So we have officially rung in the new year with promises of a healthier lifestyle, and dumping old habits whilst embracing new possibilities! Or maybe we are just happy sticking with what’s already working for us. Either way there are always good habits in life that can make us live healthier and happy any time of year, so I thought I would share some with you today!
- Gratitude. I am starting off with gratitude because it really is so influential to how happy or unhappy you feel. If you can’t be grateful for the things in your life, you simply can not experience happiness fully. Gratitude means being thankful, showing appreciation for the people and ‘things’ in your life that bring you joy. It helps us live a more fulfilled life and it reduces stress levels. When we look at our day with a thankful heart we can not focus on the negatives. Negative energy causes us great stress, it makes us unhappy, grumpy and even rude. But when we open our mind to gratitude we find it easier to deal with stresses, and focus on the good in our day. Being thankful shifts our focus to look at all the good things we have in our life right now, and in turn that makes not only us happier, but our loved ones too! Walk around with grateful heart and mind and watch how much your mood and life improves!
- Fresh air and getting outdoors. Ok so the weather is not always what we want it to be, but unless there is a major heat wave, or you are snowed in, there is no excuse to not enjoy the outdoors. Even if it is a ten minute walk it will improve your mood, clear your lungs, pump good endorphins through your body, and a change of scenery is always a great way to brighten your day!
- Go minimal. It is time to let go of things that clutter your mind, and your environment. I recently finished a book lent to me by a friend, it is called “the life-changing magic of tidying” by Marie Kondo. I consider myself a tidy (ish) person, and I always thought I am great at decluttering, but this book was truly eye opening. In many ways it reinforced many habits I already have, (like only surrounding myself with things I love and things and people that make me happy), but it also gave me some fresh ideas. I thought it may just be about how to clean, but it really isn’t at all. It is more about changing some habits that make you have to clean less! Yes seriously. If you are looking for an easy read with great ideas, then I recombined this book to you. If you don’t want a whole book to read, read my post on “decluttering”. Or I highly recommend my post “Is it Time to Embrace Change?” You will also find a great link there to declutter some of those “friends” you no longer need.
- Kindness: A bit like gratitude, kindness should be practiced daily. Kindness towards yourself and towards others. Compliment yourself, nurture yourself and realise that it is good to put yourself first! The kinder you are to yourself, the easier it will become to treat others with kindness too. Give others well deserved compliments, making others feel good in turn makes you feel good. The bonus is the happier and kinder you are, the happier and kinder others are, it’s a circle of success!
There are many other great things to incorporate into your day, and/or week to be happier and healthier, like exercise, healthy eating, (treating yourself too of course, cake is a must), meditation, and of course following your passions! But for today I will leave you with that! Stay tuned to my blog and my youtube channel this year for more inspirational tips, and ways to embrace a happier lifestyle. Don’t forget you can sign up to receive emails from me too. Oh and don’t forget to pop over to follow me on Instagram where I share my favourite pics and tips for a happy, beautiful life!Â
Wishing you wonderful 2017
Thanks for joining me, love Mac xx
You may also enjoy: Be HERE
My #mg Link Up will also return this year, starting back on February 6th, so pop it in your calendar.
34 comments
Happy New Year! What a great start, Mac. I’m committing to all of these too!
Happy New Year lovely, thank you so much for all the support you always show me xx
Great post lovely, and simple changes that would make the world such a better place if everyone adopted them 🙂
so true, wouldn’t it be so lovely if everyone was kinder xx
Happy new year Mg .It’s great that you have gratitude kindness and fresh air in your list.These 3 are the easiest way yo make life beautiful.
Mac! Our thoughts are aligned. Minimalism and gratitude are my focus right now too. I listened to the e-book of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up earlier this year, oh, last year(!) and loved it too. I’ve done a good job on the physical clutter, but now I’m focusing on how to reduce my impact in other areas, mainly with my eating habits.
Loving the new look too xx
We are adopting gratitude as a habit too. This year we will lose one of the greatest people I’ve ever known to cancer, for that reason being grateful for what we have however big or small is at the forefront of our minds.
#DreamTeam
Love these particularly kindness to selp
Happy new year! I’m hoping to spend 2017 happier and more grateful for the little things that make me happy. #dreamteam
Its really is incredible how much difference gratitude and kindness makes. Im totally with you on all if this!
People can be a bit down on new years resolutions but i think its a great time to just practice a bit of mindfulness and think about how we’re living and how we want to improve things. love your list. #stayclassymama
Oh thank you so much!
Brilliant words to live each day by Mac. I’m in too. Have a minimalist post in the making! Great minds. You are awesome! xoxox #mg
Oh great, looking forward to reading it!
Happy new year, I always find fresh air good for clearing my head from all the garbage rattling around in there X #bloggersclubuk
Some really positive habits to adopt here. I know I need to get a bit more fresh air as I’m either stuck in an office or working from home. I’m going to get out a bit more I think. Happy New Year! #sharingthebloglove
Happy new year! I love this, I think gratitude is the biggest one for me, I am really trying so hard to be grateful for the positives. We have spent the last few months outdoors, I find it so helpful in clearing my mind and opening our eyes to what is important. As for minimalizing, I have big plans to de-clutter!!! #sharingthebloglove
Stalking you round the linkies today. #stayclassymama
I love this, I’ve already started my year with some super decluttering and one of my resolutions is to be grateful everyday. Wishing you a very happy 2017 x #SharingtheBlogLove
Letting go of negativity and decluttering are my big things for the year! Thank for sharing! #bloggerclubuk
I’m completely with you on all of these! I really believe that gratitude and focusing on the positives can transform your outlook on life. I started keeping happy lists back at the end of 2015, and I love looking back at them, and to be able to look back on a fairly rubbish week and see that there were positives in there after all. Thanks so much for joining us again at #SharingtheBlogLove
Fantastic habits to adopt. I have these all included in my goal list, in some shape or form. Happy New Year!
A lovely inspirational post – love your simple ideas #thelistlinky
Lovely post-I really like the go minimal one! #thelinkylist
Some great habits, I have started to declutter! #thelistlinky
Absolutely! I am a big believer that consciously monitoring your attitude to situations will affect how you (and those around you) experience them. I know that getting outside as much as possible has a huge impact on my mood. We purposely park a few minutes away from school so that we can have a bit of fresh air every day #TheListLinky
Happy New Year! We’re definitely having a clear out, across a lot of areas. Decluttering the house, getting rid of junk food, recycling clothes. New start & all that 🙂 #TheList
I love this so much! I definitely need to start declutters and with our recent house move I have the perfect opportunity to do it. Focusing on the positives really helps me to see that life is actually better than I sometimes things it is. Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove x
Just popping over from #stayclassymama to say how much you ROCK! <3
as do you!!
Hi Mac, Happy New Year 🙂 I love all these points and kindness especially resonates with me. It can be hard not to get caught up in family politics over the Christmas break, but if you can give out kindness in abundance, it seems to rub off on people I find. Thank you for sharing with the #DreamTeam – it’s so lovely having you linking up with us xx
You talk a lot of sense – very wise words indeed! Really enjoyed this post. X #TheListLinky
Yes! Agree with all of these. I try to practice gratitude and we are outdoors every day. Decluttering – I need to be better at – I feel like I am naturally more of a minimalist, but my hubby and kids – not so much so! So a big clear out is definitely needed! I’ll be checking out your decluttering post! xx
#TheListLinky
Love this post! I think gratitude is so important, my friends and I have a WhatsApp group and we all try to say three things we’re grateful for each week. I also like decluttering the mind, I just watched a documentary on being a minimalist and was so impressed with this guy who carried his whole life in one bag! I have a goal to minimize in the next three months (there will be some posts around this coming up! 😀😀) Thanks for sharing with #StayClassyMama!
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