Be Transformed with The Catalyst: These Everyday Habits Will Improve your Health & Well-Being

We all want to be healthier, fitter, happier and better versions of ourselves. The problem is that getting to this point can be difficult when you have so little time and energy.

One way to get the life you want is to take little steps, do little projects and see them through. Attempting to start a huge new workout regime, or set up a multi-million naira business will often just be met with resistance, failure, and disappointment. In my book Good2Better, I explain how we have huge plans, and very often we don’t have the energy or time to make them happen. So why not start very small and then let those little changes add up to a better you?

What habits can you form to improve your well-being?

Take a walk after dinner, instead of sitting down to watch TV or going straight to bed. 1 hour, of brisk walking after dinner cuts the rise in your blood fats by 12%. Also, try a new workout program. If you run often, you can change to spinning or yoga. “You’ll engage new muscles, have new experiences and avoid exercise fatigue.

Do micro-workouts. If you don’t have 30-60 minutes blocks in your day for exercise, simply break every 55 minutes and exercise for 5 minutes. Over your 10 – 12 hour working day, you would have done 5 mins x 10 hours, or 5 mins x 12 hours, which amounts to 50 minutes or 60 minutes of exercise each day. Do at least 20 press-ups, 50 squats, 50 jumping jacks and 50 core or stomach exercises spread over the various 5 minutes windows you have every 50 minutes every day. 

This will protect you from the new sitting disease, developed from living a sedentary lifestyle. It will also help boost your energy levels, tone your abs, increase your fitness and strength, and serve as the basis for a larger training program.

Add one vegetarian meal to your diet every week. Just go vegetarian once a week, to get the best from this, search online for great options and suggestions.

Fast once a week. Try to abstain from food for 24 hours once every 2 weeks to just detox and clean out your system. Eat at 6pm on Friday or Saturday night and go to bed at 8pm, then try not to eat until 6pm the following day.

Take Omega 3 Fatty Acid. This helps to boost your brain function, energy, immunity, and more with Omega 3 fatty Acids. It also helps to fight inflammation.

Drink 2 litres of water daily. Most of us are permanently dehydrated, so to prevent this, drink a glass of water immediately after you wake up and a glass just before you go to bed and then stagger the remaining 4-6 glasses every 2 hours during the day. You’ll look trimmer, better, and feel more energetic.

Enjoy the sun for 5 minutes only every day. Step outside every day for at least 5 minutes. You’ll sleep better, boost your vitamin D, get more fresh air, and even improve your temperature regulation and immune system.

Gift yourself some self-care and me time. Schedule about 10 minutes a day all to yourself with no TV, cell phones, e-mail or other distractions. Meditate on self-love, peace, healing, happiness, harmony, peace, abundance, and restoration in silence, this will go a long way toward helping you reduce stress.

Practice conscious breathing exercises. Get a smartwatch that prompts you several times during the day or put a sticky note with the word “breathe” on it someplace where you will see it often — on your computer, for example. Whenever you see it, focus on taking 10 deep, full breaths. Focused breathing slows your heart rate, reduces stress and helps you feel calmer and more relaxed.

Read a little at a time. Instead of vowing to “read more,” resolve to read one chapter (or a certain number of pages) every day and stay consistent with it. This invariably helps your memory long-term and helps you prevent amnesia in your old age. reading daily will help you learn one new word every day and this will drastically expand your vocabulary over your lifetime, helping you further develop your brain memory muscles.

Wake up ten minutes earlier. Wake up 10 minutes earlier each day and give yourself a task that can be delivered in 10 minutes. This simply means that you have created 70 additional minutes for yourself each week to deliver 7 additional tasks. Each month that’s 240 minutes (3 hours) and 24 additional tasks done monthly. This adds up to 2,880 additional minutes (48 hours, i.e. 2 days) and 288 additional tasks done annually.

These tiny steps practised every day will certainly help you attain a healthier, fitter, happier and better version of yourself. This is the Kaizen way.

Let’s get to work.