A better life can mean more than increased income, a nicer home, fancier car or improvements in other material assets. Emotional stability, including peace of mind, positive self-image and decreased anxiety can all help you create a better life for yourself. While the financial aspects of your life may be difficult to change, there are many areas of your life you control to put you on a path to better living.
Adopt a Pet
Taking a pet into your life offers you the chance to give love as well as receive it. According to the website QualityHealth, keeping a dog or cat can increase your life expectancy two to three years. Dog owners who walk their dogs once or twice a day benefit from regular exercise, further improving their physical well-being. QualityHealth cites one study that showed pet owners are 28 percent more likely to survive a heart attack than those without pets. Noted health expert Dr. Andrew Weil also recommends taking in a pet, citing studies on his website that show pet ownership can lower blood pressure and reduce medication costs.
Get More Sleep
During sleep, the body repairs itself from the day's activities. Harvard University's website Healthy Sleep states that adequate sleep can help improve your immune system, metabolism, memory and learning. A lack of sleep can decrease your work or academic performance, specifically resulting in a decreased ability to take in new information, and decrease your ability to retain the information you do learn, according to the site. Make a commitment to getting eight hours per sleep each night.
Work/Life Balance
The concept of balancing work and life is so important that many businesses have incorporated this concept into their human resources and benefits and compensation departments. Examples of corporate work/life balance strategies include a "use it or lose it" approach to vacation days, requiring employees to use their paid time off rather than allowing them to work those days for extra pay. The Mayo Clinic recommends you create a plan to spend time with family and friends in order to reduce stress and fatigue, and track your time to see how you are doing.
Get Healthy
Smoking, drinking, eating unhealthy foods and being overweight can lead to many diseases and conditions, including heart attack, stroke, high cholesterol and blood pressure, lung cancer and diabetes. Just being overweight can lead to problems such as lower back pain, which causes American workers to miss more than 100 million workdays per year, according to the Wellness Council of America. Making a commitment to eat healthier, add regular exercise to your lifestyle, stop smoking and regulate your drinking can lead to better physical and emotional health.
