Biting your nails, mindless snacking, cursing- habits are the instinctive and subconscious quirks that make us tick. Extensive research into the human psyche has shown that it takes a mere 21 days of relentless repetition for something to become habitual.
With that in mind, here are thirty thoughts and goals to get you through the next thirty days. Hopefully they will give you a different outlook and a new appreciation for the simpler things in life.
- Avoid your phone/laptop for an hour before bed- exposure to bright screens can damage sleeping patterns. Instead, read a book or magazine or do some relaxing stretches.
- Ring an elderly relative for a chat.
- Go on a date- Whether it’s with a new love interest or treating your significant other to a cinema trip, a healthy dose of butterflies never did anyone any harm.
- Join a new society in DCU- enlist the company of a friend and try something you never considered before.
- Drink two litres of water- the cheapest beauty and health product known to man.
- Start collecting something.
- Write an article and try to get it published.
- Commit a random act of kindness today- a cliché, but cathartic all the same.
- Boycott social media for the day.
- Give three sincere compliments to people today.
- Try a new herbal tea.
- Run- Google upcoming races, download an app and get outside; you will wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
- Write down what you want to achieve this year.
- Reconnect with an old friend today, whether it’s a Facebook mail or a catch-up coffee.
- Take a day trip- be a tourist for the day in your own city.
- Try a new exercise today- keep your body on its toes, literally and figuratively.
- De-clutter your room.
- Set aside an evening just for laughing- whether it’s attending a comedy night or having a funny movie marathon.
- Share your skills- teach someone something, be it academic, on the sports field or a handy trick.
- Donate blood.
- Make a blog.
- Buy something from a charity shop.
- Take a whole day off- wear your comfiest clothes, eat to your heart’s content and watch what you want. We all need it now and then.
- Cook a three course meal for your family/friends/housemates.
- Volunteer- whether it’s for a once-off hour or a reoccurring commitment.
- Go bowling.
- Plan a trip- the summer of a lifetime, or a city break; travel is the only thing we buy that makes us richer.
- Make a list of books to read this year, then go to the library.
- Hike- whether it’s a mountain or a molehill, and bring a packed lunch.
- Read up on current affairs- it’s imperative you know what goes on in your country.
Freya Drohan
Image: Ines L. W. via Flickr.com
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