Five Small Habits That Will Make You Stronger

The Covid-19 pandemic causes a spike in anxiety and depression. No one has seen this coming. It’s been eight months, and everything has changed. Right from work to lifestyle to socializing to our behavior towards many other things.

As Stephen Covey once said, “We become what we repeatedly do.” We create our habits, and then slowly, the pattern becomes us. Some habits make you successful, while some can throw you in a deep hole.

Over the past six months, I have religiously adopted these five changes in my life, and the result is impressive! I have never felt better in my life.

1. Morning Ritual — Meditation and Breakfast

The habit of morning meditation I had picked up subconsciously when I was a kid. It’s my mother’s morning ritual, and still, it is. But slowly, when I grew up due to an abruptly hectic schedule, the morning habit changed to checking e-mails right after I open my eyes.

Amidst the pandemic, anxiety became my middle name. It grows from mild to severe anxiety so quickly that I almost think I will faint any time.

I decided to join my mother in her morning meditation session. Slowly my condition got better, and now after six months, I feel a changed woman.

Just like you need gas for your car, food is fuel to your brain. Breakfast is as important as breathing clean air.

Cold food can make your stomach stressed. It would be best if you wake up your digestion with something warm in the morning. Breakfast can help you be more alert, focused, and happy. Therefore it increase your concentration.

For me, nothing can beat a variety of egg recipes for breakfast with toast bread accompanied by slow-roasted coffee.

2. Build-up Network via Social Media

How I wish to learn this pre-covid time. I have been following many amazing creators on Instagram and Pinterest over the past three years. Never once it occurs to me to take these two social media platforms seriously.

I was busy making my travel blog beautiful with mediocre content and was happy with the limited number of clients I had. Being a Travel Planner over the past eight years, I am not satisfied with how I have grown. I could have done better.

But, pandemic has given us all a second chance in life. I took the opportunity. I did what I am good at — travel planning, photography, and writing.

I studied a lot for destinations around the world and took note of it for making an e-book. I am practicing photography every day and learning new techniques every week.

I joined Medium, which helped me grab the attention of freelance writers for their blogs and projects. They hired me solely based on my Medium articles.

Build a network of amazing people thru social media in the last six months. I am learning from them every day.

3. Budgeting

An essential thing in life is to learn to budget. No matter who you are, which company you work for, or how many awards you have bagged. If you don’t have a track of spending, it can raise a problem financially in the long term.

It did to me. Put a hole in my bank account, and I had a tough time during the nationwide lockdown. Thankfully I live with my mother. I survived and learned the biggest lesson of my life in a most challenging way.

Things I did to balance my money, and it can help you too:

Unsubscribe from all paid applications unless you need it, and it benefits you in your daily life. I have only three active membership currently — Medium, iTunes, and iCloud. Subscribe yearly to save on membership fees.
Unsubscribe from all single-use OTT platform. Share the account with your friends or families.
Exchange books, or buy from small vendors.
I have temporarily discontinued wi-fi connectivity and use a personal hotspot from my mobile service provider.
Go for basic groceries and vegetables. Buy local. Eat homemade meals. Avoid frozen items, junk food, and ready to eat meal packs. You can always make peanut or almond butter at home, which is preservatives free. Homemade meals not only will save you money but also make you fit and glowing.
Buy shower gel instead of bath soap. Shower gel of 750 ml can last for six months if you use it carefully.
Save on fuel, walk more, or hire a bicycle for longer days.
List out all debts — credit card, loan, EMI. Talk with the respective banks, explain your situation, and convince them to give an alternate solution.
Try not to miss any payments, not even your mobile bill or gas bill. Opt for ‘pay later’ services that allow you to take longer days credit without an extra amount.
If you are working in a company and receive a salary, try to save the maximum you can. Put 5–10% into short or long-term investment with possibly high return. Consult a financial advisor, or talk with your friends or family.
If you are into business or freelancer and your income impacted due to pandemic, build an impressive profile on social media, stay consistent, build a network, and promote yourself. Side by side, try to get a business loan from a small financial company; they generally have low interest than big private banks and don’t ask for many financial documents.
Finally, do not fall into an online loan service provider trap that offers you a big loan amount in the lowest interest. Trust your instincts. Nobody will give a loan in low-interest amidst a pandemic; everyone is struggling. The hackers are preying on vulnerable people online.

4. Build a Capsule Wardrobe

The secret to having it all is recognizing you already do.

Capsule Wardrobe is a term we used for a minimal set number of clothes. A basic set of clothes coordinating the color patterns can be mixed match with one another; therefore, it can form outfits for all occasions.

I have stop shopping for clothes or any accessories, be it pieces of jewelry or shoes, for the past ten months, and I am really proud of myself. The sole reason for me to stop shopping was I gone broke, and therefore I adapt the capsule wardrobe theory.

5. Get Your Life Together — Journaling

Journal helps you reflect on your life.

It is being said that writing is one of the best brain exercise ever, and I couldn’t agree more.

I am not comfortable sharing things with friends or family. I am a great listener, but when it comes to my problem to share, I hide. Consulting a therapist is a challenge for me. Also, the therapist’s sessions are costly. So I began to journaling again. I am pouring my heart out.

Even though I started journaling from the beginning of the year but later, my short journaling turned to essays when the pandemic hit the world.

Journaling helps me to heal, to understand myself better. I am in a better space now.

. . .

Habits create patterns that slowly define you. There are times when you feel scared, lonely, and trapped. Instead of picking bad habits like drinking or smoking or binge watch and eating junk like there is no tomorrow, try to figure out to come out of this.

It’s a vast, beautiful world, and this is not the end yet. Hang tight! This too shall pass.

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This post was previously published on Change Becomes You.

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