3 Simple (And Free) Things You Can Do Everyday to Improve Your Life
Life can be extremely challenging at times: anxiety, fears, harsh judgements, overthinking and feeling a loss of control in our own lives. Many of us have been there time and time again, more than we would even like to admit. The challenges of life are not always fun and can leave you feeling extremely helpless and unsure. To make it even more difficult, the majority of us weren’t taught practical, simple and effective ways to improve our lives and get through these challenges the best we can. As individuals, it is not our fault that we maybe weren’t given certain tools to help us succeed. Nevertheless, it does mean it is our responsibility to figure out how we can improve our lives and take back control.
The tips I will be sharing with you in this post are meant to help guide you back to feeling more calm, confident and powerful in all areas of your life so that you’re able to get through challenges and even mundane moments of life with grace and confidence.
Tip 1: Using Meditation to Conquer Obstacles
Racing thoughts, worries, fears, temper? Never fear, meditation is here! But seriously - meditating is a game changer. I know meditation practices can seem quite intimidating: having to sit still, quiet the mind and relax? In this day and age? It can sound quite unreachable but listen, you’re not expected to be a natural at meditating when you first start. You don’t have to start meditating an hour a day to receive the benefits and you most definitely don’t have to have a clear mind.
That’s what the practice of meditation is for: to help train your mind so you can be more present and gain back control when racing thoughts, anxieties or fears may start trying to take over.
Meditation has been proven to lower stress, anxiety, promote emotional health, lengthen attention span, improve self-awareness and much more. Meditation is powerful and really quite a simple process that doesn’t have to take up all of your time. Starting with just 5-10 minutes a day is super effective and a wonderful place to start. Thanks to the internet, people now have access to thousands of different and free meditations through Youtube, apps, and more!
Another great thing about meditation is the variety of meditations out there: guided, affirmation, visualization, walking and EFT to name a few. There is sure to be a meditation out there that you enjoy and that helps propel you forward. 5-10 mins a day of meditation will help create a drastic shift in your inner and outer world and propel you forward to a more calming, confident and mindful life.
Tip 2: Mindfulness to Bring Awareness
Ever catch yourself thinking of things you thought you forgot about, stressing over things you can’t change or being your worst critic in your own head? You’re not alone here; the average person is said to have anywhere between 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts a day. 80% which are negative and 95% were exactly the same repetitive thoughts as before. Yikes! That’s sure to be a lot of negative and mindless thinking. If we were more aware of these thoughts, would we really be so complacent with these same ideas running through our head - day in and day out? It is hard to believe so.
With recent studies, mindfulness has been shown to help treat and improve common mental health crises like anxiety and depression, while also improving focus, memory, sleep and overall emotional health.
This is great news and really shows us the power that is in our hands and what we do have control over in our lives. With research such as this growing and the topic of mindfulness becoming more prevalent in the mainstream, many people are left wondering just how one can be more mindful with themselves. Although there are mindfulness practices, such as meditations or walks, we also have the ability to practice this form of self-awareness at every moment in our lives.
Every breath, action, and decision we make can help train us to become more mindful. It really takes being in the present and becoming more aware of what you are doing, saying, thinking, or feeling. Of course, this takes time; practice and patience but with consistent and intentional decision-making and observation where we can truly make leaps and bounds in our lives just by giving ourselves the true awareness we deserve is very much worth it.
Mindfulness benefits other parts of our lives as well: it allows us to be present during our life journey, opens our mind to see and appreciate more the things in our lives and allows for deeper and more meaningful connections. It is also completely free and after-all, you are the only one who has autonomy over your mind and thoughts. Why not take advantage and control one of the few things you actually can in your life?
Tip #3: Intention Setting for Better Days
Intention setting is super near-and-dear to my heart. When I first discovered intention setting, I just recently began learning about meditation and mindfulness for the very first time in my life. After I discovered meditation, mindfulness and the benefits they offer, I was eager to try anything to better myself and get out of the anxiety-fear-based-hole-in-the-ground I had dug myself into year after year. I saw impressive results and massively changed in such a short amount of time with these coupled tactics. I was ecstatic. I started to feel in control of my life for pretty much the first time ever. It was awesome.
Intention setting just made everything that much better. There are various ways to practice intention setting, some more rigid than others and some requiring pen and paper, which I agree are very powerful and can be a wonderful way to use the power of intention. However, setting intentions is such a potent and great tool because it requires nothing extra than you and your thoughts, feelings and intention. Utilizing the power of intention and the practice of mindfulness, you are able to set intentions all throughout your day, as little or as much as you want - for anything and everything!
When going about your life, whether that's waking up, getting ready, traveling, working with others, eating, exercising or spending time with your pet (literally I mean, anything) you can set an intention on how you want the experience to go and/or how you want to feel before, during and after or what you want to gain from the outcome.
Intention setting is extremely flexible and catered to the individual, their goals and the experience. I have utilized this technique so many times in so many different situations. Intention setting has allowed me to have tough conversations I never thought I would get through, create great experiences and truly helped me see my own personal power. Setting intentions is also a great mindfulness practice! It requires you to be present with what you are doing, how you want to do it and why you are doing it all while showing you how powerful you truly are!
I really hope you are encouraged and inspired to take back control over your life and give yourself the time, energy and presence you deserve. It is important to remember to do what makes you truly happy and fulfilled - always. This process should be fun and light and you should enjoy the journey of bettering yourself. Don’t be too rigid or hard on yourself in your journey. You will probably miss a day or two of meditation, let your thoughts run wild for way too long and maybe even forget to set some intentions from time to time. That is completely normal and okay, but at least you now know 3 simple, free and effective things you can utilize everyday to help create a better reality for yourself and others.
You have these tips to always fall back on and always pick back up again if you set them aside for a while. I am sharing this with absolute faith you are capable of bettering yourself and your life - in the most simple and profound ways! I have seen drastic improvements, almost unimaginable, since implementing these tips for the past few years now.
Remember, we all deserve to be happy and live the life we truly desire.
Until next time,
Sending you all the love + blessings
Xoxo,
A
Resources:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation
https://www.apa.org/topics/mindfulness/meditation
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/03/cover-mindfulness
https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2021/06/mindfulness-your-health
