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We’ve all heard the saying, “it’s the small things in life that count,” and it’s true – you can use small habits to improve your life significantly. The key to improving your life for the better is to focus on small, achievable goals. But what are micro habits and how can you use them to reach bigger objectives? This post explores how adopting small, daily habits can have a lasting impact on your health and well-being.
What are Micro Habits?
Micro habits are small actions that can lead to big changes through the compounding effect.
These habits can also be part of a bigger habit.
For example, adopting the habit of working out daily can be broken down into the micro habits of choosing a workout video on YouTube, preparing your activewear, laying out your workout mat the evening before, or even just sitting down on the mat doing one small exercise.
Why Micro Habits Matter
Improving your life can be an overwhelming task. We can improve so many things that we often don’t even know where to start.
And even if we manage to narrow it down to one good habit we want to adopt, it can be hard to stick with it long-term.
Micro habits, on the other hand, are very quick and actionable. You need very little motivation or self-discipline to do the action.
Many people see these habits as less significant because they are so small. However, between the person who tries and fails to implement big habits and the one who successfully builds many small habits, the latter will achieve the bigger change in life.
How to Get Started with Micro Habits
First, you should narrow down the biggest problems in your life. There is little sense in improving things that are already going well if the issues in your life will overshadow it.
Once you have ranked the problem areas of your life and decided which to prioritize, you are ready for the next step: List all the good habits – both big and small – that come to your mind which would improve that part of your life.
I’m sure you already have many ideas, but if you want to be especially diligent, take a look at people who are already succeeding in this area and analyze how they do it.
Lastly, break down those habits into very small actions.
Once those have become second nature, you can move on to the next micro habits.
Examples of Micro Habits
Here are a couple of small habits to improve your life as an inspiration for your own. Perhaps you’ll even adopt some of them.
1. Take a sip of water every time you leave your room
Hydration is important but all too easy to forget in our busy daily life.
If you want to be healthier, have clearer skin, or lose weight, then taking a sip of water every time you leave your room is a great micro habit to come just 1% closer to that goal.
2. Don’t take the parking lot closest to the building
If you are a student or have a desk job, you are likely sitting far too much. Some people even say that sitting is the new smoking.
So the next time you drive somewhere, don’t aim for the parking lot closest to the door but rather take one that forces you to walk further.
3. Learn one new word a day
Being able to express yourself eloquently will help both your career and your relationships.
That’s why broadening your vocabulary, even if it is just one word a day, can help you to improve your life in the long term.
4. Put things back to where you’ve taken them from
Life is much easier if you manage to stay organized. By putting things away into their proper place instead of lying around, you avoid creating a mess that needs to be organized anew.
Read also: How To Organize Your Life | 11 Tips To Keep Your Life Organized
5. Pick out your clothes the evening before
Decision fatigue catches us all eventually. That’s why you should limit the amount of low-importance decisions you must make, especially early in the morning.
Having your outfit ready when you wake up also significantly speeds up your morning routine.
6. Summarize every non-fiction chapter you’ve finished reading in one sentence
There are so many valuable lessons inside non-fiction books that we miss if we only try to finish the book.
Pausing for a moment and summarizing the past few pages in your own words helps you retain the information much better.
Read also: Reading List For Personal Growth
7. Write down three non-negotiable goals for the day
We all have big to-do lists written down or in the back of our heads. Trying to accomplish all these to-do’s in a day sets you up for failure and disappointment.
Instead, take one minute in the morning or evening to write down three non-negotiable tasks. With your sole focus on these few tasks, your productivity will improve.
8. Visualize your goals coming true as you lay down to sleep
Many studies prove the power of the mind over our reality. We can utilize this power through visualization.
As you lay in bed and your brainwaves slow down, it’s a great time to visualize the moment your goal of choice has come true.
It will make you feel more optimistic and motivated to take action toward this goal the next day. In other words, a perfect small habit to improve your life.
Essential Tips for Strengthening Your Micro Habits
Turn it into a game. Computer games and social media apps use this challenge-reward effect all the time to keep their users hooked.
You could buy yourself a gorgeous habit tracker that makes you happy every time you use it.
Or you could put 1€ into a jar every day you did the habit. Seeing the jar slowly fill up is a wonderful visual motivation tool.
Conclusion: Small daily habits are great for achieving incremental improvements in your overall well-being. Use these tips to make sure you are getting the most out of these micro habits. Implementing micro habits into your daily routine will lead to long-term positive change.
Start forming small habits to improve your life today. Do you already have any micro habits that you do? Share them with us in the comments!
Until next time, Felicity Seeker!
