4 Good Habits I Wish I had Before the Lockdown
Good habits are like complicated math problems. They are difficult to stick to at the beginning but it becomes extremely satisfying ones you get the hang of it. Especially when the results start to flow in. One thing that might be common to most of the good habits is the fact that we figure them out a bit late. And we regret that we should have done that earlier. Habits, like working out, eating healthy, and saving money, are the main regrets people get when they hit their mid-life crisis.
This feeling of regret started creeping into my head after almost 2 months of lockdown. These are a few good habits I developed over the period of lockdown which I wish I had earlier.
Balancing work life and Personal life.
Work and personal lives are not to be separated. You should never try to separate them and these troubled times are the best example of that. Instead, what you need to try and do is to figure out a formula where your work and personal lives can coexist without harming each other. In a time like this where you are forced to stay home, you cannot expect to have 8 hours of dedicated office time and the rest of the day as personal time. That will never work. Instead, try to create habits where you can stay available for your work most of the time while not missing on yourself.
Working out.
This is a no brainier. Consistent physical activity is a habit that anyone and everyone should have. Yet most of us miss out on this due to various reasons such as not having enough time or energy. But the lockdown made me realize that none of the above are the real reasons behind this. It is the lack of motive. As I am stuck at home, time and energy are in abundance. Still, without having a set habit, I struggled to get myself to workout. Having to stay home all day even without the steps you might put in on a regular day, working out has never been more important.
Personal Relationships
Most of us take deep meaningful relationships with our loved ones for granted. May it be your parents, cousins or old friends. We expect them to have the same connection even when we never bother to pay attention towards that relationship. We rarely check up on them and put effort to freshen the relationship. Then when they don’t respond the way we expected them to in a time of need we wonder why.
Relationships are not one-way roads from the words of Founding Father of the United States Benjamin Franklin:
“If you would be loved, love, and be lovable.”
This period of relative solitude made me reach out to them and freshen up the ties for old time’s sake. You would be amazed at how effective a short telephone call would be.
Habit of Learning
The amount of resources we have at our fingertips to learn is massive. From reading a blog post on medium to signing up for an online course, the internet can provide all the opportunities to learn in the comfort of your home. Yet most of the time we never bother browsing beyond our IG accounts. The lockdown might have stopped the world from functioning, but it should not be a reason for you to stop learning.
Though I managed to realize the value of these only a few weeks into the lockdown, I believe I made some significant changes in my life by adding up on these new habits. It is scientifically proven that the toughest part of creating a new good habit is the start. Well, you got an opportunity to have some good starts with the help of the lockdown. Ones that is done, make sure you carry forward all those goodness beyond the lockdown.
