AIBU to ask you if a daily habit has transformed your life?

[CarlyWarly1980]

Just that, really..
Do you have a daily habit that has transformed your life for the better? A friend recommended a book along these lines but am I being unreasonable to think a daily habit can't really transform your life?
My friend has said the new habit of drinking water and putting on mascara every day helps her feel confident and think clearer improved her skin and helps her concentration. So I'm asking others on here AIBU to think one habit done daily can't really "change" your life?

I’ve just ordered one on Amazon after reading this thread 😊 there’s quite a few to choose from.

Love this thread and have a long list of things I want to do. To me introducing 3 new habits in one week seems quite ambitious so I have chosen carefully and it may be more than a week before I introduce anymore!

1. Walk up the stairs to my 6th floor office (not easy, I tried it once before) but I have to get there somehow and already feel guilty every time I get in the lift so it seems an easy change

1. Guided journaling, I have a few aims relating to my attitude, this sounds like fun and might inadvertently help me with the others

1. Take iron tablets, I've always been borderline anaemic, have stopped eating meat and feel tired all the time. I have iron tablets so this is simply remembering to actually take them, should be an easy win!

Reading the Bible.

I've got the App The Bible in One Year and I'm using it.

@Silvercatowner

Taking pro-biotics has transformed my digestive system.

Would you mind sharing which probiotics you take please?

Writing my worries down during the day and then going back to them in the evening really helps me.

1. Daily exercise (this one is newish!)
2. AM and PM skincare routines
3. SPF everyday (even when not going outside)
4. Drinking lots of water
5. Reading a bit of a book I enjoy every day. It doesn’t have to be a new book or one I haven’t previously read, just one I enjoy. I find the process incredibly relaxing.

@Isaidnomorecrisps

Yes it is really good and improves breathing and immune system. You can download the app for free. Once you have done it a few times you get used to doing it without the app. Give it a try and I hope it helps

Wake early enough to quietly meditate in my room for 20 mins, while my cleansing herb tea brews. Drink it while writing in my journal, planning the day, recording my sleep and how I feel.
Do a morning stretch.
Take Vit D, multi vit/mineral and Vit C

Drink 2 l water minimum during the day
No caffeine after noon.

Meditate mid afternoon.

Walk 10 000 steps minimum

Last thing before bed,
Leave smart tech downstairs and use analogue clocks, radios, stereos if I want to listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks etc or have alarms to wake me.
Write three gratitudes from my day, and also my achievements for the day, which link to the things I planned in the morning.
Do an evening stretch then meditate again.
Open window, go to bed.

I have serious chronic medical conditions, I'm alive and kicking many years past my "dead by" date, as a result

I’ve just ordered one on Amazon after reading this thread 😊 there’s quite a few to choose from.

I’ve been browsing but the choice is bewildering!

We make kefir smoothies every morning with a few berries and half a banana. Our digestion is so much better. It’s also a great immunity and around health booster.

@FoodologistGirl Do you make your own kefir or can you recommend a brand?

23trains we make our own. It take 5 minutes in the morning and I started with a small bag Of the grains from a supplier online £5. As it keeps growing I’ve since given some to family, friends, neighbours. Ask around if anyone you know does it and they’ll give you some. The supermarkets stuff is ok a bit sweet but ends up more expensive. Much better to grow your own.

Do you mind explaining exactly how you make it and what grains you need please?

Hours turbo first thing then don’t eat until early lunch. Lost 2 stone and dropped 2 dress sizes

Apologies for assuming @Manolin!

And for spelling your name wrong. I keep hearing a "d" in there in my head!

Getting up early and doing exercise and the basic household tasks. Admittedly not every morning yet but on the days that I do it I feel like I could take on the world. And I've NEVER been a morning person.

@CarlyWarly1980
Did my first beginners yoga with Adrienne today. Loved it. Now off for a shower and a walk. Keep re reading this thread some great ideas and so good for your mental health too.

Good that you are here with us @Catmaiden

Daily fast paced walk. I started this at the beginning of lockdown and have continued with this habit.

I have always exercised, but found that I have lost more weight by walking six miles a day than I ever did at the gym.
Going to the gym makes me ravenous and therefore I tend to overeat. Walking doesn’t have the same effect on my appetite .
Furthermore , it has had a beneficial effect on my mental wellbeing

I’ve downloaded the Wim Hof app and did the breathing and cold shower this morning - I feel amazing!

I also drinking more water - I’m following whoever suggested a pint first thing, before lunch, before supper and before bed and that feels really good too.

I’m also googling guided journals but don’t know where to start! I want something fairly lightweight otherwise I won’t keep up with it.

Such a great thread - thanks to everyone for their inspiring ideas!

Someone mentioned Gretchen Rubin above - she actually has a book all about how good/bad habits work: Better than before. I haven't read it, but a lot of what she says makes sense, if you can be as disciplined as she is.

Love this thread - we need more like this!

The only 'good' habit I have is normally taking a probiotic (BioKult in my case), washed down with a small glass of Kefir in the morning.
Then not eating until 1.00 and trying to finish supper by 7.30. I think the supper thing will become easier in winter.

I'm trying to meditate and recommend Mindsprings.org and the lovely Alistair Appleton.

Can anyone recommend a good daily paper planner. Never stick to digital lists somehow...

My new daily habits are also taking vitamins. I always made sure to give my DC plenty of vitamins and supplements, but couldn't get in the habit of taking them myself. So now I take vitamin D, vitamin C, iron and a multivitamin. Hopefully it will help in the autumn/winter...
Gretchen Rubin has a saying: what you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.

Have written down all the good stuff in this thread. Some of it I already do but I want to make time for the others. When you have a small child though (mine’s 20mo) and you work it’s a lot harder to fit in the Pilates, meditation etc. Ironically even harder in the holidays as the LO is not at creche! I suspect most of the people on this thread don’t work/work from home and/or their kids are older. (Tell me if I am wrong though!)

As for what I can offer others I would just say that keeping a paper diary to organise my life helps enormously. Means I spend less time staring at my phone and am more likely to remember everything that’s going on too. Everything gets written down. For similar reasons I would say wear a watch (rather than checking the time on your phone) and leave EARLY for stuff (yes, even if this means getting up earlier). TBH I just don’t understand those people who are perennially late and couldn’t live with that level of stress.