Let’s define habits. Habits are the small decisions you make and actions you perform every day. According to researchers at Duke University, habits account for about 40 percent of our behaviors on any given day.
Your life today is essentially the sum of your habits. How in shape or out of shape you are? A result of your habits. How happy or unhappy you are? A result of your habits. How successful or unsuccessful you are? A result of your habits.
What you repeatedly do (i.e. what you spend time thinking about and doing each day) ultimately forms the person you are, the things you believe, and the personality that you portray. Everything I write about – from procrastination and productivity to strength and nutrition – starts with better habits. When you learn to transform your habits, you can transform your life.
This page includes recommended resources on forming better habits and breaking bad ones in any area of life, but if you’d like to explore information on specific types of habits, check out these articles:
Want to learn everything you need to build better habits and break bad ones? I recommend the Habits Academy.
The Habits Academy is the world’s most comprehensive course on habits and the science of human behavior. More than 5,000 students have taken the course. Over 40 video lessons are available to Habits Academy students.
The weather was made to order; as if purchased from a postcard factory specializing in perfect-day clip art.
An unbroken clear blue sky stretched from horizon to horizon, white downy cotton clouds drifted lazily without hurry across the overhead vista, draping fleeting patches of cool shade upon the celebration and its attendees who came together to send off the newly married couple into their lives together.
As they stood face-to-face beneath the canopy, holding hands, the minister raised her head from the couple and looked toward the crowd;
“The couple has written their own vows which they’d like to share.”
He could hardly hear what she said; the sound of his heart pounding too loudly in his ears. When she finished, he, with shaking hands, pulled a thrice-folded sheet of paper from inside his charcoal-grey tuxedo pocket. Looking deep into the brown eyes of his beloved, desperately attempting to prevent his voice from cracking, he croaked out his pledge.
“Today, in front of friends, family, and God, I am marrying my soul mate. I know not what lies in our tomorrows. Yet, no matter that, I promise to you that I will love you deeply and without reservation in every manner in which I know. I shall love you for the remainder of my days and beyond. In all that time, I commit to honor you for the person you are and not try to change you, as there is no reason to do so. you are already of my spirit, interwoven through my essence, closer to me than my breath. I ask nothing of you in return except to be with me. And I promise as each day fades into yesterday, before I sleep, that I will gently kiss you good night and thank the Universe for your presence. When we agree, I shall kiss you with gladness. Should we differ, I shall do the same. In sickness, my kiss will heal. In good times, it shall celebrate. I will – through joy and sorrow, illness and health, poverty and riches – forever remain by your side, ending and beginning each day with you and with a kiss.”
A beam of sunlight reflected from the gold ring as he placed it on her finger.
Faintly, he heard applause and cheering, noting the soap bubbles as they floated to the heavens over the two of them as they walked back up the aisle, drifting in their thoughts as the clouds and bubbles above.
Together they knitted their story through the fabric of time. Their wedding wandered into memories; replaced with the day-to-day tasks of a life as one. He built his career; she pursued her art. Jointly, they faced the days, two as one; each self-sufficient while strengthened – not divided – by interdependence.
Every night, he held true to his commitment, placing his lips against her, even if she was already asleep, as he climbed into bed.
The passing of the calendar brought with it the “usual” ups and downs; career changes, mortgages, vacations, children, soccer games, birthday parties, the loss of parents – and ever more frequently – friends. Despite it all – or because of it all – each and every night, he held true to his north star as he slid on to the mattress, pulling with care the blankets up over the two of them.
His hair was thinner now; hers grayer.
They moved a little more slowly, visited the doctor a little more often, settled down in the living room a little more early. Smooth younger skin had been replaced with the signs of aging. Wrinkles fanned out from the corners of their mouths with crow’s feet adorning their eyes. Yet, even now, decades later, the spark he saw when he looked at her on that warm summer day had not faded. Their thirties were long-ago memories, kept alive in photo albums, but the sturdiness and energy of youth had been replaced with the strength, togetherness, and softness of untold days together. He was more in love with her now than he ever could have imagined.
She lay on her side facing the opposite side of the bed, a slight slumbering sound as she breathed. After watching her for moment as he did most nights, he pulled back the quilt and slid under its warm embrace, leaning over, he – as he had done thousands of nights before and for many more to come – kissed her gently as she slept.
A puppy can be prone to whining, barking and, in particular, chewing its way around the house as it explores the world around it and wants to learn what tastes nice and what does not.
The whining, barking and chewing is going to happen. Make no mistake.
Though by training your puppy in the right way from the outset, you can take positive action to train away the whining, barking and chewing to a large extent.
Bear in mind that every puppy is different and will lean right and wrong at different rates. Patience is the key with the time and effort you put in also helping to build that unbreakable bond between puppy and owner.
The barking and whining is entirely normal. It’s how dogs communicate. However if the barking and whining becomes regular and prolonged it can quickly become an issue and difficult to do anything about. So start to build in to your puppy training routine steps aimed to cut down on unnecessary barking and whining.
There are a number of steps you can try here. For example:
The whining could be a sign that your puppy wants to toilet. Learn to recognise the signs and take puppy to their toilet spot.
It could be that puppy is hungry, thirsty or otherwise distressed. Again – learn to read the signs and act accordingly. Puppy should always have access to fresh, clean water and be fed regularly. If distressed, look for indications of illness and think about a trip to the vet if necessary.
It could be boredom and attention seeking. Make sure puppy has toys to play with and of course give them attention yourself.
If puppy is whining or barking just to be “naughty” then that’s not what you want. I’d suggest not giving in to such behaviour and instead teaching puppy that it’s not a good idea to try it on by taking them to their bed to sit and stew for a while or simply ignoring them. Yes, I know it’s hard but a bit of “tough love” is necessary from time to time.
When it comes to chewing stuff up – it’s going to happen. Puppies are inquisitive things and they explore with their mouths. Hmmmm, I wonder what that tastes like?” they say to themselves when eyeing up your favourite pair of shoes or favourite chair.
Unless you do something about it, that puppy will grow in to a dog which will keep chewing your stuff up because they think it’s OK. It’s not…
When you do find your favourite shoes destroyed, do not punish puppy. Clear up the mess and act normally. No fuss. Of course if you see puppy shaping up to take a bite out of anything, divert them on to something else before it happens.
Distract by giving them their favourite chew toy for example. And make a big fuss of them for doing the “right” thing. Teach them that when they are “good” they get a rewarded by with your affection.
Also look around your home and try to anticipate what puppy might fancy getting their teeth around and put those things out of puppy’s reach.
The simple steps outlined may seem straightforward – and they are – however they are also effective in puppy training to help with reducing their tendency to whine and chew.
In this article, I’d like to share 30 “one-sentence stories” about building better habits. (They are not all exactly one sentence, but they are very short.)
None of these stories are mine. They were sent to me by readers of Atomic Habits. My hope is that these examples will illustrate how real people are putting the book into practice. They will show you what people are actually doing to build good habits and break bad ones. And hopefully, they will spark some ideas for how you can do the same.
I have divided the stories into categories that roughly correspond to different sections or ideas in the book.
One of the central ideas in the book is the concept of building “identity-based habits”, which essentially recommends focusing on the type of person you wish to become rather than the outcome you wish to achieve.
One reader named Roland used the idea to improve his eating habits.
“I stopped eating unhealthy food via identity change,” he wrote. “I tried many times in the past, but it became easy — natural — only after I had made the conscious decision that I want to be someone who eats healthy. Instead of aiming for I want to stop eating bad food, I tried changing the mindset to I am someone that eats healthy and lives a healthy life. It changes how you approach things.”
Another reader named Robert employed this idea to help him quit smoking. He wrote, “I recently stopped smoking and the difference between I don’t smoke and I can’t smoke is a powerful trainer of my brain. The positive message of I don’t smoke is that I have not “given up” anything. I am not sacrificing a pleasure. I am investing in my future happiness and wellbeing.”
Like most strategies in the book, the concept of identity-based habits can be combined with other habit building tactics. For instance, one reader used an external reward of $10 to reinforce the desired identity. “I told myself, I am no longer a drinker. Then, after each day of non-drinking, I gave myself $10 to buy something nice rather than poison (like clothes and household items). Today, I no longer need the allowance and I’m six years sober.”
Chapter 2 of Atomic Habits covers these strategies in much greater detail.
Another way you can change a habit is by identifying and altering the cues that prompt your behavior. This is precisely what many readers have done.
One woman named Lisa cultivated a reading habit by increasing her exposure to books. “I’ve read more books by continually having 20-30 books on hold at the library,” she said. “It saves time on browsing for books. I always have new things to read with a three-week deadline.”
Heather used a similar strategy to reinforce the simple habit of drinking more water. “I use color and placement for visual reminding and motivation. I poured water in a bright aqua water bottle – my favorite color – and placed it on my nightstand so I couldn’t miss it when I woke up.”
Other readers have done the opposite. They reduced exposure to negative cues. One man named Max managed to eliminate his e-cigarette habit. “I quit e-cigarettes with a combination of determination and also quitting coffee at the same time, which was a trigger for me as I’d smoke and drink coffee together in the morning.”
Another popular tactic in the book is something I call “habit stacking.” It’s strategy I first learned from Stanford professor B.J. Fogg. He refers to it as “anchoring” because you anchor—or stack—your new habit onto a current habit.
One reader used habit stacking to create a simple rule for learning a new language.
“When I first moved to China and started to learn Mandarin, I committed to strike up a conversation with the taxi driver whenever I went into a cab (I took a lot of cab rides, 5+ daily). I did it for 2 years no matter the time of day or how tired I was. I now speak fluent Chinese.”
Similarly, a reader named David told me, “I meditate for 20 minutes after brushing my teeth in the morning. Linking new habits onto a keystone one seems to work.”
You’ll find all sorts of habit stacking examples in Chapter 5 of Atomic Habits.
I have written about the power of the environment and the importance of choice architecture in the past. The simple truth is our environment often shapes our behavior. Many readers are using this fact to their benefit by installing some of the environment design strategies I share in the book.
For starters, you can break a bad habit by increasing the friction in your environment.
One woman named Cyd curtailed her snacking habit with the following strategy. “My husband still loves his Pringles, as do I, but they’re now kept in a locked car that’s parked in the cold. It works!”
Multiple readers are learning to wake up earlier.
One reader named Daniel told me, “I jump out of bed every morning without any hesitation. The reason? The only way to turn off my alarm is to scan a QR Code I keep in the bathroom. This worked wonders for me.”
Chris utilized both environment design and habit stacking to stop sleeping in. He wrote, “I have a bad habit: Hitting snooze. To eliminate it, I “made it hard” and put phone in the bathroom. The phone then became a habit stack. The first thing I do when I wake up: turn off alarm, go to bathroom, brush teeth, etc.”
One of my favorite examples was sent to me by J. Money, the personal finance blogger. He wrote, “I brush my teeth right after putting my kids to bed every night (8pm), which has prevented me from eating or drinking (alcohol) at night for years… ‘Cuz who wants to re-brush them again!”
It’s a great example of creating just enough friction to keep your bad habits at bay.
Typically, we think of designing physical spaces, but you can use the same principles to shape your digital environment as well. For instance, a reader named Matthew wrote to me and said, “I significantly cut down on mindless Instagram time. Simply logging out of the app makes a big difference.”
Another reader named Viet went even further. “I used my own laziness to my own advantage with my bad habit of browsing Facebook. Deleting Facebook and having to go through the one extra step of going to website and logging in manually was enough barrier for me to not get back on.”
And Rahul did something similar to kill his video game habit. “For gaming addiction, I removed my graphic card,” he wrote. “For excessive net surfing on mobile, I uninstalled apps and removed the Chrome browser.”
On the flip side, you can foster good habits by reducing the friction in your environment.
Natalie started picking up her cluttered clothes and building better cleaning habits simply by reducing the number of steps between her and the laundry basket. “I quit leaving my socks all over the floor by putting a little basket beside the door to collect them in.”
Similar strategies can be particularly useful for building new exercise habits.
One reader named Justin sent me the following message: “I started going to a gym that was less than a mile from my house. This took away the time and inconvenience excuses. I was never consistent at exercise, but now I work out 8-10x a week. Crossfit, running, and cycling. I’ve been going strong for 2.5 years.”
Another reader wrote, “I’ve been running at 6 A.M. for the past two years. I always put my running gear (Garmin, compression sleeves, shoes, etc.) into a neat pile the night before. When I get up, I just get dressed and go out the door.”
I’ve even heard from readers who go to sleep wearing their running clothes. All they have to do is stumble out the door in the morning.
For more on environment design, see Chapters 6 and 12 of Atomic Habits.
In many cases, it can be more effective to replace your bad habit than to merely try to eliminate it.
The beautiful thing about habit substitution is that you can build a good habit and break a bad one at the same time. One reader told me, “At home I would go out to my backyard to smoke, so I put a weight bench out there and every time I wanted to smoke I’d go out and do some reps instead. After that, my craving was reduced.”
I thought the following idea was interesting. One reader replaced biting their nails with cutting their nails. “I stopped biting my fingernails mostly by making sure clippers were always close at hand – especially at work.”
Many readers have substituted a new habit in a “stair step” fashion. They gradually shift from the old habit to something healthier.
Mark, for example, shared the following strategy. “I significantly cut back on beer consumption. I used flavored sparkling water to replace the beer and I asked my wife to stop having beer in the fridge for a while. Once I replaced the habit (it was mostly stress drinking after work), I was able to add beer back into my life.”
And another reader, also named Marc, curtailed his drinking in a similar way. “I replaced drinking beer every day in a succession of replacements, going through fruit juice, then iced tea, then seltzer water. I did it over about nine months by having one less drink a week. Once I finally quit, I got past the cravings in only two weeks. I haven’t had a drink in over a year now.”
Shawn used this approach to stop smoking. “I decided to quit smoking and used a fun-sized Snickers candy bar as a substitute until the major cravings went away. I’m still smoke-free years later.”
Substitution can even be useful in a broader sense. Suraj wrote, “I was addicted to drugs and alcohol. To beat my addiction, I started working out. Now I am planning to compete in powerlifting meets.”
To a certain degree, habit substitution allows you to look for a healthier obsession. Some people are hooked on alcohol. Others are hooked on exercise. Either one can be unhealthy if taken too far, but generally speaking it’s a lot better to spend a few hours exercising each day than to spend a few hours drinking each day.
Sometimes I like to employ clever little mental tricks to stick with a good habit.
One reader named Caelan wrote, “I quit smoking by assigning my cheat days progressively farther in the future. I never quit “for good,” I only quit until my next cheat day. This helped with cravings, because the choice wasn’t between “right now” or “never,” it was “right now” or “later.”
Ken applied a similar strategy to his habit of eating fast food. “I started small when I quit bad habits like eating McDonalds all the time and drinking soda. I told myself I’d take a week off, then said two weeks. That continued. This month, I made it four years without McDonalds and 15 months without soda.”
Another person used the Pointing-and-Calling strategy I discussed in Chapter 4. They wrote, “I quit smoking by saying a mantra out loud every time I wanted a cigarette (“your brain tricks you”) which I think changed my thinking from the subconscious part of my brain to the logical part.”
Qiana used a little math and a clever visual trick. “I stopped drinking soda,” she wrote. “I added up all the sodas I drank for the week and counted how many tablespoons of sugar were in those soda cans and bottles. I began to scoop the amount of sugar into an enormous bowl The visual did it for me. I had to break that habit.”
Finally, I’d like to close with one of my favorite strategies: habit tracking.
Here’s how a few readers are using it…
Cindy sent me an email saying, “I purchased a large wall calendar and started building the chains. This really works for me. I like to build that chain. There are 6 months of red X’s on my calendar. I am healthier, have lost 30 pounds, feel stronger, exercise more, garden, read more, work on my small business, and practice my French.”
The easiest way to start tracking your habits is to use the templates provided in the Habit Journal. It will make the whole process a breeze.
My favorite approach is to pick a very tiny version of your habit and track that. For example, I have been tracking the habit of “reading 1 page” for the last month. One reader named Günter did something similar. “I’ve done a simple workout every day for over half a year now. I managed to stick to it by changing the scope: when I don’t have time for a full set or don’t feel like it, instead of skipping altogether, I do an abbreviated session. I also mark it in my calendar.”
Hopefully, these short stories give you some ideas on how to build better habits in your own life. If you’d like to learn more about the strategies discussed above, check out Atomic Habits. And if you’re interested in a notebook that makes it easier to build better habits, try the Habit Journal.
But no matter what, keep taking action in small ways each day. It is so gratifying for me to see people making real changes in their life because of these ideas. As always, thanks for reading.
We all want to be happy. But what is happiness?
Here’s one definition…
Happiness is simply the ability to not want more; to find gratitude and satisfaction in the moment that you have right now.
In other words, your happiness hinges on living in the moment instead of yearning for some future indicator of success.
Here’s the best way I know to live in the moment…
Express gratefulness.
Appreciating what you have right now automatically brings you into the present. It allows you to get past the dissatisfaction of wanting a bigger house or a better relationship or a better job and experience what you have right now.
With that thought in mind, here are five ways to boost your gratefulness on a daily basis and find lasting happiness.
1. Before dinner each night, say one thing you are grateful for. (If you pray, then this can become part of your prayer as well.)
2. Write a Thank You note to someone this week. If you can’t find anything else to thank someone for, then just write them a note to thank them for being in your life. Any time they spend with you is a gift because they could choose to spend it with someone else.
3. Take 30 seconds to breathe. There is no easier way to make time for yourself and be grateful for your own existence than to breathe. Close your eyes. Breathe in through your nose for a count of three and out through your mouth for a count of five. Do this 5 times.
4. Do nothing for 2 minutes. Guess what happens? Nothing! You didn’t lose your job. Your family didn’t leave you. You’re not a failure. Nobody judged you. In fact, the only thing that really happened was that you realized that you can make time for yourself and enjoy your own presence without consuming something (eating, watching TV, etc).
5. Call a friend that you haven’t talked to in a while. We live for close connection. Having Facebook friends and Twitter followers and a large network is great, but it lacks the meaning of close connection. Reach out to someone who is important to you. Talk about whatever the hell you want. You don’t have to say anything cheesy or uncomfortable. Just enjoy the conversation and be grateful for that person.
Important Note 1. I think it’s possible to love the life that you live and seek to make it better at the same time. So, don’t abandon your goals of a better job or a better relationship or a better life. The problem is that too often we convince ourselves that we need to abandon the present to achieve the future.
Important Note 2: If you think these things are too simple or too stupid to work, then I’d like to ask you this: When was the last time you tried one of them? Do a few and see if they work rather than living like a skeptic and writing things off before you try them.
Google “helicopter parent”. This is what you’ll get:
hel·I·cop·ter par·ent
noun
informal
plural noun: helicopter parents
Yeah. An actual dictionary definition exists for this parenting style. It’s gotten that bad.
Yet, the trend continues.
What’s the big deal, you ask? (As you finish “checking” your kid’s math homework with an eraser and the answers you know he meant to write in.) Is it really such a bad thing, you wonder? (After penning a note to the neighbor kid’s mom, requesting her child stop staring at yours because it makes your little girl “feel sad.”) Back away from your kid’s algebra and stay away from your neighbor’s door, and let me count the ways.
Helicopter parenting is over parenting. It stymies your child’s independent growth and development.
A recent study by Brigham Young professors titled Is Hovering Smothering or Loving? An Examination of Parental Warmth as a Moderator of Relations Between Helicopter Parenting and Emerging Adults’ finds that regardless of your intention, continually dipping in and out of your child’s life to save the day is psychologically and relationally detrimental. No matter how much you say you believe in your kid, your actions say otherwise. Soon, your kids get the message. They don’t do conflict. They don’t do boundaries. They don’t do discomfort.They just don’t do much on their own.
Studies also find that all that parental hovering and control actually causes kids to lose interest in the classroom and lessens the desire for independent learning. Grades and academic success become tied to inadequacy and low self esteem. Self esteem that has been undermined by parents who inadvertently teach their kids that complaints rather than competence are the way to deal with challenges and the unknown.
Helicopter parenting also has a lot in common with a new phenomenon,”snowplow parenting.”
Helicopter parents anxiously do all they can to protect their kids from the unpleasantness in the world while snowplow parents actively shove obstacles out of their kids’ way to ensure their success. The end goal is the same: to give their kids the world, to actively get it for them rather than show them how to go after it themselves. The result? Kids who burn out, refuse to try, or fail to bounce back quickly because they don’t know how to take a hit from life or they don’t believe they should ever have to.
All this parental micro-management is a recipe for a mental health mess. For you and your kids.
Admit it, you’re exhausted. On some level you know that the preschool teacher isn’t wiping your kid’s five year old bottom. You’re pretty sure your parents don’t sleep on the floor next to your son’s bed until he drifts off to sleep when he naps at their house. And by now, you’re pretty confident that the call you made to your your kids professor regarding that Psych 101 presentation didn’t do your kid any favors.
Tell the truth, parent this way is overwhelming your life. The more you judge your self-worth and social value by your kid’s accomplishments and contentment, the less time you have to develop your own. The more energy you spend trying to moderate and mold your kid’s friendships and interactions the more unhappy and neglected your own personal relationships have become.
Be honest, you know your kids need way too much “help”. There is no way you can keep this up forever. At some point, you’ll have to let go. Will your child have enough mental muscle built up to walk alone or will your support be a crutch he or she can’t do without? Too many beneficiaries of helicopter parenting struggle with self control and depression throughout their adulthood.
Helicopter parenting is not kid focused, it’s parent focused. Do you hover out of fear or parental narcissism?
We live in a highly informed, highly comparative age. The way you parent may be subject to a whole host of judgements, theories, and unnecessary comparisons in the space of an hour spent surfing the net. If you’re susceptible, you may find yourself drawn into anxiety-based parenting, hovering over your kids’ every move, droning on to the other adults in his or her life about how he or should be protected.
Or perhaps, you’re not afraid for your kids at all. Maybe you just feel the need to ensure they represent you well. You need to excel at this parenting thing, so your reluctance to see them fail is really a strong desire protect your own self-image. It’s a bit narcissistic and might be a tough truth to tell yourself, but worth a hard look. Are you shielding your kids from failure because you really want to be a good parent or because you really just want to look like one?
Helicopter parents pay their kids’ dues with a credit card. Healthy parents let kids work it off.
Healthy parenting is a process of guidance, training, and supporting a child’s healthy growth and development mentally, emotionally, and socially in a way that fosters eventual independence. Helicopter parenting isn’t really a process as much as it is a parental takeover, with the main agenda being to help a kid secure “wins” in life without the work.
Not sure whether you spend too much time over head, over indulging and overprotecting your kids? Here are 10 ways to know:
Okay. Now you know. Take a breath, don’t beat yourself up. You just got caught up in the whirlwind all that hovering created. Come to grips with the idea that failure is the path to some of the best lessons learned. Give your kids that gift. It’s okay to save the hugs and soothing talk for after your kids take a few important developmental tumbles.
Get a good look at your current parenting landscape and come back down to earth.
Your kids need you to be encouraging and grounded, not piloting their flight toward independence for them.
It’s a tough time to be a kid as we live in an age of social media and technology. Academic pressure, bullying or the need for validation can easily dampen a child’s spirits and lose confidence in himself. But with a loving environment, encouraging words and a realistic perception of himself and his capabilities, a child can slowly believe in himself again and gain self-confidence.
Here are 3 ways to help your child gain self-confidence:
Create a loving and supportive environment
A child needs to know that if he’s sad, angry or is going through something (whether big or small) there is a safe place he can go home to that will show no judgment, only acceptance, love and support. Strive to always listen to what he has to say and offer advice. If you shout or make a mistake, apologize.
Give praise to where it’s due. Young children tend to measure their achievements and self-worth through positive feedback from their family, especially their parents. A good foundation at home is crucial to a young one’s confidence.
Instill resilience
While praise and positive feedback is helpful, it is important that these are all realistic. When your kid fails at something, praise the effort and not the results. Help him set realistic goals for himself – explaining to him that like you, he will also experience criticism, failure, pain and setback but that he should use them as learning experiences. Be sad for a while or cry it out then get up and move on.
Helping your child understand himself and his abilities better will lead him to set reasonable goals and avoid failed expectations – building up his self-confidence further.
Support their interests
It’s hard for a child to express himself and show confidence doing things that he isn’t interested in. Allow him to find his passion or something he excels in on his own and show support in all his interests even if it doesn’t interest you.
But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t encourage them to try other interests. Sports is a great way for a kid to build his self-confidence and develop social relationships. It also teaches him that he can start small, improve, practice and reach different goals.
A parent’s love, support and encouragement play a big role in helping build a child’s self-confidence, whether he’s a young child or a teenager. Follow these 3 simple ways to have a happier, more confident child.
Kids are the cheeriness of all homes, and watching their playful moments will cart off the intensity of even the mournful situations. However, the bringing up of children is a bit strenuous, especially, from the infancy to teenage year. Many parents earnestly complain about the difficulty of the situation. Proper nurturing and imparting the right education to them is of prime importance. Everyone will have to make sure about this, which is imperative to shape them as bona fide citizens of the country.
Teach Kids How to Focus
Parents must teach children how to concentrate or focus on whatever job they do, as this is the way to make them confident and winning. This method will decide the perfectness and success of their future endeavors.
Try These to Augment the Focusing Ability of Your Kids
Relationships can have their fair share of conflicts and issues in any normal situation. Let’s face it, even the so called healthy relationships have had their fair share of ups and down. And with long distance relationships, the chances that you may sometime fall out with your significant other cannot be ruled out. Without mincing words, distance can cause a huge gulf between two inseparable love birds. Little wonder the cliché “out of sight is out of mind”
Of course, there are pros and cons attached to long distance relationships. First of all, a long distance relationship can actually help the relationship between you and your man grow stronger each day, as you constantly miss each other and try to do things that would bridge the gap between you.
However, the not-so-appealing part of long distance relationships is found in being out of the sight of your partner. In the most extreme cases, this can result in you slipping from his mind pretty quickly, and we don’t want that do we? Of course not! That’s why this article is just timely. In this article, you’ll get all the relationship advice you need to put some spark to your long distance relationship.
Here are some really helpful relationship advice that will make your long distance boyfriend fall helplessly in love with you even from miles away. Hopefully, you’ll get the hang of this and pitch your relationship among some of the best healthy relationships out there.
Primp yourself up before his departure.
Saying farewell to your lover can be heartbreaking to say the least, but you don’t need to look unkempt and haggard because he’s going miles away from you. To make him feel like staying back instead of leaving, do something about your looks; get a sexy new hairstyle, or go to the beauticians for a facial so your skin glows. Treat yourself to a new wardrobe, some cute new shoes, a sexy dress and a flattering blouse that you look and feel awesome in. Look good for him, even at the airport, as you bid him farewell, let him know exactly who he is leaving behind. Your boyfriend will surely experience a heightened interest in you like never before with your new look and all.
Curb the desire to call him every single day.
Yes, the phone is all that you have that connects you both now and it’s normal to feel propelled to always stay in touch with him. However, you’ll be overdoing things if you call or text him every single minute! Trust me, boys sometimes want their space. So, instead of wanting you more he’ll only get irritated with your constant calls. So, draw back a little bit (it’s all for your good). It’s okay to let his call go to voice-mail once in awhile or delay replying his text. When you wait for a few hours before calling him you’ll get better results. I’m sure he’ll be so excited to hear your voice, why? Because he has really missed you!
Let him know you are having fun.
Do you want to show your heartthrob that he is missing out on a lot? Go out shopping with your girlfriends, go clubbing, to the movies, do something adventurous while your boyfriend is away and be sure to take selfies! Share these pictures with him later, giving him a subtle hint that you are having fun on your own and not moping around. That will get him on his toes if he really loves you. Do that often and your man might just take the next available flight back to you because he wants you so badly.
Make use of social platforms that allows him to see your face.
In today’s world of modern technology, there’s virtually nothing you can’t do on the Internet. This is to your advantage, so make full use of all the communication options that enables you talk to your significant other every single day. To this end, social media platforms like Snapchat and Facebook have proven to be very rewarding. All you need to do is fix a date to talk to each other on any of these platforms, and don’t forget to primp up yourself so you look gorgeous since he’s going to see you!
Don’t make use of jealousy.
If you want to have a healthy relationship with your man, even if it’s a long distanced one, it isn’t advisable to make use of jealousy in order to make your man miss or want you more.
It’s safe to let him know you’re having a good time while he’s away from you, but don’t rub anything in his face to make him jealous. This won’t make your long distance boyfriend want you, he’ll only feel insecure in his relationship with you, and that could be the beginning of the end of your relationship, long distance or otherwise.
I hope this relationship advice have been exciting? Experiment with them and you’ll definitely pitch your relationship as one of the healthy relationships your peers will look to emulate.
