We’ve all heard the saying, ‘‘New Year, New Me’’ But how often do we actually live up to these expectations set by us or someone close to us? New year is a great opportunity to build healthier habits and stick to them, especially as a family that values happiness and health. But doing so requires a deep understanding of our own unhealthy habits and finding practical and actionable ways to break them.

If you’re someone who wants to break unhealthy habits and lead a happier, healthier family life this year, explore the ten habits given below and see how many of them resonate with you.

10 Unhealthy Habits To Break This Year For A Happier And Healthier Family Life

Letting go of unhealthy habits is a great way to invest in your personal growth. Here are some habits that you’ll need to work on this year to lead a happier and healthier family life:

Habit 1: Not Having A Sleep Schedule

The best way to lead a happier and healthier family life is to stick to a sleep schedule that flows in accordance with your circadian rhythm and leaves you feeling refreshed and energized. However, more often than not, we find ourselves stuck in unhealthy sleeping habits such as using phones late at night, or indulge in late night snacking, all of which disrupt our natural sleep pattern.

Do This Instead

* Create a ritual around the night time. When you consistently do certain activities before sleeping, it rewires your brain to connect those activities with sleeping. For example, reading for 30 minutes before bed, brushing your teeth, or going for a walk as a family can help your body relax and make sleeping easier.
* Keep your bedroom cool, quiet, and dark. Using blackout curtains and white noise machines can help you achieve the perfect conditions for a good night’s sleep.
* Go to bed every night at the same time. This will help you create a habit around it and your body will learn to sleep and wake up at the same time.

Habit 2: Neglecting Skincare

Skincare is one of the most potent forms of self care that you can do with your family, or even individually, as long as everyone engages in some form of skincare routine. The act of taking care of your face, hair, and body helps you focus on your body’s needs and helps you attain a radiant glow, but not many of us are able to follow a skincare routine everyday, while others don’t even know where to begin.

Do This Instead

* Follow a simple cleansing, toning, moisturising routine everyday and encourage your kids to do the same. Whether you’re a mum to older children or a new mum looking to find skincare essentials, this one tip is an easy way to look good everyday.
* Every weekend, spend some time oiling your hair, or do a hair mask. Look for DIY skin mask recipes and enjoy doing it with your kids to help them form skincare routines of their own.
* If you or anyone in your family is struggling with skin concerns, find a good dermatologist near you and spend some time learning about your skin so that you can care for it better.

Habit 3: Consuming Unhealthy Food

The joy of eating a freshly cooked meal in the comfort of your home is hard to beat, especially as a family. However, the crushing workload and your busy schedule can make it difficult to cook everyday at home, and thus begins the vicious cycle of order takeouts, eating unhealthy or heavily processed foods, and leading a sedentary lifestyle. This comfort can quickly turn into an unhealthy habit of not eating healthy at all.

Do This Instead

* Consuming unhealthy substances isn’t limited to food like trans fats and sugar. If you often find yourself using alcohol or smoking as a distraction, it might be time to see a doctor. Doctors can prescribe medications to help you stop smoking with champix tablets, zyban, and cytisine.
* If you want to start eating healthy and encourage your kids to do the same, find more opportunities to cook with fresh vegetables and poultry items at home. Ask your kids to cook with you. This will help them learn the importance of home cooked meals and make the experience fun.
* Never skip meals, especially breakfast. Add more whole grains, high-protein sources, healthy fats, and make your meals as colourful as possible to make healthy eating tasty and enjoyable.

Habit 4: Forgetting Hydration

Water makes up 70% of our body, so it’s natural for it to be a part of our healthy habits, even as a family. However, due to many reasons, it's easy to forget to drink water throughout the day, at least not until you feel completely dehydrated or notice a dry mouth. Some people prefer to handle these situations by loading up on sweetened carbonated drinks and beverages, which only dehydrate your body further.

Do This Instead

* Cut out all types of artificially sweetened beverages and carbonated water from your diet. Instead infuse water with fresh fruits and cucumber to enjoy the process of hydration.
* Carry a reusable water bottle with you wherever you go. It will come in handy and you’ll stay hydrated throughout the day when the water is right in front of you.
* Always drink water while sitting down and have your next glass of water either 30 minutes before a meal or 30 minutes after to aid the process of digestion.

Habit 5: Irregular Physical Activity

With the increasing dependence on digital devices, most children and adults today spend most of their time glued to their phones, laptops, ipads, and PCs. Between school, work, and home, the sedentary lifestyle creeps up on all of us without even realizing it. As a result, our physical activity decreases and we move away from exercise and other types of physical movements that bring us close to leading a healthy and happy family life.

Do This Instead

* Take stairs instead of elevators wherever possible and find simple ways to move more throughout the day.
* Make a fun game around movement, especially with your kids. Every hour, ask them to do ten squats or run on the spot for 3 minutes. It can be a great way to take a break from work and energise your body.
* Find ways to exercise while working, such as investing in a standing desk, or doing chair exercises.

Habit 6: Missing Family Time

Families that eat together, stay together. This is one of the oldest sayings which holds a lot of meaning, especially in today’s busy world. We live in a modern society that prioritizes individuality. While that is a good habit, it can often cause disconnect between family members, even the ones living under the same roof. Not taking enough time out for family activities can widen the gap between family members.

Do This Instead

* Something as simple as doing daily chores together can also contribute to shared family time and help you organise your home at the same time.
* Schedule weekly family time. It could be watching a movie, or playing board games together. Make it fun and easy so that you can include your kids in the process and enjoy some time together every week, especially if both you and your partner work long hours.
* Exercising together, whether it’s in the gym or at home; or meditating together can be a great way to bond as a family while also taking care of your health.

Habit 7: Not Communicating Often

Communication is the backbone of a healthy family structure that values deeper connections, and offers a safe space for both children and adults to share what’s on their mind. However, most of us fail to build that kind of dynamic within our family. Owing to generational differences and our own prejudices, it’s so easy to become judgemental of people, even the ones that we love, that communication tends to get waived off.

Do This Instead

* Take some time every week to sit down with your kids and partner and do emotional check-ins to make sure that everything in there and your life is going well. Any concerns regarding work, school, and personal life can be brought up during this time.
* Be a great listener and offer an open space for your kids to share their problems. Showing empathy and asking open ended questions can make all the difference in how you show up for your kids and how accepted they feel.
* Be curious and learn new things with your kids. Teaching them the importance of physical and social safety from a young age, helping them understand their body, answering their questions in an age appropriate way, make sure you’re mentally available for them and the communication will become easier.

Habit 8: Not Scheduling Family Check-Ups

Health is wealth and scheduling family health check-ups at least once a year can help you and your family stay on top of things that you need to start paying attention to and lead a healthier, happier life. However, it’s so easy to slack off and not look at the big picture until something comes up. Be it physical or mental health, we have a habit of letting things be, which is an unhealthy habit that needs to be let go this year.

Do This Instead

* A healthy lifestyle requires an ability to stay on-top of your family’s health and knowing ways to make sure you all are doing well. Go for regular checkups and spend some time relaxing.
* Find ways to make mindfulness and physical therapy a part of your life so that it’s easier for all of you to detect when something isn’t right with your body.
* Encourage yourself and your partner to seek therapy in order to show up for your family in a more authentic way. Find ways to talk about the importance of mental health and teach your kids some practical ways to take care of their mental health.

Habit 9: Spending Carelessly

With new fashion trends advertised in front of us all the time, and easy online shopping options, from groceries to electronics, and clothes to furniture, there’s no surprise that most of us are buying things recklessly and spending our hard earned money on things that don’t even matter to us. If you’ve found yourself spending a lot of money lately, whether it’s on eating out or buying things, it might be time to evaluate your priorities.

Do This Instead

* Create a monthly budget by sitting with your family. Allot monetary resources to various needs and wants, and stick to the budget as closely as possible.
* Find ways to DIY home projects, cooking, and other items on which you often spend money.
* Define your short and long term financial goals. Based on these goals, start saving and investing. Teach yourself and your kids about budgeting and the importance of money.

Habit 10: Not Practicing Gratitude

In a world that values being the best and turning everything into a competition, it can be so easy to focus on things you don’t have rather than appreciating the things that you do, like your loving family, or your job, your house, car, food on the table, and a group of friends. Not many people actively practice gratitude in their daily lives, leading them to be stuck in unhappy, and unhealthy patterns.

Do This Instead

* Set aside time everyday to reflect on the activities of your day as a family and mention the highlights of your day to each other.
* Practice gratitude through journaling and mention three things you’re grateful for everyday. This will help you shift your focus to actively looking for things that matter.
* Encourage yourself and everyone in your family to be kind to each other. By doing simple acts of kindness for each other everyday, and for others around you, you’ll learn to appreciate the small things in life.

Final Thoughts

New year is the perfect time to let go of habits that no longer serve you and build habits that help you lead a happier and healthier life with your family. There are many ways to achieve your desired lifestyle, but the best way to do so is by creating habits that serve you, such as following a sleep and skincare routine, caring for your mental and physical health together, and building a positive mindset through gratitude. Learning ways to find purpose in your daily life can help you build a happier and healthier life with your family this year!