8 Powerful Small Lifestyle Changes to Bring Happiness in Life
Can small lifestyle changes bring happiness?
I used to be the person who wanted results fast. I would gladly pay every penny if a commercial offered me a pill to eradicate my problems magically. But unfortunately, life isn’t that easy, and sometimes you have to figure out your happiness.
I wouldn’t say that my life is all bad. I have a decent job, a good environment, really amazing friends and family.
However, I never really felt contentment or actual happiness. I am not sure I understood what happiness meant to me. I used to immerse myself in my work and pretend to be busy all the time. For so long, I thought, If I could get that perfect job, then I would be thrilled. However, I am starting to realise that work is just a part of your life, and to be truly happy, you need to figure out different aspects of your life and make consistent, tiny changes to them.
So, in this coronavirus quarantine time, I experimented with some fundamental lifestyle changes and evaluated how they affected my life.
- Read or Listen to Audiobooks 📚
Have you ever seen those people, who reviews at least a book once in every week? No, I am not one of those people. I am one of those people who overestimate my ability to read 50 books in a year by renting out ten books in a month and end up paying the late fees or returning them shamelessly without reading even one.
But this year, I decided to take a different approach. I always knew my problem with books was finding enough time to sit and read. So, I thought there must be some way to resolve this problem and the answer came to me in the form of Audiobooks. Audiobooks give me immense flexibility because I can listen to them while walking, cooking or doing any mundane task. This was a game-changer. I got addicted to reading, and I can’t tell you the difference it made in my life.
Why is this useful?
Your brain gets activated when you start accumulating new information. The neurons get fired, and new connections are formed and once you start reading more, it starts to associate your previous assimilated knowledge in the form of meaningful vivid pictures.
Over these past few months, I have listened to almost 12 books and I did this while cooking or taking a trip to the grocery store and so on. Over time, I started to use this knowledge in my workplace and in my personal life without even realising it. If that’s not amazing, then I don’t know what is !
Actionable Tips
Scan your day and figure out the periods where you perform some mundane tasks and substitute this time with an audiobook or a podcast.
Have a theme for the month or week. For me, this month, I am focussing on Finance and I have four books already lined up in my audiobook library.
Within a month, you will see a noticeable difference in your knowledge without sacrificing any time and this is truly a game - changer.
2. Wake up Early
I know you already hate me for saying this and I can’t believe that I am saying this either. Waking up early is one of the hardest tasks in the world and I do not take this lightly.
However, there is a caveat to this. People have different productivity cycles and some people work better in the evening. If that’s the case, you don’t have to push yourself to adopt this methodology. Just do what works best for you!
However, there are certain key things you can do to optimise your productivity as soon as you wake up!
Actionable Tips
Take some time for yourself after you wake up. I adopt the 5 am methodology by spending first 20 mins exercising, second 20 mins meditating and the next 20 mins making my delicious coffee while listening to a audio book. I do this early morning because this is the time which works best for me.
Do not look at emails , Instagram, Facebook or Whatsaap messages just as soon as you wake up. Your brain has limited energy resources in a day and you do not want to spend your precious productive moments of your day with energy draining social media.
I wouldn’t lie, adopting these two methods is not easy. It takes immense willpower and determination to not to look at the gif messages your friends keep sending while you were sleeping.
How did I tackle this?
- I allowed myself to relax and not worry about the immense pressure of waking up at 5. I just didn’t keep an alarm clock and allowed myself to wake up whenever I want. However, I made sure that whenever I did wake up I did all the three components of the 5 am club formula, even if it is for just 15 minutes.
- Once I started to do this and realised the effect this is having throughout my day, I naturally wanted to wake up earlier. I wanted to do this ,so that I can re-build my reading habits, cook a healthy meal, go for a walk, study something which I am passionate about. I like to think my brain finally started to comprehend the endless rewards and possibilities and it naturally prompted me to wake up early.
This is a key trick in making habits stick, if we have something to look forward to or when we know we reap immense rewards from it , we automatically start doing that activity.
3. Prioritise your health and mind
Ever since, I can remember I have always had headaches , sleep issues and brain fog.I always knew, I could do more , but my constant migraines and lack of sleep kept me from attaining my full potential. Moreover, I started projecting this on to my friends and co-workers and took a huge toll on my life in general.
I figured, If I don’t do something sooner, then I am going to truly regret this.
Key Actionable Tips
Start by making healthy food choices. You don’t have to go crazy here, just pick the foods you know are universally healthy.
When you go to the grocery make sure you pick out your superfoods first. My go to list contains blueberries, spinach, kale, avocados, grapefruit, grass fed meat, walnuts, eggs & Kiwis.
Get in the habit of reading labels. If there are ingredients which you cannot pronounce, do not buy them.
Feed your brain with supplements — My go to supplements include Krill oil, Magnesium, Zinc, Vitamin c, Activated charcoal ,Probiotics ,5 -htp &,chlorella and Collagen Powder.
4) Plan your day and week
Are you one of those people, who dreads Monday’s? I am not going to pretend here by proclaiming that I found a secret magic pill to solve this problem. I still hate Monday’s, but at least now I managed to bring down the hatred by 50%.
I figured that key reason ,why I hate Monday’s is because of the feeling of uncertainty and not having a plan for my week. It just makes me feel like, I am going into a battle with no army.
So, I went to Indigo and got myself a planner and jotted down each and every tiny thing that I need to do in that week ; including work and personal
Key Actionable Tips
Divide your life into different sectors. For me it is Health, Intellectual, Career, Finance, Social ,Adventures and Batch Tasks.
Realistically decide what you want to achieve in that particular sector in this week. Do you want to improve your Intellectual life? Then decide on the book and the time when you are going to read that book. Do you want to study for a certification? Then book that certification and decide on the topics to cover this week.
Another key area I have in my planner is batch tasks. This could be as simple as sending someone a gift, buying a kitchen pan or calling a friend :- Anything which you don’t particularly get time to do it in the weekdays. Having a dedicated time allocated to perform all these tasks put your mind at ease for the upcoming week and makes you feel really accomplished, even before you have finished those tasks.
Have a plan for your work days :Do you have a presentation you need to prep for? Carve out and block your time to prepare for that presentation. If there are any pre-tasks to do before that, allocate time for those too.
Having a clear picture of what you want to achieve in that week, is a truly powerful feeling. You feel totally in control and who doesn’t like to be in control!
5. Revamp your environment
If you are like me and living in Toronto, you might probably be broke by renting out the insanely tiny condo’s there.
Imagine being stuck in those tiny spaces and working from there every single day. I felt like my environment was constantly draining energy from me and making me feel anxious and irritated. It wasn’t that the room was cluttered ; it just didn’t have any life to it.
The key thing I realised that your mind is like a sponge- it literally absorbs everything around you and if you are stuck in a space which offers nothing, then you aren’t feeding your mind at all.
How did I decide to change this?
I jotted down things which makes me really happy . I love the smell of candles, I spend an insane amount of time searching for tv quotes on Pinterest and I adore flowers.
So I created a vision board with positive quotes, pictures of my family and friends, bought an orchid, a flower bouquet and infused my room with the smell of candles and essential oils.
The impact these tiny changes had on my mood was immense. I felt happier ,more connected and empathetic.
6. Invest in your relationships
Your friends and family are your backbone. Never neglect them.
I used to have this habit of insanely burying myself in my work and avoiding my friends and families call. I always used to justify it by saying that I am too busy. Fortunately , I have few close friends who calls me every single day(Yes every single day), even if it is to just say goodnight or bye. I have noticed that no matter how grumpy I am, that single call can instantly change my mood.
So I started to pick calls, even if it is just for a moment to hear their voice. I feel lucky to have people in my life whom I can call, even if i need to make a decision to buy a stainless steel cookware or just to discuss about how nice I felt when a stranger smiled at me.
Social connections keep you grounded and sane in this chaotic world.
If you have your tribe, who cheers for you, motivates you and checks up on you (even if it is just one person), never lose them!
Actionable tips
Set aside some time, to check in on your friends once a week. During this time make sure you are fully present and give them your full attention.
Surprise your friends or family once in a while with something small. My friend randomly send me cake during a hectic office day. Simple gestures like these can go a long way to make other person feel special.
7. Invest in your work friends
One of the major changes, I had when I moved from India was the work culture. In India, I always had close friends at work which made a huge difference in the way I perceived my work. For some reason, I felt like in Canada, people were a little too professional.
This threw me off a bit, because I am so used to having really close people at my workplace . However, don’t let this motivate you. You spend more than half of your time at your workplace and I believe, it is really important to find your tribe there too.
One of my closest friend in my life right now is my co-worker. Yes, no matter what you think, it is possible to build work relationships with no competition and jealousy ,even at your workplace and this dramatically improves your life.
In my first project, my tech lead and my co-worker used to spend hours on call talking about random things and working along the side.I took genuine interest in his life, his family and would ask him about his daughter and his weekend plans. Overtime, this became a routine and I can honestly say that even though he left the company, I have gained a mentor for life.
Having amazing co-workers can change your time spend at work for the better.
Actionable tips
Take genuine interest in your co-workers. Offer them to help with something, it could be as simple as reviewing their resume, connecting them with a potential recruiter or just simply checking in on them. Not many people do this and trust me this goes a long way.
Appreciate your co-workers- It could be a simple thank you or a genuine compliment. My current manager is truly extraordinary at delivering presentations and she has helped me immensely in improving my skills. I make sure she knows how much I value her feedback and the positive impact she has on my day.
8. Rebuild your Character
Now, more than ever is the perfect time to assess your values and rebuild your character.
What specific traits do you admire in people? Is there some characteristic traits that you want to improve in yourself?
I never used to smile at anyone when I go out, I just figured people would find me creepy. But one day , while I was just randomly walking, an old man stopped me and gave me a flower. His warmth and kindness was so infectious that I instantly wanted to pass that feeling to whoever I met. That is the thing with kindness — It is free and you lose literally nothing by paying someone a genuine compliment.
So I decided, to run this experiment by smiling at every person I met that whole week. The result was miraculous. People would stop to talk to me, security would open doors for me and so on. So from then on, I decided to infuse compassion and kindness into my character traits.
It’s not that I am a cold hearted person, it’s just that I didn’t make a deliberate effort to be compassionate to everyone I met. I reserved these for people I knew or I am close to. The thing is there is no limit to all these traits, the more you give, more you receive.
Key Actionable Tips
Have a theme for the week. This week for me is appreciation week. I am going to make it a point to appreciate or say thank you to at least one person a day.
Do small gestures whenever you can . Hold doors for people, tell a stranger how nice they look, buy chocolates for janitor or security of your building, give a thank you card to the people in your regular grocery store- Options are endless.
