Small steps at the same time or big steps in one direction?

[Spook17]

I'm 25. I've accomplished some personal goals but some still are not well developed. I judge myself because i haven't gotten into the habits I would like to. I advanced on those in small steps but I haven't stuck to them.  

In exercise: Now I have more strength because last year I was doing calisthenics at a small level,  but since I had an injury at the gym last month I stopped to go. Now is difficult to return. 

Reading/Writing: I read more than last year but I haven't stick into the habit too. Reading more than last year means reading 1 book on 2 months.

Finance: Having a new job boosted my finances. But still, I'm keeping wasting money on dumb things. Comparing with my last 2 years I advanced and now I'm more aware but that's not enough.

Studying: Often I sit down and study technical things for my job. It's not quite regularly as I would like to. 

Friends and family: I cleaned my friendships and broke up with my gf (still healing for that)  having more time for my real-friends and my family. I would like to do more for them but still trying.

Spirituality: I stopped meditating every day. Last 4 years I had a regular meditation habit. I decided to quit to focus on myself and fix my life before getting into this. I don't know if I have to return.

Health: I advanced in checking my health. But as with the other things above i've done small steps and not finished the entire procedure.  

Other stuff: As above, I advanced with conversational english, flirting skills, and soft skills. But as well not as I'd like to.

Summary: I'm better than yesterday. But not as I would like. I think I'm not having relevant improvements and I have the fear of not getting habits that have a time-restriction to get (health/exercise/good diet/finance). Also, I still have bad habits like eating shit things once/twice a week or smoking cigarettes once/twice a week. 

I don't know how to start or how to prioritize them, because everything seems important to me. Also there are other fields that are not too relevant that I didn't put above. I'm 25 and I feel like if I don't fix this today I would get older and regret not doing it. 

I'd really appreciate some advice. Thanks in advance. 

[Yarco]

Planning and intention.

If something is important to you, you need to schedule it in or it'll become an afterthought. Work out at a specific time on specific days of the week. Devote a specific time like 30 minutes before bed each day to reading. Have a standing appointment to visit family or have coffee with friends at a certain time each week. Set time to mediate at the start or end of the day and start small like 10 mins so you dont get overwhelmed.

Once you schedule stuff in, you dont have to think about it any more. It's not a choice, the time comes to do that task and you just do it. As you create a schedule, you'll see there is plenty of time to do all the things you want if you're strategic and make a plan. You dont need to prioritize and sacrifice some things for others. Most people (basically everyone except people like CEOs with huge amounts of responsibility or people working 2+ jobs to survive or people looking after multiple kids) have hours and hours of spare time each day, time is not the issue.

Create a yearly, monthly, and weekly budget for your finances and make sure your income exceeds your spending with a good amount of room for savings. Put aside the savings first as soon as you get your money and the bills are paid. Having a separate account helps to get it out of mind if you're tempted to spend all the money you get.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Yarco