Forming “healthy habits” is a topic discussed all too often and usually in the same simple way. We are used to hearing, “Habits are crucial to success” or “Habits can change your life,” but when you really think about it, habits have a much more profound impact than simply formulating success. While habits change your life, even more importantly, they change you. Healthy habits are crucial for a balanced lifestyle, as are habits of character.
First, developing good personal habits influences mental health, physical well-being, and long-term success. For example, making your bed each morning creates a consistent routine for which you can rely on yourself. It’s something that seems too simple: how could making your bed change your life in any way? However, this easy task helps you build trust in yourself; trust that you will complete this task you said you would. After doing it for 21 days straight, it becomes a habit. You slowly begin to subconsciously tell yourself, “I trust you. You are consistent. Your actions match your words.” This builds deep intrinsic confidence from doing this seemingly insignificant task of making your bed. Kenzi Reiter (11) shares that “building the smallest habits can have the largest impact over time.”
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Another healthy habit with a large effect is working out consistently. Going to the gym is almost everyone’s resolution for the new year, but it doesn’t have to be January first for you to start working out. It doesn’t have to mean forcing yourself to be tortured in the gym either. Taking a walk, trying a yoga or pilates class, cycling, or going for a run are all healthy physical activities that may be easier to do consistently without burning out.
Although making it a habit to workout will improve your health and help you reach fitness goals, this habit is also so much deeper than this. As many know, working out dramatically boosts dopamine levels by releasing endorphins, putting you in a much better mood for the rest of the day. In my personal life, I have learned to enter a workout with the focused intention of “self-love.” When you truly love yourself, you will do uncomfortable and difficult things because you value yourself too much to remain stagnant. In this way, I view the challenge and the discipline in exercise as a symbol of my own self-love.
Aside from physical habits, habits of character are just as, if not more essential, crucial in personal growth. The thoughts we let consume our minds and our daily choices become habits without us realizing it. These subconscious habits slowly mold us into the people we are. Especially in high school, many view these daily decisions as small and meaningless. And while they may not have a directly large impact now, they do affect us in the long term. The choices you make are who you are. The habits you build are the habits you will keep. The effort you put into things now is what you will put in later. People often use the excuse, “I’ll form better habits when it really matters.” However, if you aren’t making wise choices now, what gives you the credibility to say that you will in the future?
For example, skipping homework because you don’t want to do it is a bad habit that seems somewhat insignificant. However, it’s not the act of skipping your homework that really matters. You can probably still keep a decent grade in the class without it. It’s the low effort level that you become comfortable with; over time, it becomes part of your identity. This might not have any detrimental consequences, but it will set you up to put little effort into other aspects of your life. The way you do one thing is the way you do everything.
Another example is getting in the habit of being an unloyal partner. When asked “Is it wrong to cheat if nobody finds out?”, high school students had surprisingly mixed answers. Some claimed it was still wrong, but it would not be that big of a deal in high school. And while cheating on your high school girlfriend might not be the end of the world, it builds weak character. If you are a cheater now, you will be a cheater later on. When you normalize and excuse bad habits, you allow them to become a part of your person. Many people give excuses for their actions when they believe they have all the time in the world to change. But I will reiterate this idea: the person you are now is the person you will be. The actions you make and the habits you build now stick.
Why wait to become a person of good character and habits when you can start showing up as them now?