Not everything in life needs sweeping, monumental change to create a positive impact. Sometimes, all it takes is the simplest gestures or change in habit to shift the outcome of a situation toward something positive. We have all had those moments when we've looked around and asked ourselves, "how did it get like this?" Whether that means the path in our life or the path of dirty clothes in our room we know, somewhere in our past, there was an easy change we could have made, but didn't. Here are goodMRKT's seven small habits that can create good changes!

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 1. START WITH, "HOW CAN I BE KIND?"

There are many different mindsets that you can choose from to start your day. Some focus on creativity and control, others are about productivity and persistence. For us, starting our day thinking, "how can I be kind?" creates an intentional path towards helping people that generate positive impacts in every part of our life, from friends and family to our social and work life. They say in any given situation you can either be kind or you can be clever, the times we've chosen kindness have always led to better experiences.

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2. DON'T PUT IT DOWN, PUT IT AWAY 

In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it's easy to slip into doing the "easiest" thing at any given moment. For us, this creates a constant to-do list of things that we've placed sporadically all over our homes and offices. An empty cup of coffee here, a stack of unopened mail over there, on and on and on.

To help control the chaotic clutter, we instituted the, "Don't Put It Down, Put It Away" rule. Meaning, that cup goes into the dishwashers or back inside the cupboard--not in the sink. That sweater goes back into your drawer or closet--not slung lazily over a chair or the bed frame. This one simple change has saved us countless hours of clean-up time and helped create calm minds free from clutter.

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3. STOP GUESSING

Take the time to know what you need to know. How much money is in my bank account? How long will it take me to get to the restaurant on time? When is the last time I went to the doctor? When you know the actual answer you're able to make better decisions about your life. You know whether or not you can afford that new piece of clothing. You know when you have to start getting ready so you aren't late for a reservation. When you stop guessing you can start guiding your life in the direction you want to go. 

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4. WRITE IT DOWN

You will not remember that amazing thing your mom said on the phone earlier. Write it down! It's impossible to expect that we can remember those special little moments that happen throughout the day when we're so busy worrying about everything else. From reservations and recommendations to jokes and gym classes, don't force yourself to keep everything in your head. Do yourself a favor and write it down!

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5. ORGANIZE YOUR CALENDAR

This will change your life. We are definitely proponents of organized life (check out this blog for more tips) and our calendar is our shining beacon of knowledge. The farther out you can organize your calendar, the better off you're going to be. A couple of weeks is fine. A few months is better. A year or two, though, and you have a guiding light to keep you on track for long, long time.

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6. FULL HANDS IN, FULL HANDS OUT

If you've ever worked in a restaurant, this mantra was drilled into your brain daily. For those of you lucky enough to have avoided restaurant work, Full Hands In, Full Hands Out, means always adding something else to what you're doing. Leaving the kitchen? Take out some cups to refill the drink station or help carry some food to another table. Coming back in? Grab those empty plates off the table and take them to the washing station.

Really, it's about building collaboration and accountability in the restaurant, but for us, it's about keeping our living room clean of the clothes that have accumulated on the sofa and picking up the cups off the bedside table. It's a habit that--like "Don't Put It Down..."--has saved us countless hours of future cleaning. Speaking of the future...

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7. START PRIORITIZING YOUR FUTURE

Learn this small habit and watch the positive changes being to happen. So often in our lives, we chose the immediate, impulsive wants of our present selves to the detriment of our future selves. We stay up too late and put the consequences on the "future us" in the morning. We want to be more productive on the weekends but have another drink on Friday night and "future us" has to deal with the Saturday morning fogginess.

When you prioritize the person you will be in the future you create positive pathways to becoming the person you have planned on being. You are able to choose what is right over choosing what you want right now. It is a small habit that will help you create good change time and time again. 

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goodMRKT

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