This is a re-post from Garage gym planner website, who kindly let me share it. It felt like a perfect post for this time of year, with people taking a break from work, having a slight digital detox and spending more time that normal with friends and relatives. Enjoy…
The 54 Little Ways…
1. Adequate Hydration – Down a glass of water first thing in the morning. The majority of us don’t get enough fluids throughout the day and we end up depleting our energy pool. No sodas, they have diuretic effects which are the opposite of what you’re looking for. Opt for a cool clean cup of water.
2. Fitness Can Help – If you don’t have time to get to the gym over christmas, it’s no excuse to skimp off. There are plenty of body weight workouts you can do at home.
Fitness can improve your happiness levels and keep you on the tips of your toes.
3. Walk a Bit – When you’re going out, park a bit further away so you can get a good 10 minute walk in. This can help offset the long hours you’re likely to spend sitting down over the next couple of weeks.
4. Don’t Blend Everything – Occasionally, find the time to munch on raw fruit or vegetables. Its common knowledge that fibers are destroyed when you make smoothies of fresh fruits or veggies. Salad, berries, carrot sticks, nuts, cucumber can give you the fiber which can help weight loss while keeping you happy and healthy.
5. Talk to Loved Ones – Today, there are a multitude ways to keep in touch but we barely bother to. Don’t forget to reach out to members of your family that you value. Even those who are not in the same physical location.
6. Don’t Sit Too Long – Get up and stretch, a little bit every hour can work wonders. Most of us have to slog it out at a desk at our workplaces. But rather than just resign to the fact that you’re going to be sitting a lot over christmas, get into the habit of staying on your feet. You’ll feel great at the end of the day, guaranteed.
7. Protein – Carry your own protein. Protein is digested slowest in the body, so I carry around a small bag of nuts when I know I might need to have a late lunch. This is so that I don’t overeat and feel bloated and lethargic throughout the day. Also, protein works great for your metabolism.
8. Have a Bike? – Don’t use it much? Keep it somewhere where you can see it. You don’t have to use it daily, but you notice it every day, you’ll eventually just hop on it. A bike is a great accessory for a happy and healthy lifestyle.
9. Stay Away From Negativity. This automatically gives you relief from negative vibes others put out. Our life is merely a reflection of our own dominant thoughts and emotions, so do all you can to keep yours positive!
10. Phone on Silent – Turn off all notifications or leave your phone in a different room for at least an hour or two.
11. Be Considerate – When you deal with tricky family members, be empathetic. For their sake as well as yours. People are known to respond to this in kind. This shows them that you respect them and acknowledge their presence.
12. Optimism Is The Key – Optimistic people are a joy to be around and it’s because they see the best in everything. Learn to cultivate this happy and healthy habit and you’ll feel liberated and people will look up to you during tough times.
13. Pause Before Response – When you are invited for an event or a gathering, take your time with it and respond with something like “Is it okay if I let you know later?” This takes the pressure off you for the moment and let you decide later if you really want to go.
14. Keep Your Mind Busy – Your mind is your most powerful tool and you need to keep it stimulated. Learning new things everyday can add more perspective to your life as well as keep you from getting bored. Take up a guitar course, gardening or cookery classes. Always remember, it’s never too late to learn!
15. Crack a Smile – Smile when you’re amongst people. A smile is the most inexpensive and effortless method there is now to make you look appealing to other people. Plus a reciprocative smile tends to lighten up spirit and make you happy. Go ahead,
16. Listen More Than You Talk – Most people tend to forget that people have a lot of things they want said. So take the first step and opt to listen. This will help you make sense of what the other person is actually trying to tell you rather than you assuming what they meant.
17. Remain Polite – Regardless of the adversity, politeness can get you places where you never thought possible. Being polite may be lost on a lot of people right about now, but it can create a setting where people also acknowledge it and respond as well.
18. Encourage People – Find time to encourage people around you. Always save the best words of inspiration for people who you think need it the most. Life is pretty hard sometimes and you might actually be the person that made a difference in someone else’s day.
19. Be Honest – Honesty truly is the best policy. When people see you’re being honest, they will learn to appreciate you for your courage and upstanding nature. Being honest is never easy but totally worth it at the end of a day. Being honest is a happy and healthy lifestyle choice.
20. Find Time To Laugh – If you have an open mind and are free-spirited, you will find humor everywhere. The thing with happy laughter is that it is positive and infectious; you usually will find people want to hang around people who can take a joke.
21. Be Tactful – If anything is worth doing, then do it tactfully. Being tactful gives you the upper hand in a lot of situations, personally and professionally. While being honest is a virtue, being diplomatic is a necessity if you don’t want them to abhor you.
22. Generosity is a Virtue – This is the secret to a lot of people’s happy and healthy attitude to life. When it comes to compliments and kind words, always take the initiative to give first. It can mean the difference between a mundane or memorable day at the office. Also, their response to you will definitely brighten your mood!
23. Stay Aware – Be mindful of people and your surroundings. Most problems at work are created by people not being aware of the settings and situations that surround them. Always have a clear idea about what you are going to speak in a sensitive atmosphere.
24. Mistakes, Don’t Repeat Them – Mistakes are not the end of the world. Everyone makes mistakes. The key is to learn from them and not commit the same error twice. Likewise, you need to look past people who have erred and talk to them and reinforce their confidence. All parties involved will feel happy!
25. Have Goals – Both big and small. If you want focus in life, you need to establish reasonable objectives, ones that you can strive towards. Always have a short and long term points of achievements which can inspire you to put in the extra 10% happily.
26. No to Comparing – Comparison is the death of joy… so stop doing that! People lead different lives with no one spared from complications. So don’t wish to be them, wish to be the best that you can be. You are something the whole universe conspired to create, so enjoy being you!
27. Think Out Of The Box – When life gives you options that can exercise your creativity, make sure you grab it with both hands. Being creative will reinforce your self-image and people are definitely going to take note of it as well. Creativity is a sign of a happy and healthy individual.
28. Don’t be Judgmental – Being judgmental is a waste of effort. Most times we tend to make the mistake of thinking that we know the other person a lot more than we really do. Circumstances determine how a person reacts to something, so make sure you give them the benefit of the doubt.
29. Don’t Blow Up Over Trivial Issues – Overthinking trivial problems usually can take a lot of you mentally and physically. Take a deep breath or several and tell yourself that it isn’t worth worrying about. Because worrying is about useful as bubblegum during a space shuttle launch.
30. Learn To Laugh At Yourself – A lot of people have the habit of getting too caught up with themselves, ending up looking all-business. Avoid this because you need to seem approachable and friendly. Also, taking life too serious on a billion year old rock… not worth it.
31. Break Through Limits. Most restrictions are purely made up in your mind and you need to overcome them, asap. We are a lot more powerful than we give ourselves credit for, so give yourself that inspirational speech and surpass your barriers.
32. Understand People – Don’t try imposing control on others. Humans are free-willed creatures so there is limited scope for you to exert control over someone. Rather, give them options and let them choose for themselves. This can save everyone the trouble. Respect their freedom of choice.
33. Find Yourself – Sit down, eyes closed and comfortable. It doesn’t have to be meditation and focusing your inner chi. Just find time to sit down in your favorite chair, breathe deeply and feel tension ebb away from your body.
34. Forge a Personal Mantra – In times of adversity and stress, figure out something simple that you’ll find it easy to remember, calming and powerful. This happy and healthy habit will help you not escalate the situation into panic and make it worse than it already is.
35. Role-play Your Hero – When you’re faced with something that you feel is insurmountable, think of some person you idolize. Ask yourself, how would this person react if they were faced with the same situation? Put yourself in their shoes and go ahead with it.
36. Remind Yourself Why – Spend 5 minutes a day remembering what you wanted to accomplish professionally. The goals that you had and how they’ve changed now. Visualize clear steps on how you can get to where you want from here.
37. Don’t be Hasty With Replies – Train your mind to pause before answering to questions from anyone. Listen and make sure that you got what they are saying correctly before you assume anything. What this shows the other person is that you care about what they’re saying.
38. Things Are Headed For The Better – Remember to tell yourself that it’s going to be okay. Everybody goes through a bad patch, but most of us save little time for our own feelings. Ensure that you take a 5 minute break from the rest of humanity when you’re stressed out.
39. Give Once A While – Keep some money aside for giving. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount; something like $5 won’t burn your wallet and would mean a lot of happiness for some people. It doesn’t have to come with expectations. Help out a charity, neighbors, or the homeless guy at the corner street.
40. Pets Are Great Companions – I know this comes with its own set of rules and responsibilities, but you can’t beat animal companionship when you feel like no one understands you on the face of the earth.
41. Appreciate What You’ve Got – Take a minute when you wake up to appreciate the blessings that you already have! Sunlight streaming through the open window, birds chirping, sound of sprinklers, are all the things I hear when I get up off the bed.
42. Have a Clean Bed – Change your sheets when you feel they are losing their freshly laundered smell. I love the scent of fresh sheets under which I can stay comfy in bed! Sometimes I might even do that once a week. A little detergent and water are a small price to pay for happiness.
43. Read Old Books – I used to read since when I was little and believe me when I say that there is nothing that feels as great as curling up with an old book. To remember the same emotions that you had as a kid. Plus books are one of the things that smell great when they’re old.
44. Run Errands – Get done with small chores around your house like fixing that leaking pipe or that flickering bulb in the attic. This will get you moving around and eventually you’ll find that a lot of things need fixing and you’re done with your first step to healthy life.
45. Take a Day Off From Eating Healthy – Yes, really! Professionals have a cheat day, where they indulge themselves a bit on something they fancy. So you can afford to eat or drink something that you’ve kept away from quite a while.
46. Spend Quality Time – Has it been long since you’ve had some time-out with your other half? Well, it doesn’t have to be a vacation out of the country, just make sure that both of you cozy on the couch for a movie night complete with buttered popcorn. Happy movies!
47. Stretch In The Morning – Have your own personal stretching routine in the morning. It could be an awkward jig to a song you love or a more traditional stretch. This will put a spring in your step when you need it the most: right after you wake up.
48. Energize With The Sun – I make a promise to myself to watch either the sun rise or set at least once during the week. I find that it establishes how small our problems are when you compared to a galactic event like the sun which has been going on since the beginning of time.
49. Finish a Book – Opt to read something and do it within a time frame you’ve set yourself. Books are amazing, therapeutic devices which can give you a lot of comfort and solace. I find that I lose a lot of my worries when I lose myself in my favorite literary work.
50. Ease Up On Complaining – If you find yourself complaining too often chances are that people are going to find you tiresome and have a much more negative outlook than you already have. So check yourself before you… well, wreck yourself.
51. Better Than Yesterday – Learn to better yourself for yourself. Impressing others can almost always end up in disappointment for both parties involved. So save yourself and the others the trouble and just strive to be better than you were yesterday.
52. Forget Scorn, Embrace Love – There are people who are pretty disparaging when it comes to other around them. Learn to protect yourself against them. Ignoring them is the best option. Just let them not get to you.
53. Learn to Believe Yourself – It doesn’t come easy to you at first but as time goes on you’ll find yourself setting aside self-doubt and performing to your full potential. Surround yourself with people who believe in you wish the best for your success.
54. Decide To Be Happy and Healthy – It all comes down to this: you must choose to be the best you can be. Despite all the words of encouragement, routines and everything else, it is your call how you are going to take it.
