I’m all about self love, self care, and making decisions - big and small - to live a happier life. We’re all deserving of happy moments and can build our own unique roadmap to live a happier life. Life can be chaotic and stressful but incorporating intentional actions can make all the difference. Note, the steps you take don’t need to be huge, they just need to take you in the direction that you want to go towards. In this post, I’m sharing several actions + steps I added, changed, or rid myself of to build good habits to live a happier life with more self care and self love.
*This post contains affiliate links.
If you’re a long time reader or follower on social media, you know I am a HUGE self care advocate and love sharing guilt free ways to prioritize yourself through self care activities. Self care has been huge for me in living a happier life. Not only does self care give me time for myself (hello, introvert here - I enjoy me time!) but it also helps my mental health and focus. Some of my favorite self care activities include journaling, doing my skincare routine, and reading. I have a couple posts where I shared tons of self care activities, you can find them here and here.
There’s so much I’m grateful for and taking a few moments each day to appreciate life helps me stay grounded and helps with inner peace. I practice gratitude each morning by being grateful for another day in this life the moment I open my eyes. Other ways I practice gratitude is by journaling. I love my for this! It’s a guided journal where you spend a few minutes each morning and night to practice gratitude and also has other prompts to help live a more positive, joyous, and happy life.
Going out of my comfort zone is something I do more of. I try to experience new things, get to know more people, and overall try to push myself. I’m a full on introvert and the type of person that enjoys her own company being a homebody. However, I also strive for balance and taking big or small steps towards new experiences is fulfilling. Again, these steps don’t have to be huge! One thing I recently did is finally try out CYL Sauna Studio - it’s something I had on my mind for months and one day I finally gave it a try and signed up for a monthly membership the same day! This isn’t sponsored but if you have a CYL Sauna Studio near you, I highly recommend checking them out - it was exactly what I needed to add to my self care routine. They’re a luxury infrared sauna studio with individual pods in private rooms. I didn’t realize the health benefits saunas provided until I went to CYL. To say sauna sessions helps my stress is an understatement.
Other ways you can challenge yourself is trying that new shade of lipstick you’ve been contemplating on, setting a daily steps goal, or trying a new cuisine.
This doesn’t necessarily mean a formal education but if you want to go back to school, you do you! I personally have been following more people on Instagram that provide educational information - Hitha Palepu is one of my favorites, especially her daily 5 Smart Reads she shares on her Instagram Stories + her weekly newsletter!
Other ways I continue to educate myself and learn new things is by signing up for webinars and trying new recipes!
I was one of those gals who was a major people pleaser. Young Priyanka prioritized the toxic opinions of others and was unclear of who she was and what she wanted in this world. Thankfully I grew from that and learned the importance of being yourself and living a life I want to live. If you’re in a funk about this and are looking for some clarity, journaling helps! Free write in a journal use prompts to help guide you in the direction you’re looking to go.
One of the more recent things I’ve been more intentional with is protecting my peace. I used to struggle with removing toxic people from my life as well as those who weren’t the right fit for me. It’s not easy but protecting my peace is important to me and I’m much happier when I choose to have people in my life that bring joy and value to my life and removing those that give off toxic vibes.
Spreading light, kindness, and positivity genuinely make me happy. I used to struggle with the concept of being kind without also being a pushover. I used to think, how can I not be nice yet still be seen as kind? I had a conversation with a friend about this and she reminded me that you can be critical but that doesn’t mean you're not nice.
Staying hydrated has so many great health benefits and I overall feel better when I know I drink enough water. I personally strive to drink 100 ounces of water a day but I encourage you to do your own research to see how much daily water intake is beneficial for you. I have 3 tips to stay hydrated here, like infused water recipes!
Definitely still working on this but I have actions in place to help me stay consistent in staying active. Like drinking plenty of water daily, I especially feel overall better on days I work out. My workouts are a mix of using weights, machines, and cardio equipment at the gym, doing workouts off Youtube on days I want to work out at home, and use my BollyX membership for days I prefer a dance type workout! The options are endless, choose the type of workout you enjoy.
Affirmations have been life changing in my self love journey. They keep me motivated, focused, and boost confidence. I won’t go into all the deets here since I have a post dedicated to affirmations here which also share tons of affirmations you can utilize as well! I write affirmations on sticky notes and have them on my wall in my office, journal affirmations, and also say them out loud.
Do you practice any of the habits I listed? Let me know what habits you incorporate for a happier life!