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11 fascinating ways to make your life infinitely better in 2017

2017 is here, and it's your chance to make your life better. You can make a fresh start and reassess your life. Decide where you want to go this year and figure out how you would get there.

Friday February 17, 2017,

5 min Read

Here are some practical ways to improve the quality of your life in 2017.

1- Set clear limits for yourself in 2017

One of the most rewarding things you can do in 2017 is to set new limits for yourself. Setting limits allows you to decide clearly what you will tolerate this year. This way, you will be more decisive and clear.

It's important that you tell people around you about your boundaries. You don't need them to be upset with you due to these newly introduced limits.

If you are unsure what boundaries you need to set this year, try finding out things that bother you. For example, unfair criticism could disturb your mood and fill you with negative energy. Similarly, if someone is unkind or not showing respect, you could easily get into a bad mood.

2- Start enjoying sleep

If you want to live happily, you need to get quality sleep every night. Adults need 8 hours of sleep while teenagers need nearly 10 or 12 hours of sleep, depending on their daily activities and food intake.

When you don’t sleep well, or for long enough, your body fails to repair itself. As a result, you wake up with fatigue. You will feel as if you don’t have enough energy to carry out morning rituals.

To improve your quality of sleep, be sure to create a silent environment. Background noises can disturb your sleep. Similarly, having different sleep timings on different days of the week could confuse your brain and therefore disturb sleep. To counter this, be sure to follow the same sleep and wake time for the entire week, including weekends.

3- Exercise daily for at least 20 minutes

When you exercise daily, you can fight depression and anxiety. Flexing your muscles boosts your brain and help it release dopamine – a chemical responsible for making you happy.

If you can't dedicate time to exercise, then try adding it to your lifestyle. For example, take stairs instead of elevators, park your car as far away as possible, so you have to walk to your destination, and go on foot when your destination is within the 1-mile radius.

4- Set your priorities

One of the most important things to do this year is to set priorities for your long-term and short-term goals. Is it more important right now to get a new job or would your life benefit more from completing your education this year?

Be clear in your head. Then write down your goals. Studies have found that when you write down goals and hang them somewhere so that you could see them every day, you are more likely to pursue them.

5- Change your home-work cycle and start going to new places in between

If you are living a busy life, you will feel trapped in the work-home cycle. To make positive changes this year, break this cycle by adding one more place that makes you feel happy. It could be a cafe or a park where you could spend some time, away from work and home.

6- Prepare for a productive morning

It’s important that you prepare for the morning by taking out a few minutes each night. Create your to-do list and plan your morning rituals. That way, you will remain organized and enjoy better productivity the next day.

7- Set up your home gym

You might not be able to go to a gym every day, especially when it’s a few blocks away from where you live. The best way to counter this situation in 2017 is to use websites such as garage gym planner for guidelines and tips. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to setup a home gym. Go for cheap exercise machines and if you have to buy something expensive, look out for discount deals and used stuff.

8- Do something that makes you smile

You don’t want to spend a day without doing something that will make you smile. A smile is a powerful brain tonic that could easily take away depression and anxiety. Do something every day that will bring a smile to your face.

9- Enjoy your victories and learn to celebrate them with others

If you have achieved something, you’d love to tell everyone about it. But the real happiness comes from celebrating it with others instead of just telling them. Bring everyone together and throw a party.

10- Make a list of things that make you happy

One of the best things you can do this year to making your life infinitely better in 2017 is to create a list of things that make you happy. Keep this list close to you and try to accomplish as many of the things from the list as you can during this year.

11- Quit your electronic devices and social media for a day

Try this, and you will see how it will become your most important ritual this year. Leave your electronic devices behind, forget about updating your Facebook status, and go out somewhere. Spend time closer to nature.

Do this once a month, and you will get huge pay-offs.