Daily Habits to Change Your Life

What are daily non-negotiables you ask? Non-negotiables can be anything in your life that brings you joy, comfort or positive energy. They are completely different for everyone, as they are whatever makes YOU feel complete when you put your head down to rest at the end of the day.

Giving time to daily non-negotiables might seem a bit luxurious at first.

Applying the non-negotiables

I’ve found that applying daily non-negotiables to my life played a huge part in changing my energy. Unapologetically allowing myself the time for nourishment leads to my passions becoming my life. It really does start with the small things, to create a life you’ve always dreamed of.

It’s important to say that daily non-negotiables are not a ‘to-do’ list. It’s not about forcing yourself to go for a run or eat a salad. Simply sit back and think, “what do I do in my life that makes me happy” – and then doing that every day.

Daily non-negotiables also need to be realistic. If you love hiking or going horse-back riding, amazing, make that part of your weekly or monthly ritual (unless of course you have a horse or a mountain readily available). Make these non-negotiables accessible in your life. By starting small these habits grow.

If you are called to take this daily practice a step further, I invite you to write down a list of rituals in your journal that you want to do weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly. Again, making these realistic. Cooking a new recipe each week, finishing a book each month, treating yourself to a massage each season, or if you love learning, taking a course in something brand new every year. It has been proven that by writing down and physically seeing your goals, it is easier and more likely you will take action to integrate them into your life.

Creating a vision board

Another beautiful practice to carry out is creating a vision board. A vision board is a visual representation of your goals, dreams and desires, made up of a collage of images, pictures and affirmations. A vision board can be physical by sticking cut outs from magazines on a piece of card, or digital by using platforms like Pinterest to make an online board.

Maybe you are dreaming of a partner to travel with, or buying your first home. Cut images of the countries you want to visit out of a travel magazine, the characteristics of the type of partner you want to manifest, or images of how you would feel in your dream home, and then stick them onto a large piece of card. It is important you see your vision board every day, so a good idea can be placing it by your bed. I like to save the digital version as my screensaver on my phone.

The reinforcement of seeing your vision board every day increases the chances of you turning these dreams into a reality. If you reinforce your dreams into your brain in this way, your brain already thinks they are a reality. Revisit your vision board annually, and add or take away things during the year as you see appropriate. You will then start to see how your daily non-negotiables can help with leading you to create your dream life in a year from now.

Giving yourself time

Giving time to daily non-negotiables might seem a bit luxurious at first. Our constant inner critic and the world is always hammering into us that we should be busy working, doing, planning. Those external voices tell us that weekends are the only time you get to take to yourself. But trust me on this one, when you start writing down just 5 non-negotiables that make you happy, you will find all of the time in the world to do them, and everything else will feel that much lighter.

My daily non-negotiables

1. Getting a form of movement into my day – whether that be weight lifting, running, walking, or dancing. Simply moving my body helps lift my mood by encouraging any negative energy within me to shift and move.

2. Practicing yoga in the morning when I wake up to stretch my body. This practice really changed my life, I feel calm and alive before even starting my day. I try to step onto the mat before looking at my phone or doing anything else so my energy and thoughts aren’t interrupted by the outside world.

3. Meditating after my yoga practice for at least ten minutes. This allows my mind to be still before taking in the chatter of the day. If I have a lot going on, this also helps clear my mind and makes life easier to approach.

4. Having a hot drink in the morning. Coffee, tea, cocoa, or even just hot water and lemon. It’s incredible how something so small can make me feel so complete. Warm water, salt and lemon is especially good first thing to help with digestion throughout the day.

5. Eating 3 nourishing meals. This seems like a given but skipping a meal or just having a small snack instead if I am short on time, really affects my energy. Ensuring I have lots of vegetables, colours and protein on each plate is a must for me.

6. Getting 7 hours of sleep (at least). The recommended hours of sleep is between 7-8 hours, but we all have times when we’ve stayed out a little late and are up at the crack of dawn! Sleep is integral to our health, and by getting enough hours in we allow the body to rest to give us strength throughout the day.

What I’ve realized is that if I miss just one of these non-negotiables, my mood is massively affected. I feel grumpy, I CRAVE sugar, and I’m just generally more tired.

So, If you haven’t thought about what your non-negotiables are before, I invite you to write them down, and notice how you feel when you give yourself time for them every day.

Your busy life is going to get in the way, but your mind and body will thank you.

If you would like to talk to me about any of these practices – please feel free to reach out and message me. My inbox is always open.