Habits and Routines: Why Having Healthy Habits Is the Key to Looking After Your Wellbeing
Do you start your day the same every morning? Or do you tend to ‘wing it’ and go with the flow based on how you feel each day?
Whatever your natural style, it’s a myth that habits force us to be rigid and inflexible. The reality is that when you create authentic habits (that is, habits that align to your personal values) (link to authentic living blog) they give you structure and stability - both necessary for personal development, but they also make room for and facilitate change.
Do you feel that you value yourself, physically and mentally, but don’t know where or how to start a healthier lifestyle? And like everything you’ve tried so far feels unsustainable and you consistently go back to your old habits?
Well if either of those resonate with you, keep reading, because you’re going to love this post on the power of healthy habits, routines, and rituals.
Let’s start off by defining habits, routines, and rituals…. In essence they’re one and the same, but here’s my personal definition of them:
HABITS: these are small actions that add up to big results over time
ROUTINES: this is the framework in which you do these actions
For example, my morning ‘routine’ is to wake up at 6.30am and spend an hour with myself before I start my day. I fill that time with ‘habits’ such as drinking lemon water, journaling, and practicing meditation.
The reason it’s so important to have both habits and routines is because without the right structure, habits don’t happen. Think about it - have you tried to form a new healthy habit but after day 3 it’s long been forgotten? That’s because you haven’t got a process in place to make sure you see the habit through.
Habits give you the opportunity to translate your values into actions.
Say for example you value nature and outdoor time, you could form a habit of going hiking, and you couple then implement a monthly routine to meet friends for a hiking trip.
When you put your values into practice, habits feel easier to accomplish and not so scary. As an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and NLP Practitioner, I think a lot about how we can use habits and routines for creating positive, lasting changes in our lives. Habits make up about 40% of our daily actions, and most of those are unconscious. So imagine what could happen if we brought a level of consciousness into our habits and routines each day?
The reason I’m so passionate about habit formation? Well, rewind to just a few years ago and I felt lost, stuck, and deeply frustrated. I picked up a book on home decluttering (read more about my journey here) and soon found myself diving head-first into reorganizing my home and my life! What I noticed was that it wasn’t the big sweeping actions that had the deepest impact, but the smaller daily habits and actions that brought real lasting change.
Within 6 months I had more energy, significantly less stress and anxiety, and felt better than I had in a long time. Habits and routines transformed my home environment, my nutrition and approach to eating, my relationships, and now, my career.
One of my all-time favourite books is Atomic Habits by James Clear. He says “All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger.” - I couldn’t agree more!
So how can we hack our habits for better health, happiness, and wellbeing? Here are some of my top tips that I share with clients:
Start your day right: The first hour of your day sets the tone for how you’ll spend the next 23. Having a solid morning routine helps you start off focused, energised, and intentional. Some great morning habits include meditation, exercise, journaling, drinking lemon water, making your bed, and eating a nourishing breakfast.
Schedule the stuff that matters to you: If it's not on your calendar, it likely won't get done. Schedule time for exercise, meal prep, and family time - all your essentials. Hold those time slots sacred. Planning ahead helps ensure you live intentionally.
Automate your habits: Make your habits as frictionless as possible. Prepare your gym bag the night before, set out your vitamins by the kettle, and keep healthy snacks on your desk. The easier a habit is, the more likely it becomes routine.
Start small: Trying to overhaul everything at once is a recipe for failure. Focus on one new habit at a time until it sticks. Then layer on another. Small, incremental changes are the key to lasting transformation.
Stack your habits. Tie new behaviours to existing routines to remember them. For example, take your vitamins after your morning coffee or go for a walk after dinner. Piggybacking off current habits makes adopting new ones easier.
Don’t forget to reward yourself.
Positive reinforcement helps new habits stick. Download that new book after a week of consistent meditation. Give yourself healthy incentives and watch how easier it is to form new routines and habits.
Don’t forget that habits take time… be kind to yourself as you embark on this journey. And reach out if you need some support! (add in para about 1:1 coaching and CTA)
When you can build new habits you can foster positive change. James Clear says “Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits.”
What he means by this is whatever your goals are, they start with habits. Want to feel more fulfilled and like you have more purpose? Start with habits that connect you to your true self and values. Want to get in better shape and feel confident about your physical body? Start making time for exercise and movement that feels good to you, and eating the right foods.
The more you can repeat an action, ‘a habit’, the more likely it is to stick. On a neurological level habits create shortcuts in the brain - they become subconscious when you do them enough times. This means that instead of hitting the snooze button in the morning you start waking up with the first alarm, or it means you start prepping gut friendly lunches to take into the office rather than grabbing the cheap meal deal from the superstore.
Some of my favourite simple habits to get started with are:
Start a Gratitude Practice in bed - this plays on the idea of habit stacking that we discusses earlier - you’re already in bed, so you can easily ‘stack’ this practice in your bedtime routine. Say 3 things out loud, or in your head, that you’re grateful for - I like to do this twice a day, saying 3 things I’m excited about in the coming day, and then when I get into bed at night, I say 3 things I’m grateful for that’s happened each day.
Eat a balanced breakfast - it can feel overwhelming changing up the way you eat throughout the entire day so I always suggest starting with breakfast. I love to opt for a savoury protein rich breakfast with some healthy fats - eggs with green veg and avocado is my go-to for a healthy nutrient rich breakfast.
Up your daily step count - walking is a great way to increase your daily exercise and it can sometimes be easier than finding time for the gym or a class when you’re starting out. I like to wear a tracker to track my steps, but on average aim for 8-10k steps per day. If you’re walking at an average pace that’s around 1.5-2 hours of walking per day. This might sound like a lot, but if you break it down into chunks it’s easy to incorporate into your day.
Healthy habits have the power to nourish us mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. What new habit will you start today? Remember, the compound interest of your seemingly small daily actions build to yield incredible results over a long period of time.
To help get you started by identifying the areas of your life that need some love and attention, download my free Wheel of Life workbook. Just click the link below to get started!
