Life Detox: Be The Best Version Of Yourself With These Small Changes

Looking for ways to improve your life this year? These 12 things may be small, but the changes are huge!

New year often brings new resolve to make changes.  It’s tempting to challenge ourselves at the start of a new year by deciding to make major changes. These often include changing bad habits or improving our current flaws.

However, the bigger the change we aim to make, the easier it is to fail and, in doing so, discourage ourselves from attempting such changes in future. Most of the time, all we really need to do is set smaller, achievable goals that will help us on our path to self-improvement.

Here are some changes that you should make for yourself this year. The changes may seem small, but as well all know: dynamite comes in small packages.

Personal Care

smiling girl sitting at summer terrace in street with morning coffee and reading book

1. Make time for yourself.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day drama and rush that constitutes life nowadays that many of us—especially women—forget to make time for ourselves. And, when we do, we often feel guilty or selfish for doing so.

Don’t feel bad carving out that me-time—it’s essential! We all need time to be by ourselves, collect our thoughts and relax. Do something you really enjoy and find relaxing whether it’s yoga, meditation, reading, coloring in (adult coloring books are rapidly gaining popularity), taking a long bubble bath or even a nap.

Find that activity that rejuvenates you and make time for it daily.

2. Be more selective about what you consume.

Starting the year with a rigid exercise program is commendable, but knowing what you’re eating is just as important. Just because a food looks or sounds healthy doesn’t mean that it is healthy.

It’s also easy to focus on eating healthy foods, but forget about hydrating our bodies and balancing our meals. Make sure that you’re getting enough water daily as this benefits not only your overall health, but your skin’s appearance, too.

3. Dress up for yourself.

Many women dress up for special occasions only whether these are work functions, parties, weddings or dates. Most of us have at least one item of clothing in our closet that is reserved for these “special occasions”, but isn’t every day a special occasion?

Clothes go in an out of fashion, so make every day a reason to wear those special outfits. Don’t wait for a date or similar reason to get dressed up. You deserve to feel special every day and look good just for yourself.

4. Use good quality moisturizers and skin products.

moisturizer organic soap henna blocks dropper sponge and dried lavenders

There comes a point in every woman’s life when she needs to start investing in quality skincare products. Make moisturizer one of these investments as early as possible if you can afford it. That $50 moisturizer makes a far more significant difference to your skin than the $5 drugstore one that seems like a bargain.

If you live in a dry or very cold climate, using a good quality face moisturizer daily is essential. Your skin will thank you for it and you’ll be glad you did so 20 years from now.

5. Sign up for a class you look forward to attending.

Whether it’s a workout class, learning a new skill or even a course at your local college, sign up for something that you look forward to attending. There’s no point in enrolling for daily Zumba classes because you feel obliged to workout more.

That new language you’re learning is going to be a lot harder if you’re not really interested in it. So, choose something you’re really interested in and you’ll be more likely to see it through.

Don’t wait for friends to join you either. Sure a friend can help to keep you motivated by attending the same class, but think of all the new people you’ll meet when you go alone.

6. Go to bed at a regular hour.

It’s easy to get into the habit of surviving on just four or five hours of sleep per night and ‘making it up’ on weekends or holidays. However, there are many emotional, mental and physical health benefits to going to bed daily at a reasonable and regular hour.

If you have to be up at 6 AM for work, try to be in bed by 10 PM. It’s not always possible and it’s okay to change this up when you have a night out, but getting enough sleep each night—and going to bed at the same time nightly—will make it easier to get up in the morning and cope with life’s curveballs.

7. Get the rest you need before you get sick.

Portrait of relaxed young woman in bathtub

Related to getting enough sleep each night is making sure that we get the rest our bodies need before we get sick! There are no awards for working ourselves to the bone when we’re already running on reserve energy levels. Our bodies do a pretty good job of telling us what we need and when we need it, so listen to those grumbles, aches and pains and deal with them asap.

8. Really be present with the people you care about.

Going out to dinner or coffee with friends? Put your phone away! It’s too easy these days to give people only half our attention when talking on the phone or listening to their stories, especially when we’re out in larger groups. There’s really no need to always be on our phones when we’re with other people.

The people we care about deserve our full attention—and respect—when we talk to them. Sure, we might be busy when our mother phones during the day or their day may not seem particularly interesting, but they still deserve our attention.

Taking five minutes to really listen can help us to relax, focus on what’s really important and strengthen those relationships. There will always be work to do, but family and friends may not always be there.

Work

Hands of financial manager taking notes when working on report

9. Scale down on the e-clutter.

We all have them: e-newsletters and subscriber updates for sites that we don’t even remember signing up for. Start the year right by reducing your e-clutter so that you don’t have to deal with it daily.

Look at the emails that you delete daily, weekly or monthly without even reading—these are the ones that you need to unsubscribe from. It may take you an hour or two to do so, but think of all the time and frustration it’ll save you during the year when you don’t have to deal with these messages daily.

10. Be selective about your social media.

If seeing your Facebook frenemy’s updates of her perfect life do nothing but make you miserable, don’t follow her on Facebook. You don’t need to unfriend her—just hide the notifications so that you don’t have to see them every day.

This applies to Instagram, Twitter, blogs and any other form of media where reading the posts does nothing more than make you feel bad about your own life. Stop comparing yourself to your friends and focus on the fantastic things in your life.

11. Set daily work goals.

With so many things to do, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed daily. Try to set specific goals for yourself and focus on the most important things you need to achieve at work. The goals should always be written down and accomplishing them should be viewed as victories rather than something to cross off a to-do list.

Start your day by identifying your work goals. Better yet, make your goals the night before so that you don’t forget them in the morning. This will help you to sleep better, too, knowing that you’re ready for the next day.

Finances

close up of woman hiding her face behind us dollar money fan

12. Set a budget and save.

It’s never too early to start saving—especially for retirement. However, savings can also be for something fun like a vacation, special present or even that investment jewelry you’ve been eyeing in the Christmas catalogs.

Whatever you’re trying to save for, set a budget for yourself for each month. This should include the monthly amount you plan to save. At the end of the month, assess your budget and savings to check if you’ve met them and reset them if need be. If you want a progressive savings plan, try the 52-week challenge in reverse.

Be kind to yourself.

Change can take time to implement: sometimes we succeed quickly, other times we fail and fall before we rise up again. Don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake or fail. Being kind to others is important, but it’s even more important that we’re kind to ourselves. We all make mistakes and we all fail from time to time—it’s part of life. So, try to relax, go easy on yourself and remember: you’re doing better than you think you are!

What are some of the small changes you’ll be making in your life this year? Are they achievable? We’d love you to share them with us. Let’s work together to keep each other motivated in 2016!

About the author

Sarah Coutts

Passionate about anything to do with language, Sarah enjoys writing as much as reading. She's a voracious reader and loves music, traveling and theater as much as language.

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