With the first month of 2021 coming to a close, I took time to dive into what qualities I would like to improve this year to help my self-growth. I usually do not have New Year’s resolutions, but with the drastic change in the world, I started to pay close attention to small habits I can change in my everyday routine. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I started to develop bad habits that deteriorated my mental health. I consistently stayed up until 2 or 3 a.m. and slept in late. My days were always cut short, I no longer enjoyed doing hobbies that made me happy, and I ate unhealthily.
One of the habits I started improving over Christmas break and wish to continue to do so is going to bed around 10:30-11:00 pm so I can feel well-rested for the next day. Having a set bedtime for me provides stability throughout my week. I notice how well rested I feel when I wake up and I no longer feel the need to take naps during the day. Going to bed early also gives me the time to make a full breakfast, which is something I never enjoyed doing before. Breakfast used to be a meal I would be okay with skipping and now I can’t survive the day without it! Going to bed early is a minor change in my routine but it makes all the difference.
Being stuck in the house for a long period of time caused me to become way more attached to my phone. The first thing I would do when I woke up was look at my phone and stay in bed for at least an hour, scrolling through Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. This damaged my mental health by making me a more agitated person with a short attention span. Even though this bad habit is something I am still working on, I have begun to replace going on my phone and instead doing hobbies I used to love. I started to not go on my phone an hour before bed, and instead read a book for thirty minutes to help ease my mind. I find that I get the best night’s rest these days so I totally recommend it!
Even though the year has just started, I already see so much progress just by changing small habits in my routine. I even started eating a cleaner diet by eating foods that not only make me feel better but are great for me too!t Oatmeal, chia seed pudding, berries, dates, beyond burgers, are small things I have started incorporating in my diet to make me live a healthy life!
New Year’s resolutions do not have to be drastic to make a difference. The little things have the power to create a lasting impact to live a fulfilled life. I hope to add more changes in my life that help self-growth as the year progresses!