More than 2000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle said that we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. I believe this idea holds true today just as much as it did in Aristotle’s time. Confidence, success, health and happiness, conditions we all crave, are not gained and maintained by taking a set of isolated actions for a brief while, but rather by habitually living in a particular way.
Drawing from my personal and professional experience, as well as lots of scientific research, I came up with a list of 10 top habits that I believe are very important for confidence, success, health and happiness in life. I’d like to show you what these 10 top habits are, why they matter and how to implement them. Let’s take them one at a time.
1. Socializing
There isn’t a speck of doubt in my mind that strong relationships with like-minded people are one of the most important ingredients of a happy life. And much scientific research bears this out. Even though some of us are very fond of solo activities, we are also social animals and we need to regularly interact and bond with others.
If you don’t have a social circle of at least several members you really click with, building one is gonna be a big step forward. Of course, if you’re out of high-school or college (when making friends often seems to happen on its own due to the naturally convivial character of the environment you’re in), you’ll need to be proactive about making friends.
This proactive attitude entails getting involved in social activities, meeting new people, making conversation, staying in touch with the people you resonate with the most, and gradually building those relationships. If you’re somewhat shy or socially anxious, this may prove to be a challenge, but the good news is that with the right guidance you can become significantly more social and come to enjoy interacting socially with all kinds of people.
2. Learning
Learning is a habit with the aim of developing two types of skills. One is professional skills, which you use to grow career-wise, and the other is life skills, which you use to better your life overall. So if you’re an engineer or you want to be one, you learn engineering. If you’re a marketing specialist or you want to be one, you learn marketing. These are professional skills. But you can also enhance your social skills, your emotional intelligence, your problem solving skills, your resilience, your financial skills, and so on, which are all valuable life skills.
I believe in life-long learning, and every high-achiever I know practices it. I’ve seen the amazing results it can provide in all areas of life. So I highly encourage you to spend a few hours every week learning new things and developing skills with practical value in your personal life or your career. Continually seek to better yourself, and do it in a smart, strategic way. It will be the best investment you’ll ever make.
3. Eating Healthy
Eating is a habit we all have, but eating healthy is far from it. A quick glance at the current health statistics is enough to realize that most of us have terrible eating habits. We eat too much sugar, too many carbs, too much junk food and just plain too much. Since what you eat plays a crucial role in how healthy you are, no discussion about top habits would be complete without mentioning healthy eating.
The gist of it is to make sure that each day your meals and snacks are healthy and nutritious. Personally, I follow the eating recommendations of the primal blueprint, which I’ve studied and tested thoroughly and they make the most sense. I advise anybody who wants to have vibrant health and a good form to apply them.
These recommendations involve eating lots of fruits, veggies, nuts, meat and fish, which is what we ate for more than 95% of our existence as a species and are biologically adapted to. Some of the advice in the primal blueprint is controversial, for instance the advice to eat meat and avoid grains, but again, I’ve done my homework and I consider it solid.
4. Exercise
Exercising is the ideal complement to healthy eating. When you combine them, it means you not only regulate what you put into your body, but also what your body does with it to some extent. Physical exercise engages your body, keeps it active and trains it. And the health benefits are immense.
Just as in eating, the primal blueprint is my guide for how I exercise. Accordingly, I do some light cardio a few times per week (for example fast-paced waling, hiking or dancing), some strengths training (lifting weights) and a bit of sprinting, even if it is to catch a bus. It’s a formula that provides a complete but not extreme workout, which works wonders for your physical health, your mood and your form.
5. Meditation
I was somewhat hesitant to do meditation at first, because I simply didn’t get it. Many really accomplished people I knew swore by it, but I failed to see its benefits. Until I gave it a good try, doing it daily for a few weeks.
That’s when I discovered first-hand that meditation is a powerful way to let go of pesky negative thoughts, de-stress and access a state of calm confidence that can last for hours. It’s also an awesome tool to become better at focusing and harder to get distracted, which boosts your productivity and your presence of mind. It facilitates insight and it builds your inner fortitude.
There are various meditation exercises and techniques, but the basic idea is to focus on a specific stimulus (for example your breathing or a small object in front of you) for a specific period of time and try to keep your focus on it. It’s an exercise in concentrating your attention on something narrow and disregarding everything else. But really, you have to practice meditation for a period and experience it for yourself in order to truly understand it. So, give it a try.
6. Practicing Gratitude
Practicing gratitude means becoming fully aware of the good things about you and your life, acknowledging them, acknowledging that in other circumstances they may not have been, and expressing thankfulness for them.
Gratitude is particularly important because we have a strong inclination to become acclimatized to whatever we have, no matter how awesome it is, and then it feel like it’s no longer special. Even a Ferrari feels like a normal thing after having it for several months, and it no longer gives you a thrill. Why? Because you got used to it and you take it for granted.
Practicing gratitude reverses this process and you stop taking things for granted. It helps you see that, although you may not have reached all your goals, you have some amazing things in your life, and it teaches you to appreciate them. With gratitude you can take a lot of pleasure in small things such as a walk in a park or a cup of coffee. You can deeply appreciate that you have a nice computer and a roof over your head. A lot of happiness can come from being grateful for you current life, and it doesn’t exclude the pursuit of an even better life.
7. Financial Planning
Financial planning involves a series of periodical actions regarding your money, which I suggest you perform at the end of every month and every year. Many people ignore this part of life, and they often come to pay (no pun intended) dearly for it. Planning your finances is no joke.
The first key action is reviewing your spending over the past month or year (depending on the case) and assessing your current financial situation. This helps you keep track of your spending and identify types of goods or services that you spend excessively on considering the return on investment.
This information will be very relevant for the next action, which is budgeting money for the next month or year. Thus you control wasteful spending and ensure you put your money where the highest added value is. In addition, you wanna save or invest a certain amount of your monthly income. This is essential for building wealth, as well as having financial security.
8. Helping Others
Helping others plays a central role in your happiness because one of our deepest desires as humans is to have a positive impact on this world. We wanna help others and make this world better. So it’s an excellent idea to have habitual activities through which you do so.
Ideally, your job is your main vehicle for helping others. You spend so many hours working each day, you might as well do work that has a real positive impact on this world. Unfortunately, many jobs simply do not meet this criterion, which is a big part of what makes them quite unfulfilling.
If you’re in this situation, in the mid-to-long-term, I recommend you seek a career change towards a job that permits you to genuinely help others. In the short-term, I suggest you seek activities to do in your free time through which you can help others. For instance, volunteer for a charity organization and do some charity work. There is no shortage of people who need help, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find opportunities to aid them.
9. Travelling
I could talk forever about the joys and benefits of travel. Personally, I spend several weeks every year travelling, and the period when I travel is frequently the peak of my year.
Travelling exposes you to new places, new people, new cultures and new customs. It’s an amazing way to enrich your life and grow as an individual. Not to mention that the entire experience of travelling is extremely fun. The things you do, the things you see; even the occasional problems like missing your connection flight in the end just add to the sense of adventure and make travelling more exciting.
So I encourage you to put some time and money aside, and at least once every few months do a bit of travelling. Contrary to popular opinion, travelling doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. With a bit of research and preparation, you can find great opportunities to travel and have fun on a budget.
10. Sleeping
Last but not least, I wanna talk about sleep. Many of us have atrocious sleeping habits. And the main problem is that we simply don’t get enough sleep. We work too much, we party too long when we do, and we waste a lot of time, which leaves little time for sleep. Not good.
The standard recommendation is to get about 8 hours of sleep per night. Newer research show that a small percentage of people actually need up to 10 hours of sleep to function optimally, and another percentage of people function just fine with 8 hours of sleep per night. Blame genetics, mostly.
Whatever group you’re in, it’s important to ensure that you get the right amount of sleep for you, regularly. Repeatably getting less than your optimal amount of sleep affects your cognitive functions, your mood, your stress level and your health, and the more you cut down on your slumbering hours, the worse these effects get. Nobody says you have to be a saint and never skip on sleep. But skipping on sleep should be a rare exception; not the rule.
These are the 10 top habits. How does one’s life look when you implement these habits?
Well, it’s a lot more organized in some instances, which, interestingly enough, gives you more leeway to be disorganized and wild in other instances. There is a sense of positive routine in your existence, and a sense that you’re constantly growing and your life is expanding. It helps you do more, achieve more, stay upbeat and trust your abilities. Above all, it helps you live a long, gratifying life, paved with all sorts of beautiful experiences.
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