If you want to embrace a more mindful living and start incorporating mindfulness into your everyday routine—it can have a serious and positive impact on nearly every facet of your life. Embracing mindfulness can help your with relationships, your peace of mind, your health and your professional endeavors.

What is Mindful Living? Mindful living is the ability to stay impartial to our surroundings and the ability to stay present.

Before you start to make some positive changes in your life in an effort to live more mindful—it is important to have a clear grasp on what mindful living really is.

The 7 Essential Keys to Living More Mindfully

So what are ways to be mindful? You can be patient, look within, focus on one thing at a time and be more observant.

Looking to live a more mindful life? It can be much more simple than you think, all you need to do is stick to the basics and focus on these seven essential keys to living more mindfully.

1.    Make Mindful Living a Priority

If you want to start living a more mindful life, then you need to make mindful living a priority. If you prioritize your practice of mindful living, then you are bringing it more into focus and treating it with the necessary amount of importance.

It is easy to say we are going to do something and say we are going to make changes—but then it is just as easy to fall out of focus because we don’t put enough emphasis on how important it is.

One way to do this is to start your day with a positive affirmation and say to yourself “I am going to prioritize mindful living because it is important to me. I will value myself and my well-being and be more mindful so I can live a happier and peaceful life.”

2.    Be Patient

Learning to be more mindful in your everyday life is sometimes easier said than done. Mindfulness doesn’t happen overnight. The truth of the matter is, most people approach their mindfulness practice assuming they will all of a sudden feel different or more mindful by a certain point of time.

This typically isn’t the case. Living more mindfully typically happens gradually and over a longer period of time—it many times people don’t realize they have reached a state of mindfulness until they are already there.

The good news is, if you are diligent and patient, as time passes you will start viewing the world in a different way as you develop a valuable skill that can impact the rest of your life.

3.    Look Within

So much of mindfulness is about paying attention to the world around you. However, it is just as important to make sure that you are looking inward, and that you are being mindful of your own thoughts and feelings.

Never forget that the most important relationship in your life is the relationship that you have with yourself. Be friends with yourself and really be mindful of who you are and what you are thinking—and you can continue to use your new mindful mindset to grow into the best version of yourself possible.

4.    Make Mindful Exercises Part of Your Routine

Think of the routine that you have in the morning, or before you go to bed. What do you do? What is your order of operations? Why are these things important to your routine?

Now that you have a clear view of what makes up your morning routing—it is time to consider adding a mindfulness exercise to the mix. After all, putting yourself in a more mindful state should be one of the most important things you do to get ready for the day.

5.    Use Listening as a Mindfulness Practice

One of the keys to creating a foundation for your mindful living practice is, well to practice mindful living as much as possible. While meditation and mindfulness walks should make up a great deal of your practice, there are also other ways you can challenge your senses and challenge yourself to be more mindful.

One of these ways is by listening.

Many times, when we “listen” to another person, we may be there physically, but may not be fully present or fully focused on what the other person is saying. Next time you are talking with a friend or loved one, challenge yourself to really hear their words, listen to what they are trying to express and focus your attention on the other party.

This is a great way to practice being more mindful of your senses and what is around you, all while showing others that you care.

6.    Keep Your Home as Zen as Possible

Your home should be a place where you feel safe, balanced and as though you can relax and unwind. You want your home to be conducive to your attempts to maintain a more mindful life—so set yourself up for success.

Keep your home clean, comfortable and organized so that you aren’t distracted by clutter, projects and other messes, but instead able to clear your mind and focus on you. Making some small changes to your home to make it a more peaceful retreat can really help you in your efforts to get in a more mindful state every day.

7.    Focus on One Thing At a Time

In a world where so many of us are proud of our ability to be multi-taskers, as you work to be more mindful, you also need to work on focusing on one thing at a time. Single tasking is relatively simple, yet it is one of the most important components of mindfulness and Zen living.

If you challenge yourself to step away from the chaotic mental state that multi-tasking can bring and to instead just focus on one thing at a time, it can teak you what mindfulness is really about. It can also teach you how your way of looking at the world can change so much when you are able to focus in with this type of clarity.

Wha are the benefits of being more mindful? Being mindful can improve cognitive and physical health.

Conclusion

There are many ways you can start living more mindfully—and the good news is it doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Just keep these seven essential keys in perspective as you aim to live more mindfully. Making these easy little changes can lead to some really big changes in your life moving forward.