Do you want to live a better life? Do you want to add value to others? So what are you doing every day to become that person? And don’t give me that sad explanation that you are too busy to do the work.
Bill Gates, Tony Robins and Oprah Winfrey have the same 168 hours in a week you have and they not only created better lives for themselves but other people. What if you borrowed three hours out of your busy 168 to design a better life?
Get started with these three suggestions:
1. Getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep – it might improve your sex life.
Do you get seven to eight hours of sleep every night? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the U.S., 40 million people suffer from chronic sleep disorders, such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy. Poor sleep can result in serious performance issues, such as:
- Lack of interest in sex.
- Symptoms of depression.
- Poor memory.
Ariana Huffington, the author of The Sleep Revolution, explains that “We are in the midst of a sleep deprivation crisis.” Are you struggling to find sleep? To address poor sleep, you can try some of these hacks:
- Take a warm bath before sleep.
- Make your bedroom as dark as a cave.
- Avoid the blue light of your smartphone.
You should make a 21-day commitment to getting seven to eight ours of sleep. The benefits are enormous and at the very least you might improve your sex life.
2. Reading a book a week – it just might increase your salary.
On average how many books have you read? According to Pew Internet Research, 27% of American adults admitted that they did not read a single book in 2015.
Jarry Lee of BuzzFeed states you need to read, “Because books tell the stories of people we don’t know, places we haven’t been, and worlds we can only imagine.” Yes, reading a book per week might seem like an impossible task, and I get it – you don’t have enough hours in the day. But let me ask you this, how much time do you spend watching TV?
The average American watches nearly 5 hours of TV per day, according to Nielsen. There you go, I found 5 hours in your busy day that you can spend reading a book. And what benefits will you gain from reading a book a week?:
- The more you read, the more words you will know.
- Everything you read fills your head with more information.
- It might increase your salary.
Try it. Read a book a week for four weeks and start with “The Motivation Manifesto,” by Brendon Burchard. Brendon will leave you inspired to not only read more, but wanting to improve your life.
3. Learn a language fluently – you never know when you might need it.
Do you know a second language? If you don’t, then you are at a disadvantage.
In a Toastmasters article, the organization explains that member Alejandro Saiz speaks both English and Spanish. Saiz explains, “I work at Airbus in Madrid, and the official way of communication with other countries is English, but at the Spanish site [of the company], we hold most meetings in Spanish.”
While English is the “official” business language being fluent in another language can be beneficial. What might those benefits look like?:
- Bilingualism can improve your competitiveness in the job market.
- A second language can open up new career opportunities.
- Bilingualism opens up social and cultural opportunities.
Today, if you want to learn a second language, it can be as simple as creating an account on Duolingo, choosing a language and start learning. I am biased, so I would want to learn Spanish.
In the end, it does not matter if you study Spanish or Mandarin. The facts are rather clear that if you learn a second language, you will benefit socially and professionally.
So these are the 3 things you can do to live a better life. I challenge you to schedule that time on your calendar to read, learn a language and, yes, schedule eight hours of sleep. The future you will thank you for it.
Featured photo credit: Unsplash/Vladimir Kudinov via unsplash.com
