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This guide on how to live a soft life will force you to rethink your priorities and push your stressors to the back, making space for joy and intentionality.
Much like everyone else on this planet, I’ve lived through many phases and versions of myself.
I’ve been a dutiful kid, a punctual student, a confused college grad, and a nine-to-five editing intern who wanted so badly to love what she was doing.
All these phases had a lot of different things going on for me, but one thing that was common throughout was stress (loads of it).
I was raised in the midst of the hustle culture, and only realized later on that it was a universal thing.
No matter how chill an environment you grow up in, sooner or later, hustling catches up to you and then you spend your life catching up to it.
It’s tiring, stressful, and never satisfying enough.
But what if there was a way for you to keep working on your goals but instead of running, you could do it walking while enjoying the world around you?
Welcome to the world of soft living, a practice that is rooted in prioritizing well-being over constant busyness and might be just what you need to break free from the hustle culture.
What Is The Soft Life?
The soft life movement (popularized through social media) is rooted in prioritizing well-being and carving out a space for ease and contentment.
It rejects the pressure to grind and seek external validation and helps you turn relaxation into a habit instead of being a reward for productivity.
It will also help you take back the energy that goes into hustling and pour it into your wellness cup instead.
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Soft life rituals can look different for everyone.
For some, it might involve long walks in nature (that’s me!) while for others it might be pursuing a passion project that fills them with immense happiness.
But based on the last two years of my life as a wellness blogger and practitioner, here are 8 habits you can tweak according to your own needs to embrace the soft life and make it your default way of living.
8 Ways To Create A Soft Life
1. Start And End Your Day Right
If you’re someone who rolls out of bed and dives into their day without any order and ends the day pretty similarly, then it’s high time for you to break out of this habit.
For the love of soft life, create a morning routine that gets you in a happy headspace.
Hydrate yourself, stretch, meditate, read a self-help book, practice your skincare routine with mindfulness, and eat a good breakfast that gives you energy.
Go as gentle as you can on yourself in the morning before you concern yourself with productivity and your job-related tasks.
In the evening, relax and wind down with intention, leaving all your worries out of the bedroom.
Dim the lights, draw a warm bath, sip some herbal tea, and avoid screens for at least an hour before bed to signal to your body it’s time to rest.
These small acts will bookend your day with calmness, setting the stage for a softer life.
2. Redefine Success For Yourself
Society often equates success with the rewards of hard work and busyness. But is it fair to yourself to measure your worth this way?
I don’t think being successful is just about money, goals, and promotions.
True success should be measured by the quality of your experiences, the depth of your connections, and the serenity in your soul.
How good are you as a person, what do you have to offer your people emotionally, and how many of your bad habits have you ditched successfully?
Questions like these make you realize how many layers there can be to being successful in life.
Instead of staying stuck in society’s expectations, focus on what truly matters to you.
Ditch the comparison trap; someone else’s highlight reel isn’t your measure.
This shift will allow you to define success on your own terms, increasing your reasons to be happy and content in everyday life.
3. Prioritize Yourself With Self-Care
Many people struggle to prioritize themselves, and the meaning behind this can also get lost in confusion.
Like, how exactly do you do this without putting your dreams and goals on the backbench?
The answer is self-care, and doing it every day without fail.
It’s little things like drawing a bath when your muscles are sore, watching something light-hearted when you feel low, and doing a workout knowing it will make you feel awesome.
Being able to give yourself what you need in the moment is self-care. The more you do it, the better you get at it.
Here are some self-care routines that I like to stick to and recommend you do too:
- Drink loads of water (it helps both the body and the mind)
- Journal before bed
- Read cozy books
- Light a scented candle
- Spend time alone doing something you like
- Watch an episode of a sitcom
- Go for a walk in the park
- Listen to a feel-good podcast while doing your chores
- Cook yourself a nice meal
4. Say No Without Guilt
For a soft lifestyle, you need to draw healthy boundaries with the outside world.
There are many ways to do this, and all of them stem from one simple practice — Saying no when you need to. People-pleasing is the enemy of the soft life.
You must set clear boundaries with work, friends, and social media (digital detox, anyone?).
It’s okay to decline invitations that drain your energy. After all, your time and energy are precious, and you should be spending them wisely.
As a human, you have your limits.
There are going to be times when you need to focus on yourself fully and detach yourself from toxic situations.
Times like these call for you to say no. You should be able to do it politely but without any guilt.
You are not doing wrong by anyone by telling them no. You’re just doing right by yourself, which is the whole point of opting for a soft life.
5. Declutter Your World
You can’t build good emotions like peace, fulfillment, and mindfulness amidst clutter.
Physical clutter is a constant source of stress. It’ll block you from accessing your soft life mindset.
Declutter your living space regularly and get rid of anything that doesn’t bring you joy.
Go minimalist and prioritize quality over quantity (a rule that I find very valuable).
This extends to your digital world too. Unsubscribe from negativity, curate your social media feeds, and silence notifications that steal your focus.
Spaciousness is needed to nurture positivity; you do what you have to ensure you have yours.
Worth reading: How To Declutter Your Entire Life In 12 Simple Steps
6. Embrace Slowness
The soft life celebrates living in the moment. No staying stuck in the past and no fretting about the future. The only truth lies in the here and now, and that’s where your mind should be.
The ultimate way to achieve this tricky task is to slow down.
I’m not talking about doing things at a snail’s pace. I’m saying every few hours of the day, you pause to take in what you are doing, and enjoy the simple pleasures in life.
Stretch in bed with a smile when you wake up, take leisurely walks in nature, and make your meals just a bit longer so you can savor each bite.
When you see a flower in full bloom, stop to smell it. Watch the sunset while sipping your coffee and capture it on your phone.
Hug your friend longer and be thankful for their presence in your life.
Lingering in these lovely moments for even two more seconds can make all the difference to the way you live. Less rush, more slowness.
7. Manage Stress The Right Way
While some worries and negativities will always exist in life, a lot of mental issues can be avoided if you take care of your stress on a daily basis.
It usually takes total burnout or a breakdown for people to realize they are too stressed, but a soft lifer recognizes stress at the first glimpse and knows how to manage it well.
They know when it’s okay to push themselves and when to take a break.
Habits like regular exercising, drinking loads of water, eating a balanced diet, journaling, and yoga can help.
But it’s always more fun to come up with your own unique stress-busting rituals.
I have an affirmations deck called Stress Less that I like to shuffle and read whenever my mind is overloaded.
Feel free to steal this tip from my book or come up with something new (share in the comment box with me if you do that, yeah?).
Might help: 11 Amazing Habits Of People Who Never Get Stressed
8. Make Nature Part Of Your Routine
I spent the first twenty years of my life in oblivion to the wonders of nature. But now that I know what magic it holds for us, I could never go back.
From catching the morning sun to walking under the stars after dinner, my routine is full of nature rituals, and it’s one of the key reasons why I can call myself a soft lifer.
Nature has healing and calming tendencies, and as you build a deeper connection with it, you’ll find yourself becoming one with the world.
It’s so empowering and humbling at the same time. Feels like spreading your roots and tapping into your spiritual zone.
Add some nature-related activities to your routine and see where it takes you in a month.
My top recommendation — Reading and journaling outdoors in a quiet spot. It’s therapy for the soul, and you don’t have to pay anything for it.
Ditch The Pressure, Embrace The Calm
A soft life doesn’t mean being lazy or avoiding challenges.
It’s about creating habits that make you intentional, nourishing, and true to who you are.
When your contentment cup is full at all times, it becomes easier to pour into your dreams and goals with joy rather than with stress.
The 8 tips in this post offer a no-nonsense approach to creating a soft life for yourself. They helped me turn over a new leaf and will do the same for you should you decide to stick by them.
Hope you have the best time getting to know a softer and calmer you.
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You just went through an 8-step guide on how to live a soft life. Any thoughts, tips, or stories to share on this topic? The comment box is all yours.
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