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Humans are creatures of habit. They tend to pick up a good or bad habit and stick to it. Some good practices, such as cleaning up before you sleep, help build your character. It also helps you stay organized and abreast of things.

Some habits can be detrimental to your health, such as smoking. At the same time, others may be nasty or affect your productivity, such as biting your fingernails or downing liquor every day. However, bad habits tend to take the most from you.

A habit gradually becomes a part of you without much realization. If you are struggling to drop a particular habit, this article will give you ideal ways to set you on the path for recovery.

Understand Your Triggers

Subconsciously, you may pick up a habit after a specific trigger. You may not realize what it is until you take some time to analyze your patterns. Some people claim that drinking alcohol fuels their urge to smoke. Others may claim that being nervous or anxious leads to chewing their nails.

 By identifying your triggers, you are getting ahead of the problem. If you can control your trigger, you can manage your habit. For instance, when anxious, instead of biting your nails, you can take a walk or exercise to release the tension. If you smoke when you drink, it is best to avoid drinking.

When understanding your triggers, it is best to note when the habit happens, what time it takes place, and whether other people are involved. You may have to make certain lifestyle adjustments to cut your patterns.

External Support

Sometimes the high road is the right road. In this case, if you struggle to control your habit by yourself, it may be time you consider joining a recovery institution. For example, visiting an addiction center will walk you through the necessary steps to cut your addiction.

In addition, they will provide medical care if you exhibit withdrawal symptoms. All you need to do is voluntarily commit yourself to the institution.

Friend Support

Forming a habit is easy, but breaking a habit can be pretty challenging. It helps to enlist the support of a friend to help you cut off some patterns. If you have a friend struggling with a similar habit, it is best to make a pact to journey the quitting path together.

Having a friend helps in providing motivation and encouragement. If you veer off the path back to your habit, your friend can help you get back on track.

You can also read various literary works that talk of breaking habits. James Clear’s best-selling novel, “Atomic Habits,” continues to top-five bestseller lists in America. The book provides concise step-by-step ways for breaking a habit. For two consecutive months, the book was on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Be Ready for a Relapse

It is normal to experience a relapse as you cut off your bad habits. It is prudent to acknowledge these relapses and get back on track after they happen. A mistake becomes a mistake once you repeat it.

It would help if you visualized breaking free from the habit vehemently. In case of a relapse, you don’t have to beat yourself up about it. Instead, remind yourself why you need to quit the habit and get back on track.

Conclusion

A habit takes approximately 21 days to form. You can leverage this by replacing your old habit with a new habit. Commit yourself to a fresh and healthy practice such as cycling. This will help reduce the urge to give in to your habit.

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What Should Your Goals For 2022 Look Like?

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Trying to find the perfect New Year’s Resolutions but don’t even know where to start? You are not alone.

For millions of people, the past two years have been largely about surviving. The new year is the opportune moment to start thriving once more. However, this can only happen if you actively establish the right goals for the next 12 months and beyond. Here are some of the best.

Build A Better Body

It makes sense to start your pursuit for a better life with internal improvements and self-care. Focusing on your body is the perfect solution. It can be achieved via increased exercise, smarter eating habits, and improved lifestyle choices. Many people worry that they don’t have the time, but the added structure can actively push you towards greatness in other aspects of life. It will probably take 2-3 months to see a noticeable change, but the progress keeps coming for a very long time.

Build A Better Career

As humans, we all have a natural desire to grow and drive for better. Your career is the perfect outlet to make this happen, not least because it supports financial growth too. An investment into your future can be made through taking a cyber security course or another relevant training programme. It shows your willingness to work hard while simultaneously updating your skills to make you a better candidate. Another option is to start a side hustle that could eventually become your sole source of income.

Build A Better Planet

The damage we have collectively caused to the planet is almost hard to comprehend. Now is the time for everyone to take action in a bid to repair it. Simple steps can make a big difference by reducing your waste. Meanwhile, you can look at improved insulation through new windows and roofing to make a significant impact around your home. When you also make a conscious effort to work with greener companies, this will indirectly help change the world for the better. And you will feel great for doing it.

Build A Better Relationship

Human interactions are the key to a happy life. Therefore, you should never take your relationships for granted. Whether it’s injecting romance back into a loving relationship or spending more time with the family doesn’t matter. Creating magical moments by doing things you like with the people you love is truly one of the best ways to improve your life in 2022 and beyond. After the restricted nature of the past two years, you should feel extra eager to put extra effort into this goal.

Build A Better Mind

This guide started with the concept of building a better body. But the rewards will be limited if you fail to build a better mind too. If you are struggling with mental health, speaking to a psychologist can be very useful. The knowledge that you are tackling the problem in a productive manner will lift a weight of stress from your shoulders. Simply making more time for meditation or creating a better work-life balance will put you in a far stronger position. When supported by the other goals, 2022 will be a far better year.

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There is always one member in an all-girl friend group who’s always put together. She’s the one everybody goes to for advice because she seems like she knows what she is doing all the time. She is strong, she is responsible, and she is an achiever. She knows what she wants, and she works hard for it.

If you get the same compliments as these descriptions, chances are, you are a strong independent woman. Don’t believe it? Read on to see what it’s like to be one.

1. You Have Big Goals and You Put Them First

You have big dreams. That might be to travel the world, be a successful CEO of a sustainable clothing company, or own a stake at a high-end property developer. Or maybe you dream of inspiring other people, living a simple life, or being an astronaut. Whatever that dream is, you are working hard to achieve it.

And if you don’t have the means right now, you are working hard and finding ways to get as close to your dreams as possible. If you can’t afford to travel, then you look for internship opportunities abroad. You get to earn while you also get to live your dream. Or you study hard to get a scholarship in a university abroad.

Your goals are not just some motivational piece you remind yourself every day of. You have the burning desire to achieve them. And you align your actions towards the fulfillment of these things.

2. You Know Your Worth

It’s not easy to achieve a level of self-love where you accept everything about yourself. But part of being a strong woman is accepting that you cannot change some aspects of yourself, which is okay.

You don’t attach your self-worth to things that change. You don’t think you are worthy of love because you are beautiful. Beauty fades in time, and you know that full well.

You don’t work hard to achieve big things to get other people’s approval. You know that your worth is much more than the trophies, the titles, and the empty congratulatory remarks.

Instead, you work on being kind. You exert effort so that you leave a good impact on other people. You fight for things that will make the world a better place to live in.

Leaving situations where you are not valued and where there is no growth is also your strong suit.

3. You Sustain Yourself

You are a strong, independent woman because you don’t depend on other people for your happiness. Of course, you understand that no man is an island. All relationships contribute to self-development and growth.

But, you know the importance of being there for yourself. You don’t need to be in a relationship to feel whole. You know how to take care of yourself. You make yourself a coffee, go on night drives, or read a quality book to make yourself feel better.

You don’t need anyone to go with you. The whole decision is yours. You reward yourself for your hard work.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t value your friends, family, or your love interest. But, you know that outside of these relationships, you are whole. They add color and fun to your life, but you don’t feel sad being by yourself at the end of the day.

4. You Constantly Work to Make Yourself Better

Of course, you understand that you have flaws. You are not perfect, you make mistakes, and at times you hurt other people. But there is strength in accepting that you need to change everything that you can to grow. Or so that you will become a better student, daughter, lover, and friend.

As a result, you are forgiving and kind. There is always a wrong side to people, and you don’t judge others because of this. You have your fair share of embarrassing deeds in the past that you won’t ever do again. You lend others the kind of forgiveness that you gave yourself. After all, everyone is a work in progress.

It is a continuing journey to be at peace with the things that take time to change. What matters is that you are moving in the right direction no matter how slow.

If you identify with all the characteristics you’ve just read, there is a big chance that you are a strong and independent girl. However, you have to be careful of the weight of other people’s expectations of you to be strong and independent all the time. Even the strongest ones crumble; even the most independent ones need the comfort of home. There is no shame in that.

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Achieving in life means different things to different people. However, one thing remains present in all these things – if you want to achieve something, it takes time and dedication. The first thing you have to do is cultivate the right mindset. It does not matter who you are or what position you are currently in, anyone and everyone can focus on achieving and being successful. All it takes is to be serious about the pursuit and you can do whatever you want (within reason).  

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What are your Strengths?

If you want to achieve, then you need to discover what your strengths are. Sit down and contemplate what you are good at, what comes naturally for you, and what you like. Once you know this, you can begin to focus energy in the right direction. 

Be Committed

No matter what you plan on doing, it will help if you are 100% committed. It is only through total dedication and commitment that we can truly succeed. Perhaps you have some personal issue, and you want to get better. This is where something like a drug rehab center will be very effective. Commitment plus extra help will have you achieve the end result. 

Create Goals

Perhaps you have an overarching goal to become a doctor. It may seem very far away from you at the moment. Inserted of creating one biog goal, create a lot of smaller goals that help you get to where you are going. For example, going back to school and finishing that biology qualification so you can go on to university to study to become a doctor. Every big goal has many smaller goals to get to the endpoint. Besides, smaller goals help you develop a plan of action. A huge goal is difficult to visualize, but if you can see that path to get there, it is far easier to begin seeing that future as a real possibility.

Do Not Be Afraid to Fail

If you are afraid you will not succeed, then you will end up doing nothing. Every failure means that you grow and develop a wider breadth of knowledge. No matter what your pursuit, failure to achieve the exact thing you want, should be seen as an achievement in its own right. By failing, you have tried, and you can go on with more knowledge.

Take Action 

Do not just talk big, actually go out and take action. Go outside your comfort zone, speak to speak, create things. If you can think of a better way of doing something, do it. Actions speak so much louder than words, so do something different. There is never a right time to do anything, so start taking action and be proactive today.

Never Stop Learning

The world is such a huge place, and no one knows it all, no matter how much they pretend to do. If you want to achieve, you should read as much as you can, listen to experts and never close your mind to a new idea.

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The whole physical image we hold of ourselves is an insight into our weaknesses as people. We hold self-image in high regard, and it gives us a sense of our personality and is a key to how we understand life. So if we want to change our image and project something different outwards, we need to focus on a number of key practices to ensure that we are doing it right. What are these?

See the Person in the Flesh 

If you want to be someone who is picture-perfect, it is not enough to imagine ourselves as that person, but we’ve got to stare at this person in the mirror and see them in the flesh. Half of the issue is that we all have little hang-ups about ourselves. If we have issues with our teeth, the great thing is that these things are easily fixed. Many dental services can help align those teeth, but it is about fooling our brain into recognizing that the person that’s in the mirror is a better version of ourselves. It is a major cliche, but it is about dressing for the job that you want. The same thing applies to being the person that you want.

Reframe Self-Critical Thoughts

When we are trying to project a different image, we have to remember that we need to work from the inside out. If we have self-critical and judgmental thoughts, we’ve got to reframe these into something that’s more helpful and healthier. There are things that we can do to change, such as using non-judgemental reflection, becoming more aware of our inner critic, or training certain thoughts and behaviors, such as self-compassion.

Focus on the Things You Love About Yourself

If you have a negative frame of mind, you can benefit from lifting things that you really like about yourself. Many people want to change their self-image because they don’t like who they are. In order to break through, you need to make a list and take an inventory of your best qualities. Do this before you go to sleep because sleep is when our brain processes a lot of our thoughts. It is recommended that if you want to learn something new, you do it before you go to sleep or have a major rest where you aren’t using your brain. It is at this point where your brain will actually play and replay things that you’ve just fed it. Write down the things that you love about yourself, and occasionally glance at these things when you wake up in the morning and remember that you are worth it. 

Rest and Rejuvenate

Finally, it is so important for your vitality to rest. Because if you are not rested, you are not giving yourself the foundation to thrive. Not sleeping properly can cause you to be irritable, and could be overly critical of yourself. You need to prioritize sleep above everything else because this will be the foundation that you can build everything else upon.

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No matter how positive your aura is, there are times you may feel overwhelmed and beaten down by life. In some instances, it may feel like nothing can cheer you up. However, as human beings, we live life with grit, and no matter what curveballs life throws at us, we overcome it and move forward. In this article, we show you how you can improve the quality of your life by giving you tips to live long and stay happy.

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Do the Things You Love

While this may sound like a cliche statement, doing the things you love is one of the pieces of advice that stand the test of time. Whether you love your career, spending time with friends, or a hobby, immersing yourself in it allows you to live a happy and fulfilling life. Allow yourself to enjoy the process without worrying about outcomes, as worry only reduces the quality of an experience.

Use Your Phone Well

The world is quickly going digital, and you can see it in how people spend their time. Today, the average adult spends approximately four hours a day on their phone.

However, your smartphone can serve your mission towards a long and healthy life. If you use your phone well, you can achieve a happy, healthy life. Your phone can help you stick to a schedule, plan and execute your diet, plan healthy meals and learn new recipes, and learn about exercise as you keep track of your progress.

Learn and Prioritize Self-care

With the current state of affairs, it is possible to get immersed in day-to-day activities and forget that we should take care of some of our personal needs. However, to live a long and healthy life, you need to acknowledge that your body allows you to experience the world, and you need to give back to it. Instead of allowing your body to stay tired and sluggish, you should prioritize self-care. Eat a healthy diet, drink water and exercise, read books and do the things that excite your body and soul. Despite a busy schedule, you should make time for your body.

Make Positive Changes

It is a universal law that we attract what we focus on. But, unfortunately, we lend most of our energy to negative thinking patterns and habits. To start attracting better things into your reality, you need to make some changes in your life. 

Some of the adjustments you can make include spending time with those who matter to you, quitting bad habits such as smoking, drinking, eating junk food, and incorporating exercise into your daily routine. You can also pick up a new hobby or rekindle your love for old hobbies and see how much energy and positivity you can pump into your day.

Bottom Line

Life can get busy and tedious. However, you can incorporate the above tips into your life and make some positive changes. Remember, your body allows you to experience everything around you. Therefore, it is only fair that you make time to adjust and enjoy life as it comes.

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