Eliminating bad habits & implementing good ones are both hard to do in their own right. Both, however, are required to live a healthier, happier life. 

Whether it’s exercise, diet, meditation, sleep, hydration, or other health-hacking habits, there are endless ways to improve your overall well-being.

With that said, what follows will be a light conversation on how you can become a healthier and happier version of yourself. By implementing one or all of the following tips into your life, you’ll quickly begin to recognize progress. 

Before proceeding, it’s important to understand that happiness is not a destination but rather a never-ending journey called life. The journey starts and ends, however, with change.

Move more

It’s commonplace to work a 9-5 job in today’s society. As a result, however, many sit for the majority of their day, never accomplishing any level of activity.

Unfortunately, the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle only compound the longer you’re stuck in the cycle. How do you break this negative cycle, you ask? By moving more! 

By making a conscious effort to move each day, you’ll immediately begin the results to reciprocate, both of the mind, body, and soul. As a byproduct of moving more, you’ll also begin to drink more water, socialize more, and feel internally better about yourself.

Notably, this all has a massive carry-over effect on building a positive life.

Movement doesn’t have to always be vigorous physical activity, either. Instead, simply make it a point to take the stairs at work, take your dog for a walk, or replace TV time with gym time. It’s really that simple! 

Sleep more

Contrary to today’s “hustle culture”, sleep is arguably the most important pillar of one’s health and well-being. Firstly, in order to feel our best each day, whether for ourselves, our loved ones, and/or our employers, we need to be fully rested. 

Secondly, if we want to begin to move more, we inherently need to sleep more; they go hand-in-hand! 

Finally, a lack of sleep has also been linked to several health conditions. They include Alzheimer’s, heart disease, depression, and more. Notably, none of these align with a healthier, happier life. 

To combat this and to become a better version of yourself, instead of treating sleep like an afterthought, seek to achieve 7-9 hours of deep rest per night without fail. The results that you’ll begin to experience will be nothing short of profound! 

Vacate Your Vices!

While it’s common to only focus on the implementation of healthy habits, it’s just as important to consider eliminating the unhealthy ones. This includes the elimination of your vices such as excessive consumption of drugs and alcohol, eating poorly, gambling, or otherwise. 

Of course, one can argue that because life is intended to be enjoyed, one should continue with the vices that make them “happy”. While this might be true on the surface, there is no vice that makes someone internally happy. Instead, they’re all largely masking the unhappiness that lives within.

Quitting a bad habit is difficult, there’s no denying it. However, at the end of a bad habit is a stronger, healthier, happier version of YOU!

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At the end of the day, life is about balance. If you can capitalize on implementing positive habits and reduce the trail of bad habits, you’ll be well on your way to living a happier, healthier life.