Somewhere in my plot to take over the world, I decided to become a super human. Yes, I said to my small Fran self. You can do this. You totally can. No worries.
As we know, or maybe know, a lot of our success in life – I use the word lightly because success means many different things to many different people – is determined by our habits. The good or bad stuff we do over and over again. Gulp. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.
In my quest to become super human I decided to create a 30 Day habit checklist. Well, more like a rulebook or guidebook. It was aimed at turning me into a super human and kicking some of the bad habits I’ve picked up through the year.
Here’s what was on the list:
Make yourself lunch the day before
I spend way, way, way too much money on food if I don’t make lunch the day before. I’m hungry all day, every day. Me without food is a very bad idea. So in order to save cash and somehow make it to Barcelona by the end of the year, I cut the lunch cost.
Get up early to go to gym
It’s winter in Cape Town which means it’s really hard to get up in the morning. Really hard!!. Still, I feel so much better when I’ve got a work out in and I am able to kickstart the day and get it going with a BANG!
Switch off your phone at 10pm
Everyone is tempted to get lost in the social media vortex come 10pm. Don’t let it happen. I turned my phone onto flight mode at 10pm and decided to take back my life from the Internet Monster. It was a brave decision, but a good one.
Quit sugar
Sugar is a little devil; the more you eat the more you want. When you cut away sugar you suddenly start tasting it in everything. I found the less sugar I ate, the better I felt about myself. I mean, the odd chocolate wasn’t the end of the world, but being mindful about this has been a good switch up.
Set a daily budget
It’s so easy to say, ‘coffee on me!‘ Or find you’ve bought a smoothie and then bought something else online and then you are out for drinks. Set yourself a daily budget so that you can manage your finances better and save up for the things you want.
Listen to cool podcasts which feed your brain
Traffic in Cape Town is a nightmare. But you can turn the nightmare into a moderately pleasant experience if you listen to a good podcast on the way. I found some great listening material and it has made my traffic experience much better.
Drink water
My water intake is, in a word, bad. I go to gym in the mornings with a body which is already dehydrated and then dehydrate it more. It’s terrible, I know. I resolved to try and drink a certain amount of water a day and actually pay attention to my hydration levels. Body = much happier.
Evening questions
Benjamin Franklin had a daily habit of asking himself the question, “What good have I done today?” and there is certainly value in this question. It helps you to focus each day on doing something of value for someone else.
Do you like my list? It could go on forever, but I figured that was a good starting point. Creating rules or guidelines is never supposed to make us feel bad about our life or our habits. They are simply a way to jet set your life and help you to get on track with the things that make it better. Am I a superhuman now? Of course not, but I do see the consequences of some of the things I put in place and I feel proud of myself for the steps I’ve taken.