Everyone wants to live a better life. Looking for ways to do that is what brings most readers to Lifehack. Whether it’s finding ways to improve your relationships with your family and friends, improve your productivity at work, live a healthier lifestyle, have more peace of mind, and so on, you can find advice on how to achieve all of those things right here.
But, what if you were just looking for a few basic tips and tricks for life in general? If that’s the case, here are the five best pieces of advice we can give you.
1. Eat less CRAP and eat more FOOD.
That’s right– eat better. For our bodies and minds, it all begins with what we put in our mouths every day. You can work out all you want, but all the exercise in the world can’t overcome a bad diet. Everyone is always benefited by eating healthier.
2. Pick an exercise routine you’re going to enjoy and not dread.
If you hate running on a treadmill, don’t force yourself to do it. You’re most likely going to eventually quit. If you enjoy playing tennis instead, then do that. Whatever form of exercise you enjoy the most (running, lifting weights, yoga, playing sports, mountain climbing, bicycling, etc.) just do it because as long as you’re doing some form of exercise, you’re improving your health and life in many ways.
3. Develop positive habits.
To improve your life you need to develop positive habits that will override any negative ones you already have. So, how do you accomplish that? The answer is: you spend the next 66 days (or so) developing a new habit.
Science now says that it takes, on average, 66 days to develop a habit. How long it takes you to develop it depends on two factors — the complexity of the habit and your dedication. Drinking a glass of water every morning when you wake up is going to be easier to make as a habit than something that requires more physical effort.
Still, scientists have offered suggestions on how to create habits. It’s basically a three-step process where the 66 days is broken down into thirds. The first 22 days is about loudly proclaiming your desire to create this habit and asking your friends and family to hold you accountable. The second 22 days is about looking inward and holding yourself accountable. The final 22 days is about making that final push and getting that extra motivation. After that, it’s about enjoying your success.
4. Be in control of your responses to actions and words.
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor and the last of the ancient Stoic philosophers. Stoics believed in mind over matter and to use logic and not emotions when dealing with what happens around them. Aurelius dealt with many issues in his reign, including his best friend attempting a coup against him. Through it all, Marcus chose to forgive those who betrayed him. In his collection of writings, Meditations, he also wrote that, “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” People say things based on how they perceive what’s around them. How you react to what people say and do to you is purely up to you.
Another way to put it is the quote from Dennis Kimbro, “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” So, control your reactions… All of this brings us to our last tip.
5. Love unconditionally.
Unconditional love is affection without limitations or boundaries. Conditional love is requiring someone else to earn your affection. Your family and loved ones should not have to earn your love. It should be given freely and without obligations. When you give unconditional love, you will receive it in return– maybe not by all– but you will. Conditional love, on the other hand, can lead to resentment because it requires some sort of exchange between individuals. Exchanges can be measured, and if one party feels their exchange is worth more than what they get in return, anger, resentment and jealousy will build up.
If you love someone unconditionally, you accept their flaws, and you will still love them regardless.
Certainly, there are hundreds of more tips and tricks we could include here. You have an entire website here with Lifehack to help you uncover them. These five tips are meant to be the foundation you will use to build upon with all of the other tips and tricks available in the articles on this site. They are the building blocks for adding more success into your life.
Featured photo credit: Pietro and Silvia via flickr.com
