Tag: improving yourself

The easiest way to become healthier

If you want to be healthier, reduce the barriers that you have in front of improving your health. Don’t keep junk food in the house. Cool your meals instead of going out to eat. Keep your workout clothes close to your bed and work out early in the day. Start off each day by eating healthy food for your first meal. Gain momentum by doing the right thing early and often…then you’ll be less likely to want to squander what you’ve already done as the day goes on.

Another way to think of this is that most of the time, we try to go the path of the least resistance. If there is an easier, more convenient option, we go with it. So make the healthier way the easier way and you will take that option/make that choice more often.

Attitude

If you go into your day with a negative attitude, you’ll focus only on the negatives and the day will seem to take an eternity. People won’t enjoy talking with you and eventually will stop interacting with you if they don’t have to. But if you go into your day with a positive attitude, you are much more likely to have fun whatever you’re doing, the day will go quicker, and people will enjoy being around you. As a result, they’ll try to help you whenever they can because they want to see you succeed.

How do you improve your attitude? Start by smiling more. Smiling can instantly improve your mood (they even tell you to smile when you’re on the phone because it will lead to better results).

Next, stop taking yourself so seriously. Joke with others. Be able to laugh at yourself if you do something embarrassing. Choose to be happy with whatever you’re doing, including work. If you’re going to do something 40+ hours per week, would you rather enjoy your time there or hate it/count down the time until you get to leave? Just because you’re working on an important project doesn’t mean you can’t have fun doing it. In fact, you’ll probably do a better job and feel more life satisfaction if you’re having fun at work.

Keep everything in perspective. Most events are trivial over the span of our lifetimes. Don’t blow things out of proportion and make them bigger than they really are. So often it seems that we take the good things for granted and we over exaggerate the bad things. Stop doing that. Keep it in perspective.

Be generous and remember your manners. Performing random acts of kindness will make you feel better. Do something generous (whether it’s paying someone a compliment or paying for someone’s meal) and don’t expect anything in return. Also, say please and thank you frequently. Just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean that you should forget your manners.

Lastly, stop complaining. Anytime you catch yourself about to complain, try to reframe whatever negative thought you had and make it a positive one. For example, instead of saying, “It’s too hot outside,” say, “It’s so sunny today!” Both statements can be true, but if you focus on the positive statement, you’ll have a better attitude.

Patience with teaching

It takes strength to be gentle. Anyone can be rude, but it takes self-control, strength, and discipline to be patient and caring.

For example, do you get easily annoyed (and show it) when others aren’t understanding what you’re explaining? Be gentle with them. Try to explain it in another way. Whether that means using a different example (verbally) or using a different teaching method (they may learn better by reading or doing instead of listening), if you really want them to understand what you’re talking about, you need to adapt your teaching style to how they learn best. Regardless of whether your other methods work, at the very minimum you’ll become a better teacher by learning how to use different teaching methods.

Lastly, if you really want someone to learn something, you can be firm with them, but don’t be rude or make disparaging remarks. While that may motivate some people, it will make even more people “shut down.” Then, not only do you lose your chance at a teachable moment, but you also hurt their self-esteem and lose their respect (if only temporarily) in the process.

Competing and confidence

Be confident in your ability to compete. You don’t have to win every time. You won’t win every time. But you can always compete…Try your hardest, have a good attitude whether you win or lose, and make sure you learn from your experiences.

If you don’t like losing, keep practicing. Keep competing. Be a student of the game. What worked well before and what didn’t work? How can you implement what worked and reduce what didn’t to get more consistent results? Become an expert in whatever it is you’re trying to do. With competence comes confidence.

Success, money, and fame

“I’d rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.” – Sophocles

Don’t trade your integrity for fame, money, or “success.” Those things come and go, but you’ll always have to live with your decisions. Outward success does not mean you’ll feel inward contentment. It may take longer, but if you live in a way where your actions align with your values, you’ll end up happier without sacrificing your honor or time with loved ones. And, to me, that is a truer measure of success than only counting fame or money.