Aristotle once said, “Virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions.” This has been interpreted by the writer, Will Durant into that famous phrase, “We are what we repeatedly do. Therefore, excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Your identity is shaped by your consistent behaviours. What you do regularly becomes a part of who you are. The excellence is not born from doing something in a single moment or every now and then. It is the result of a habit that you have cultivated through repetition over time. If you want to create healthy habits that are going to have a significant impact on your life, doing something small and every day will compound into that excellence.
In 2023, I made the decision to the build a wellness routine that was propped up by the health and fitness routine that I had spent the last decade creating. This routine is focused on practices that were not a priority when I was solely focused on fitness. These practices include body care, hand and foot care, oral hygiene and setting up regular medical appointments. In the last two years, I have repeatedly made time and woven these aspects into the system of my life. This wellness thing is a marathon and not a sprint. It requires a lifestyle change. One thing that I have learnt observing the people in my life this past year is that the change has to come from you. You must want the change more for yourself than other people want it for you.
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10,000 hours to Master A Skill
It takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to master a skill. Whether you want to create healthy habits or develop existing ones, you have got to put in the work. Let go of the mindset that you will establish these habits in the next 90 days. I can tell you from experience that you won’t. Those first 90 days are going to be the hardest part of creating new habits because you are also going to let go of old habits that no longer serve you. It took over 10,000 hours for those old habits to build a foundation in your life. It’s going to take at least twice as long to let them go and replace them. However, it is not impossible. You are very capable of mastering the skill to create healthy habits for life. You just have to want them bad enough to succeed.
What Are The Foundational Healthy Habits
A healthy lifestyle is built through foundational and lasting habits that include eating well, regular exercise, sleeping well, managing your mental health, staying hydrated, stretching regularly and building your mindset. The name of the game is consistency. The only way that you are going to get there is by taking small and daily steps towards these foundational habits that will make an impact on your life.
Early in my fitness journey, I started to prioritise stretching regularly. I remember a time when I couldn’t be bothered to do it and I nearly injured myself. To this day, I start every training session with 10 to 15 minutes of dynamic stretching and end each workout with a static stretching routine. All of these foundational habits complement each other. You may not see it at first but eventually, you will and will realise that they create a domino effect. In short, once you have established one habit, it will get easier to stack and build on them.
There are other smaller habits that are going to help support you on your ongoing wellness journey. You may find it unrealistic to do these every day, but I can assure you that they will make you feel like you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.
How Do You Create Healthy Habits
The first thing that you need to do to create healthy habits is to define your “Why”. What is your reason to create these habits? Why do you want to go out for walks everyday? Do you want mental clarity, or “me time”? In my opinion, your “Why” is your sense of purpose. It is your drive behind what you are aiming to do and how you are going to do it. It has to be a strong reason to get you out of bed when you don’t feel like going. In addition, it is your opportunity to make a promise or a commitment to yourself. It is going to give your journey meaning and that will be able to push you for years to come.
You’ll see online that a lot of people are doing challenges such as the 75 day hard, medium or soft challenge. These challenges become harder to complete if you don’t know why you are doing them and what you hope to gain from it. A small number of people who end up completing these challenges tend to select certain practices that, either helped them or improved an aspect of their lives, and continue doing them repeatedly. If you believe that doing a challenge similar to this will help you create healthy habits, then give it a try.
Choosing Your Three Non-Negotiables
Something that I learnt while I was doing my Master’s degree was to choose my three non-negotiables for a day. The idea behind this is that no matter what happens in the day, doing these three things will not only set the tone for my day, but also knowing that I can go to bed satisfied because I got them done.
As much as I love and thrive off routines, sometimes the chaos of life can get in the way or I’m travelling. Usually when these things happen, my routines can fall apart. Instead of stressing out about them, I focus on completing my three non-negotiables for my physical and mental wellness. I believe having only three makes it simple to do. It allows you to prioritise what actually matters and to hold yourself accountable.
My three daily non-negotiables are:
- Making my bed every morning
- 45 minutes to 90 minutes of physical activity (training or going for walks throughout the day)
- Reading my Bible every day
Yours may look different. Actively choose something that is going to keep you grounded. If you want, you can create three weekly and three monthly non-negotiables. The aim is not perfection, but to remain grounded.
Oral Hygiene
In 2023, I made a decision to build an overall wellness routine upon my existing fitness and health routine. One of the practices that I chose was oral hygiene. In my late teens to early twenties, I had braces. For anyone who has had braces, you will know the difficulty of brushing your teeth efficiently with brackets in. Then in my late twenties to my early thirties, I had Invisalign. During this process, I had a dentist, a hygienist and an orthodontist for the first time in my dental history.
It was through this process that I was able to build an oral hygiene practice that maintained and improved my oral health. I had an appointment earlier this year for cavity checks. My dentist was in shock by how great I maintained my oral health throughout my Invisalign process. That is how I know that it works!
My ‘Why’ for this practice was to gain the confidence to smile with teeth in pictures again. From the moment I had braces all the way to Invisalign, I stopped smiling with teeth in pictures. I didn’t like the way I looked.
Creating Healthy Habits For Oral Hygiene
Every morning I brush my teeth for about two to three minutes using my Oral B Professional Care Toothbrush. Personally, I don’t really care what toothpaste I use but I regularly switch between Colgate and Sensodyne. After each meal, I use interdental toothpicks to clean between the teeth and my fixed retainer. Then I use floss for the rest of my teeth and rinse my mouth with warm water. If I’m in the office, I just use the interdental toothpicks.
Before I go to bed, I use interdental brushes to clean the back teeth and between my teeth. Next, I floss the rest of my mouth. With my Oral B Toothbrush, I take off the head and use the metal instrument to break up any visible plaque behind my front teeth. Once I’m done with that, I brush my teeth for two to three minutes. Then use my tongue scrapper to remove any excess bacteria and dead cells. Next, I rinse my mouth with warm water and finish off with a rinse of mouthwash.
Changing The Products
I prefer to change my toothbrush heads every three months. If the bristles are frayed before the routine change, I will switch it out accordingly. The interdental brushes can last up to two months and the interdental picks, I throw out daily as they bend and break easily. For my tongue scrapper, I switch it out every 6 months as it is metal. However, I disinfect it with warm water and soap after every use.
After 1.5 months of sticking to this practice, I noticed a difference with my oral health. Breaking up the visible plaque myself, instead of waiting for my next appointment, gave me a new sense of pride when it came to oral health.
Now that it is nearly mid-October, character building season aka Locktober or the Great Lock In is here! This is the time to start honing into existing habits or to create healthy habits. I hope this post has given you the inspiration to build upon your wellness and self care journey. Make sure to hit that subscribe button to join the community and never miss out on a post. Find me on Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok for more powerlifting and wellness content.
Until next time,
Folakemi
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