Create a Better Future for Yourself: 5 Great Habits to Start Today

We are a reflection of our habits.  In fact, your life today is a reflection of your habits over the past decades.  Your physical health, mental health, and career are all a product of those habits.  That’s both good and bad news.  The good news is that you have the ability to create a better future for yourself by adopting good habits.  The bad news is that adopting good habits takes effort!

If you are questioning whether it is worth it to adopt good habits, I encourage you to take a hard look at someone who is a decade or two older than you.  You might think of a parent or an older friend.  Consider that person’s physical and mental fitness.  Consider that person’s career and achievements.  And then think long and hard about that person’s personal habits.  When you do, you’ll see that there is a direct correlation between that person’s habits and their current situation. 

So, the good news is that good habits pay off.  Now, you may not see the results immediately.  But know that eventually, your good habits will benefit you! 

If you want to have a great future, adopt good habits today.  Read below about some great habits that you can adopt to make your future as bright as possible!

Commit to A Healthy Diet

If you want to get “scared straight” into a healthy diet, just watch your older relatives.  The ones who always have had healthy diets waltz into old age.  They walk with agility, at most needing a cane.  And the ones who have had unhealthy diets often struggle with their mobility and face other health issues.

Of course, when we are young, we think we are invincible, so our diets doesn’t matter.  As a result, we may eat processed or fatty foods.  Or we may drink alcohol or soda.  And admittedly, when you’re in your twenties and thirties, that kind of diet doesn’t have much of an impact on your body. 

But as we get older, our bodies don’t rebound like they used to.  Our metabolisms aren’t as quick.  And small amounts of bad foods and alcohol can take their toll. 

For example, in my mid-forties, my body began to reject alcohol.  Anytime I merely had a half a glass of wine, I ended up with a splitting headache.  So, I gave up drinking alcohol.  I also stopped drinking soda.  And then I stopped eating processed foods and meat (chicken, beef and pork), all of which made me feel terrible. 

My body was sending me a very clear message.  And that message was that it wanted me to commit to a healthy diet.  I listened!  And because I adopted the habit of a healthy diet years ago, today I feel great! 

Adopting a heathy diet is the easiest way to create a better future for yourself.  It doesn’t take effort to eat better foods.  But it does take self-control to give up the foods and drinks that are bad for us.  But I promise that if you adopt a healthier diet today, it will pay off in the future!

Establish a Daily Exercise Routine

Many people avoid establishing a daily exercise routine because they believe that exercise isn’t fun.  Well, they are right.  Exercise isn’t fun.  It’s work.   But it’s work that will enable you to have a healthy, agile, good-looking body in the future.

Realize that good habits aren’t necessarily fun.  For example, I ride my exercise bike every day.  And it’s hard work.  It isn’t relaxing like sitting and reading a book, and it isn’t fun, like going out to dinner with my husband.  But I like being physically fit, so I’m willing to do the work in order to be in good shape.

And that is the key with exercise.  You have to be willing to do the work.  In fact, in all things, you have to be ready to work to get what you want.  For instance, I do a lot of housework.  And over the years, people have made the silly comment, “Well, Meerabelle likes to clean.”  That’s idiotic.  Of course, I don’t like to clean.  No one likes to do dishes, mop, vacuum and dust.  What I like is a clean and attractive home, and I am willing to do the work to have that. 

The same holds true with exercise.  Exercise is work.  It isn’t as relaxing as reading a book or sitting on the couch watching television.  But if you want a healthy, strong, attractive body, you have to work for it.  It won’t happen any other way.

So, if you want a future in which you have an agile, healthy body, adopt the exercise habit.  Be willing to do the work! I can assure you that an exercise habit that you start today will benefit you in the years to come.

Spend and Save Your Money Carefully 

In these days of online shopping, it’s easier than ever to spend money.  Back in the day, the effort of going to the store kept us from overspending (sort of).  But nowadays, we can overspend from the comfort of our couches.

However, if you want to ensure a better future for yourself, one of the best things that you can do is to rein in your spending.  There are a couple of ways to keep your spending under control.  One approach is to focus your time on taking care of what you already have, versus accumulating more.  Spend time taking good care of your home, car and personal belongings.  Make sure your home is clean and well organized.  Ensure that your car is always spotless and take it in for regular tune-ups.  And keep your clothes and personal items mended, organized and looking great.  If you focus on caring for what you currently have, then you’ll be less likely to buy new things that you just don’t need.

The other approach to limiting your spending is to commit to living under your means.  There are a lot of people in this world who, unfortunately, live beyond their means.  For instance, I did so when I was in my twenties.  When I got my first job, I didn’t have the faintest idea of how to manage my money.  And there were no adults in my life who could guide me on how to create a budget.  So, I got into credit card debt, as so many young people do.  It was a good life lesson.  Credit card debt is overwhelming and scary, and ever since then, I’ve been very careful to live under my means. 

So, if you want to create a better future for yourself, one of the big pieces of that pie is to focus on having a sound financial future.  And that means spending and saving your money carefully today.

Devote Time Each Day to Your Personal Goals

One of the most important gifts that you can give yourself is a personal goal.  Of course, if you have a job, you probably have goals related to your employment.  And if you have children, you have the goal of raising your children to be positive members of society.  But realize that you also deserve to have goals that are solely related to you.

Personal goals are the spice of life.  If life is a pot of soup, then your personal goal is that little touch of spice that gives the soup some zing! 

Your personal goal can be anything that reflects your passions.  Perhaps you love writing.  So, your goal may be to write a novel.  Or if you love sports, you may wish to learn how to play tennis.  If you are creative, you may want to learn to paint watercolors.  The key is that your personal goal should be solely about you.  It’s a goal that satisfies a longing deep within you.

Realize that life can’t solely be about work or serving our families.  We also need to do something for ourselves each day.  And when we work toward a personal goal, we are devoting part of each day to satisfying our own needs.

By working a little bit toward your personal goal each day, you are laying the building blocks for a future in which you’ve achieved something that truly means something just to you. 

Develop a Daily Spiritual Practice                                                                             

At times in life, we face bumps in the road. Sometimes we face a lot of bumps! For example, this past year, I had a million things come at me at once.  I had a parent who became ill and eventually passed away.  In the midst of that tragic situation, I also was trying to keep up with my work and meet my home responsibilities.  And I was desperately trying to manage all of that well.  I was trying to make good decisions, and I was hoping not to get overwhelmed. 

We all have periods of life like that.  That is why a daily spiritual practice matters so much.  When things are going well, a daily spiritual practice keeps us grounded.  It helps us to be calmer and attuned as to what it is (and is not) important in life.  But our daily spiritual practice truly comes into play when we face the bumpy periods of life.  That is when our daily spiritual practice truly can make a huge difference.

This past year, I fell back on my daily spiritual practice.  I prayed.  I meditated using my Calm App.  And I read books by pastors, rabbis and Buddhist teachers.  I can truly say that my prior years of spiritual practice truly paid off.  Yes, there were many times when I felt profoundly sad.  And of course, I grieved.  But I also was buoyed by the foundation of a spiritual practice that I’d built up over the past decades. 

If fact, if there is any habit that I would implore you to start today, it is this: develop a daily spiritual practice.  Take a part of each day to be in quiet and solitude.  And then pray, meditate, or perhaps read something spiritually edifying.  Take time each day to care for your soul.  I promise that someday in the future, you will be so grateful to have a solid spiritual practice to lean on in times of challenge.

If you are seeking to create a better future for yourself, I encourage you to adopt the habits above.  These are good habits that you can adopt today that will truly make your years ahead more relaxed, enjoyable and happy! (To read about good habits for happiness and better health, click here.)