There are countless healthy habits that improve our lives. But I have found that when I practice just three effectively, most of the others take care of themselves.
I consider them the three most important habits in my life.
Now, if we were to sit down and create a list of habits we think essential for success in life, there’s no doubt we could create a lengthy list without much thought:
- Healthy Diet
- Reading
- Exercising
- Planning
- Budgeting
- Meditating
- Arriving on Time
- Setting goals
- Evaluating the Day
As a matter of fact, the longer we think about healthy habits, the more we’d add. Our list would grow and grow:
- Avoiding addiction
- Sleeping well
- Valuing relationships
- Smiling
- Avoiding distractions
- Quitting smoking
- Saying “I love you”
And each of those habits are, indeed, healthy. I would never discourage anyone from pursuing any of them.
But I have found, surprisingly enough, that when I intentionally practice just three from the list above, other habits begin to fall into place—almost naturally.
Conversely, when I let any of these three drop in importance, everything else suffers.
That’s why I call them essential.
The three most essential habits in my life for living well:
1. Exercise.
Our physical bodies are the instruments through which we make a difference in the world. And taking care of them lays the foundation for all other pursuits in life.
When I make a commitment to exercise regularly (4 or more times/week), I feel better about myself, I experience more energy and motivation in my day, and I feel a sense of control over my life that spills into other areas.
There is not one specific practice of exercise that must be practiced by all. I have friends who get their exercise by hiking regularly, running often, playing tennis, attending a fitness class, or lifting weights at the gym. I also have older friends who simply make a commitment to walk 30 minutes each day.
But each of them, to the extent they are able, practice regular physical exercise.
Personally, I spend one hour each weekday morning lifting weights.
And when I’m doing that consistently, the second essential habit comes easier:
2. Healthy Diet.
If our physical bodies are the instruments through which we make a difference in the world, our diet is the fuel for them.
It has been said that 46% of Americans have a poor-quality diet—which means that almost half of us are not properly fueling ourselves for our best lives.
But the research gets even worse. Not only are we not properly preparing ourselves for optimal living, our diet may actually be cutting our lives short. According to the same study, “suboptimal diet is among the leading causes of poor health, particularly obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and diet-related cancers.”
Bringing greater intentionality to the food we eat is a habit that pays off immediately in the short-term (more energy) and in the long-term (better health).
I’m not a nutritionist and each of us are unique, so I’m not here to offer prescriptive steps on this habit.
But for me personally, I have found the following steps to be most helpful in creating a more healthy diet: Remove processed sugar*, limit carbohydrates, eliminate alcohol, and increase my daily intake of vegetables.
There is a lot of wiggle-room in that diet for me to practice it effectively, but those are the four guardrails I’ve found most helpful.
*Eliminating processed sugar is by far the hardest for me to follow and when I begin to fall into bad habits around diet, this is always the first place I slip up. I have learned that I do best eliminating it entirely—rather than limiting consumption.
3. Solitude/Meditation/Prayer.
Each of the first two essential habits in my life deal with the physical body, but life is more than skin and bones.
A healthy life also concerns itself with matters of the heart and soul. In order for me to be living my best, I must make time for solitude, meditation, and/or prayer.
Our world is noisy and constantly clamoring for our attention. Not because it is out for our good—sometimes it is just trying to bend our will toward the cultural pursuit of the day or direct our passion towards whatever it is hoping to sell us.
The only way to listen to our heart and center ourselves around more important pursuits is to withdraw from the world in stillness, solitude, or meditation.
I believe that Blaise Pascal was right when he said, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
We can embrace every positive habit change in the world, but if our heart and soul is not centered on worthy pursuits, we will end up wasting the one life we’ve been given effectively chasing all the wrong things.
The practice of meditation and/or solitude is practiced by people of every faith and nonfaith background, so it is not difficult to find different ways to embrace this habit in your life. I’m not necessarily here to prescribe that for you.
But personally, I spend 30 minutes every day in quietness, contemplation, faith-based reading (Bible), and prayer. Without it, I too quickly lose my way.
There are other healthy habits that I am intentional about pursuing in my life, my marriage, my family, and my work.
But when I am doing well with these three habits, all the others become easier and easier.
CJ says
Great ideas!
Adriana Cardenas says
Love all of this! Thank you for sharing with us!
Kathleen Griffin says
I like to have three areas : Provision, Relationships & Health. I choose three things to accomplish during th week and One thing to accomplish each day/
My morning routine includes exercise. spending time with God and breakfast. My one focus for today is making 10 – 15 calls. I am aware of rhythm & routine. I need to plan and execute the plan .
Lara says
Mine have always been Mental, Physical and spiritual health. So big three to do has always been writing, exercise, and mediation. (And my unseen to do is don’t be so hard on myself if it doesn’t happen.)
Fabíola says
For me, sleep well and wake up earlier is really essential too.
Renae says
I was so pleased to learn that you value your time reading Gods word. I have been following you guys for 7 years so I am happy that we can share good lifestyles and love Jesus together
I am pretty sure Jesus was a minimalist
JesusHeKnowsMe says
He had twelve apostles though, and that’s clearly more than he needed. Dude refused to declutter and keep only those that sparked joy.
Wendeloni says
He had 70+, and many DID fall
away…
joshua becker says
Well, there’s only one of me (not “guys”), but I appreciate the kind words :)
Ann Van Dyke says
Hmm. The sugar thing is a tough one. Perhaps it’s like alcohol. Some can have an occasional drink and not get in trouble while others can not handle moderation and have to completely abstain. I believe Gretchen Rubin who has written about healthy habits has some thoughts about this in her books.
Maria says
Please read about how intuitive eating addresses this topic (sugar)… So liberating!
liz platt says
I absolutely agree with you and live by these every single day of my life.
Jan S says
Joshua, the last year has been difficult for me. I fell and broke my back. After surgery and lots of physical therapy, I became stronger by your 3 Things above!! So reading this today was good 2 ways: enforced my actions in the last 12 months (which led to a 40# weight loss) and reminded me that they should be a daily thing! I always love reading your articles and look forward to them. God bless you and and keep doin’ what you’re doin’!