Maximise Your Life This Year: 10 Habits for a Healthier, Wealthier, and Wiser You
Coming up, I will discuss how to maximise your life this year. Let’s get started. If you’re new here, my name is Dennis Bartram. I am a master of movement, healing, and ancient wisdom, having spent over 50 years refining the art of Active Balance. This revolutionary system fuses 3,000 years of knowledge from Hichi Buku Goshin Jutsu with modern science. I have helped countless individuals achieve their health and wellness goals through my unique approach. The greatest gift you can give the world is a healthy you. “Let’s start with a blank page, a fresh start, a new you can be excited to start over again.” You may have that inner push to do more this year, and you may be determined to live a better life. To use that motivation, you should build the proper habits and get rid of the bad ones. Today, be thankful and think about how rich you are; your family is priceless, your time is gold, and your health is wealth, as Zig Ziglar, an American author, wisely put it. Here are 10 habits that could help you live a healthy, wealthy, and wise life.
Stand More
If you have an Apple Watch, it recommends that you stand for 12 hours every day. Standing is vital to your health. Research has found that people who sit for too long every day have a greater chance of diabetes, heart disease, and dying earlier in life. To help you stand more throughout the day, use a standing desk. A standing desk is not a trend; it helps us overcome our sedentary lifestyle. It has many benefits, including improving your mood, increasing your energy level, and burning more calories. Standing more also improves your posture, reduces the risk of weight gain, and boosts productivity. So, what’s the key takeaway? Standing more is an essential lifestyle change that can improve your physical and psychological health.
Get Enough Sleep
Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds, said JoJo Jensen, an actress. You may not realise you’re not getting enough sleep, but your body gives you warning signs. Don’t wear the badge of pride that you’re not getting enough sleep. Sleep is critical to your health and daily performance. Sleep is not overrated. Don’t believe others when they say they don’t need much sleep because they are social, busy, and heroic. A lack of sleep is a bad thing, not a good thing. Don’t think you can wake up early and go to bed late; it will catch up with you. Sleep makes us more productive and enables us to feel energised and alert. According to the National Sleep Foundation, most healthy adults need seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Sleep requirements vary slightly from person to person. Sleep helps you control your weight, improve your long-term and short-term memory, and prevent cardiovascular diseases. So, what’s the key takeaway? Getting enough sleep every day enables our bodies to repair, reduces our stress, and boosts our immune system.
Rest More
“Good health is true wealth,” said Urijah Faber, an American mixed martial artist. You can get eight hours of sleep, and you can still feel tired. Sleep is about your body, while rest is about your mind. You restore your mind, emotions, and social well-being when you rest. Sleep and rest are different. Rest is about taking care of your mind. It can enhance your productivity because you have a better sense of who you are and help you overcome exhaustion. So, what’s the key takeaway? Rest is different from sleep. It would be best for your health if you get enough sleep and rest.
Exercise More
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live,” said Jim Rohn, an American entrepreneur. Most adults don’t exercise 30 minutes a day. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, adults should get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity. Regular exercise boosts your mood, happiness, and positive outlook on life. Exercise makes you happier than money does. Research has found that regular exercise is more vital to your mental health than how much money you have. Exercise helps you sleep better, overcome depression, and reduce stress. Make exercise a priority and a daily habit. So, what’s the key takeaway? The happiest people in life are the ones who constantly work out, not the ones who make the most money.
Focus on a Healthy Diet
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” said Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father of the United States. You are what you eat. When you improve your diet, you increase your lifespan and have immediate health benefits. Focus on what you eat and listen to your body. Use food as an opportunity to be grateful for your life. Choose whole foods over highly processed foods. Whole foods contain fewer calories and are more filling than processed foods. Be mindful of what you put into your body. Healthy eating is fundamental to good health. You can have a healthy diet by avoiding soft drinks, eating more fruits and vegetables, and eating eggs, fish, and nuts. Lower the amount of sugar in your diet. Either eat less, exercise more or do both. So, what’s the key takeaway? You’ll have a better memory, be in a better mood, and lose weight when you focus on a healthy diet.
Make Better Choices
“Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that can change your life forever,” said Keri Russell, an American actress. Our decisions impact all areas of our lives. The choices you make every day build up over time, and they determine who you become and what type of life you live today. Life is full of choices, and there are many uncomfortable truths about life that we must accept. Some options in life are easy, while some are hard. Our choices make the difference between success and failure. The key is to make better choices every day. For instance, choosing to exercise instead of watching TV or opting for a salad instead of a burger. Life gives us many forks on the road. When you make better choices, your future self will thank you. Our lives are made up of temporary moments with many options. Stand firm on your decisions and know that it was the right choice at the time. So, what’s the key takeaway? To make better choices, focus on now, simplify, and think about long-term benefits.
Strengthen Your Relationships
You probably have relationships with family, friends, and colleagues, but how deep are they? Most likely, you’re just on the tip of the iceberg. Ask them specific questions to deepen your relationships. Relationships in your personal and professional life are vital to your success. Be curious about them. You may have known someone for years, but you don’t know some things about their life because they haven’t had the opportunity to share them with you. Research indicates that having solid relationships at work is associated with increased engagement, higher-quality work, and better physical and emotional health. Your relationships matter, especially at work, since a third of your life is spent at work. So, what’s the key takeaway? When you work hard to build more meaningful relationships, you’ll become happier.
Invest More Time with Family
“The key is not spending time, but investing in it,” said Stephen R. Covey, an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. Invest time with people who matter to you. If you only had one day to live, who would you love? It’s probably your family. Be picky about who you spend time with and treasure the critical people in your life. Your time should match your values. Take a moment to self-reflect and ask yourself what truly matters, what you genuinely care about, and what your purpose is. That self-reflection will help you realise that you should spend more time with family. Have one meal together a week, go for a walk together, plan a fun activity together, turn off technology, play a board game, and get to know them better. Maybe one of your family members was a beekeeper earlier in life, and you didn’t know. You’ll be surprised what you don’t know about your family when you make a real effort to get to know them and listen to stories you never heard before. So, what’s the key takeaway? Success breeds, so be picky about who you spend time with during your life.
Have a Growth Mindset
A growth mindset focuses on the process and what it takes to succeed. If you don’t have the right mindset, you can’t become a better you. The mind is a powerful tool that frames your experiences in life. A growth mindset helps you prioritise learning over failure, excellence over perfection, and risk over the status quo. You view failures as opportunities, and you change your outlook on life. Research shows your mindset impacts your lifespan. A growth mindset can overcome difficult and painful things. Having the proper perspective on life will determine how you live your life. When you approach every situation as a learning experience and growth opportunity, you can live a whole life. So, what’s the key takeaway? You change your life when you change your mind. A growth mindset will help you see the positives in everything.
Laugh More – “Always laugh when you can”. It is a cheap medicine. Let us have wine and women, mirth and laughter, sermons and soda water the day after. Nothing can confound a wise man more than laughter from a dunce. Lord Byron (2013).
