1. Alleviate Stress

Before this assignment, I started an attempt to replace some of my bad habits with ones that would help my life rather than hinder it. The easiest change to see positive effects on was switching from regularly staying up late to being in bed before midnight. By forcing myself to bed at a more decent hour and continuing to do so, I found myself less stressed about the coming day. This can be translated to several aspects of life, from stress about work to fitness to even life itself. Good habits set one up for success in the everyday.

2. Reduce Anxiety

Along a similar vein, general anxiety can be helped by developing better habits. When Barack Obama was in office, I read an article wherein he said that he only wore blue or black suits because it freed up his brain to focus on the bigger decisions he had to make. Instead of worrying about what to wear, he got into a habit that took that anxiety away. I predict that further research using habits such as morning or evening rituals to combat anxiety would show that such methods help to alleviate some of the things that cause their suffering.

3. Promote Healthy Lifestyle

Everyone has likely heard that running or working out helps a person to feel happier. Dopamine levels rise the more effort is exerted. By making better habits, such as working out, a priority, it naturally encourages a change from a lifestyle that is destructive to one which promotes healthier living, both in body and mind. I’ve already seen this in my brief experiment with changing my habits. My sleep is better, I’m more active, and I feel more confident about my day to day life than I have since I became an adult. And a healthier lifestyle promotes healthier mental states in turn.

4. Develop Richer Character

Someone once suggested to me that what we do in this life is what defines us. I would go one step farther and suggest that what we do regularly, the habits we develop, provides a foundation for that definition. My research into this connection between habits and mental health may not yield any results, but my expectation is such that those whose habits are less destructive will possess a higher caliber of what is often referred to as “character” or “personality.” The reason this is important is because the better a person feels about themselves internally, the greater likelihood their mental health will improve.

5. Gain Control Over Daily Life

In my experience speaking with friends and loved ones who live with mental problems, one common problem contributing to both depression and anxiety is a feeling that the person lacks control over their life. I would need to research further to see if there is a link between setting up daily rituals and feeling that lack of control in their life has eased. This is important as it is one of the biggest contributors to mental stress that could potentially be helped by a simple change in behavior. My prediction would be that those who develop good behaviors experience more control in their everyday life.

6. Be More Productive

By making little aspects of one’s life a habitual process that takes little brain power to accomplish, we free our minds to focus on the things in our life that are more time or thought consuming. What makes this so important is that those whose depression or anxiety or other mental health issue is severe enough sometimes experience a mental paralyzation, preventing them from accomplishing even small tasks. I predict that research will show those who are able to be more productive have a higher chance of taking back their mental health.

7. Focus on the Present

Forming new habits is a long road that takes plenty of time to form, to be sure. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing. I know from my own brush with depression that one of the fundamental things keeping you down is an inability to stay in the here and now, instead reflecting on the past and all the failures that fill it. The very process of creating better habits and then sticking to them should theoretically provide a way for the mind to remain focused on the present. I expect to find proof of that theory when I go to do my research.