What are some of the best habits you have formed and how do you form habits?

The best habit and how to form it? Only one! The habit of self-determination. Habits are decisions we don't waste any more thought on; they only require us to follow decisions we made some time ago even though the basics have changed. There are undeniably good ones like hygiene like brushing teeth, and washing hands, learned morals and respect for others, and much, much more. Art or artists also live from rehearsed processes/habits like using colors, brushes, or spatulas. My habit is to actively choose to decide: to create something new and bring transformation; I have to make recent decisions every time, to make the "right choice" every time, then it most probably will become good habits.

Reading the Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and and Atomic Habits by James Clear really got me started down the road of habit formation. So much so that I built a product that combines concepts from habit formation with Cognitive Behavior Therapy to create an on-demand mental health toolkit! Ladder My best habits are definitely journaling daily, meditation, taking cold showers (try 30 seconds at the end of your regular showers first), and fasting.

Wow, so many great suggestions here that I'd love to implement. I'll echo the comments that talk about making time to exercise and get outside. This is something I've made a habit of during quarantine and it has done so much for my mental health! One habit I've embraced and do every day is to make my bed. That may seem trite but if any of you have read "Make Your Bed" by Admiral William McRaven, he talks about the importance of making your bed when you get up in the morning. In doing so, he argues that you start your day with a sense of accomplishment- if nothing else, you've accomplished one thing and that was to make your bed. Always helps me get my day started off on the right footing. More info on the book here if anyone is interested: https://www.goodreads.com/book/s...

I wish I followed many of these practices, but I don't. Too much rigidity limits my creativity and enthusiasm. So I have one habit - I have a to-do list with major items (e.g. construct a pitch deck) and smaller, quicker stuff beneath it (eg finish the customer survey, find a pitch deck designer on Upwork). I update it in the morning, evening (so I know what to do the next day), and after meetings (if anything changes)