Habits: 25 small habits, to improve wealth, health and happiness

by Manoj Chenthamarakshan

Smile 2.Expression of Gratitude 3.Meditating 4.Nature Gazing 5.Working Out 6.Eating Healthier 7.Emulating A Role Model 8.Reading 9.Writing Your Ideas 10.Goal Writing 11.Vision Board Gazing 12.Writing To-do Lists 13.Journaling 14.Practicing Positive Affirmations 15.Taking Short Naps 16.Carrying A Water Bottle 17.Walk More Often And Get A Fitness Band 18.Having A Daily Questionnaire 19.Saying Thank You 20.Standing And Working 21.Talking To Yourself 22.Having Anchor Words 23.Appreciating Others 24.Learn To Contribute 25.Taking Mini-Breaks During The Day

Smiling affects your brain positively to relieve stress and depression, improve blood pressure and relieve pain

For the whole week, focus on smiling as often as you can. Begin your day with a bright smile. If you think you don’t have a reason to smile, think of the ‘small’ things that mean a lot to you that you cannot live without. Smile because you have a bed to sleep on, smile for the house you’ve got that you live in, or even for being alive! Any reason counts. Also, develop a method to remind yourself to smile the entire day, and even periodically force a smile on your face. Think of it as a simple way to improve the quality of your life. Again, remember that you can be a happier person by smiling alone. It is that simple, really.

“Gratitude is the great multiplier” - Rhonda Byrne

”Without gratitude, life can be lonely, depressing and impoverished. Gratitude enriches human life. It elevates, energizes, inspires and transforms, and those who practice it will experience significant improvements in several areas of life including relationships, academics, energy level and even dealing with tragedy and crisis.”

It reminds you of the positive things that are in your life.

It helps you turn the bad things into good things.

It focuses your attention on what is important.

It reminds you to thank other people.

simple acts of gratitude do not cost you a thing, yet they make so much difference in your life and that of other people you communicate your gratefulness to.

Have a morning gratitude session-

Express the gratitude in your own way-

Give thanks for all the negative things in your life-

Learn a gratitude prayer-

I will give you an example of one that I deem very special: You can find others that strike your fancy on the internet or even write your own.

“If every 8 year old in this world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.” - Dalai Lama

When you meditate, your brain stops processing information as actively as it normally does. Beta waves tend to decrease (beta waves are a kind of brain waves that dominate our consciousness when we direct attention towards cognitive tasks) which is an indication that the brain is processing information- even after a short meditation session if you’ve never attempted it before.

This is what really happens in individual brain parts: The frontal lobe is the most evolved brain area that is responsible for planning, reasoning, self-conscious awareness and emotions. It goes offline during meditation. The parietal lobe is responsible for processing sensory information concerning the surrounding world, orienting you in space and time. The activity in this area slows down during meditation The thalamus, which is also known as the gatekeeper for your senses funnels sensory data deep into your brain to focus your attention and in the process, stops other signals in their tracks. Meditation decreases the flow of incoming info to a drip. The reticular formation is the brain’s sentry or the structure that receives incoming stimuli before placing the brain on high alert, all set to respond. Meditation sort of dials back the arousal signal.

A better sense of self-awareness Meditation lets you take inventory of your body mentally.

meditation will help you create a better connection between your body and mind. Through this better sense of self-awareness, you are able to cultivate the present moment awareness that lets you remain in the present, grounded and well-focused in all aspects and each moment of your life.

Less Anxiety and Stress Obsessing about the future or past can often make you unhappy. When you are totally immersed in the present moment, you are content. You can only control what is taking place at this moment, which is why you don’t have a reason to be caught up in the past or remain absorbed in the future.

It is the key to reducing stress, having control over your anxiety and ultimately, leading a happier, more stress-free life.

“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nature gazing is a kind of meditation that is practiced in many ways.

“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” - John F Kennedy

Exercising is important. Everyone knows that. You need to make exercise a habit in your life for optimal physical and mental health. Contrary to what most of us know, exercising does not just help with weight loss and the prevention/ management of chronic diseases.

scientifically proven benefits of exercising that you should see include: Improves your muscles and bones Increases your energy Levels Reduces your chances of getting various chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes Improves your confidence and self-esteem Boosts your memory It can also help with relaxation and Sleep Quality

try the following sample exercises: For the quads: squats, box jumps, lunges For the hamstrings and butt: deadlifts, hip raises, step-ups and good mornings Push exercises for the shoulders: bench press, push-ups, incline dumbbell press, and overhead press Pull exercise for the biceps, forearms, and back: bodyweight rows, dumbbell rows, chin-ups and pull-ups Core exercises (lower back and abs): exercise ball crunches, planks, jumping knee tucks, mountain climbers and hanging leg raises

Mornings are ideal for working out.

When you eat healthy food, you have more energy, better weight, better health, which translates to more productivity, you become able to think and generally feel better.

“In order to carry a positive action, we must develop here a positive vision.” - Dalai Lama

Having someone, you admire and look up to can motivate you to achieve great feats and do amazing things.

‘Character in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of a person.’

he loves what he does, and that’s why he maintains his standing as one of the best players in the world. Federer does not need any other motivation than just being there in the moment, and doing that which he was born to do.

“To earn more, you must learn more” - Brian Tracy

You expose yourself to fresh things

Through a culture of reading, you get to expose yourself to so much info about so much: think new ways of solving problems, new ways of achieving certain goals or how to think, how to become happier, how to be contented with life and grow your career, what is happening around us… the list is simply endless.

You get to come across important information that builds you as a person whether in business or in relationships, school, parenting among other things.

Improves your understanding of life

the more you read, the more you understand many aspects of life and the better placed you become to navigate the world more easily.

Reading multiple psychology books talking about behavior traits and things like that gives you a better understanding of how different people react to or view certain behavioral practices and tendencies,

Remember that most of the successful people have this one common trait; that is to educate themselves on a regular basis. They would never tell you that they are done gaining knowledge.

a successful life is one in which you are able to constantly turn thoughts into successful actions. All of us have many thoughts,

One very important step in between having a thought and taking successful action is to bring a thought from within you to the outside. A good way to do this is writing it down. Whatever the thought is, writing it down does have a lot of benefits because your brain takes it very seriously.

The idea becomes more cemented in your brain.

When you write it down, you are now able to consider the goal and the obstacle clearly, isolated from the emotions that were tangled up in before you wrote it down.

You are now better able to brainstorm on a more ambitious level. If you think about it, you cannot write down a startup idea in the middle of a blank page and then begin branching out with a burst of ideas.

writing your thoughts down enables you to explore your dreams that you may not be wishing to share with other people. It also gives you a physical space to track those thoughts and go back to them later if required.

It clears your mental RAM and enables you to remain sharper as you age.

The process of writing down ideas, emotions, and thoughts helps your brain unload some baggage which provides more room to think about other stuff.