Healthy Habits to Add to Your Daily Routine

By: Danielle Dungca

As time goes on, it becomes no secret that being the best version of yourself is one of the best feelings in the world. When a person is the best version of themselves, they begin their journey to self actualization. Self Actualization is defined as “the realization or fulfillment of one’s talents and potentialities.

Achieving self actualization can be related to an overall boost in confidence as well as happiness. Who doesn’t want that? However, the real question is, how can this be done? What exactly can one do in order to achieve self actualization? Well, there is no real answer to this question. However, a good start is to create new, healthy habits by adding certain activities into your daily routine. 

Create a Sleep Schedule 
Sleep, it is an important and essential thing for everyone. It is recommended that a person strives to get anywhere between 7-9 hours of sleep everyday. But, why exactly is this? Sleep is directly linked to the functioning of the body. 

On an anatomical and biological level, the lack of sleep can leave people at a higher risk of health problems. Many studies have gone to show that sleep deprivation has been found to cause individuals to have a bigger appetite. With a bigger appetite comes a larger consumption of calories, and therefore a drastic increase in weight. In addition, sleep deprivation can affect blood sugar and insulin. With a higher blood sugar and a reduction of insulin, a person can be subject to type 2 diabetes, an incurable disease. 

In addition to the prevention of health problems, getting sleep has been proven to improve productivity and external functioning. When a person experiences fatigue, they are less productive throughout the day. They lack motivation to do even the most basic daily tasks and therefore fail to get certain tasks done to the full potential. By getting more sleep and becoming well rested, you will essentially get more stuff done. 

Now that the importance of sleep is established, one should recognize that it is also important to sleep at appropriate times. Eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner is beneficial in order to be healthy and function properly. Because of this, one should aim to fall asleep no earlier than 9pm and no later than 12am. Going off of the 7 to 9 hours of sleep rule, this would allow someone to wake up between the hours of 6am and 9am.


Stay Clean and Organized 
Whether you are working in an office or staying in your room, it is important to keep your space clean and organized. Why exactly is this? With a clean and organized space comes an increase in productivity. 

By now, you may have noticed that the word “productivity” has been thrown around a lot when dealing with achieving self actualization. It’s true! A lot of activities and healthy habits all build a foundation that increases productivity. By staying clean and organized, you are able to gain a sense of control of the task you are accomplishing as well as reduce the amount of stress and head clutter. 

In addition, organization allows you to gain a sense of control of the task you are accomplishing as well as reduce the feeling of stress. With a lack of stress and sense of control, you are able to achieve more activities and complete more goals to your full potential. Organization also allows these things to be accomplished in less time, causing you to be more efficient. 

Write About Your Day 
At the end of the day, when it’s time to unwind, take some time to think about all that has happened throughout the day. To do this, find something to write on, preferably a notebook or journal; find a writing utensil, pen, pencil, marker, etc; and lastly find a space with as little distractions as possible. 

When all of the things have been collected, it is time to write. Write about everything that happened throughout the day, give detailed descriptions of your interactions with certain people, and highlight the most memorable moments. 

By writing about your day, you are able to really think about all of the good things that happened to you. You are able to notice that every cloud has a silver lining, no day is completely terrible. Your silver lining can range anywhere from waking up 10 minutes earlier and getting to workout to getting a promotion at your job. There is always something good that comes out of everyday, and often these things get overlooked. By reflecting on the little things, we are able to lift ourselves up and realize that things are not always as bad as they seem. When you become optimistic about your life, you become more confident and build more resilience. This in turn allows you to develop and get closer to your goal of achieving self actualization. 

Though the possibilities are endless, these are just 3 things that can make a huge difference in your life. Creating healthy habits is a great way to become a more evolved person and begin your journey to self actualization. 

In the end, the most important thing to do is to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally. Find what tactics and habits work best for you. Know that you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it. Self actualization is not dependent on anyone but you.