Our daily routines can give us stability, focus, and a clear sequence of actions to take us from dawn to dusk. But what happens when a routine becomes unhealthy? When bad habits begin to seep in, they can be difficult to identify and even more difficult to beat. By intentionally analyzing our daily routines, we can better understand and identify which parts of our daily routine may be holding us back, enabling us to create a healthier routine moving forward.
Recognize that Health Looks Different For Everyone
Establishing a healthy routine doesn’t have to mean that you’re working out every day, eating kale like it’s your job, or waking up before the sun rises to start working. It doesn’t mean that you have the biggest muscles at the gym, or that you’ve read every article on the internet about the benefits of celery juicing. Health looks different for everyone, and that’s ok. When we consider the concept of multidimensional wellness, we realize that there are multiple different aspects of wellness that we can improve upon with healthy routines, including physical wellness, intellectual wellness, social wellness, emotional wellness, vocational wellness, environmental wellness, and spiritual wellness. The health of each of these aspects impacts our lives differently. While improving your healthy routine may include a commitment to work out more often, it could also include a commitment to regular therapy appointments to improve upon your emotional wellness, or a commitment to begin additional job training as an effort to improve upon your vocational wellness. By analyzing our wellbeing from a whole-person, multidimensional perspective, we can better adjust our routines to complement areas of wellness in which we may be lacking. Consider taking a wellness assessment like this one from Princeton University to help you self-reflect and identify areas in which you may be struggling to establish healthy routines.
Bust Your Bad Habits
Creating a new healthy routine often means adding new goals, but we must also take the time to bust some of our old bad habits. All of us have little bad habits in our routine that we know are detrimental but just can’t quit. One of the bad habits in my routine is leaving my clean laundry folded in the laundry basket rather than putting it back in the closet right away. While simple and easy to fix, I hate laundry, and it’s become such a habit in my routine that I’m struggling to break it. By taking an inventory of the little areas like these that have become bad habits, we can better create a healthy routine that gives a clear idea of how we will beat them. Take a moment to write down your bad habits and think about how you want to best address them as you look towards a healthier routine.
Create a List of Desired Outcomes
When working to create a healthy routine, it’s important to keep your overarching goals in mind. Before deciding that you want to run x miles a week, identify why you want to make that a goal. Do you want to feel stronger, or more confident? Engage in self-reflection to find the true purpose of your new goal. A purpose-driven routine will be easier to stick to and remember as you work on changing your habits. Below are some examples of possible healthy routine goals, broken down by the dimension of wellness to which they most closely correlate.
Physical Wellness
- I want to feel stronger and more confident in my skin by exercising regularly.
- I want to support my immune health by regularly taking vitamins and supplements.
Intellectual Wellness
- I want to expand my horizons by studying a new topic.
- I want to keep my mind active and away from screens by beginning a new hobby.
Social Wellness
- I want to better connect with my friends and family by intentionally scheduling time with loved ones each week.
- I want to expand my interests and friend group by joining a new club or social group.
Emotional Wellness
- I want to make an effort to better process my feelings by committing to regular therapy appointments.
- I want to help relieve my stress by meditating regularly.
Vocational Wellness
- I want to feel more confident in my knowledge of an emerging area of business by working towards an additional job certification.
- I want to create a better balance in my work and personal life by establishing boundaries between work and home.
Environmental Wellness
- I want to better recognize my environmental impact by contributing to my city’s monthly litter clean-up efforts.
- I want to better connect with my community by committing to donating to a local cause important to me.
Spiritual Wellness
- I want to better value what’s important in life by intentionally taking time to reflect on my day.
- I want to create a better awareness within myself of who I truly am by journaling regularly.
Identify Resources to Make Change Possible
Now that you’ve identified the areas of your routine that you want to improve and build upon, it’s time to identify the resources that will make the change in your new healthy routine possible. If you struggle with the motivation to make the necessary changes in your routine, consider adding a boost of energy with Red Leaf Energizer, available in Cranberry Lime and Blueberry Acai. Formulated with a moderate dose of pure caffeine, Red Leaf Energizer offers the perfect push to help you power through your workout, workday, or afternoon slump. If scheduling isn’t quite your forte, consider downloading a task app such as Streaks, Todoist, or Habitica to help you plan out your day. Finally, be sure to talk to a friend or family member about your plans for your new healthy routine. Establishing someone who will keep you accountable to your goals is key to keeping your commitment to a happier, healthier you!
