Regular exercise is an important part of improving your physical and mental health. There is a long list of benefits that come from exercising including improved mood, combating diseases, boosting energy, and longer lifespan. It is definitely not easy for some, but in the long run your body and mind will thank you.

If you're not an avid exerciser already, then start off small. For optimal results, health professionals recommend 30 minutes of physical activity every day. However, start by incorporating any form of physical activity in small increments and then you can work your way up. You can take a 15-minute run every day or maybe a 30-minute bike ride three times a week. What's great about exercising is that you can personalize it to what physical activities you like to do most.

Adopting healthy eating habits is another way to positively impact your overall quality of life. Some of the benefits of providing your body with good nutrition includes delaying aging, reducing risk of diseases, increasing energy and focus, and improving your skin health. Eating healthy doesn't have to be expensive or bland; moreover, its the little changes that can help make a big impact to your health.

 Finding the motivation to eat healthier can be challenging but don't forget about the goal at hand, better health. Here are some easy changes you can make to start your journey to a healthier life: start by drinking a lot of water (the average person should be drinking a at least half a gallon per day), cut down on your salt intake, eat more fruits and veggies. If you're really dedicated to making this a habit, then a great way to keep it going is to make an eating plan each week to keep you on track.

Sleep is essential to the mood of our daily lives, but it is often neglected. Have you ever had to fight sleep while you're trying to pay attention in class or at work because you only got a few hours of sleep the night before? It isn't fun. Moreover, you should know that sleep is essential for helping the body and brain repair itself and prepare for the activities of another day. Getting a healthy amount of sleep allows not only your body to feel better but it can also lead to better productivity and reduced stress.

We know social media before bed can be a hard habit to break but its important to note that the blue light that comes from your phone plays a big role in reducing melatonin, the hormone in your brain that makes you sleepy. Instead, there are tons of other activities that you can do before bed to help your brain prepare for sleep including yoga for bedtime, meditation, journaling, reading a book, or anything you feel that relaxes you.

Meditation is a practice that many individuals use to help bring mental clarity and emotional calmness to the mind. If you're ever feeling like your thoughts are all over the place or you are overwhelmed with stress due to external situations, then meditation could be a great way to bring your mind back to balance. Research shows that meditation has been linked to helping people's minds break away from negative thoughts and feelings that can cause stress and anxiety.

Meditation can easily be implemented in your daily life. If you have 10 minutes to spare, try sitting down in a quiet space for a quick chance to clear your mind. There are many types of meditation including mindfulness, spiritual, focused, and movement meditation. If you are nervous about getting started, try a guided meditation which can be found all over the internet, and especially on YouTube. Guided meditations are great because it allows you to clear your mind more quickly by focusing on the instructors’ voice; moreover, by being able to focus on a singular voice you will prevent your mind from wandering instead of being present in the moment.

Regardless of the hardships you are dealing with stress from school, work burnout, anxiety, or overwhelming emotions, journaling can help in more ways than one. Journaling can help you sort out thoughts and feelings that may be difficult to express verbally to someone else. Not only does it help you in the moment, but it allows you to track specific thought patterns and triggers that lead to negativity so that you can try to prevent them from happening. It is also great for writing about your good days so that you can look back at them and smile.

What's great about journaling is that you can write about whatever you want. Some ways to journal include writing a letter to yourself or someone else, writing about your day, answering questions from a prompt, or even creating a poem or song. The best way of making it a habit is to pick a certain time of day to journal. Typically, the easiest times to incorporate journaling are in the morning when waking up or at night before sleeping.

Self-talk is a subconscious action that happens to everyone, whether it be positive or negative. Now more than ever, we are seeing the importance of uplifting positive self-talk and realizing that it is a powerful tool for better self-confidence and overall mood. Positive emotions are highly associated with gratitude; moreover, turning unfavorable situations into moments of gratitude can help not only yourself but your relationship with others.

An effective way to practice positivity includes first recognizing your negative self-talk then flipping that into positive thinking. It will be challenging to begin with since we negative self-talk is such a normal experience. However, some specific things that can help begin positive thinking includes surrounding yourself with positive people, giving yourself positive affirmations, and checking in with your feelings when your thoughts start to feel negative.

A great way to use your social awareness is to contribute to your community by volunteering. Not only does it make you feel good about yourself but the best part is that you can make others feel good too. Research from the Journal of Happiness Studies revealed that people who volunteer more often experienced better mental health than those who don't volunteer at all.

There are many things you can do to help your community that just require a little bit of your time. It may be hard to put aside time to volunteer but it is important to note the immense feeling of gratitude and connectedness to others that you can feel from this task. Some examples of volunteering include doing a beach/park clean-up, serving food at a homeless shelter, caring for animals at the animal shelter, or teaching kids in after-school programs. However, volunteering isn't just limited to these activities. It's up to you to choose how much or how little you give back but regardless you are making a difference to those around you.

The relationships we have with the people in our lives, whether it be friends or family, can be very beneficial to our quality of life. Putting in the work to maintain these relationships can be hard when you also must work on bettering yourself. However, you will see that from strong connections with those in your life it will ultimately benefit you in the end by providing you with a good support system and overall deeper emotional connections.

One way to build healthy relationships is to occasionally check-in with your loved ones. Everyone is always busy with their own lives; however, if you see that your friend or family is stressed or you haven't heard from them in a while then it might be a good time to check-in. It can be as simple as a text or call or even planning a hang out. Another way is through acts of service, making an effort to help them with a stressful task or buying them something that you know they love. Either way you choose, its truly the thought that counts when it comes to maintaining relationships.

Budget Planning is a vital to help yourself make smart financial decisions. It keeps you on track with long-term financial goals and proper money management. Budget planning also keeps you from feeling financially overwhelmed--that feeling of now knowing how to pay for living expenses and all that.

Planning entails having a goal. For the most part, you need to set a clear goal of what you want to achieve. It may be short or long term. This makes it easier to allocate your finances in its proper category--may it be debt payment, day-to-day expenses, allowance for wants, etc. Consider the 50/30/20 framework. 50% of your after-tax income to your needs, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings and debt payment.

As a rule of life, it is important to reevaluate decisions, situations, circumstances, etc. The same rule would apply to expenses and spending. Although most of the time auditing expenses is widely used in the business industry, that doesn't necessarily mean we can't use it for personal finances.

Assuming you have a categorized list of your expenses, it is important to take note of where you're spending the most and why. Reevaluating these would help you adjust and make room for other finances that are deemed more important. Consider asking questions like, "Is there an upcoming change in my life that I need to take my finances into consideration?" Perhaps a move or any other big event might affect your spending.

According to McBride (2021), the Chief Financial Analyst of Bankrate, diversifying your means of income is better than having just one. The advantage of living in this modern era is that there are now multiple ways of doing so without having to shell out a huge capital. Depending on your capabilities and interests, there are various ways to start passive incomes.

One of the easiest ways is to invest. Just remember to research the company you are looking into. Are they profitable in the future? How far from the future will they be profitable? Having a plan and goal on when to take out your investment is also a key thing when you start your journey as an investor. With more and more people doing their line of work online, it is also easier for you to research which ones you can take advantage of as a side hustle.

Corley (2017) conducted a research stating that 88% of his wealthy respondents say they devote at least 30 minutes to education and self-improvement through reading. Warren Buffet, American business magnate, says that reading has been the most crucial habit he has developed. Books offer perspectives that can be holistically eye-opening. It covers frames of minds that one never knew existed that can later on inspire you in different aspects of life. It also sharpens critical & analytical thinking skills, improves memory, and expands your vocabulary.

Dedicating time in a day to read will surely help you with overall growth. A few tips on how to start a good reading habit is to set a daily page goal, eliminate distractions and somehow make the process enjoyable by looking for a book that relates to you and/or your interests.

Pursuing a hobby has a ton of upsides and advantages. Not only does it uplift your mood by doing something you enjoy, but it also helps you promote flow. Ever caught up in a project, sport or any other challenging and absorbing activity? If you have, you've experienced flow. This is when time flies, self-consciousness disappears, and you are fully immersed in the activity. Hobbies, especially those that stretch our skills, foster this desirable and increasingly elusive state. It also gives you a sense of identity by having a richness of yourself. This sense of self fuels self-esteem too. Finding a new hobby can be challenging sometimes, having to already juggle a lot in your daily plate.

Taking a step back and remembering what forgotten hobbies you might've had in the past. You can also start with what you want to change about yourself. If you're always on the move and trying to hit a goal or better yourself, make your hobby fit that criteria. Pick one up that will help you change for the better.

Quoting Samuel Johnson, "Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect." Asking questions and being curious fuels intellect. And the more knowledge and wisdom we have, the wiser our choices get. When we ask questions, it helps us understand beyond the surface level of answers. Understanding the process, comprehending other aspects that might affect the surface level answers gives us a clearer view of what came to be the answer. Asking questions also makes us more independent. The more we ask, the more answers we know paving ways to gain deeper insights. Never be afraid to ask questions. The more you ask, the more you exemplify great strength and leadership.