30 Day Healthy Habits Challenge

[spontaneous sunflower]

Hello! Firstly, a bit of background on me. I'm 16, was diagnosed with anxiety and depression at 13 years old. Last year I went through a severe depressive episode which caused me to miss half of my school year, move schools and overall just put me and the people around me in a crappy situation. I'm glad to say I'm doing much better, but definitely not doing my best or anywhere near it. I am stuck in a rut. My default answer to "how are you?" is "meh, alright". Life should be SO MUCH MORE than "alright". I have so many crazy dreams and things I want to do, I have this picture of an ideal me in my mind. And get this- I know exactly how to get to this "ideal me". I have EVERYTHING I need to reach my goals. But here I am, stuck on autopilot doing the same boring things everyday, not feeling like myself and honestly, feeling miserable.

I watched Mel Robbins TED talk "How to stop screwing yourself over". It's a long talk and I'll try to summarise what she says, but I would encourage you to watch it if you're feeling stuck. She has such a motivating, "no bullsh*t" kind of attitude that I respect. She said to get what you want,is SIMPLE but NOT EASY. You have to force yourself, get out of your head, get past your feelings and outside of your comfort zone. See? Sounds simple but when you actually try to do these things, it's not that easy.

Her TED talk + some other articles/videos I viewed, have inspired me to challenge myself to do the things I always say I'll do (but never actually do). Starting tomorrow on 23/05/19, I am going to start doing these habits everyday for 30 days-

- wake up at 6am (even on weekends!)

- exercise for 30 minutes everyday

- do not go on technology 30 minutes after waking up and 30 minutes before going to bed.

- Limit myself to one unhealthy treat a day and drink 2 litres of water daily

- Study for at least 40 minutes daily

- write down three things I am grateful for before bed

- do something out of my comfort zone (this could be so many different things- talking to someone new, wearing something you are usually too scared to wear, confronting someone about your feelings, trying a new food or activity, etc)

- write in my journal

- stretch for 10 minutes before bedtime

[spontaneous sunflower]

It takes a minimum of 21 days to form a habit. I am not certain that these habits will become second nature to me at the end of the 30 days, but I know I will be proud of myself for keeping these habits for 30 days and will be motivated to keep going until I don't have to force myself anymore. I see these habits as the foundation for me to go on and achieve my bigger goals and be the happy, motivated, successful person I've always wanted to be. Some of these things I do occasionally (e.g. I wake up at 6am maybe once a week, I study for more than 40 minutes at least 3 times a week,usually drink at least 1.75 litres a day) but I find that is only a couple healthy habits in a primarily unhealthy, unproductive lifestyle.

I am pushing myself to do these things everyday because doing these things make me feel happier, more energetic, productive, organised, more lively, etc. Some of you might already do these things daily and that's great! But I feel that majority of us are wasting away our precious lives by spending too much time on social media, watching netflix, eating junk food and not getting out of the house or office enough.

so I encourage anyone to participate, using some of my habits or making your own. A couple things to say about my habits- when I say 30 minutes exercise daily, it doesn't have to be running or hiit everyday. Light exercise such as walking, swimming, bike riding, yoga, dancing in your room, etc counts. I will be waking up at 6am having gotten 7-9 hours of sleep. I already go to bed at 10:30pm the latest so in order to get 8hrs a night i only need to go to bed 30-60 minutes earlier. If you cannot get 8 hours of sleep with a 6am wakeup time, I wouldn't recommend it. 1 unhealthy treat basically means 1 cookie, a muffin, chocolate bar, etc, a day (I eat my fruit and veggies but I still indulge in too much junk food so I need to restrict myself more in order to see results!)

You might wonder why exactly I have chosen said habits, and that is because I know they will improve aspects of my life that I want to improve. Exercising and eating less junk will help me feel better and slim down, studying more will keep me from getting overwhelmed with school and waking up at 6am will help me have a less stressful and more productive morning. 🙂

Hopefully we can all hold each other unaccountable and be supportive as we all strive to become our best selves!!!

[quirkywords]

Spontaneous flower,

hanks for your post about changing habbiuts.

am glad you found a TED talk that inspired you.

I think for some people like me maybe doing one or two of those changes would suit them.

So I will try to

Stretch before bed

Write in my journal.

I already do these things but not every day and sometimes can leave it for a while.

So I will join in by trying to do those two things every day starting today.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Quirky