The Ultimate Good Habits List For A Happy Life

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What if there was a list of good habits you could turn to which could instantly bring you more happiness?

Look no further than this!  I’ve pulled together the ULTIMATE list of good habits to help you live a happier and more fulfilling life!

To make this even handier, I’ve split it into categories so you can instantly find the motivation you’re looking for.  AND I’ve pulled the entire good habits list into a downloadable PDF so you can save it to refer to whenever you like.

Yay!

One little word of caution before we get carried away….

To qualify for being the ULTIMATE good habits list I’ve obviously had to include quite a lot of habits.  I definitely, don’t want you to be overwhelmed.

This list of good habits is supposed to help you, not make you feel like your head is spinning!

I’d recommend therefore choosing one category to focus on first of all.  Pick a couple of habits that resonate with you from that category.

Then make a commitment to replace a bad habit with one of your chosen habits from the good habits list.

It takes an average of 66 days to form a new habit so don’t be disheartened if you forget about your new good habit a few times at the start.

Keep practising and aim for consistency over at least a couple of months.

Then celebrate and congratulate yourself – you replaced your old bad habit with a new good one 🙂

Let’s dive right into the ultimate list of good habits.

 

Personal Good Habits List

 

Make yourself feel better by choosing a few of these habits to practice daily.

1. Get up half an hour earlier
2. Go to bed half an hour earlier
3. Laugh every day
4. Start a journal and write in it for 10 minutes each day
5. Note 3 things you are grateful for each day
6. Be honest with yourself and with others
7. Meditate or practice yoga daily
8. Set yourself a cut off time in the evening for social media and the news
9. Ask for what you want and/or need
10. Be punctual
11. Look for the positives in life instead of looking for what’s wrong
12. Stop blaming other people
13. Cut yourself some slack.  Don’t be so hard on  yourself, you are doing the best you can
14. Do one thing at a time
15. Take responsibility for your own behaviour and reactions

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Good Habits For Improving Relationships

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These habits will help you to improve your relationships.  Whether it be friends and family or work colleagues, try some of these habits and feel the benefits.

Photo by Sarah Noltner on Unsplash

1. Spend time with positive people
2. Limit the time you spend with negative people
3. Don’t gossip
4. Help someone out
5. Be curious.  Ask questions and find out about others
6. Really listen
7. Be reliable.  Do what you say you’ll do
8. Don’t criticise, condemn or complain
9. Keep away from drama
10. Forgive and forget
11. Smile
12. Say hello
13. Use people’s names in conversation
14. Give compliments freely
15. Don’t interrupt or finish others’ sentences
16. Seek first to understand (instead of seeking to make yourself understood)
17. Choose kindness over having to be ‘right’
18. Pause before you speak.  Don’t feel you have to respond straight away.  Take some time to think

 

Good Habits List For Your Health

 

We can all be guilty of falling into bad habits with our health.

Why is it so much easier to choose chocolate and sitting on the sofa watching TV over vegetables and working out?

I guess it’s because the latter requires a bit more effort.

I don’t know about you though, but making a conscious effort to build some healthy habits into my life always makes me feel better.

1. Drink plenty of water
2. Make your bed every day
3. Get showered, dressed and do your hair.  Even if you aren’t going anywhere
4. Get out in the fresh air and daylight at least once a day
5. Choose a form of exercise you enjoy.  Then do it regularly
6. Reduce your intake of caffeine, sugar and alcohol
7. Choose one new healthy recipe to try each week.  Then shop for the ingredients and plan when you will make it
8. Brush and floss your teeth every day
9. Moisturise
10. Reduce your intake of salt and saturated fats
11. Eat regular meals.  Try and eat breakfast every day.  If you struggle with breakfast, drink a big glass of water first thing and have something healthy later on
12. Keep technology out of the bedroom
13. Breathe deeply.  There are many breathing exercises you can try.  I like ‘box’ breathing where you breathe in for a count of 6, hold for 6, out for 6, hold for 6.  Rinse and repeat
14. Put on some music and do the housework
15. Avoid eating or shopping for food when you’re feeling stressed
16. Plan your meals for the week ahead
17. Eat slowly.  Chew each bite at least 5 times

 

List of Good Habits To Increase Spirituality

 

I will admit that I’m not a religious person.  However, in recent years I’ve found it to be increasingly important to nourish my soul and to recognise that I’m part of a big wide universe (very deep!)

Here are some ways to work on this.

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Photo by Jay Castor on Unsplash

 

1. Meditate
2. Listen to your intuition
3. Take note of the present moment
4. Listen to bird song.  Notice nature around you
5. Spend some time each day in silence
6. Practice gratitude
7. Become more self-aware
8. Be yourself (and don’t apologise for it)
9. Never give up
10. Carry out random acts of kindness
11. Show compassion, for yourself and to others

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Good Habits For Personal Development

 

Many of the other habits in this ultimate list will also help you to develop personally and make improvements in your life.

Here are some more that have personally helped me with my personal development.

1. Set  yourself a positive intention for the day each morning
2. Note down 3 good things that have happened each day
3. Learn something new every day.  Write down what you learn
4. Read a book that challenges your thinking every month
5. Realise you can’t control everything but that you can control your reactions
6. Find something each day which inspires you.  Whether this be a person, a book, a podcast, a quote or something else
7. Learn from mistakes instead of beating yourself up for them

 

Good Habits To Inspire Creativity

 

Creativity isn’t just about drawing or writing a novel.

It took me a long time to realise how many different forms of creativity there are and just because I was bottom in art class, this didn’t mean I wasn’t creative!

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Photo by Dragos Gontariu on Unsplash

Here are some good habits to help you find your creativity.

1. Be open-minded and try different things
2. List all the things you enjoy doing.   Where can you be creative with these?
3. Read books often
4. Join in craft activities with your children
5. Take up adult colouring
6. Take a recipe from a book and change some of the ingredients
7. Travel.  Inspiration can be found in visiting different places.  If you can’t travel right now, plan your next trip
8. Allow yourself to daydream
9. Notice and observe the world around you
10. Change the environment you are working in.  Move to a different room or go and work in a coffee shop, in  a library or outdoors
11. Take a break
12. Push yourself out of your comfort zone, even if only a little way
13. Have fun and stop taking life so seriously

 

List of Good Habits At Work

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I’ve been guilty of letting work take over my life at the expense of other important areas.

Here are some habits to stop that happening and also to help make your work fulfilling and meaningful.

1. Leave on time
2. Take a lunch break
3. Realise your inbox will never be empty
4. Set clear boundaries between work and home life
5. Don’t bring work home
6. Take healthy snacks to eat at work
7. Switch emails off when you are at home
8. Look for solutions, not problems
9. Find a coach or a mentor
10. Plan your goals for the next quarter
11. Break these goals down into smaller goals for the coming month/week
12. Plan out your work each week, linking to your goals
13. Be flexible
14. Get to know your team and the people you work with.  You don’t have to best friends with them all, but building relationships at work is so important
15. Ask for help when you need it

 

Good Habits For Managing Your Money

 

Are you always overdrawn at the end of the month?

Do you want to find money to book a holiday?

This list of habits is for you!

1. Sounds boring I know but set up a budget
2. Pay bills on time
3. Don’t spend more than you can afford
4. Sleep on any big purchase decisions.  Preferably sleep on it for more than one night!
5. Set up a standing order to automatically transfer money into a savings account each month
6. Save your change
7. Shop around for insurance, utilities etc.
8. Switch contracts when they expire
9. Minimise credit card and loan debts
10. Track your spending
11. Review your finances on a regular basis
12. Look for discounts and coupons
13. Take packed lunches
14. Skip the expensive coffees

 

Good Habits To Help You Develop Confidence

 

This list is close to my heart.  It has taken me many years to develop confidence and put myself out there.

I’m still a work in progress but the habits on this list definitely help.

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Photo by Arnel Hasanovic on Unsplash

1. List your strengths.  Keep this list somewhere you can refer to it often
2. Develop and practice your own positive affirmations
3. Practice ‘power posing’.  Stand up straight, shoulders back, arms down by your side.  Practice this in the mirror.  You might feel a bit silly, but believe me this works!
4. Look your best.  I always feel better if I’m well dressed and have done my hair and makeup
5. Prepare and practice for challenging situations
6. Practice asking for what you need and want
7. Shift your attention to the other person, this will often reduce how self-conscious you’re feeling
8. Teach someone else how to do something you can do well
9. Do some voluntary work
10. Notice negative thoughts.  Ask yourself how true they are and then reframe them into something more positive
11. Deliberately slow down your speech
12. Stop jumping into every silence.  Pause before you speak
13. Be comfortable with saying you don’t know the answer but that you’ll find out
14. Upskill yourself and practice new skills
15. Do your research and equip yourself with knowledge.  It’s easier to be confident when you know what you’re talking about!

 

List Of Good Habits To Help Manage Stress

 

Again, cultivating some of the other habits on this ultimate list can help with managing stress.

Here are a few more.

1. Richard Carlson pointed out that we don’t always have to ‘catch the ball’.  We often feel obliged to engage with someone else’s problem, to ‘fix’ it for them.  Don’t catch everything which is thrown your way
2. Accept that life isn’t fair
3. Connect with friends and family (preferably those with a positive outlook on life)
4. Do something to relax you.  Meditate, exercise, read, watch TV.  Whatever it takes
5. Get some sleep
6. Distract yourself with a hobby
7. Play with your pets
8. Ask for help
9. Ask yourself whether this will matter one year from now

 

 

Good Habits To Create More Time

 

If you want to be more productive and get more down then this list of habits is for you.

They will also help you to create some time for yourself to relax, which is very important!

1. Set yourself a schedule
2. Remove distractions
3. Work on your most important tasks first
4. Learn how to say no
5. Do one thing at a time
6. Batch similar tasks together
7. Have breaks
8. Schedule in some downtime

 

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Ultimate List Of Good Habits For A Happy Life.  I’d love to hear which ones you are going to take on board?

Also, let me know if there are any other categories of good habits you would like to see me add to this post.

Finally, don’t forget to grab your downloadable PDF containing all of the fantastic good habits mentioned.

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