Healthy Habits You Can Develop in 2021 – My January Walking Challenge.

Hello Candid Readers

Have you started making your new years resolutions? or like me, habits that you will like to form for the new year? 

Some people like to plan their goals and resolutions before the new year starts and others prefer to use the first week to plan out their goals. 

I have noticed that there is this idea of people not wanting to make new years resolutions until Covid is over.

I would have to disagree with that statement and would say that this is the BEST time to plan to create habits or create goals that you would like to achieve. 

If the previous year has thought us anything is that we have to go after the things that we want in life because life is too short and it is unfortunate that though times like these have thought is to step back and look at the things that are important to us. 

I noticed that my goals were things like paying off debt, or buying a house, or making a six-figure income, but those are goals that can’t be achieved in just one year. 

I was putting more on my plate than I could handle. 

I would end up giving up halfway because I felt so overwhelmed that I couldn’t complete those goals. 

By the end of this “Healthy Habits Challenge Series”, I hope to create Routine and Wellness Habits to achieve the life I want to achieve. 

This year while reflecting on what I want to achieve. I decided to take a different approach after reading Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear and watching Matt D’avellas videos last year when he would make a video about a habit that he was taking up for 30 days. 

Learning that it’s not about focusing on the goal, but about focusing on creating systems that create habits that when I do achieve that “goal”

As much as I would like to buy my dream home and that would have been a goal for me in previous years (Although, this is still one of my goals in life more like in 4-5 years from now).

I know that it is something that I cannot accomplish this year. Instead, I should set up my finances in order so that I can afford a house of my own in the future. 

That within itself is a big goal, therefore, I like to break it down into small size pieces such as having a savings plan, or making a budget, using the envelope system or challenging myself to spend less a month, or creating the habit of saving $10 every week and using that as extra payment towards debt. 

I learned that it is about the small habits, the small tasks that we do every single day that make up the big difference. 

If you want to start something or have a big goal turning it into bite-size pieces can make it seem less intimidating and if this is the year that you want to get fit.

Maybe instead of getting that gym membership to try scheduling walks around your neighborhood. 

Make it a simple challenge such as taking 5,000 steps daily and also make it fun. You can get so much excise by just playing music and dancing in your living room. That’s fun, free, and in the comfort of your own home. 

That being said my goal for this year is to focus on the small victories, creating small habits that can transform my life and so I can achieve even bigger goals. 

JANUARY 2021

For January, I will be focusing on going more walks. 2020 has thought us that our health should be a top priority. I want to try my best to show up for myself and feel good. 

The gym can be intimating for anyone and that is why I wanted to workout but before I do that I want to focus on going on a walk every day which gives me a break from being home all of the time, while safely social distancing. 

Here is a list of various healthy habits that you can develop in 2021

1. Drinking water every day 
2. Cooking a meal every day 
3. Learn the alphabet of a new language 
4. Declutter an item every day 
5. Meditate 
6. Save Money 
7. Stretch for 10 minutes 
8. Listen to a podcast
9. Read a book 
10. Have a good skincare routine
11. Work with a timer
12. Spend 15 minutes typing up your space
13. Journal 
14. Call a friend 
15. Wear Sun Screen 
16. Delete Old Emails 
17. Declutter Your Phone
18. Drink less coffee 
19. Try Minimalism 
20. Straighten your poster 
21. Don’t go on your phone when you wakeup 

My last blog post also talked about using an agenda and so far it has helped keep me accountable with the things that I have to do.

One of my agendas which focuses on the habit for that month has been so helpful in creating steps from placing my workout clothes or a water bottle near me so that I can drink water first things first or my running shoes. 

I wrote last week a post about creating systems to create healthy habits and how this year I wanted to focus on one of those habits every single month so if you want to follow along with how things are going let me know in the comments below. 

I would love for y’all to follow along in the journey and this is also a great way for me to keep myself accountable and if you want someone to hold you accountable for your goals share them in the comments and let’s form a community of supporting one another. 

This year I decided that I was going to document one habit that I wanted to focus on and then I was going to do five things or five systems to let that habit stick and creating the type of environment where I can make those habits stick. 

Course of Action 

There are three things that I will be focusing on when it comes to my habits 

The first is consistency without perfection

Creating a healthy habit is no easy task especially because you are training your brain to do something on a daily. I am not aiming for perfection because perfection is the enemy of progress. What I am aiming for is scheduling the habit that I am trying to create and creating an environment for it. 

I like the 2-day rule where you can skip for one day but not more than one day. If Monday and Tuesday I do a workout and Wednesday I don’t do a workout and that’s okay. 

But I can’t take a break for two days. 

Journal About It 

I talked about the habit tracking journal that you can find at Walmart. I like that it has  space where you can write down your thoughts.

You can do this on any piece of paper and if something isn’t working or you are not enjoying things then reaches what went wrong and keep reevaluating and seeing what works and what doesn’t. 

I liked Matt D’avellas videos because he offers an honest opening about habit formation. Like when he tried to wake up at 5 in the morning and he was honest that it didn’t work out for me that he felt tired all of the time and he wasn’t as productive. 

So you might want to start waking up earlier but after doing it for 30 days you realize that you mostly watched videos and were in work mode at night then that is okay too. 

The goal of creating healthy habits is also tweaking them to work in YOUR life. 

For some, they might benefit from waking up early if they don’t have any time for themselves at night and they might benefit from being able to drink a cup of coffee while the sun rises and read a book. 

Make a goal into a habit – Make a Habit lifelong 

I hope to learn about this and myself. I also don’t want to create habits for 30 days and then just stop doing them. 

If a habit helps me out then I want to be able to continue that habit for the rest of my life. Some habits will be a little bit harder than others and others might be a little bit easier. 

For Instance, a habit that I have had since I was little, and now that I am an adult I am grateful my mom pushed me to do it is making my bed. 

It’s so ingrained in me that I HAVE to make my bed. Regardless of what time I woke up at I will make my bed or where I am at. I will make my bed because it was something that was ingrained in me and If I don’t do it I feel like I started my day on the wrong foot. 

Have you ever felt like that? That you have to do that something before the day starts? Well, that’s because that is a habit that is ingrained in me and I KNOW I have to do it and I do it without even thinking about it.