5 Changes to Make Your 2022 Healthy and Strong
By Chris Brown
Self-improvement is an incremental process requiring consistency and many moments of realigning oneself back onto the betterment path. A new year is a great opportunity to redirect oneself towards becoming one's ideal version. Regardless of your goals, it is important to remember that betterment is a daily exercise of recommitment to self. To help guide your betterment plan, below are five life areas to focus on in 2022.
Physical Care
Despite our increasing dependence upon technology, we are still biological creatures at our core. Dedicating yourself to physical improvement can raise the level of your life in all areas. Whether that goal is losing weight, gaining muscle, eating less inflammatory foods, or simply spending more time outside, a personalized physical goal will direct your daily habits and make a better you. Depending upon your physical goals, altering what you put into your body and refining a weekly exercise routine are great places to start when setting weekly and daily physical objectives.
Commit to Growing Mentally
As important as your physical side, your mental health is an oft-neglected aspect of our health. Focusing on improving your mental state can be one of the most important changes you can make for 2022. The first step can be as formal as starting talk therapy or as informal as dedicating 20 minutes each morning to sipping tea quietly in your thoughts. Any efforts in the mental health realm pay dividends to work and life performance and are the secret behind nurturing your ideal self.
Build a Skill
A new skill is possibly the most concrete addition you can make to yourself. Everybody has a skill that they wish they knew, from trading on the stock market to learning to ollie a skateboard. Dedicating just a half-hour a day to a new skill will give you almost 100 hours of training in just six months. And, not only does learning a skill expand your practical abilities, it also is great for brain health. According to neurologists, learning new skills physically changes the structure of your brain, so that brainpower is improved alongside your abilities.
Drink More Water
Water plays a base role in every function of our bodies from joint lubrication to brain activity to nutrient and oxygen flow. Staying hydrated helps you make smarter decisions, sleep better, and feel more youthful. Making sure to consume enough water daily (minimum of 11.5 cups for women and 15.5 cups for men) will improve your performance in all life areas for the year.
Practice Gratitude
The power of gratitude is underrated for mental well-being and maintaining a positive mental state. Self-improvement is not always a forward-moving path. Failures along the way are inevitable, and it is in those times in which healthy, positive gratitude is vital in keeping your effort level strong. You can boost your gratitude by dedicating yourself to volunteer work, completing a daily gratitude journal, or even practicing positive meditation once a day. Regardless of how you foster it, adding more gratitude in your life can supercharge your ability to perform at a high level and make you a kinder person in the coming year.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in University Place, Wash.