Good Habits How Much Is Enough? (Is it Worth Beating Yourself Up)
Good Habits How Much Is Enough?.
People are always talking about the good habits in daily life. Be it eating healthy, waking up early, drinking plenty of water, this and that.
Though practically it takes a long time to develop any good habit, and consistently stick to it – the big question here is how much of good habits are enough.
I have picked 5 good habits which most of us are crazy about to discuss here.
Lets see how much of those good habits are enough. And lets see is it worth stressing over those habits or not.
Good Habits How Much Is Enough
For as long as I remember, I was always seeking good advice from books and people around me (now social media too) which would help my personal development to next level.
Anywhere I see an article which headline says “The only productivity tip you need to know” or something like “10 Good habits you should have mastered before age 30” I am totally hooked on to it.
These are some of the good habits I have been overdoing these years and now that I do them only in moderation.
1. Get Enough Sleep – Good or Bad habit?
While poor sleeping does harm to heart and brain function over the period, oversleeping can also increase the risk of death from heart problems by 34%, according to a health magazine.
Well, unintentionally I was sleeping for more than the required amount of 7 to 8hrs in a day for many reasons.
Now I wake up as soon as the alarm goes off, immediately grab a cup of warm water and open the garden gate for fresh air. While I do this I am also sipping a cup of hot water watching my garden and distant trees and birds as I begin the day.
While my maid and cook are busy working, I pack snacks, fruits, fill water bottles, pack my office bags and lay out clothes for the day. Also while I am doing all these things, I am warming up my body for yoga / home workouts.
I workout for about an hr on the workout days and on the non-workout days I walk usual distance of 2kms in the evenings.
I track my fitness and quality of sleep with my Amazfit watch gifted by my hubby in 2019, the best gift for my well-being ever. With this smartwatch I can track my sleep, my fitness activity, receive calls, emails and app notifications.
I am now aware of the total time I sleep, and very conscious not to overdo it.
So, quality of sleep is important than ritually sticking to 8hrs of sleep. To get the quality of sleep you desire, it is important to move your body more, get little of workout of done and also, keep a watch on mental health.
2. Exercise
I can never get more of the exercise, but for the past couple of months I am more than happy with my commitment to fitness.
I have been consistently walking daily in the park or in the gym nearby after my office hrs. And guess what, I have walked 49 kms total in the Jan 2020 alone.
And I strive hard to get 3x weekly power yoga classes in the early morning, but I don’t push too hard like I used to do before. I listen to my body and give it a rest whenever required.
Though losing fat is important, being fit is more important for me now.
Earlier, missing the workout schedule had caused me a lot of stress throughout the day.
No more stress on a strict workout regimen. Instead I move my body more, take more steps, drink lot of water and sleep enough. Happy with this progress so far.
3. Healthy Eating and Diet
The one thing I am proud of my achievements in the past couple of years is that I have acquired a great deal of knowledge about food, health and illnesses.
Naturally, as an extremist, I have taken every aspect of healthy living seriously and tried implementing everything altogether in my life. I calculated Macros and Micros in food that I eat. I weighed and cooked only the exact amount of calories needed to supplement my body and strive hard not to deviate from the schedule.
When I realized my obsessive healthy eating is putting stress on my regular life, I decided to be flexible and smart.
Rather than restricting myself only to home cooked meals, I started watching the portion size. Furthermore, I stopped being obsessive about cooking the healthy meals 3x a day, every single day. Cooking just one healthy balanced meal in day is all I do. I pack the same meal for my lunch box or carry forward to dinner with a twist.
I even hired a cook to prepare my meals on weekdays with minimum 2 veggies and a salad. On the weekends I cook our favorite meals to my heart’s content.
(Infact, I don’t even stress if the cook is on leave or stopped coming altogether for any reasons. Instead of stressing, I am good to eat out and flexi my time for cooking).
Now I don’t fret over calories but focus only on portion control. I no longer tired to go yoga or office. I have all the energy I needed for going to fitness and office.
After overcoming stress and fatigue, my mind has become free to focus more on other important things.
Like writing in my blog, reading my bucket list of books, gardening, and photography.
So don’t obsess over macros and micros. Don’t be picky on every single meal you eat.
Be more aware of what you eat and take things lights. This attitude is more important for healthy mental state which in-turn help you live a more positive life.
4. Read Books
If you like reading books, know that you don’t have to read every single book recommended by the people you admire.
For example, I personally like Bill Gates a lot. Well who doesn’t?
But I can not think of reading all the books recommended by him (I follow him on Youtube).
Also I don’t stress myself on sticking to the book if I don’t enjoy it or find it hard to grab the content.
I close the book and move on to the next one.
Here are some of self – development books to keep handy all the time. These are handpicked books worthy of your time.
5. Treat People Well
I take pride in how I treat people and how I pamper my guests. Yes I agree that treating people well, respecting them are all good characteristics of a host.
But I gotta tell you that there were times people tested my patience and gave me enough headache.
I have always been more understanding and more forgiving, but being tolerant to such people has put a stress on me over the period.
Soon, I started saying No to people who don’t respect me and my house.
Not just that, I am no longer friends with a person who dont reply to my calls and texts.
Purposefully I stay away from people who are constantly needy and always find a way to get things from me (us).
I no more see the face of people who are being arrogant with one or more of the following–
- When they are consistently arrogant and making rude statements all the time. Later he/she thinks they can make up everything by giving (forcing) gifts into our hands.
- How they call themselves a hero when they are nothing but a dead weight and burden to their parents and any extended family. Above all, carrying an attitude to make sure to piss off others.
- Stepping into personal boundaries.
- Making voluntary suggestions, sometimes forcing the decision on others. And if their voice not heard, they go on to make ‘influential groups’, just because their ego was hurt.
- Never thankful for the time and money we spent for them during their stay here.
- When they can’t shut their mouth about how they are born with a silver spoon inside a gutter. (But never had a penny to pay for the college fee, what a shame).
- Expecting ‘royal’ treatment, because they are ‘special’.
- And they are always ‘right’ and never make any mistakes.
- When they have constant urge to ‘copy’ and ‘one-up’ others at the same time.
I experienced all the above situations, not just in my home but in other social gatherings as well.
Is this happening in your life too?. Then I am sure you can relate to my experiences.
You might think to give back to the people then and there. But you know the after effect?.
They take immense pleasure to bad mouth about you, which in turn would cause you lot of stress.
But we have our lives to take care, isn’t it?.
So, it is better to avoid them, instead of dipping yourself in a gutter. Because it is never ending cycle of egoistic behavior.
Sometimes you have to give back when they over stepped on you. But you can’t always go around the world teaching lessons, isn’t it?.
Read – How to Stay from a Toxic Person?.
I am Happier Now
Before I decided to do the above mentioned habits in moderation, I gave myself really a long time to think and decide on it. It was not easy changing those habits overnight. It was hard at first to learn to put myself first in relationships and unlearn the things that led me to stress.
Also, along the way, I had learnt to handle the criticism well.
Looks like I have been spending a lot of time worrying and stressing on the many things so far.
Now I do everything in moderation which helped me a great deal in anxiety.
What are the other good habits you think that we have to take it easy and do it moderation?.