My Consistent Everyday Habits

I am a firm believer that our success is a reflection of our consistent everyday habits. Some of these habits are as simple as having the discipline to make our bed every morning, exercising once a day, or maybe even meditating. Regardless, I believe the foundation of success stems from our discipline and how well we push ourselves to do so consistently. Often times, I am asked how I manage to maintain such an active healthy lifestyle and I always bring it back to the habits I incorporate each day. With that, I've decided to share five of my consistent everyday habits. 1. Make my bed every morning Over the past year, I developed a strong urge to make my bed every morning and ever since I began doing it consistently, it naturally became part of my routine. The funniest part about this, is that if I don't make my bed or leave my apartment knowing my bed isn't made, a part of me feels off...not always, but sometimes. It's that weird feeling inside where you know you didn't do something that you consistently do and it's breaking a good habit. Again, I'm not perfect so yes, there are plenty of times where I am running behind and don't get a chance to make my bed in the morning. However, I'd say about 8/10 times, my bed is made before I leave my apartment to go about my day. I personally believe this habit is such a vital one to incorporate in your daily routine, simply because it is so easy and quick, and if you can't find the discipline to do such a simple task, how can you discipline yourself to do the more difficult and complex tasks? 2. Practice gratitudeThis habit is one of my newer ones, but one that I find I have been able to practice consistently almost every day. Typically what I try to do is write down 1-3 things I am grateful for in the "daily gratitude" part of my planner and also think about them throughout the day, especially if I am ever feeling rough or simply upset about certain parts of my life. I find that practicing gratitude allows me to be more aligned with my vision and keeps me in check with being mindful of how lucky I am be healthy, active, and surrounded by great people. Often times, I recognize that I am grateful for so many things or people that happen to be part of my daily routine, yet I hardly ever acknowledge it to them or to myself. I love this because it's a good reminder to always show my appreciation for my close friends and for my opportunities. Practicing gratitude allows me to always appreciate and reflect on my success and failures and as always, how I can improve as an individual.3. Some form of exerciseWhile I do try to do high intensity workouts everyday, it doesn't always work out like that, as I'm sure many of you experience yourself. However, at the very least, I am mindful about how many steps I take each day (with the help of my Apple Watch) and I aim for about 12,000 steps/day, but 15,000 steps/day for a more intense "workout", especially if I don't have time for an actual workout. My current main go-to workouts are Lagree (aka similar to Pilates) or a simple 3-4 mile run. I find that these two help keep my body balanced and also helps me build strength and endurance to help with my sports like figure skating and tennis. Exercise helps us maintain a mental and physical balance in life and internally teaches us discipline, as well as the science of achievement.4. Reflect on my goals Usually before the beginning of the week, I write out my goal(s) to accomplish for the week and at the end of each day, I reflect and see what I've done to get closer to accomplishing the goal(s). I do this specifically because it is extremely easy to get sidetracked with other events or bullshit that come up during the week, so I want to ensure I keep my goal(s) at the forefront of my priorities and reflect each day to see how my focus has been. This habit helps with my long-term vision and overall pursuits as I prepare for graduation.5. Learning new skills or informationI take learning and education very seriously and vital to my personal growth. Although I am a college student taking classes nearly every day, I want to be able to learn and grow outside of the classroom. I typically do this by listening to a podcast episode at least once a day with a lot of informative topics that I wouldn't usually learn directly about in school, such as stoic philosophy, business/brand strategy, strategic approaches to life + relationships, and etc. This kind of habit ties in with dealing with our everyday environment and learning how to manage the ups and downs. I find learning about these kinds of topics crucial to our emotional intelligence and how we use it to become successful.Other habits I'm currently working towards to be consistent:- Not checking my phone/notifications in the morning until after 9AM- Reading a book for 30-45 mins when I wake up or before I sleep- Putting my phone on "do not disturb" mode for 4-6 hours of the day during the week- Waking up at 7AM on weekdays and practicing meditation or more in-depth "me" timeI have found these five consistent habits I've listed vital to my personal growth and mental discipline. Our lifestyle and success is reflected in what we do consistently, so let's choose our habits wisely.xx