Tag: self-improvement

Increasing your capacity

Work on increasing your different types of capacities…

⁃ Physical: Build a strong, healthy body so that you have the energy and strength to tackle projects and obstacles

⁃ Mental: Build a strong mind by reading books/articles, listening to books/podcasts, attending seminars, and surrounding yourself with others who are smarter/have more experience than you. Prepare your mind to become great at problem solving. Make sure you always remain teachable.

⁃ Emotional: Get used to “failing” and being told “no.” Learn from those mistakes to get better. Strengthen your resolve and do not be discouraged when things don’t go your way.

⁃ Time: Everyone has 24 hours in a day. Automate tasks which need to be done, eliminate tasks which don’t, and delegate tasks which cannot be automated, but aren’t the best/most productive use of your time. If you try to do everything, you will always be stuck doing everything. Learn to delegate tasks that are not necessary for you to do. These can be things that you’re good at, but don’t enjoy doing OR things that you’re not good at and don’t enjoy doing. Teach/train others how to do those tasks well and they will be an extension of yourself! Then when they outgrow that task/position, have them teach/train others to become extensions of themselves! The growth compounds exponentially AND it frees up your time to focus on more impactful activities that only you can do.

But…why do you think you want that?

Really think deeply about what it is that you want and why you want that.

Do you truly want it because of an internal desire OR do you want it because society says you should want it?

Are you doing it to impress others?

Don’t waste your time fighting so hard to achieve a goal, look a certain way, do certain things, etc. only to realize that it shouldn’t have been a goal for you at all.

Do you really want that fancy car (and, the real question is, do you want that car for what it will actually cost you)? What is the opportunity cost of owning that? Do you want to be in the best shape of your life for you or to impress others? Why do you want to earn more? Is it so you can provide the best life for yourself and your family or is it so others can know “how successful” you are?

Make sure you are taking steps towards achieving your goals for you. Who cares what other people think? And take the time to make sure it’s the right goal, otherwise it’s like leaning your ladder up against a wall and climbing to the top only to realize that you have the ladder on the wrong wall. You’re moving to move at that point, but when you get to the top, you will be unfulfilled.

Discover your “why” and you’ll find your purpose and meaning in life.

Healthspan vs lifespan

Work to improve your healthspan, not just your lifespan.

Why would you want to live to be 100 years old if your health was poor for the last 30 years of your life? Is it really considered “living” if you can’t do the things you want to do based on physical or mental limitations?

“Healthspan” can be defined as the period of one’s life that one is healthy. Focus on eating the right foods, exercising your mind and body regularly, stretching, breathing, drinking enough water, and getting enough sleep. And just as important as adding positive actions is removing negative ones too. There are things you can limit or avoid doing that can shorten your healthspan such as drinking too much alcohol, smoking, not wearing a seatbelt (if you get into an accident), over consuming food, etc.

Keep these things in mind everyday. Yes, you should enjoy yourself every now and then. And moderation goes a long way. But the more often you treat your current self, the more likely you are actually hurting your future self. Make conscious decisions on if your actions are worth the potential consequences.

Reading vs doing and the 10,000 hour rule

I love the idea of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours. Basically, if you want to “master” anything, you have to put in the work and deliberately practice for roughly 10,000 hours.

One way to accelerate that timeline without experiencing all of the setbacks is by reading where others have tried and failed, what they learned, what their best practices are, things to keep in mind, etc. That’s why reading is so important. Even though it’s not the same as doing (and you typically don’t retain as much reading about something versus doing it), you can still add to your skill set by learning as much through books when you are unable to learn by doing.

Whenever you have the means to do something though (whether that is not having time, money, or energy constraints), then do it. Make a plan and intentionally follow through with that plan. There is no substitute for doing. You can have a good understanding of a subject by reading about it, but if you never do it (and preferably teach it too), then you will never truly master it.

The dichotomy of comfort

We are creatures of comfort. We like comfort. When we’re comfortable, we feel content. These are the positive aspects of comfort.

But if we’re not careful, striving just to be comfortable will more than likely mean striving to be mediocre.

We get the most out of ourselves when we push ourselves past our comfort zone. The only way to get better is by mastering the old while still experiencing the new. We have to fall down to get back up. We need to face our fears and overcome adversity. The more we learn to handle, the more unbreakable we make ourselves.

So while we aim for comfort for a little while, just make sure you’re not staying there too long. Get comfortable being uncomfortable and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.