6 Habits To Bring With You In 2019

Whether a person is a CEO, a business owner, an athlete or a stay at home parent, success comes in many shapes & sizes. But something you will find in common with successful people, despite their profession, is routine & healthy habits. Successful people make healthy habits a part of their daily routine to help them achieve greatness. They never go into anything blind- they prepare for greatness.

Once I realized this was no coincidence, everything around me became routine. As habits formed, routines were set, and my OCD peaked, I found a calmness around me. My routines had become second nature, my small habits had provided me with more time throughout the day, and my overall efficiency had increased. This new way of living was completely life changing in the most uplifting & productive way.

Now I’m not going to give you some creative, highly scientifically proven habits that will turn you into a millionaire. Instead, I am going to give you six small habits to incorporate into your daily routine that will give you more time and dare I say- increase your happiness?!

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, so give yourself at least that. 21 days to better yourself. How could you say no? This is for YOU and YOU only. I am always on the getting better train. After all, small steps turn into miles.

1. WAKE UP EARLY & WITH INTENT

I used to say “I need my sleep,” and while this is true, it does not mean this is something that should be abused. Sleeping 13 hours a night is gross. Sorry I’m not sorry- what are you doing with your day? Be productive! Go out and get what you want! It will NOT come knocking on your door. Do you know anyone who is GREAT taking a mid afternoon nap?? No. They are get-ting af-ter it *insert clapping in yo face, girl emojis*

Give yourself 8 hours every night. That is a healthy amount of time to refuel your brain and body. Then, wake up early. Give yourself enough time to get ready, brush your teeth, whatever it is you need to do. Give yourself time so that you are not stressed and rushed first thing in the morning. It will set the mood the rest of your day. Wake up prepared to be great. Wake up with intent. Wake up with a plan. Every night Tyler and I discuss what the following day will be like by the hour. We have goals and we PLAN how we will achieve them. Get yourself a planner or a white board if you are a visual person, but wake up with a plan on how to TACKLE your day, your goals & your dreams.

I watched this video and it completely inspired me to wake up earlier. It is on of my New Years goal to wake up at 6am every day. That gives me over 2 hours every day with no babies that I would have spent sleeping to accomplish my goals. That’s something winners do.

2. MAKE YOUR BED FIRST THING IN THE MORNING

This goes hand in hand with preparing each day for greatness. It might be a small accomplishment, but making the bed sets the tone for the entire day. I recently watched this commencement speech at University of Texas at Austin. Naval Admiral William McRaven, the commander of U.S. Special Operations said:

“If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.

By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.

If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.”

Don’t say ‘oh well, I don’t have time.. It’ll just get messy again.’ That’s what lazy people say. Making your bed not only sets the tone for the day, but that tone follows you throughout the day leading to more productivity. It will also promote cleanliness in your room, thus creating a peaceful environment for where you spend 1/3 of your day.

Need I say more? You make that bed & you set that tone, Glen Coco.

 

 

3. INTERMITTENT FAST

I won’t write a huge shpeal  on intermittent fasting, because I already did in a previous blog post here.  But here’s the short version.

Intermittent fasting is where your body fasts (no food or caloric intake) 14 to 16 hours a day. This fasting promotes fat loss, has been proven to prevent cancer and promote brain health, increases your energy AND prevents aging. This is no magic pill & it costs you nothing, it is just a box full of life long benefits wrapped in a pretty bow for you to explore.

I did IF for a couple months and it skyrocketed my fitness journey in bouncing back with baby #2. It only took me about a week to make this newfound lifestyle second nature. Back to excuses- don’t say “but I NEED food in the morning.. I NEED snacks at night.” No you don’t need any of that, you have just convinced your body that it “needs” those things. I promise you, the body is a powerful machine that you can manipulate any way you want!

I’ve fallen off the wagon as of late, but best believe I will be making 2019 my bitch with intermittent fasting riding shotgun.

4. IF IT TAKES LESS THAN 5 MINUTES, DO IT

I don’t know where I initially heard this quote but it forever changed my life and overall daily productivity. How many times have you had a to do list, or something randomly crossed your mind like ‘oh crap, I gotta put the washed clothes in the dryer’ or taking out the trash, putting the dishes away, responding to a brief email question… we have tens, maybe hundreds of those thoughts daily, and many a times an average person will say ‘I’ll do it later.’

Key word: average. And all those things you said you’d do later you either won’t because you forgot or you’re lazy. Or now you have a huge to do list which now makes you stressed. It’s this vicious circle!

If it takes 5 minutes, do it. You’ll soon see how random little clutter around your house  disappears, you have more time at the end of the day, and your to do list isn’t as long.

So any time you have one of those small tasked thoughts, ask  yourself “will it take me less than 5 minutes?” If the answer is yes, do it *we doin a lot this year, sis ayyyy*

5. DRINK MORE WATER (AND TEA!)

This is something I am constantly working on (years later into  my fitness journey and this one is still my biggest struggle)! Water is the easiest way to improve your life and is one of the most affordable and accessible tools. Of the long list of benefits water provides, flushing out toxins, improving your skin complexion, promoting healthy weight management & preventing cramps & headaches are my favorites and primary reasons why I constantly chug water every chance I get.

The last couple of years I have found a HUGE appreciation for tea. Tea is truly medicine (minus the whole not knowing what the ingredients are and being scientifically made in a lab with something else that is scientifically made by man in a lab). Tea shares the same benefits of water and I am convinced any time you have a physical issue, tea is there to save the day. Having cramps? Have some Women’s Moon Cycle. Feeling bloated? Have some Dandelion Root. Want a night time treat? Have Good Earth. My favorite tea is Every Day Detox by Traditional Medicinal. It totally helps bring back a glow to my skin.

My goal this year is to drink at least 2 liters a day of tea. Buy big jug like this and make it part of your ROUTINE. At the end of every night put 10 tea bags in the jug, fill it up to soak over night and you have greatness waiting for you in the fridge everyday.

6. SPEND 10 MINUTES EVERY NIGHT CLEANING UP

Best believe I saved the best for last. This one is SO simple but so many people do not do it. It’s pretty straight forward. At the end of every night I spend 10-15 minutes cleaning up around the house. Because I follow the ‘if it takes less than 5 minutes, do it’ rule, most clutter and crap around the house is already put away. This means at the end of the day when the dishwasher is full I run that so I wake up to clean dishes.. I wipe down the counters. I clean up all the kids toys, organize things on the counters, put out tomorrow’s to-do’s so that it is visually ready to be tackled the following day (ie: I have Target returns so that bag is ready on my kitchen counter for me to see the next day). I also get my tea ready for the next day and get the coffee ready to go. If you have a baby, prepare the bottle. Prep your life so that you wake up stress free ready to hit the ground running. This will save you so much time in the morning! (especially if you’re a mama!)

 

 Each one of these six small daily habits added to your daily routine will prepare you for greatness. Every morning you will wake up stress free, to a clean house, prepared to be great and tackle your goals. You must set YOURSELF up for success. No more excuses, no more convincing yourself an excuse is even a thing. Just you vs. you, your biggest challenger. The difference between successful people and average people is the ability to WANT to be great and to MAKE changes in order to be great. So the question is- how bad do you want it?

GET. AFTER. IT. BABY.

I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!