Your work life and your personal life are two very different things. How you spend your time outside of the office will affect your performance in the office, so it’s important to be intentional about how you live your day-to-day life. In this guide, we’ll show you how to create a lifestyle that works for you by making small adjustments to the way you work, rest, play, and socialize each day.
These changes will make all the difference in increasing your satisfaction with life overall you might even find yourself thriving at work!
Why a Lifestyle Change Is Better Than New Year’s Resolutions
Resolutions are just not realistic. Sure, you can say that you’re going to lose 10 pounds, but how do you expect to do it? By exercising more? What about work? Kids’ soccer practice? It can be hard for even the most dedicated of people to make resolutions happen.
A lifestyle change has a better chance of staying with you because it’s something you can live with every day.
What Are the Components of a Good Lifestyle?
First, we need to get clear on what makes a lifestyle good. In my experience working with executives and writing about work-life balance, I’ve noticed that there are two broad categories of people: those who like big, crazy lifestyles (think rock stars) and those who prefer simpler lifestyles (think monks).
Neither way is better or worse. It really comes down to what works best for you your preferences, your values, and your personality type. After all, not everyone wants or is suited for 30 hours of activity every day! If you think that sounds awesome but in reality, you’d end up miserable, then maybe it isn’t actually what would make you happy.
The key is knowing yourself well enough to know if certain activities bring you joy.
How Do I Pick Which Habits to Change?
Before you can change your habits, you need to make sure that you’re taking on projects that will add value. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Is it important?
- What impact would it have on my life?
- Does anyone else care about it?
Would I regret not doing it? If you want to create new daily habits, these questions should be relatively easy to answer. Even if no one else cares about your goal (say, writing two thousand words every day), if you do, then write two thousand words every day! It’s important because there are certain things in life such as learning skills and professional development that require consistent effort and practice.
Creating Positive Habits
Changing your lifestyle is not easy. If it were, everyone would do it! But creating positive habits and breaking negative ones is easier said than done.
One of my favorite ways to do it is through visualization. For example, if you want to replace an old habit of overeating with healthy eating habits, get in touch with how that food makes you feel (heavy and bloated?), then think about how you’d like to feel instead (light and energized?).
Doing so can actually make those new habitsmor any new habits easier to adopt.
What If My Bad Habits Have Real Benefits?
Even if you don’t want to keep your bad habits, it’s worth exploring their benefits.
If you find they help you avoid certain situations, then it might be useful to ask yourself how else you could meet these needs. For example, if having a glass of wine helps calm you down when you get home from work, what else can do?
I Don’t Know Where to Start!
Most people want to improve their lifestyle but don’t know where to start. Improving your diet and exercise can be incredibly beneficial, but it isn’t always easy.
In fact, when you make dramatic changes to your diet and begin exercising regularly, it can be hard on both your body and mind.
Instead of trying something drastic (and potentially getting burned out quickly), focus on making small changes that are within your means. For example, instead of vowing never to eat sugar again (good luck!), try starting by eliminating sugary drinks like soda or fruit juice from your diet it’s easier than swearing off candy bars all together! Small changes over time often lead to bigger ones later on down the road.
