We all want to make 2022 one of our best years! But how can we do that? The answer is by building healthy habits and releasing bad ones. In today’s post, I shared 22 healthy habits to start in 2022, so you can live your best life.
As another year dawned upon us, there is a high possibility that you’ve been doing some reflection on the past year. I know I have!
There are probably a few things you want to improve on. Maybe you’re considering setting new year resolutions. But deep in your heart, you know these goals that you are setting for yourself will die off before the first quarter ends.
Sounds all too familiar, right?!
We’ve all rocked that boat before! Been there, done that!
What if I tell you – it doesn’t have to be so in 2022.
You can make microscopic changes in 2022 that will allow you to reap massive results.
How Setting Healthy Habits Have Changed My Life
In the past, I was one of those who would spend time leading up to the last week of December every year setting goals, never to achieve them. Or, better yet, never to stick with them.
Does this resonate with you?
Only a couple of years ago, when I took the time to invest in my personal growth, I saw the significant changes in what building healthy habits can do for me and my overall life.
I believe that it became effortless because I gradually implemented these habits into my lifestyle.
Today, I’m quite intrigued by my transformation from these tiny lifestyle changes that I made one day at a time. I was consistent with my habits and patient with myself.
And I think you will too!
The key to making 2022 an awesome year is introducing these habits in bite-size. Don’t let it become a task for you but more so a passion.
Here are 22 healthy habits to start in 2022.
1. Morning pages
About two years ago, I started the process of morning pages.
What are morning pages?
This is a popular morning practice influenced by the writer and author of “The Artist Way, “Julie Cameron.
She referred to morning pages as the ” bedrock tool of creative recovery.” Which are three pages of longhand consciousness writing done first thing in the morning.
Morning pages are not meant to be typed or analyzed. All you have to do is open your journal and write whatever comes to mind without judgment.
All the thoughts generated in your mind every single second of your life are, stored within you. Putting these things onto paper will help you to release these emotions allowing you to tap into your creativity and free your mind of all the chatter that’s happening in your mind
How do you begin with morning pages?
Find a journal and designate it for only morning pages. If you choose to, you can light a candle, maybe turn on some soft music.
Open a page in your journal. Write the date and time, then write whatever pops into your head. Don’t judge what you are thinking or writing. Simply write whatever comes to your mind. Your goal should be to fill those three pages as quickly as possible.
Doing this activity closer to when you wake in the morning is advisable.
I have found this activity to be quite helpful – in supporting me to release unwanted emotions and limiting thoughts that I may have about myself. While identifying the things that serve me and where I should be placing my focus in life.
2. Meditation
Meditation has been a game-changer for me. And, I get that it may not be for everyone! But, a simple act of being still for 1 minute while taking deep and mindful breaths can do so much good for us.
That’s right! You don’t need to climb the mountain tops and sit cross-legged for a long time to meditate. You can meditate anywhere you choose at any time in the day.
I practice the Ziva meditation technique, which is taught by Emily Fletcher. The author of stress less accomplished more.
Visit my post on 5 ways meditation changed my life, and can change yours too! To read more about my mediation journey.
3. A healthy habit to start or continue in 2022 is reading
We are all busy! It’s the culture we are living in today.
You may not have 15 or 30 minutes every day to read. But do you have time to read a page from a book of your choice every day?
We make time for the things we love.
If you swap out the time dedicated to reading tweets and social media feeds. You may very well have the time to read a page from a book or blog post that will help transform your life.
Besides learning something new or being entertained, reading has several health benefits.
Reading decreases your chances of Alzheimer’s disease by 2.5 times. (source)
Reading also decreases stress and improves your vocabulary and writing skills, making you more empathetic. It helps with your analytical and problem-solving skills. Among many other benefits.
4. Add exercising to your list of healthy habits to start in 2022
I know! So many of us affirm we will exercise more in the new year but never stick with it. For many years, I did this as well.
After struggling for years with sticking to an exercising routine, what I do know now – is that it’s not as challenging as we think it is.
This past year I could stick with my exercise routine by simply doing a 10-minute workout every morning.
I found that I would feel blah when I focused on committing to a 30-minute workout. I wasn’t motivated to exercise.
These days I have been streaming the walk at home by Leslie Sansone,10-minute sessions on YouTube.
I love it because it’s so fun and doable. I look forward to exercising, and I’m committed to getting my workout done.
We love when things are easy. So why not let it be easy?!
Find an exercise program that works for you. Not one that you think will work for you because it works for your best friend. Find one that you thoroughly enjoy doing while having fun. And I bet you will be able to stick with it all of 2022 and beyond.
Another idea is committing to going for a walk every day (weather permits, of course!). This year, I purchased myself a Fitbit, which I geek out on. I became obsessed with this thing as it allows me to track my daily steps. This has really helped me to stick to my fitness goal by being persistent with reaching my daily steps of 10,000 or more.
5. Drink more water
Something simple like drinking more water can transform your life in 2022.
Staying hydrated may help prevent headaches, relieve constipation and even help with satisfying hunger.
When you are dehydrated, your energy levels deplete, and so does your brain function. So drink as much water as possible and stay hydrated in 2022.
6. Start the day with warm lemon water
I have been doing this for as long as I can remember. There are probably a bunch of reasons in the wellness industry associated with drinking lemon water.
But I do this to help me drink more water first thing in the morning before having coffee. Having coffee first thing in the morning is probably not good for my health. ??♀️
I use warm water because it feels better-putting something warm in my stomach first thing in the morning. Talk about habits, right?!
Some days I add apple cider vinegar to my lemon water. It does have quite a strong taste. A taste that I don’t like. So, some days I do this, and some days I don’t.
7. A health habit to start in 2022 is keeping a planner
I have a huge obsession with planners and everything that go with them! What about you? Let me know in the comments below.
Use your planner to make daily notes for yourself, schedule appointments, or anything that will keep you informed about things happening in your life and your loved ones’ lives.
Having a planner will help you stay organized and feel like the boss mom/boss babe you are.
8. Introduce cold-pressed juice into your diet
When everyone was raving about green juice. And was going on and on about the many benefits. I thought to myself – no way I can do this!
But, at the same time, I wanted to eliminate the amount of caffeine I was having. So I played around with making my green juices. Which, to my surprise – tasted very delicious. This year, I upgraded to organic green juice, which I either make on my own or purchase in-store.
Adding this boost to my diet is so worth it! Knowing that I am getting benefits from only natural, organic, and healthy ingredients.
If you haven’t yet added cold-pressed juice to your diet. This is another healthy habit to start in 2022. There’s no need to have it every day. But as often as you can.
9. Commit to better sleep in 2022
How many hours of sleep do you get in any given night?
Sleep makes us feel good. Refresh and revigorate. Getting enough sleep is so crucial in anyone’s lifestyle. It helps us be more creative and alert when doing daily jobs around the house, at the office, or maybe running errands.
Sleeping well helps us to feel less anxious or worried and helps us to think clearly.
Build a healthy habit by committing to better sleep in 2022.
Scheduling your bedtime and staying away from blue lights at least an hour before bedtime has helped me drastically improve my sleep in 2021.
As I made mentioned above. I got myself a Fitbit this past year, and once again, I geek out on my sleep patterns. Having a Fitbit helped me analyze my sleep and plan my bedtime so that I get at least 7-8 hours of good night’s rest.
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10. Make your bed
I know! You are probably wondering – what does make my bed has to do with healthy habits to start in 2022.
The fact that you can complete a task in the morning will make you feel more productive and organized.
This simple act of making your bed in the morning requires less than 2-minutes. But the success it sets you up for daily is immense. Just think of how you feel when you see a tidy room.
This concept was first introduced to me by Marie Kondo in her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
11. Set daily intentions in 2022
Setting daily intentions is probably the # 1 secret to living your best life.
When we wake up – and set an intention for our day, it will influence how we react to every situation in our daily lives.
The intention we set in our lives will fuel our day. Commit to living intentionally in 2022, my friends.
12. Don’t take things too personally
As women, it’s in our nature to be sensitive to almost everything that comes our way.
Let’s live every day in 2022 by not taking things personally. Someone says something to you. Don’t read too much into it. If it doesn’t serve you, let it bounce off and let it go. Don’t waste your energy on trivial things that will push you into a rabbit hole.
I know it is easier said than done. But in 2022, I’m setting an intention to let things and people that don’t serve me bounce off immediately. What about you?
13. Stand firm is a healthy habit to start in 2022
How often have you said yes to things when you wanted to say no?
I bet this is relatable?
We have this need to be people-pleasers and fear we will be upsetting the other person when we say no.
The problem with these situations is whenever we say yes to someone, we are saying no to the things we really want in life. Because we are taking time away from doing something that can allow us to create a better life for ourselves – while giving it to someone else.
Say no to the things you do not want to do in life and yes, to living your best life.
Marie Forleo has a great video on how to say no politely.
14. Compliment others in 2022
Be the reason someone smiles in 2022. If you are motivated or impressed by someone, compliment them! Let them know how much they inspired you and to keep up with the excellent job they are doing.
Complimenting someone does not take away anything from you. But give you that good feeling instead. There’s so much to go around. Don’t be envious of anyone’s success. Compliment and celebrate with them, be happy for others. When we are genuinely happy for others, we are open to attracting our happiness.
15. Forgive others in 2022
Forgiving is so much easier than holding grudges. Today, I would like for you to think of someone who has done wrong to you. Take a moment and let go of the anger and resentment towards that person and forgive him/her. When you forgive, you open your heart to love.
Holding on to hate does more harm to us. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean you are weak or you were wrong. It means you are courageous and you are moving forward.
Forgive those who have hurt you and start a new chapter in your life in 2022.
16. Ask for help & offer to help in 2022
If you don’t ask for what you want. You will never know the answer. There are so many good people out there who are willing to help you. Find them and ask for help when you are struggling and not sure which direction to turn to.
On the other hand, if you know of someone who needs your help and you are available to help. Offer to help, to ease some of their loads.
17. Don’t thrive for perfection
We deprive ourselves of achieving our goals when we thrive for perfection.
If you have an idea to do something or start something. Go ahead and do it! Take the messy actions but get started. Messy actions are better than no actions. Stop waiting for the perfect timing to start and just start.
Worst case scenario – if it doesn’t work out. You can always try again or try something new.
18. Get into the habit of saving in 2022
With rising prices for food and housing and typically everything these days. You may find it difficult to save. We all do, right!
But how about we change that in 2022?
An excellent healthy habit to start in 2022 will be to dedicate a portion or percentage of your monthly pay or allowance specifically to saving.
Take a minute right now and decide how much of your pay or allowances you will save each month.
It doesn’t have to be some significant amount. Any amount is worth saving. Just get in the habit of saving.
A good tip will be to open a savings account and set up an automatic transfer on whatever day you receive payment with the amount you wish to save.
Paying off credit cards every month will allow you to save as well.
Do you pay the full amount owed on your credit card every month? If not, you are paying a whole lot of monies on the interest. Money that you can use elsewhere.
Paying off your credit card in full every month will take you a long way in 2022 and beyond.
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19. Donate to a cause in 2022
Again, be the reason someone smiles in 2022.
Consider volunteering for a cause you hold deep in your heart. If you can make a monthly financial contribution to this organization, go right ahead. Maybe consider donating to your local food bank.
Coming from a place of abundance rather than lack in 2022 will allow you to attract more abundance in your life.
You will feel fulfilled knowing that the time or money you’ve contributed will help improve the quality of someone else’s life.
20. See good in others
We are living in a time where we are quick to judge others. We make comments without thinking. I’m sure you see this every day on social media.
Embrace everyone for who they are. Accept diversity and be opened minded to seeing the good in everyone. Don’t judge or think negatively of others.
Spend time getting to know others and allow others to know you without judgment. Adopting this healthy habit in 2022 will allow you to meet some authentic friends. And maybe even allow you to discover new things about yourself.
21. Make time for you
It’s so important to make time for yourself. If you don’t make time for yourself, don’t expect others to do this for you.
Commit to making time for yourself and get the rest that your body craves. Commit to doing that thing that you love. That thing that lights your heart and soul on fire!
Make time for self-care. Go see the dentist. Visit your doctor and get an assessment of your overall health.
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22. Keep learning & growing in 2022
Your growth is inevitable! It’s a journey without any destination. Never stop learning or investing in yourself. It’s the best investment you will ever make. Whether it’s doing a free or paid program. Show up and be open-minded to learning something new.
Commit to daily reading, listening to podcasts, Ted Talks, or a YouTube video that’s in alignment with your desires in life.
Subscribe to What Mommy Wants and stay in the loop for when new posts are released.
Your growth is essential! Keep learning and growing.
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Here’s to starting healthy habits in 2022
You are already making a healthy choice for this year by wanting to start healthy habits in 2022.
But why do you want to start healthy habits in 2022?
Knowing – your why will help you stay focused on building good habits this year and beyond.
As humans, we tend to get distracted easily. I know I have in the past!
To make something work, you have to do it in small chunks. Instead of saying there’s not enough time for me to do X. Rephrase that to sound like this – today, I will do X for 5 minutes instead of 10 minutes.
Staying consistent will allow you to stick with your healthy habits in 2022. Taking breaks hinders your success and sometimes requires much more time to get back on track.
Choose one or two habits, master them, then build onto them gradually.
Cheers to building healthy habits in 2022! ??
Before you leave. Let me know in the comments which healthy habits you will be implementing in 2022 to improve and live your healthiest life.
These are all such great goals to create more positivity in one’s life. I definitely want to start meditating in the morning.
These are all great tips! Something I really want to practice is meditation!
There are a lot of great suggestions here. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
These are all great things! I want to try to read more for myself.
I am all about breaking things down into smaller chunks! Four that stood out to me as wanting to improve on in 2022 are to get more sleep, drink more water, meditate, and write daily in my gratitude journal.
I absolutely love these recommendations for 2022. I am looking forward to starting new habits and there are quite a few here that I haven’t tried! Thank you!
I like the idea of healthy habits instead of a New Year’s resolution! I’m going to start brainstorming now