What improved your quality of life, so much, you wish you did it sooner?

[piddocktrumperiness]

For me it's a few things:
-Learning what past trauma is and how it plays out in relationships
-Learn to say no to things and people and not feel bad about it
-Realising no one really notices or cares what I do or look like; felt liberated to not always wear lots of makeup, dress in a new outfit or have my roots done, or eat out alone, or do anything alone.
-Not watching much current tv and picking up a book instead
-Listening to James O' Brien on LBC ( I know he's not everyone's cup of tea- but I learned alot)
-Waking up v early to have some me time. This was hard as I was a night owl for many years.
-Declutter and only buy when I need something. To be honest this started as I had to downsize to an empty flat after my divorce and am on not much money but it has helped with not worrying about possessions and all the cleaning involved.
-Divorce my ex husband- biggest impact haha

What improved yours?

What a great thread. Lots of interesting answers.

Going freelance. Love the professional freedom, school holidays off, more money pay for a housekeeper and no shitty work politics. The beaver of my colleagues followed in quick succession and we’ve supported each other.

Becoming a dog person.

Getting back into yoga and swimming.

French classes.

Decluttering the house and keeping it that way.

Banning phones from the bedroom at night time.

Avoiding mainstream media.

Eating less.

Not giving a damn what anyone other than my husband thinks about what I do or say.

Not having the jabs.

Achieving something whether it be big or small. every day.

Bought a weighted duvet.

Cutting right back on alcohol and improving my diet after reading the book Hormone Intelligence (someone here recommended it).

Yoga.

Stopping giving a damn about what anyone else thinks.

Waking up early.

A healthy, balanced diet that works for my needs.

Moving out of the city.

Counselling.
Learning how to say no and not taking on other people's problems.
Choosing what I should be responsible for rather than other people choosing for me.
Hybrid working. The difference it makes just being able to stick the dishwasher on or hoover the floor whilst I'm working at home. Huge impact on all the family. We're all a bit more houseproud now.
Getting a plant and learning how to look after it properly.

Great idea for discussion..

1. Realising my children will make their own choices and are their own people..hard as this is.
2. Took me ages to realise that childhood trauma is only going to lead to a lot of adult difficulty and once I realised this it kind of started to sort itself out bit by bit.

1. Running and bone conducting headphones.
2. Less clutter. Still working on this.
3. Realised I was more successful at work if I was a bit of a toned down version of myself. Still working on this also.
4. Solar operated decent lights in the garden with a switch at each end of the garden 😀

1. Getting a job where I can get the bus and read a book for 30 mins each way: so much nicer than driving.

Getting a treadmill

Exercise at home, no bumpy pavements and knee hurting hard places

Can watch tv on my tablet with wireless earbuds

Keeps my weight down and I miss it when I don't get on, even for just 30 minutes. That 30 has changed my life

Yes to saying no to people without feeling bad about it, I’ve even managed to lose a couple of entitled piss takers - bonus.

I drink a glass of water when I first wake up and that seems to encourage me to drink more water during the day for some reason.

I’ve changed the times and duration of my swims. I went from 1x40 length afternoon swim a week to 4x20 length early morning swims a week so I’ve upped the amount I’m exercising without feeling too knackered.

During the afternoon school run I’ve started eating a piece of fruit and that stops me from reaching for the biscuits whilst I’m cooking DC’s tea.

Yours sound great @piddocktrumperiness

May I ask how you achieved the first three items you listed?

Have you been on a self discovery journey?

I recognise some of what I need in your post but I’m not sure where to start.

Giving up drinking altogether, I didn't drink much but when I did I felt awful after.
Getting HRT.
Shaving my head.
Moving away from a range of people some of whom were toxic and som were lovely but the toxicity messes everything up.
Moving to France although saying that it is stonkingly hot here at the moment.

Like @Boood finding outdoors exercise I love (in my case cycling) . I ditched the gym years ago. Also joining a cycling club so there’s a fun social side to my exercise too now

Also moving to a great location, with great access to countryside for running /walking / cycling but also decent access to town

My pipamoka coffee maker, Aftershock headphones. Subscription tv. My cats.
learning what really makes me me and what works for me.

Meditation

moving to a house with a smaller garden. With Young adult kids we just don’t need it.
open water swimming weekly with a friend. We laugh a lot.
dogs- outside walking daily is so good for mental health.
ditching diets and the low cal crap and going for none processed foods.

Divorce!
My iPad and iPhone
My dWestie
Dyson V7

Quitting the Bottle! 2 years sober tomorrow and never felt better or more steadfast in my decision.

Anti depressants
retirement
swimming (only in a pool at the moment but I’m going to try the sea this summer)

Selling my business and working part time. I have no idea how I would have coped during the pandemic or subsequent health problems.

Quitting alcohol nearly 3 years ago now
Finding a sport that I love and playing it twice a week
Working from home
Saying no to a lot of things I would've said yes to in the past
Early nights! I love my bed, and a solid bedtime routine
Monthly massages
Cordless Dyson
Fortnightly cleaner
Take away once a week
Google home
Shopping list app
To-do list app
Getting a cat
Antidepressants

Moving overseas, no stress at all, especially from traffic.

Getting a divorce. Moved career to something lower paid but far fewer hours per week, better holidays and more intellectually stimulating.
Took up strength training and walking/hiking in countryside especially coastal and mountain walks. I find it so meditative walking in nature.
Starting to say No - this is one I’m still working on, but trying to get better at not letting people walk all over me.

Sobriety. Nothing else compares.

Getting a dishwasher (love cleaning but washing up repulses me)

Learning about slow living

Coming off social media after realising that it’s more about tearing others down to get ahead more than lifting each other up

Deleting old "friends" from my phone/social media. I use "friends " loosely as they were people I knew years ago or friends I had as a child or knew a previous version of you that you've since outgrown. When you message but never get a response. I feel so much better for deleting!