond your control.
• Think positive. It’s ok to feel negative sometimes, but don’t stay negative.
• Share your concerns with trusted people to reduce your worries and get guidance.
• Show gratitude to feel positive emotions and maintain good relationships.
• Keep up with your regular checkups (physical, dental, eye, etc.).

Financial Management:

• Question yourself if it’s a need or a want while buying. 
• Make a weekly/monthly budget and review it periodically to make sure you are within your limits.
• Automate savings to achieve your financial goals. 
• Contribute to your retirement savings.
• Stay within your discretionary spending limits.
• Pay off your credit card bills on time.

How to create a healthy habit: techniques 

• Set your goal and make an action plan to achieve it.
• Start slow; take small steps.
• Create an environment to promote and motivate.
• Keep the distractions away that deter you from developing the habit.
• Do it consistently until it becomes a habit.
• Anchoring the habit development to a routine.
• Surround yourself with people who stimulate the development of new habits. 

How to maintain a healthy habit: techniques

• Avoid stopping the activity for an extended length of time. Otherwise, you will have to work extra hard to restart or reach where you left off.
• Track the progress and analyze the benefits you are receiving from that habit.
• Celebrate your small achievements. 
• Try to carry out different habit routines simultaneously where feasible.
• Use the same time and/or place to practice the habit.
• Attach the unenjoyable habit to an activity that you enjoy doing; this will help you to continue with the habit.

Below are a few personal examples. 

Career:

• I take a shower in the morning before I login to my work. That way I am more productive, as I feel more alert, clean, and refreshed. 
• While at home, I sit at my desk and work, which helps me better focus and maintain my posture.
• I make a to-do list for each day. This helps me to remember my tasks while increasing productivity.
• While attending meetings remotely, I do not multitask so that I can fully concentrate and actively participate in the discussions. This makes me visible to others and helps with my career growth

Personal growth:

• I take a walk and listen to personal growth-related podcasts. That way, I kill two birds with one stone.
• I take time to volunteer at the temple. I get a deeper understanding of our traditions, and I feel happy for giving back to the community.
• Once a month I go to dinner with friends who stimulate me to learn new things.
• I volunteer to teach kids. When I interact with kids, I get inspired by their carefree perspective towards life. In addition, I feel happy about giving back to the community.

Family:

• I limit my purchases to minimize the effort in maintenance.
• I follow the below schedule for cleaning and organization. This time management habit helps me to be more healthy and productive.

Fun:

• We take at least one family vacation per year. It gives me a lot of pleasure.
• I listen to music while cooking, as it makes me happy and relaxed.
• I meet with my retired colleagues regularly. I get a different perspective on life and feel rejuvenated after connecting with them.

Health:

• I practice gratitude by thanking nature/God before going to sleep and as soon as I wake up. 
• I make time to walk outside when I can, for fresh air and to be with nature. 
• I drink warm water first thing in the morning, as it helps with my hydration and provides better digestion.
• I set aside the time to go to the gym in the morning hours. 
• I plan to go to the gym at least 4 days a week and try not to skip more than 3 days in a row so that I don’t have to put in extra effort to retrain my body.
• I limit myself to eating outside food two times a week, as homemade food is not only healthier but also provides contentment to cook and spend time eating with family.
• I eat my dinner early, no later than 7 pm, as it helps with my digestion and weight management.
• I limit my sugar intake by having sugar-less coffee and limiting desserts, as I want to avoid getting diabetes. 

Financial Management:

• When I am buying something, I pause for a second and ask myself if it’s a need or a want to minimize my buying, which helps to save money. 
• I move money from checking to savings (CD/IRA, etc.) accounts regularly so that I do not have easy access to money and thus do not spend unnecessarily.

In addition, here are some books I recommend on developing and maintaining habits: 

• Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins –  Whenever I want to give up while developing a good habit, I recall this book and keep going.  
• Atomic Habits by James Clear – Explains the methodology of building habits.
• Drive by Daniel Pink – Talks about intrinsic motivation, which is a key factor in acquiring and maintaining a habit. 

I have heard of many other books on habits but haven’t read them. Here are a couple of recommendations: 

• Making Habits, Breaking Habits: by Jeremy Dean.
• Good Habits, Bad Habits:  The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick by Wendy Wood.

Conclusion

We encourage using the techniques discussed and learning from our experiences to create and maintain healthy habits. We vouch that these habits helped us grow in every aspect of our lives.

You can contact us on SIAGLO Instagram, Twitter, and email to learn more. In addition, if you have a best practice,  please consider sharing it in the comments section below.