Health & Family Self Improvement. What works. What doesn't.

For me, 2 things work well:

1. Balance - work/life

2. "You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend." - Bruce Lee

 

What works for you overall. Some lifehacks you've tried and what makes a difference and what has no effect or even a negative effect. For example some people swear that a cold shower makes them feel better for the rest of the day. Some find it makes them cold and miserable for the day. For some becoming vegetarian has improved their life. Likewise some have tried becoming vegetarian and found the lack of energy decreases their quality of life.

 

Taking a deep breath of what exactly?

 

The "good" air.

 

Positive support from others tends to work, even moreso when you pay for it financially.

 

what works - being healthy, exercising ( when I don't do either, I become more lazy & don't feel so good) . Always keep in mind: If its not going to bother me in 5 years, don't waste 5 minutes being upset over it. Balance is key - still eat junk or will go crazy

what doesn't work - negative thinking

 

Doing the same thing/s and expecting a different outcome doesn't work.

 

Ppl do this and blame it on "bad luck" fuuuuu!

 

Stay off the Alcohol , the smokes and gambling include the online sportsbet stuff , stay off it !!

Nothing wrong on your day off days to sit and read a novel all day , no need to be busy just for the sake of it .

When its time to work then give it all you got by hustling and i mean by getting more whether that be more hours from your boss or something else,And working hard

Be nice to people no matter what , then use them , look for opportunities where you can use people to your advantage., but always do it in a nice way

Have sex often

Brush your teeth twice a day

Try to start thinking for yourself instead of asking others that includes street directions etc

Be strong and resilient in times of threat in life

Never ever rely on others nor expect them to do it, rely on yourself !

Dont be a follower and believe in things that dont exist eg , Religion

Train yourself not to be needy , not to need other people constantly, start thinking for yourself ,going out by yourself , doing things yourself



Exercise

Live a simple life

Never ever take your work personally its strictly business

 

I have a coach I catch up with and talk to for two hours a month.

She listens well and asks questions every now and then about stuff I have slipped up on.

It is really good. Most of them it has no impact but sometimes it changes the way I act on something big.

 

What works:
the Headspace app.
surfing
reading widely and curiously
goals and lists
playing an instrument

what doesn't:
Brooding
comparing yourself with others rather than yourself as a baseline
trying to achieve a goal you don't believe in.

 

Make a list - do the list.......
Trouble is the list keeps changing with life...!......and sometimes getting longer....

 

Show us your list? If it's growing, then you need to prioritise. Also, consider if anything can be delegated.

 

I'd suggest that most people that post in a thread like this are very self aware. I find that the ability to reflect on situations very quickly is both positive and negative. It makes me very self critical and also very fast to correct my mistakes and not make them again.

I am always trying to remember to enjoy the journey, as you might never reach your destination but if you enjoyed the journey then it was still worth it.

When I was 15, I was working behind a bar at a motel/restaurant. There was one old tradie left at the bar at about 1am on a weeknight and he could see that I was tired but kept drinking. At the end of the night he offered me a $50 tip and I said "oh no, I couldn't take that much!". He put the note back into his pocket and said, "Here's the cheapest lesson of your life... never say no when someone offers you something that you want... Say 'thank you' and take it."

I think my best tips for self improvement are to take good advice and never repeat your mistakes.

 

Datto's account is hacked!

 

What about those who have TOO Many goals they can't do it and fail

my feeling is that you should concentrate on one main goal mainly eg making money and then have secondary goals eg fitness

But some I guess have the fitness as their main goal.

 

You can have lots of goals but just need to carve out time for them all. In some ways more goals can equal a more balanced life - for eg, fitness goals, family goals, financial goals - if all you focus on is Financial the other two can be neglected when in reality without the other two, financial is pretty meaningless.

 

I have one goal. To become the best man I can be. It doesn't have a due date; it's a lifetime endeavour.

Every day I try to achieve something in the four areas of masculine virtue: Strength, Courage, Mastery and Honour. That's it. Improve a little bit each day in each area for the rest of my life.

 

I’ve never been much of a one for self improvement and continuous learning etc. Usually I’m quite happy working toward a specific goal or just grafting hard at my work.

I’ve had a bit of a mid life crises since turning 40 though and the simplest way to put it as to what is working for me is:-

“To align my actions with my words and values”.

I’ve always thought I was an ethical, decent bloke but through a proper self assessment I realised I was way off base.

In the last 6 months, since trying to align my actions with my values I have:-

Quit all meat and dairy and now eat a well balance, whole foods plant based diet
Took up Yoga
Increased my running
Listen to people more, turned off the TV and read
Show compassion where possible

All of the above has lead to one big epiphany… QUESTION EVERYTHING. Most of what we think we know from being indoctrinated into a homogenised school system and brought up in families of traditions of doing things this way or that way just because this is how its always done. I’ve become a Google-Holic and realised that a lot of what we consider normal in Western society is absolutely weird and bizarre and the more we open our eyes and ask the question as to why we do these things, the more things I find that are simply done out of tradition and habit.

The result of the last 6 months is that I have way more energy, WAY more. I’m stronger and fitter than I’ve been in years, my weight dropped significantly and has stabilized at a lean level yet I eat as much as I ever have. I sleep great. My skin is glowing and my headspace is clear, my concentration levels are off the chart. I fee; “happy” a lot more hours in the day than I ever have.

It seems to be showing in my actions, friends of mine are asking what I’ve changed lately, that type of thing. Two other male friends, beer drinking, BBQ blokes have now adopted plant based diets after I hgave them a 30 day challenge and them seeing how well and positive I have become of late and they are finding the same results, which has in turn led them to question more things and really see what is going in, what our choices are doing to ourselves, the people around us, the animals and the planet.

I believe a big part of my new found peace of mind is that I’m no longer sub-consciously wrestling with the guilt that an animal had to suffer or die for me to eat. The science is out there, Harvard and Cornell studies have shown that the optimal amount of meat in a persons diet is zero. My body feels fantastic, it’ like it can now get on and do what it’s supposed to do as it it’s no longer trying to deal with all the animal products.

Sorry, didn’t mean to make this an anti-meat thread, just highlighting where I have ended up from the simple starting point of aligning my actions with my words and thoughts..

By the way, I’m in no way some hippie/greeny type. I’m a beer drinking, ex-BBQ’ing working class bloke that has recently come to the realisation that a mans true strength is not the size of his biceps, the size and amount of steak on his plate or how loud and brash his attitude is but rather true strength is the size of your heart and having the confidence to stand up and show compassion. Don’t follow the heard. Be your own person and really ask yourself why you do the things you do. If it doesn’t sit well, ask yourself what you can do to change it. Questioning and changing the things about yourself that you can rationalise with your actual beliefs is a hell of a way toward achieving some sort of peace of mind.

For the first time in my life I am genuinely excited to see what next year brings….

 

If "who you are" is not getting the results you want then its time to change "who you are".

Who you are is not fixed it is very fluid if you are up to putting in the effort to become who you need to be to get what you want from life. If you already have all you want from life then carry on "being yourself"!

The old trope given when someone is trying to find a life partner of "just be your self" has to be some of the worst advice to ever give to a person. Sounds nice but will just lead to more of the same - disappointment.

As for continual improvement, if you are not on that path I think you will end up frustrated and disappointed with your life, just my 2 cents.