5 Self-Care Habits Of Successful People

In today’s world, our obsession with productivity and success has led us to unhealthy habits that are often counterproductive.

It’s amazing how we are so intelligent, yet neglect the one thing that determine our success in the first place: ourselves.

How Do We Define Success?

First of all, what exactly does ‘success’ mean to you? Is it simply having money? Is it all the material things you could ever hope for?

That seems to be the answer for many people, and they willingly sacrifice every other aspect of life to obtain it.

For example, when’s the last time someone you knew worked through their lunch break to get more done? Maybe they were hoping their boss would notice and give them a raise.

How about when they decided to grab fast food instead of preparing nutritious meals in bulk or bringing snacks to sustain their productivity? After all, cooking is probably a waste of time and work is far more important, right?

But how long do you think they can keep this up until their habits finally catch up with them? Will one too many burgers eventually clog up their heart, or will they resort to drugs and alcohol to cope with their high levels of stress?

It’s unfortunate that we have it backwards when it comes to our personal health. If we neglect all else for the sake of money and success, it definitely will come back to haunt us later.

Correcting These Habits

Imagine how more successful we could be if we prioritized ourselves first.

For example, do you ever notice that angry person who acts out of line simply because they haven’t eaten? Or someone who’s more irritable when they’ve slept poorly?

Imagine going to an interview like this, or showing up to work with an attitude every single day. That mentality will not only piss off coworkers, but probably get them fired eventually. Or if you happen to be in charge, nobody is going to want to work for you.

When we’re lacking in one of our basic needs, we suffer. It can lead to consequences like unhappiness from poor work-life balance, fatigue, anxiety, or even depression.

All of these things can lead us to poverty in both a financial and spiritual sense.

And yet, all we can seem to focus on is the money we can earn immediately.

We are capable of much, much more, if only we’d take care of ourselves first.

But I know you won’t settle for less. You’re going to make this change, take control of your life, and reach a level of productivity and success only possible by focusing on yourself first.

To begin, let’s start with 5 of the most simple, yet important things you can do daily to improve your health increase productivity in your journey for success.

1. Stay Hydrated

Despite its simplicity, drinking water has countless health benefits. Water is essential for many of your body’s basic functions.

It helps remove extra salt from your body, which would otherwise lead to high blood pressure. Studies have shown that high blood pressure decreases cognitive function and has also been linked to dementia later in life.^[1]

So not only will being dehydrated affect your brain performance now, but it’ll get even worse as you’re older. Even a dehydration level of 2% has been shown to decrease cognitive function.^[2]

I recommend keeping a 1 liter bottle next to you while you work to unlock the full potential of your mind. Remember that the average person requires 8 glasses of water (about 2 liters) daily. You might need more if you’re consuming things like salt, sugar, or caffeine. Or you might need less if you have foods or beverages that contain lots of water.

2. Exercise

You’ve always known that exercise is good for your body, but it helps improve cognitive function as well. After all, your brain is also a part of your body. Getting your blood pumping will help blood circulation to your brain, so you can keep getting those creative juices flowing.

For a boost in the morning for you morning owls, include 5-10 minutes of high intensity exercise in your morning routine. If you have time to read one of these posts, you certainly have time to workout 5 minutes a day to improve your success, right?

If you’re bound to your chair due to work, don’t worry! Go for a quick walk to the bathroom and stretch a bit to get the blood flowing.

And for those of you who need a brain boost in the middle of the day, try taking a quick jog around the block during your lunch break.

When your body stays active, so does your mind.

3. Diet

It should come as no surprise that a good diet improves brain function and makes you healthier.^[3] Boost your productivity with fish, fruits, and vegetables.

Fish contain omega-3s which promote neuroplasticity, or the ability of your brain to form new connections. This means you can learn a lot faster and connect abstract ideas together, which is the essence of creativity.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant that has been shown to improve cognitive function(which you can find in nuts).^[4]

Meanwhile vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, and potatoes contain alpha lipoic acid, which has been shown to reduce cognitive decay.^[5]

You can also get a boost in your immune system by consuming foods with vitamin C, which are essential for your immune system to keep you healthy and productive.

If you keep nuts and fruit on hand to keep your hunger at bay while you work, you get the added benefit of a brain boost as well.

4. Sleep

It would be a safe bet to say that your bed is should be your best friend! You should spend more time with it than almost anything or anyone else. But it’s not enough to just get those 8 hours.

Getting quality sleep is just as important as getting enough sleep, if not more important. Make sure you adopt good sleep habits so you can feel well rested.

To start off, maintain regular sleeping hours and don’t get up in the middle of the night to check your phone.

Use a blue light filter for your devices or simply don’t use them before bed. Blue light suppresses melatonin, the hormone that puts you to sleep.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to invest into a quality mattress, because good sleep is worth the investment…especially if you sleep a third of your entire life.

5. Relax

Did you know that the more you work, the less productive you end up becoming? It doesn’t even have to be doing work; simply thinking work-related thoughts all the time can burn you out.

When you’re off-duty, learn how to detach yourself from your work. If you don’t give your mind a rest, you end up burnt out and it’ll be harder to get the creative juices going the next time.

Meditation or taking breaks is a great way to give your mind a well-deserved rest. One breathing technique I learned from a friend has proved invaluable when work was overwhelming. Simply inhale for 5 seconds, hold it for another 5, exhale for 5 seconds, hold it again for 5, and then repeat.

Not only will this help break your mind out of the loop that amplifies your worries endlessly, it will relax your body physically as well.

Another trick is to write down your worries and then tackle it the next time you need to. This is especially important if you’re trying to sleep and your mind keeps wandering off to tackle that problem you’ve been having.

We often have so many of these thoughts even if they don’t serve a purpose in that particular moment in time. Ultimately, when we worry about things out of our control, we end up releasing the stress hormone cortisol.

A constant release of cortisol weakens immune function and increases blood pressure. So it should come as no surprise that your productivity and brain power take a hit. High cortisol levels are especially high when anxiety or panic attacks strike.

Remember that all you need to do is to breathe or write down your thoughts. It’s a small price to pay to have a peace of mind, isn’t it?

Conclusion

Taking care of ourselves allows us to focus and maintain our cognitive function, which translate into producitivity. If you aren’t healthy, no amount of “success” or money will fix your problems.

In fact, negative health consequences can become costly even though they are preventable. Chronic diseases can set you back thousands per month for healthcare. Take it from a former pharmacist who’s had one too many patients complain about the cost of their drugs and doctor fees.

It gets tiring hearing people glorify working extra hours and sleeping 2-4 hours a night. Not only is this bad for you, it’s less productive in the long run. Just as you can overexert your muscles, you can certainly overwork your brain.

While I’d tell these people to enjoy their temporary badge of honor and bragging rights, I’ll opt for a healthy life instead. Good health improves many aspects of your success, including motivation, creativity, and your overall well-being. Remember that small habits add up and have a far greater impact on your life than any big decisions you make.

I’d love to hear your own success habits and feedback regarding this post. Just let me know in the comments down below so we can continue learning from each other.