Monthly Archives: March 2022

Given the choice, most people want to be in healthy relationships and therefore want to create habits of healthy relationships. Healthy, happy relationships are the foundation for our mental health, personal satisfaction, and our esteem. The better our relationships are, the healthier we are. These are habits that can improve your life. It’s that simple. In the same way, we can boost our physical health one small habit at a time, we can also boost our mental health one small relationship habit at a time.

Relationships Require Effort

There’s nothing better than experiencing an effortless connection with someone. Finding people who click with your personality, morals, values, and interests feels amazing. Even the most compatible relationships require effort, it takes time and energy to keep relationships interesting and healthy.

Life gets busy, and sometimes our relationships suffer. Finding the time to invest in relationships and stay connected is often in jeopardy as schedules fill up and more demands take up our time. That’s why small habits can help strengthen relationships so they can withstand the natural ups and downs of life. It also helps you to get the expected life you want to live.

Small Habits of Healthy Relationship

It’s not healthy to be all things to all people. In fact, giving too much in a relationship can lead to co-dependency which isn’t healthy at all. Even parents and children need healthy balances between them, but there are small things that can strengthen relationships and make them better. As follows are habits that can improve your life.

Here are some ideas-

Relationship micro habit: Pay attention to the five love languages– Gary Chapman, author of The Five Love Languages, suggests that people give and receive love in one of five ways-

1. Gifts
2. Acts of service
3. Touch
4. Words of affirmation
5. Personal time

Learning the love language of the people you’re closest to can help you strengthen your relationships in meaningful ways.

Relationship micro habit: Share a meal – Ever hear of the term breaking bread? That refers to coming together for a meal, which in ancient times was a gesture of friendship. The act of sharing a meal with people you care about creates the opportunity for quality time, laughter, and connection without distraction. Make time to go to dinner or host dinner with the people you want to create strong bonds with.

Relationship micro habit: Learn to listen – Being a good listener is harder than you may think. In fact, learning to actively listen is one of the best things you can do to strengthen relationships. Good listening requires reading non-verbal communication, asking questions, and letting the person you’re with know you’ve heard them. Great listening skills strengthen relationships and make communication incredibly easy.

Relationship micro habit: Be honest – Be fully honest with your thoughts and your feelings. Remember your partner cannot read your mind. They do not know what you are thinking or feeling about matters. It is important to be able to fully listen and then respond honestly. Ensure that when you communicate you communicate from a healthy place, one that is free from blame, shame, or finger-pointing but one that is open, honest, and caring.

There are plenty of ways to make the people closest to you feel important. Develop micro habits that build strong relationships that withstand the test of time. If you are interested in working through some of your relationship stressors please check out some of our online relationship courses.

If you struggle with being on time you know the panicked feeling that comes when you are late and the need for effective time management skills. The uncomfortable and often awkward moment when you arrive disheveled and apologetic for being tardy and having to ask for forgiveness. Being late can give you a bad reputation and cost you respect.

Being late doesn’t mean you don’t care about being on time it just means you need greater time management skills. Often, it’s the result of being unprepared, overwhelmed, and sometimes easily distracted. Good time management isn’t just for mythical perfect people who seemingly don’t have real-world problems like screaming, uncooperative children, and dogs that dart out the door. Everyone deals with the same types of issues; some just develop micro habits that help them avoid being late.

Effective Time Management Skills That Keep You on Time and on Track

If you struggle to be on time, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce the chance of being late. Try any or all of these tips to help keep you focused.

Tip: Identify your time thief – Everyone has a thief that steals their time. For some it’s scrolling through social media, for others it’s underestimating the time it takes to get ready or be somewhere. Everyone has a habit that contributes to their poor time management skills. Identify your particular time thief/thieves so you can concentrate on making changes.

Tip: Use a prompt- Your smartphone does more than host social media and makes calls. You can easily use your alarm to set reminders to help you stay on time. Create a micro habit to set prompts that give you 15 or more minutes warning in case you find yourself easily distracted. Sometimes a simple prompt is all you need to stay on track. It also helps to prompt your family to help them stay focused when you need to leave on time. Reminding children in 15-minute increments before needing to leave can help.

Tip: Centralize your gear – Be sure to centralize things you need so you don’t waste time hunting for things on the way out of the door. Create a micro habit to keep keys, wallet, phone, and other gear in a specific location so you can grab-n-go without thinking about where each item is.

Anyone Can Be on Time Most of the Time

Honestly, everyone is going to be late sometimes. On the off chance you know you are going to be late, it’s always best to reach out and communicate. Calling ahead and letting people know you are going to be late can reduce the impact being tardy has. Offering to reschedule or simply letting them know you’re running late is proper etiquette and can help keep you from giving off the vibe you aren’t respectful of their time.

If you are looking to work on your time management and need structure please check out our time management online course.

It may be hard to imagine how micro habits are ways to build self-esteem, but they do. Micro habits pertain to any area of life and are habits to be more productive. From health to lifestyle, adopting micro habits that help you shift your mindset and laser focus on positive living are bound to have a positive impact. The more successful you are, the more your self-esteem blossoms.

Each time you add a micro habit to your daily life, you trigger the opportunity to be proud of yourself. From making the bed each morning to choosing to eat a healthy dinner, there’s plenty to celebrate when you make good choices. Over time, the confidence you gain from automatically making responsible and sound decisions is a reminder of how far you’ve come.

Here’s the psychology of how micro habits are ways to build self-esteem

Confidence comes from well-being: Well-being is a state of comfort, health, and happiness. Each time you choose a micro habit that contributes to your well-being it boosts your confidence over and over again until it’s normal to feel great about yourself.

Micro Habits require positive thinking: Choosing micro habits requires a positive attitude and a willingness to do the task over and over again. Positive thinking is a mindset and behavior that starts to diminish negative thoughts and attitudes. The less negatively you think, the more your self-esteem rises.

Practice generates confidence: Micro habits to be more productive require learning new habits and mastering them over time. This generates confidence from overcoming roadblocks or learning new behaviors. The act of doing something repeatedly builds self-esteem as what once was a struggle becomes simple.

Confidence includes acceptance: Mastering a habit requires a level of acceptance and understanding. If you’ve engaged in a healthy micro habit like exercising for 30 minutes a day or eating a low-fat diet, you likely begin to appreciate your body and develop an acceptance of it, with or without flaws. This boosts self-esteem and generates a level of maturity.

Discipline boosts self-esteem: New habits require a level of discipline. Even when things are routine and automatic, they still require a level of commitment. Being more disciplined creates a subconscious satisfaction and appreciation for the work it takes to stay on task. This is one of the ways to build self-esteem every time you engage in healthy micro habits to be more productive.

You may not have expected micro habits to boost your self-esteem but they certainly do. Mastering tasks is something to be proud of and our mind knows when we are doing the right thing for our health and welfare