Going through a divorce is never easy, even when it’s the right decision for a relationship. After being married, whether for a short or long-time, your life was inevitably tied to that of your partner. However, following a divorce, your life can now go in a number of directions based on the lifestyle you desire. Learn how divorce effects a lifestyle and what a person can do to maintain or create a new lifestyle following this separation from their partner.
How Does a Divorce Impact a Lifestyle?
With a divorce rate of 2.5 per 1,000 individuals in the United States compared to a marriage rate of 6.0 per 1,000 individuals, nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. To that end, it’s important to learn how a divorce can impact your lifestyle in the short and long-term. Divorced individuals have been shown to suffer from higher rates of mortality, depression, general illnesses, and even substance abuse disorders.
While there can be a variety of additional factors that lead to the above, it’s clear that taking care of yourself following a separation from your partner is important. To that end, there are a number of steps everybody should take in order to maintain or create a healthy lifestyle.
Steps to Follow to Maintain Your Lifestyle
Whether you are seeking men’s lifestyle tips or women’s lifestyle tips following a divorce, learning how to cultivate a healthy lifestyle is important. Use the following five tips to improve your health, both mental and physical, following a divorce:
1. Assess what your lifestyle currently is
The first step in turning around your lifestyle following a divorce is identifying what your lifestyle currently is. Determining what unhealthy habits have developed over the course of your marriage, whether that be substances, unhealthy diets, or something else, is important so that you can identify what needs to change. On top of this, consider what you want your lifestyle to actually look like and the steps that will be required to make it happen.
2. Consider what your immediate future will look like
Following a divorce, it’s easy to feel lost and upset regarding what comes next. Take the time to sit down and plan out what you want your near future to look like. Consider factors such as where you want to live, if you need a career change, or if there’s something else that needs changing. Planning for the future can seem difficult when you are still reeling from your immediate past but thinking about this is a necessary task.
3. Think about the things you missed out on due to your marriage
Many people who have come out of a divorce may not know what to do next, consider thinking about what you missed out on while being married. Perhaps there was a trip you always wanted to take, a diet you always wanted to try, or a gym you always wanted to get a membership at. Take part in activities you never could before when you were married.
4. Get your financials straight
Financials can get tricky following a divorce, especially depending how your assets were split. Take the time after a divorce to sort out any financial issues so that you don’t need to think about money in the near future. Whether that means changing where you live to a less wealthy area, cutting out expenses that you always had, or simply doing a reconciliation with all of your accounts, it’s important to get a strong handle over your financials.
5. Start reducing your expenses
Similar to the previous tip, focus on reducing the amount of expenses you have on your plate. While some of the expenses you have may naturally go away after you are divorced, there are bound to be a number that aren’t necessary anymore. There is no better time to figure out what these expenses are and to cut them out if they aren’t applicable to you.
Maintain your lifestyle following divorce
While it will naturally take some time to move on from a divorce, regardless of who initiated it, building up your lifestyle after the separation is important. As you begin your life now single again, focus on bettering yourself and taking steps that you never did when you were married. The lifestyle you had in your married life may not have been one you were comfortable with, which is why taking the divorce as an opportunity to revamp your life is a great idea.