The tiny, unexpected thing the healthiest, happiest people in the world swear by

And four other tiny tweaks to implement ASAP.

Hello friends!

After over a decade of interviewing experts, bestselling authors, athletes, doctors, wildly creative entrepreneurs (I could go on, but I’ll stop there), I’ve started to notice a pattern: the happiest, healthiest, most successful people I meet tend to share certain small but mighty habits.

These aren’t the splashy, 5 a.m. ice baths or 10‑mile runs you see on Instagram. They’re the quiet, consistent choices that create outsized impact—tiny changes that ripple into every part of their lives.

In today’s mini‑episode, I’m breaking down these five tiny wellness habits and why they matter so much, plus how you can start integrating them immediately without overhauling your entire life. And there’s one in particular that I don’t think we talk about enough:

Value‑driven routines

The healthiest, happiest, most successful people I know have routines. I’m not just talking about a morning smoothie or an exercise schedule (we’re eating savory breakfasts these days anyway, people!) I’m talking about routines that are built around our values. One friend of mine hosts an open‑door Sunday dinner every week, another makes a Saturday farmers market trip the centerpiece of her weekend, then meal preps from her haul. Chelsea Fagan (of The Financial Diet) rents a house every summer for a month and invites friends and family to come stay.

The magic here is threefold: routines force you to clarify what you value, they help you figure out what’s “enough” so you’re not constantly chasing more, and they dramatically cut down on decision fatigue. When you know your life priorities—and bake them into your calendar—you stop wasting time on choices that don’t align with them. And the best routines blend stability with novelty, giving you both a familiar structure and fresh experiences that make life richer.

From the episode:
“Routines also help us clarify what we actually want, what’s enough, and what life is actually about. Until you know how much money you actually need to live the life that you want, you will never think that you have enough money. Figuring out these routines can be hugely helpful for that.”

The takeaway:
Pick one value—connection, adventure, health, creativity—and design a routine around it. Make it easy and repeatable: a weekly standing coffee date, a monthly hike, a nightly tech‑free hour. When you tie your routines directly to what you care about most, they stop feeling like obligations and start feeling like joy‑generators. Bonus: Every time you repeat them, you’re making it easier for your future self to live in alignment without overthinking it.

For more on the five tiny wellness habits—why reading is a workout for your brain, how micro‑movements can transform your health, the “tiny experiment” mindset that accelerates success, and my favorite planning hacks—listen to the full episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Xo,
Liz

P.S. Paid subscribers get full episode transcripts, key takeaways, and our Friday bonus issues. Last week’s bonus was all about the unexpected ways I protect myself from the sun, and I’m getting such great feedback on it! Don’t miss out.

Key takeaways