3 Essential Habits That Actually Improve Your Life

There’s a lot of talk and noise around daily habits, we’ve all seen the unrealistic and comical 4:30 am morning routines, with each one getting more ridiculous than the last.

It’s gotten to the point now where even mentioning the term "daily habits” seems cringe.

But what if you were genuinely looking to include the 3 best daily habits that would have the biggest impact on your literal experience? What would they be?

Well, through years of trying, adding, adjusting and removing different “self-improvement” habits, I’ve gathered a bit of experience as to which ones actually help.

So, if you’re looking to improve the way you feel daily, therefore improving your life altogether, here are the 3 essential habits you should think about adopting.

1. Sleep

Okay, starting with the most boring one, but it has to be mentioned, as it just might be the most important.

You could nail every other habit in this list, and any other habit for that matter, but if you’re not sleeping right, they won’t make a single bit of difference.

Over the last few years, sleep has become a topic growing in popularity, with the likes of Dr Matthew Walker and the scary facts he brings to the table, it’s safe to say the world started paying attention.

But I’m not looking to scare you, I’m simply reminding you of the importance of sleep, as if you’re trying to improve your life, but your sleep is all over the place, then there’s really only one thing to focus on.

Duration matters, but it might not matter as much as consistency and getting your circadian rhythm in check.

Circadian rhythm is your body and mind's clock, it’s sleeping and waking at the same time daily so that your body and mind can operate on a stable, predictable cycle. This improves and stabilises your mood and energy levels, significantly improving your experience of life.

So as a checklist, 7-9 hours, and a consistent sleep/wake time, and you’re on the right track.

2. Morning Movement

This is probably the second most important habit, and has improved my mood and focus drastically over the past 6 months.

The importance of getting out the door first thing in the morning, whether it’s exercise or simply a morning walk as short as 10 minutes, cannot be overstated.

Mornings can be chaotic and filled with panic, dread, anxiety, and stress, and it's way too common to rush through your mornings, bouncing from one task to the next before leaving the door in a heightened state.

Morning movement can mitigate this completely, in two very different ways. A morning walk, especially without headphones, will force you to slow down, get the body moving, and allow your thoughts to flow without the unneeded stress.

Exercise, on the other hand, increases your morning cortisol levels, helping you to wake up. It also gets the heart pumping, sweat flowing, and gets the angst out of you first thing. Mix this with the endorphins and dopamine it produces, and you’ve set yourself up for a pretty good day.

Also, if the first thing you do each morning is something as difficult as rigorous exercise, then the rest of the day is going to feel like a breeze.

Both get the body moving, and both (hopefully) allow you to get some morning sunlight, which also helps your sleep quality through improving the circadian rhythm.

Between the physical and mental benefits of morning movement, I’d say it’s a non-negotiable daily habit that you should definitely add to your morning routine.

3. Meditation

Meditation, especially if never done before, can completely change you and your experience of life.

When meditation is mentioned, it’s usually by a highly spiritual person who mediates for 3 hours each day and lives in the woods. Not me, I simply want to discuss the more obvious benefits that meditation offers.

I’m not saying that the more spiritual benefits don’t exist; I know they do, but that’s like telling someone the benefits of running 100 miles in 24 hours as a way to get them to start running.

Meditation, even for just 10 minutes each day, with nothing more than a guide or light music playing, forces you to pay attention to your mind.

You’ll sit down and try to focus on something specific, maybe your breath, or the sensation of your back against the chair, and you’ll fail miserably. 

It’s incredible how quickly you’ll come to understand that your thoughts are not you, and yet how they control almost everything you do.

Meditation allows you to view your thoughts objectively, from a new perspective, and see them for what they really are.

Thoughts, images, phrases, memories, accents, songs, films, scenes and almost anything else the mind can possibly produce will pop into your head, and you’ll drift off and think about these things until it clicks that you’re meant to be focusing on your breath.

This not only teaches you not to identify with your thoughts, which is the cause of most people's suffering, but it also teaches a very literal form of mind control.

Every time your mind drifts off is not a failure, as noticing it and bringing the attention back to whatever you're focusing on is a win, it’s a rep, and with enough reps, you build the muscle of controlling your mind.

If reps in the gym grow your biceps, meditation reps grow your presence, as catching yourself in thought and bringing it back is just practising being present.

Most of our days are spent in our heads, thinking about the past or the future. Meditation teaches you to be exactly where your feet are.