Some Useful Habits
What I read: 14 Tiny Habits That Can Have a Huge Impact on Your Life by Sinem Günel. Published June 13, 2022.
Lately I balk at reading articles titled like this one. I know that type of title is constructed to lure clicks. Too many of such articles offer overly simplistic solutions to complex problems. But for some reason I clicked on this one. Glad I did.
These 14 small but powerful habits are indeed good ones. I’ve already incorporated some of them into my daily life, but this is a good reminder.
I won’t cover all 14 of the suggestions offered, but here are a few that stood out for me.
One of the first habits mentioned is to be kind, even when the other person you’re interacting with isn’t.
Train your "kindness muscle" by reminding yourself that someone else's behavior is barely a reaction to you but just a reflection of how they feel deep inside.
I wrote about kindness recently in Be Kind. One can never be too kind. The world needs so much more kindness and it’s up to each of us to model that behavior and let it ripple throughout our network and into the world at large.
Except for an occasional glass of wine and an even more rare soda, I’ve defaulted to drinking only water for the past few years. I definitely feel better since I adopted this habit.
Water is simple, cheap, and healthy, so train yourself to choose it more often.
I know water is good for me. I’m avoiding a lot of unhealthy calories I used to take in through sugary or high-calorie drinks. I also save money drinking water at home or at a bar or restaurant.
The next habit is a big one for me. This is one I do often. Years ago, when I began to consciously compliment people, I thought it might come off as superficial or trying to ingratiate myself to someone. I got over that. Everyone likes to be complimented.
Today I complimented a woman on the beautiful glasses she was wearing in line behind me at my favorite lunch spot. She smiled and glowed the second I said it. I walked by another guy walking his dog and when I said how cute the dog was he smiled like a proud dog daddy.
Life could be much more beautiful if we all supported each other and shared more compliments instead of hate.
Compliments serve us well in any setting. At work I try to compliment teammates when they do a good job. Too often people we work with only take the time to criticize rather than lift us up with a nice word. Unless a coworker is truly incompetent, you can always find a way to give them praise, and it just might make them a better coworker when you do.
All my life I’ve resisted keeping a diary. Not sure why. For some reason I’d start writing in a diary only to drop it days later. I did that many times. Then I started to keep my diary electronically and I don’t commit to writing anything more than a few words. Usually, it ends up significantly more than a few words. When I don’t write about a day, I write “Wrote nothing” under that date.
This is a great way to keep track of your life without a huge time commitment.
It literally takes you one minute to sum up how you feel and what you did on a particular day. Yet, it's a fantastic way to reflect on the previous years and the progress you've made over time.
I’ve been writing in my tiny diary consistently since May 6, 2021. So, the suggestion to keep a tiny diary has worked for me. My diary looks different than the one described, but I think it’s a good idea to create mechanisms that work for you and not try to fit your process into someone else’s format. Do what works. My format works for me.
Here’s one that is already part of my online life, taking more control of what I see on my social media streams. I never hesitate to unfriend, unfollow, or block someone if they’re intentionally rude, disrespectful, or consistently post content I disagree with and I don’t sense I can learn from that opposing view or I don’t know them well enough to believe I can change their mind.
I fully understand the concept of the self-created echo chamber we can place ourselves into online. There are lots of social media friends and contacts with whom I disagree about a number of things. Civil disagreement can be a great way to dislodge us from entrenched thinking. But post something overtly racist, homophobic, misogynistic, transphobic, or otherwise just plain hateful, and you’re likely to get booted off my social media platforms. We can all usually tell when something is stated from a position of hate versus a badly worded slipup in a post or comment.
Here's a mantra I wish more people would be aware of: Nobody has the right to stress you out on your own phone.
If I see a post I don't like, I'll unfollow the author, so they don't show up on my feed again.
If someone leaves a disrespectful comment on anything I publish, I won't even waste a second before I block them.
I wouldn't let a person enter my home and act rudely, so I also don't let them do the same online.
If you think you have the right to piss me off, I'll use my right to ensure you can't do it in the future.
I’m all for exposing myself to alternative opinions or new information that will change my mind for the better. That’s healthy. It’s not healthy to allow ourselves to continually be subjected to people we’d never tolerate in person.
It’s mentioned that most of us spend about 3 to 4 hours a day looking at our phones. Guilty! Well, at least I was more guilty of that than I am currently. I created a hack for myself that keeps me from spending too much time doom scrolling or otherwise mindlessly flicking and scrolling through social media. I always keep a book within arm’s reach of my phone or laptop when I can.
Whether it’s my Kindle device that’s always nearby when I’m home or my Kindle app on the phone or laptop itself, the moment I notice myself starting to fall down a social media rabbit hole, I load a book and start reading.
Reading is a pastime that is never wasted for me. If I’m reading a book, I know it’s time well spent. Whether I’m diving into a deep nonfiction book or escaping with my favorite murder mystery series, I always feel like my brain cells are firing and I’m bettering myself.
Read the rest of the article for other excellent tips on restraining how much we eat, managing our app usage, being neater and tidier, creating shopping lists, doing weekly meal planning, getting quick tasks done, getting plenty of sleep, adding in more exercise to our day, and being more aware of how much money we spend.
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