I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. They tend to melt away like ice cream on hot pavement.

I’m a big fan of habits that breed success. Habits that shift the trajectory of your life.

You have habits that work for you (and maybe some that work against you).

Allow me to share 7 LIFE-CHANGING HABITS that empower my days in a healthy way.

They spell the acronym R-E-C-I-P-E-S.

1) Rhythms of rest

Imagine music with no rests, no pauses.

That’s noise.

And a restless, go-go-go life takes on a similar quality. The beauty gets lost for the sake of busy-ness. We burn the midnight oil, only to find later that our home life is on fire.

Proper rest can change your life.

It’s no secret that how we spend the night before affects the day after. Our rhythms of sleep matter.

And our 7-day week was born not from astronomy (like lunar months), but from God’s decree about resting on the 7th day.

Now, I’ve struggled with insomnia for a few years. I’ve battled perfectionism even longer. These tendencies can wreak havoc on rhythms of rest.

Even so, positive habits help.

A consistent bedtime and wakeup time. Not eating late. Skipping caffeine and alcohol (for practical, not moral, reasons).

When it comes to my week’s rhythm, I give myself margin on the weekends. It might not be a full day off, and that’s okay. But I give myself permission to have a to-do list that doesn’t get finished…or gets finished imperfectly.

Can you be okay with that?

2) Exercise

Half of New Year’s resolutions seem to fall in this category. But I’m not talking about goals (lose 20 pounds & bench-press 250 pounds…).

I mean making bodily exercise a habit as regular as eating.

Would you skip a meal every once in a while? Sure. But would you skip eating for a month? Not likely.

Exercise can take many forms.

Walking the dog. Calisthenics. Mowing the lawn.

Hiking. Biking. Lifting. Running.

Climbing stairs. Carving down a ski slope.

I’ve found the type of exercise is far less important than the daily habit of exercise.

To remind me it’s time to hit the gym, I have our robotic vacuum cleaner set to start its run through the house at 3 pm. While it merrily sucks up dirt, I go get sweaty.

Oh, and I celebrate each workout with a yogurt. My dogs hover nearby to lick the cup clean. No workout = no yogurt = bummed dogs.

Talk about incentive to keep up the habit!

3) Create

We all consume. But I believe everyone can create.

To add value through their ideas and labors.

It could be as simple as making scrambled eggs.

Or as majestically complex as composing a symphony.

My father paints portraits. My mom makes photo albums.

I write books. My wife cooks.

What’s your creative outlet?

Whether you’re working on a novel or the rebuilt truck in the garage, trying a new recipe or tying a new fishing fly, making things is part of being human.

The word “hobby” makes it sound optional. Something that costs a lot and gives little.

I disagree (okay, it still might cost a lot…).🤑

Nurturing a creative habit isn’t an add-on to life. It’s part of a life richly lived.

4) Ingest healthy things

This habit isn’t just about food.

It’s about everything we feed our minds and bodies.

That cell phone in your hand wants to own you. Like a toddler having a tantrum, it stomps its haptic feet and screams its notifications until you give it what it wants.

“I WANT YOUR FULL ATTENTION…NOW!!!”

Be the adult in the room. Ignore it. The planet will keep spinning. Your true friends won’t unfriend you.

And you’ll find time and space for more nurturing things.

Literally, you’ll have time to prepare healthier food.

Or to actually read the books you’ve talked about reading.

Or to hunt selectively for good entertainment instead of foraging at the endless buffet of streaming services.

As the adage goes, you are what you eat.

Ingest nothing but slop (sorry, this includes hours of pet videos), and you’ll leave your soul malnourished.

Ask yourself: if I had only a year to live, is this how I’d spend it?

5) Pray

I’m a person of faith, so prayer is the word I’ll use here.

Others might substitute meditation…although the terms aren’t truly synonymous.

Either way, a critical habit is to PAUSE and reconnect with what matters.

I’ve yet to find a person who says they pray too much.

My wife and I already have a habit of walking the dogs together and praying as we go. Now we’re adding brief “5 second prayers” to our day (see these “5 Second Prayers”).

It matters little when or how we pray. By this, I mean it’s not about a particular technique or flowery words.

Prayer is an open, humble heart before God.

And this world could use more of that.

6) Engage with others

Life in isolation is torture.

Sure, times to ourselves are helpful, even essential. But finding solitude is different than being solitary.

The very nature of human family suggests we weren’t created to be alone.

Of course, relationships don’t always smell like roses. If they don’t outright stink, they at least have bad breath.

But good relationships have some things in common.

• They take investment. There are no shortcuts to relational riches.

• They require unselfishness. It’s not a give-as-I-get proposition. It takes sacrifice.

• They embrace forgiveness. We mess up…we fess up. No shaming or grudges.

A good way to start is to be truly present with people. (That’s right: ignore that electronic toddler in your pocket.)

Really listen.

You are still paying attention, right? 🤔

7) Savor small joys

Look at your hand for a moment.

Consider the intricacies of skin, nerves, muscles, tendons, bones and blood. How your fingers respond with such dexterity. The sensitivity of each fingertip.

If you have a hand that functions, that’s a small joy to celebrate.

And every day holds endless opportunities for gratitude.

Part of this habit is to pause and notice.

We can rush through our days, taking every good thing for granted. Or we can feed a joyful spirit by pausing to give thanks.

This is more than saying grace before a meal (as good a habit as that is).

I’ve made it a nightly habit to end my day with a prayer of gratitude. I name specific things for which I’m thankful.

• Clean water. A hot shower. A roof over our heads.
• Family and friends. Safety during travels.
• Readers like you.

I could go on.

Funny how this habit of gratitude helps my rhythms of rest. Often I doze off contentedly as I’m giving thanks. 😴

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So what’s on your gratitude list today?

And which of these habit RECIPES spoke most strongly to you?

Feel free to COMMENT below!