In this series around Forming Healthful Habits, we focus on why, when, and how to create new habits for a higher quality of life. This article includes our Inspiration Guide for Forming Healthful Habits and tracking them to success.
Use a Habit Tracker
The first step in successfully forming a new habit is to think about the person you want to be and what is most important to you. See our companion article, How to Know Which Habits are Worth Tracking, for a detailed outline and visual flow chart designed to guide you in defining your goals and prioritizing the habits you need to get there.
Also, you may also find it useful to read, Avoid These Mistakes When Creating a New Habit. That article lays the foundation for getting in the right mindset. Use those two articles, in tandem with this one, to maximize your efforts, successfully create your new habits, and sustain them over time.
A habit tracker can be a powerful tool for defining, prioritizing, and measuring the progress you are making toward your goals. After doing the work to envision the person you want your future self to be, and defining that person's values and priorities, you'll need to think about the habits that will get you there. You can clearly state which habits are important to you, see from day to day where you are making progress, and understand where you need to re-focus more attention or make adjustments.
How to Use this Inspo Guide
We hope this Habit Tracker Inspo Guide gets your creative ideas flowing and leads you to consider a range of new habits. We have organized them into 5 main categories:
1. Physical Health
2. Mental Health + Mindfulness
3. Social-Emotional Health + Spirituality
4. Nutritional Health
5. Healthful Lifestyle
Obviously, these categories overlap, are somewhat arbitrary, and are mostly just for structural purposes - a long list of 200 items is not easy to read! But many, many of these healthful habits are on the list because they facilitate health in multiple facets of life.
You might chose 1-2 habits from each category, or chose to focus on one category at a time. Just keep in mind YOUR values and YOUR priorities! They are all good habits, but which ones will get you to YOUR best future self? Those are the ones to track. And keep in mind mistake no. 1 from, Avoid These Mistakes When Creating a New Habit, and keep it simple!
130+ Inspired Ideas to Create more Healthful Habits
Here are some, but certainly not all!, great ideas to get you started. We have highlighted our favs, but really, they are ALL our favs.
There may be books, products, and videos that we find helpful on this topic linked below. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Good Habits for Physical Health
Daily
Exercise
Use a professional trainer to program a daily routine and record the whole routine on your habit tracker - We have several free habit tracker versions that include places to record your program and progress in our Healthful Habits Bundle. Contact us for a free consultation for programming a home workout.
Go for a walk
Walk instead of drive to the store
Daily run, swim, or other physical activity you do daily
Set the number of reps, lbs, or distance you complete
Yoga Practice
Take # movement breaks at work
Take the stairs
Sleep
Record how many of hours sleep you get each night
Set a bedtime
Set a wake up time
Wear sun-screen
Check your blood pressure, O2 levels, or other health measures as directed by your doctor
Take daily prescriptions
Track ovulation
Avoid tobacco and drugs
Brush and Floss your teeth twice daily
Neti pot daily
Self-Care routine
Skin-care
Hair care
Self-massage, rolling, or foam roller
Weekly
Track Personal Records or Personal Bests for one particular exercise each week
Go for a walk outside - set a distance or route
Set a # of Yoga classes to attend or home practices to complete each week
Set a # of Personal Training sessions for each week
Attend Small Group Fitness # times
Join a pick-up game or practice if you play basketball, golf, soccer, or another team sport
Run, bike, hike, etc - set a weekly total distance, total time, or # of days
Go out social dancing or country dancing
Monthly
Massage
Thai bodywork
Facial
Manicure/ Pedicure
Take your measurements
Weigh-in* (we don’t put emphasis on weight, but if your doctor is using weight as a parameter of your health, you might check it monthly or as instructed.)
Good Habits for Mental Health + Mindfulness
Daily
Meditate
Breathing Practice (Pranayama)
Read for # minutes or # pages
Listen to an audio book for # minutes or # chapters
Listen to an educational podcast for # minutes or # episodes
Limit the time to listen to or read news, politics, or stressful topics to # minutes
Read and practice a meditation book with your kids - We love Monster Meditation Getting Ready for Bed with Elmo for our toddler and our older guy likes Peaceful Piggy Meditation
Tell your body how much you appreciate all it does
Look yourself in the mirror and delight in one beautiful aspect of you
Recite your daily affirmation(s)
Spend # minutes on a language app - I used Duolingo with great success to kick-start my Danish
Clear your mind with a walk without distractions (no podcasts, news, music or company)
Get outside, put your feet in dirt, grass, sand, or a natural water source
Work or walk in the garden
Practice your instrument
Create art - Zen doodle, mandala, color, or other mindful art practice
Free dance
Weekly
Attend a weekly session with your counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist
Schedule a date with yourself - alone time
Complete homework, study or reading for a course you are taking
Attend Restorative Yoga or Yoga Nidra
Star gaze
Monthly
Read # books
Listen to # audiobooks - We love audible !
Attend a book club, knitting club, chess or other club meeting
Learn something new, take an in-person or online workshop
Attend a monthly session with your counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist
Attend Restorative Yoga or Yoga Nidra
Good Habits for Social-Emotional Health + Spirituality
Daily
Gratitude Journaling - write down one thing you are thankful for each day - This is the one I have used for 6 years now (I am on my second copy!)
Gratitude time - tell your family, room-mates, or pets one thing you are grateful for each day; say it aloud
Hug your partner
Compliment your partner
Play with your kids
Walk your dog, play with your cat, ride your horse, or spend time with your pet
Say a kind word or perform a helpful act for someone
Walk the dog, play with your pet, or connect with an animal
Positive Self-talk - Included in our Healthful Habits Bundle is a set of printable Quote Cards for motivation, positivity, and getting your head in the right space.
A phrase or mantra you use in the morning; before, during, or after your workout; at night before bed; or at difficult times
A quote that speaks to you
A prayer, poem, or verse you recite each day.
Set a timer for social media scrolling time.
Limit the amount of time you spend with stressful, negative, or non-supportive people to # minutes per day, or # conversations per week
Pray
Meditate
Breathing practices
Weekly
Visit with your parents, grandparents, kids or grandkids in-person or virtually
Call or facetime your parents, grandparents, kids or grandkids
Attend Bible study group
Attend a meditation group
Attend a support group
Attend any weekly religious or spiritual club, meeting, organization, or gathering
Attend a weekly session with your religious or spiritual advisor, mentor, or peer group
Take a trip somewhere that refuels you energetically
Attend Restorative Yoga or Yoga Nidra
Monthly
Go on a friend-date - Have coffee, dinner, or drinks with a friend
Go on a date with your partner
Go on a date with each of your children
Travel, take a weekend trip
Make a donation of time, money, or products to a charity
Volunteer at your kids' school, your church, or another institution you use
Attend a monthly session with your religious or spiritual advisor, mentor, or peer group
Attend Restorative Yoga or Yoga Nidra
Good Habits for Nutritional Health
Daily
Set a # for fasting hours - get guidance before beginning a fast, even a short fast. We recommend Dr. Mindy Pelz youtube channel for beginners.
Set an intake # of servings of fruits, vegetables, protein
Set and intake # of super foods like leafy greens, dark berries, dark chocolate, nuts & seeds, and citrus
Track water intake
Set a limit for intake of non-water beverages, ie. cups of coffee, caffeinated drinks, alcohol, soda, etc.
Set a limit for intake of treats, snacks, etc.
Take your vitamins and supplements
Pack your lunch
Food log or diet tracking app.
Weekly
Meal plan - we have several versions of meal planners and water trackers in our Healthful Habits Bundle
Make a grocery list and do the shopping
Cut veggies and place in to-go boxes for quick snacking
Meal prep for the week
Set a limit for # meals eaten out or fast food
Set a # of meals you will cook at home
“No Meat” day once per week
“No Sugar” day once per week
“No Alcohol” day once per week
Monthly
Meet with your Dietician
Have a "clean out the freezer and pantry" weekend and eat, throw out, or give away all food in the house
Track a 30 day vegetarian or vegan challenge
Track a 30 day home-cooking challenge
Track a 30 day sober challenge
Track a 30 day sugar-free challenge
Good Habits for a Healthful Lifestyle
Daily
Make your bed, Wash the dishes, or another daily house chore that would make you feel better at home
Set a daily spending limit and stay under it
Work in your garden
Set a time in the evening to turn your phone off, or to stop checking email or socials
Set a time in the morning to turn your phone on, or to start checking email or socials
Weekly
Do the laundry, mop the floors, clean out the fridge, or another weekly house chore that would make you feel better at home
Set a weekly spending limit and stay under it
Have a “no spend’ day
Contribute to your savings, investment or retirement accounts
Monthly
Clean and organize one space in your home - a closet, junk drawer, or shed
Take a load of clothing, books, or items to donate
Set a monthly spending limit and stay under it
Contribute to your savings, investment, or retirement accounts
Make a donation of money or items to a charity, local NPR station, or other service you use
Spend one hour going over finances as a household
Spend one hour setting goals for the next month as a household
Next Steps
We hope you find this healthful habits inspiration guide valuable. Your next step is to get going! We have created a whole catalogue of habit trackers which are available, along with a printable version of this Inspiration Guide and a How-to article, in the Healthful Habits Bundle on our website. It is geared toward establishing healthful habits, but useful for any habit you want to create, for example habits to be more productive at work or more effective in your business.
Also included in that bundle are free Printable Quote Cards to help you maintain a positive and realistic frame of mind - especially useful in those days AFTER you have put it a ton of work toward your new habit and BEFORE the effects of your new habits become truly visible. And we have more articles on creating and sustaining healthful habits at our blog - subscribe and get more tips and articles for healthful living delivered to your inbox 2-3 times each month. We hope you'll make use of all of these great resources and let us know which habits you are creating in your own life.
If you are interested in using a Personal Trainer or Small Group Fitness training to support you in your new habits, contact us at TrainMovePlayPT@gmail.com . Or fill out the contact form on our website, TrainMovePlay.com for a complimentary consultation, and let's discuss your goals and plans. Virtual assistance and program-setting are available.
Train smart. Move well. Play hard, friends.
