Some people want to live forever, but if you don’t have a good quality of life it might not feel worth it to you. Therefore, you need to create and engage in healthy habits to live your life to the fullest.
Healthy habits can be difficult to form because often, they require you to put in some or even a lot of effort. Please don’t get discouraged by the energy it initially costs you to start forming the habits, once they are set, they will give you amazing benefits of having them!
Develop a routine to do these healthy habits regularly and fit them into your life. Create a good and healthy lifestyle that feels nice to you.
Start improving the quality of your life with these 13 healthy habits straight away!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure for more info.
13 Healthy Habits To Improve Your Quality of Life
1. Drink plenty of water
Water makes up a big part of your body, and you should give it the appropriate amount of water to function daily. For most people, this will be around 1,5-2 liters every day.
Get yourself a cute and easy-to-use water bottle with time marks to make sure you drink enough water daily. Those water bottles with time marks will motivate you because you can see your progress throughout the day, it’s a fun challenge this way to stay ahead of the time mark!
The signals your body sends you when you are thirsty look a lot like those of hunger cues, which can lead you to eat when you should be drinking more water instead. So if you make it a habit of drinking enough water, your body will get less confused about this and you will be less likely to overeat.
Drinking enough water is good for your skin and will give you more energy by detoxing your body. So keep it hydrated.
2. Get your nutrients in
This one is more tricky, as it is more difficult to eat the right amount of every type of food group you need every single day. I think it’s best to follow basic guidelines and try to eat as varied as possible to give your body all the nutrients and vitamins it needs.
Try to eat a few servings of fruit and vegetables every day and don’t forget about grains, protein, and dairy products. Eating the right food will make you feel good whilst eating a lot of processed food and food high in sugar and unhealthy fats will make you feel sluggish and unfit after the initial spike of energy.
This website shares plenty of information on how to create a balanced diet, check it out if you want more advice on this topic.
If you have health problems, it would be best for you to see a dietician to help you with your diet as this can be difficult to figure out on your own.
3. Exercise instead of extra fries
We all know that working out is good for you (although it doesn’t always feel that way while you are doing it), but for some people, it feels like a lot of work. Those people who don’t like it, probably haven’t found a type of sport that they like yet. But there is always hope!
You can not believe how many different types of exercise there exist, there should be something for every type of person out there. Do you like team sports or are you more of a solo player? Do you like ball sports or prefer dancing and gymnastics? If you don’t like to sweat while exercising, water sports might be your thing!
The recommended amount of exercise is 30-60 minutes a day for 5 days a week (for healthy adults). This can seem like a lot for some, and if you don’t want to use your free time to do this, maybe use your commute to work to get those 30 minutes a day by riding a bike or having a brisk walk.
For exercising, you need a certain amount of physical energy, but when you work a desk job for example, you will have a lot of physical energy to spare in the evenings and it will give you tons of energy and positive vibes in return.
4. Hygiene routine
There are a few different types of hygiene routines that you should do. Daily oral hygiene and body hygiene routines are healthy habits that you should include in your day.
Your oral hygiene routine should consist of brushing your teeth twice a day for two minutes (ideally with an electric toothbrush) with fluoride-containing toothpaste and flossing or using interdental brushes or toothpicks once a day. These are the basics to take good care of your teeth.
To keep your overall body hygiene in place, you should wash yourself every day and wash your hair as much as you need it, this differs greatly for everyone because everyone has a different type and volume of hair. It’s also recommended to wash your hands regularly after you go to the toilet, or when you touch something gross or unhygienic.
If you are frequently using soap, you should also use a body cream to keep your skin hydrated, because all of the detergents and soaps are breaking down the natural fat layer on your skin and your skin will get dry and maybe even painful if you don’t do this.
My doctor recommended this specific body cream to use on my hands because I am prone to eczema and it works great if you apply it when you go to sleep (your hands will be sticky for some time but they feel so much better in the morning).
Keep yourself clean and you will feel better in your skin!
5. Take supplements when necessary (after seeing your doctor)
Some people will need to take supplements to get all the nutrients their body needs to function properly. This will more likely be the case if you are on some kind of restrictive diet because of intolerances or if you are vegetarian or vegan.
If you have the feeling that you miss some important nutrients because of your eating habits or if you feel bad and tired all the time, go get checked out by your doctor.
I would advise you to see your doctor first and have your blood drawn to get analyzed in a lab to see if you have any deficiencies. When you know what you are missing, you can first try to get these things by adding types of food that contain the missing pieces to your diet. If you still have deficiencies after that or can’t eat certain things, try supplements to get everything that you need.
Supplements you can take that people have the most shortages of in general are zinc, vitamin B12, iron, vitamin D, calcium, and magnesium. Some of the supplements that I linked have a combination of those nutrients so look at them carefully before double dosing yourself if you are not aware of it. And please, check with your doctor first!
6. Build and maintain a social network
Did you know that loneliness is very bad for your health? Loneliness can make you feel depressed and human beings need to connect with others to feel good, even the introverted ones!
Build a network with people that you like talking to or hanging out with. If you are an introvert, this is easier said than done, but introverts will benefit from a tiny network of strong connections over a big one with lots of superficial acquaintances.
You can build a social network with people you work with or people you know from a certain hobby or activity that you do together. Try to connect with a few people and cherish those moments when you are bonding with them. Feeling that you belong somewhere and that other people like you will make you feel wonderful.
7. Get a fun hobby
Most hobbies can be seen as healthy habits as well because they keep you entertained and having fun in life is very important to keep living your life to the fullest.
You can use your skills in certain hobbies and create connections with like-minded people if you do things that you enjoy together. Life isn’t all about performing well and excelling at your job or as a parent, it’s also about enjoying yourself because this contributes to the will to live.
With a fun hobby, you can relax or engage yourself, depending on what you need at that time of day. If you need more challenge outside of your, go for a challenging hobby, or if you feel like all you want to do is chill and relax, go do that!
8. Self-care and me-time
Taking care of yourself and having some me-time are healthy habits to add to your daily routine as well. Self-care and me-time can be filled with hobbies you like but they can also be more practical self-care acts like taking a bath or getting your hair or nails done.
The thing about me-time is that the focus lies on you and you alone. If you want to be alone to recharge, you should be able to do this as often as you need. I think it speaks for itself why self-care is important and why it is one of the healthy habits you should have.
Get yourself a blanket, and a cup of tea and put on your favorite show or read a good book, whatever you like to do, and enjoy your time alone.
9. Set goals and work towards them
We all need motivation and goals to grow and get where we want to be in our lives.
When you are not motivated in life, you’re probably not trying to grow, become a better version of yourself, form healthy habits, or achieve milestones. Which is sad because life isn’t that long after all.
So when you are feeling unmotivated, setting goals can help you visualize your wants and can help you find some motivation to work towards them. You can consider creating a vision board to help visualize them even more.
Making progress feels good and reaching your goals can feel amazing! So try to actively and regularly set yourself some goals and keep motivated by tracking your progress and celebrating the result. You can create a rich life if you focus on setting the right goals for yourself.
I love writing everything down in a journal to keep track of them and seeing them written down. Some journals are focused on goal-setting, so those can help you motivate you to think about your goals and achieve them sooner.
10. Connect with family and friends
As I mentioned earlier in this list of healthy habits, finding and making a connection with people around you is vital for your well-being.
Family can be a blessing if you have great connections with family members, this is wonderful because you will always be family. On the other hand, you might also have some bad connections with family members that you can’t get easily rid of. That’s where friends come in!
You can choose who you hang out with and which people you call friends. Try to find a few close friends and you will benefit from the closeness you feel with them, this is the best antidote for loneliness!
If you have a hard time making new friends, you can try to reconnect with some of your friends from high school. You could also try to become closer to people you work with or practice a hobby with to call them friends eventually.
Having friends and family is so enriching to your life, it can bring a lot of joy and fulfillment with it.
11. Learn new things
The possibility of learning new things is endless. Follow your curiosity and see where it takes you. Learning new things makes you grow and develop and that’s why it is one of the healthy habits to include in your life.
The internet allows us to learn things from people all over the world. It has never been easier to learn a new language or to follow courses on programming for example. There are also plenty of real-life possibilities to learn new things that you are interested in.
You can learn things by doing or by reading and getting informed. Visit your local library to gain knowledge from books or search the web for info online. Do some workshops in your neighborhood and get those skills you’ve always wanted to have.
12. Get enough quality sleep
If you want to feel your best, you should focus on getting a good night’s sleep every single night. If you sleep the right amount of time and deep enough to process your day and get some deep rest, you will feel refreshed in the morning.
Getting enough quality sleep contributes greatly to your levels of productivity during the day and your emotional stability as well. I don’t know if you have experienced this, but when I don’t get enough sleep, I cry so easily that it is just embarrassing me.
Sleeping makes up a big part of your life and if you do it well, you will feel better than when you don’t, so improving your sleep should be one of your healthy habits to build and maintain.
13. Control and improve your finances
Money is everywhere. If you have no financial literacy at all, your finances will suffer and this suffering can spread to other areas of your life as well.
You can find so much information about finances online so if you want to learn, there are many options out there. You can start by taking a look at the personal finance section on my blog. I am not a financial adviser or specialist in any way, but I’ve learned so much about it by reading books and doing online research. I want to share my knowledge with you through my blog on hopefully help you!
If you don’t want to learn about it, that’s unfortunate because you won’t get the rewards that come with financial knowledge. I think the best thing you can do when you have no financial knowledge and no clue about your financial situation is to start learning how to budget. Get yourself a budget planner and start budgeting to get more clarity over your finances.
When you know the ins and outs of your financial situation, you can start making improvements by either saving more money or making more money to save towards your financial goals and really get somewhere. Financial security is something that can give you more peace of mind when you are used to financial stress.
Conclusion
There are so many healthy habits to add to your lifestyle. Try to get something out of all of them to improve the quality of your life.
Don’t force yourself by trying to start doing all of them from day one but see how you can start implementing as many as possible without getting overwhelmed.
Step by step, slowly going in the right direction is better than not trying at all.
If you feel down or not as positive as you could, look at the list to see which healthy habits you are not doing and see if you feel better after adding them to your routine.
Do you have more healthy habits? Please share them in the comment section so other readers can benefit from them as well! 🙂