The habits you should have to live the good life

[HyperFocus]

"Good habits are hard to learn but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to learn but hard to live with"


Do you have habits that are great for your life? If no, which ones would you love to have, and if yes which are those and which habits do you think are great to add?


I will respond to it myself:
Among my habits are eating healthy. In the morning I usually eat water with oats for longlasting energy and have no hard time avoiding sugar or deepfried stuff. I also eat enough protein by taking in poultry, almonds and tuna.
Other habit that I started with almost a year ago is working out, mainly the gym but sometimes stairs or hikes depending on where I am.

What I am trying to add now is to wake up early every morning and work out for 30min and then read for a hour. Ultimately Id like to build it up to reading 2-3 hours.
Ive done it now for two days and feel happy about it but Im also worried that Ill stop. Thats why I only try to do 1 hour.

Another habit that I haven't looked into yet but think is great is meditating for 10 minutes every day at the same time. Any advice?

I hope you guys dont mind my personal questions.

 

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[Ninjakid]

Another habit that I haven't looked into yet but think is great is meditating for 10 minutes every day at the same time. Any advice?

I hope you guys dont mind my personal questions.

Meditating every day for 10 minutes is a good start! But it all depends on the kind of benefits you want.

With your habits, you should always think back to, "what am I trying to achieve out of this?" Don't just do something because someone says it's a "good habit."

For example, some people say going to the gym is a good habit. I hate gyms, so I have my own work out space at home. Haven't been to a gym in seven months. But some people feel more motivated by going out to a gym and being around other people working out.

 

[TonyStark]

Exercising. I have to exercise everyday if I want to be productive.

 

[HyperFocus]

Meditating every day for 10 minutes is a good start! But it all depends on the kind of benefits you want.

With your habits, you should always think back to, "what am I trying to achieve out of this?" Don't just do something because someone says it's a "good habit."

For example, some people say going to the gym is a good habit. I hate gyms, so I have my own work out space at home. Haven't been to a gym in seven months. But some people feel more motivated by going out to a gym and being around other people working out.

Good point

Meditation I want to do because I read its good for your neurotransmitters. Less stress, more focus. 10 minutes is good? What do you recommend is good for what.
I already spend a great amount of time strategizing the future and thinking about concepts, this is very relaxing and interesting to me, is that also meditation and do I therefor not need meditation in the traditional meaning?

Reading I want to do because I love it, I feel like books are my mentors and I learn a great deal. + it gives me my daily fix of knowledge. I also specifically read things that will help me in life "relationships, business" (i never read things for "fun" alone)

Working out is also because of my neurotransmitters and it feels great.

One of my main goals is to create a HUGE dopamine pool in my brain. I do this by exhausting it daily and then pushing myself to do new things.

 

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[Merlox]

be able to do 300 pushups by training every morning with 20 well-done pushups

 

[Ninjakid]

Good point

Meditation I want to do because I read its good for your neurotransmitters. Less stress, more focus. 10 minutes is good? What do you recommend is good for what.

For most people who want to chill out and relax, 10 minutes should be good. If you're new, you may find three minutes to be a challenge, but just persist and don't give up.
Sit in a lotus position, breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 2 seconds, then exhale for 4 seconds, and focus on only your breathing.

It will be difficult at first, but the point is to not fight yourself if you find your mind wandering. Just bring your attention back to your breathing whenever you find your mind wandering.

You can try meditating for longer if you want. Everyone has different preferences, there isn't really a one-size-fits-all procedure.

I already spend a great amount of time strategizing the future and thinking about concepts, this is very relaxing and interesting to me, is that also meditation and do I therefor not need meditation in the traditional meaning?

This is not the same thing because meditation brings clarity and focus to your mind. If you strategizing about different concepts, your mind likely isn't focused on only one thing.

If you have an end result you would like to achieve, you can meditate on it by visualizing and harnessing the feeling of having achieved it.

 

[Aaron W]

Waking up early.

But it doesn't work for me I'm a late night worker and its just how I am.

It may change as I get older, it may not. I just use the advantage I have of working great at night instead of fighting it.


I meditated about a year ago. It's great for social benefits but as I'm not as social as I used to be (going out 4/7 days a week). Therefore, I don't need to benefit from it. Did 15 mins/per night.

Wish I did more exercise but I hate gyms/indoor boring routines and its cold as f//ck in Canada at the moment outside.
I really need to move to somewhere warm with surf.

 

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[Learner Guy]

be able to do 300 pushups by training every morning with 20 well-done pushups

In one go, or in sets? The first is close to impossible, the second still very challenging!

 

[HyperFocus]

For most people who want to chill out and relax, 10 minutes should be good. If you're new, you may find three minutes to be a challenge, but just persist and don't give up.
Sit in a lotus position, breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 2 seconds, then exhale for 4 seconds, and focus on only your breathing.

It will be difficult at first, but the point is to not fight yourself if you find your mind wandering. Just bring your attention back to your breathing whenever you find your mind wandering.

You can try meditating for longer if you want. Everyone has different preferences, there isn't really a one-size-fits-all procedure.



This is not the same thing because meditation brings clarity and focus to your mind. If you strategizing about different concepts, your mind likely isn't focused on only one thing.

If you have an end result you would like to achieve, you can meditate on it by visualizing and harnessing the feeling of having achieved it.

Yes you are correct, I then visualize the future but also come up with ideas and plans.

I will start with 3 minutes and see how it goes, is there a time of the day at which its better to meditate?

 

[Mattie]

I usually meditate for a hour or more at night, just because it takes me away from everything, keeps my mind focused, and thoughts in check. Ten minutes is something I would use to center myself like when I'm out and about in public or business setting where it may become stressful. Although I don't think people understand what I just figured out with Self-guided meditations. Basically you're hitting the pleasure and pain center and the same place where anxiety and fear is, and it produces the the happy and feel good chemicals, and hormones such as serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, when they put certain sounds together with music and back ground. The bodies natural love drug.

Just like food, sex, music, and art. lol I think people don't know this, but exactly why it feels calming and relaxing. Regular meditations is something quite different. Pretty weird how frisson music does the same thing or techno. And pretty much you can count on some entrepreneur knowing this, and getting you hooked on a habit, and I would pay attention to what meditations you listen too, because some people have your welfare in mind, and others just out for the money and getting you hooked on something that has nothing to do with meditation or helping yourself. While you may think you are getting help.

The objective is, what do you want to get out of the meditation? What are you learning from it? If you're not learning to focus, keep your thoughts in order, and processing things within 6 to 7 months or less as a beginner, I'd find another place to get meditations. Otherwise you're just wasting your time believing it is helping you, and not getting where you need to be.

 

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[Madhu]

One of the best habits is "planning". Ambiguity is the biggest killer of productivity killers . If you don't know what you are supposed to be doing at any moment in time, you can waste a lot of time drifting. It's easy to think you are doing something, when in fact you are going around in circles.

Planning sounds simple, but it is really hard to do!! I'm trying to get into the habit of spending the last 30 mins on planning what I am going to do the next day. It's hard, because it doesn't seem like 'real' work, which makes it really easy to skip.

Another useful habit is putting things back in their proper place. This has two benefits:

• It saves time looking for things (and the mental stress that comes from looking for things)
• It keeps your environment clutter free. When there is clutter in your space, it's easy for your mind to become distracted.

Again this is another hard habit, because clutter and missing items doesn't seem like a big deal.

 

[BellaPippin]

For people trying to get up earlier than their normal --- I've purchased this app called Sleep Cycle on the app store that wakes you up when you are not on deep sleep -it's a time range you pick rather than a set time-. It works by means of the accelerometer on the phone detecting when you toss around to change position pretty much. You put the phone on the mattress for it. Must say its worth the 2.99 or so because it helps you not wake up groggy.

After that, well, I still battle with my will to stay cozy in bed, but at least I don't have a headache or feel sleepy. Might be useful for some of you here!



(Note: I'm not related to this app or whoever created it at all, I'm just recommending it as a customer sort of because it has worked for me. Not marketing or anything)

 

[Webebe]

Developing good and NEW habits may be the best habit of all.
As I read in the book The one thing.

 

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[brewster]

My favorite habit is going to bed before 10pm every night, and getting started by 5am.

It gives me a solid 4-hour head start on all the 9-5ers.

 

[HyperFocus]

Developing good and NEW habits may be the best habit of all.
As I read in the book The one thing.

Thanks for the tip, Im currently building several habbits

1. Work out cardio early in the morning around 6, 30-60min, then read 1-2 hours. (Turning off internet before Ive done that)
2. Meditate for 3min a day(later build up to 5-10)
3. Talk to my 2 best friends + family every day
4 eating healthy is not a part anymore, Ive been doing it for years and its pretty easy and standard now. Not craving sugar too. Interesting to note is that I found out that Im addicted to whatsapping/facebookchatting, usually with several girls and some guys that I met in the weeks before.. Im trying to fight that by turning internet off and giving myself "chat time".

Im now on my 7th day (meditation third day), and Im unsure if I can take a day off. 2 outta these 7 days have been pretty hard, and one day Ive pretty much stayed in one room doing nothing and reading all day after the exercise... Tho the day before that I did a 6 hour hike after I was already pretty tired so maybe my dopamine supply was completely depleted after several 4 days of intense activities + new habits.

Im confused on how the dopamine pool works. They say like a muscle.. Does that mean I need to take a day rest after several days of intense usage?... No one touches upon that, they just explain that ur pool can get bigger, not what the most efficient way to do this is. Anyone who knows?

Another big question is on habit building, do I need to force myself to continue the morning routine for months or can I take 1 day every week or two weeks off?

I cant seem to find the answers online.

Thanks a LOT!! Im quiet frustrated about it, but Im also happy that my progress has been pretty good.

 

[HyperFocus]

My favorite habit is going to bed before 10pm every night, and getting started by 5am.

It gives me a solid 4-hour head start on all the 9-5ers.

Cool what do u do in those 4 hours?
Also have u thought about taking a 1 hour nap after work. Research has shown it to be beneficial for ur willpower supply.

 

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[Webebe]

Thanks for the tip, Im currently building several habbits

1. Work out cardio early in the morning around 6, 30-60min, then read 1-2 hours. (Turning off internet before Ive done that)
2. Meditate for 3min a day(later build up to 5-10)
3. Talk to my 2 best friends + family every day
4 eating healthy is not a part anymore, Ive been doing it for years and its pretty easy and standard now. Not craving sugar too. Interesting to note is that I found out that Im addicted to whatsapping/facebookchatting, usually with several girls and some guys that I met in the weeks before.. Im trying to fight that by turning internet off and giving myself "chat time".

Im now on my 7th day (meditation third day), and Im unsure if I can take a day off. 2 outta these 7 days have been pretty hard, and one day Ive pretty much stayed in one room doing nothing and reading all day after the exercise... Tho the day before that I did a 6 hour hike after I was already pretty tired so maybe my dopamine supply was completely depleted after several 4 days of intense activities + new habits.

Im confused on how the dopamine pool works. They say like a muscle.. Does that mean I need to take a day rest after several days of intense usage?... No one touches upon that, they just explain that ur pool can get bigger, not what the most efficient way to do this is. Anyone who knows?

Another big question is on habit building, do I need to force myself to continue the morning routine for months or can I take 1 day every week or two weeks off?

I cant seem to find the answers online.

Thanks a LOT!! Im quiet frustrated about it, but Im also happy that my progress has been pretty good.

I just bought a book now, The power of habits.
There is another book about this, The one thing.
It may take 66 days for a new habit to develop.

https://goo.gl/NwnJbY

 

[Mr.Donnerhuhn]

For people trying to get up earlier than their normal --- I've purchased this app called Sleep Cycle on the app store that wakes you up when you are not on deep sleep -it's a time range you pick rather than a set time-. It works by means of the accelerometer on the phone detecting when you toss around to change position pretty much. You put the phone on the mattress for it. Must say its worth the 2.99 or so because it helps you not wake up groggy.

After that, well, I still battle with my will to stay cozy in bed, but at least I don't have a headache or feel sleepy. Might be useful for some of you here!



(Note: I'm not related to this app or whoever created it at all, I'm just recommending it as a customer sort of because it has worked for me. Not marketing or anything)

I'd add to this:

A big (literally) component of one's circadian rhythm is our favorite life-giving nuclear reaction, the sun. When the sun comes up, your body sends out hormone signals to really say "hey mothaf***a, time to get moving!" and when it goes down, the opposite message is sent. So, for me I have an old-school one of these

which has my desk lamp plugged into it, and it is set so the lamp turns on about 15-minutes before I intend to wake up. I've found this method to be VASTLY more effective for me than the old, blaring loud and annoying alarm on the opposite side of the room, followed by stubbing my toe cuz I can't see shit, followed by eye pain caused from turning the lights on in a pitch black bedroom.

Phillipps actually has a more robust alarm clock that does this same thing, only it simulates a real sunrise with color/brightness/time settings. And also their newer models have a generally "meh" quality to them, so some lighting savvy Fastlaner out there might consider investigating a bit more

 

[HyperFocus]

I just bought a book now, The power of habits.
There is another book about this, The one thing.
It may take 66 days for a new habit to develop.

https://goo.gl/NwnJbY

Hey Ok nice. I already downloaded "the power of habit", I will read it after I finished two other books. Tomorrow I will already read a review/summary about it.


66 days is a cool number, yet I have no idea how accurate that is. Must also depend on how hard the habit is u are trying to learn, other distractions in your life and depending on how fast you adjust to new situations. I also still dont know whats the most efficient way to learn a new habit, with rests in between or not, if it must be done every day etc. i hope I will find out in the next couple of days .

Thanks for the info, have fun reading

 

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[brewster]

Cool what do u do in those 4 hours?
Also have u thought about taking a 1 hour nap after work. Research has shown it to be beneficial for ur willpower supply.

I do a morning routine upon waking:

• 30-minute walk with a podcast on 1.5x speed
• cold shower
• meditate 15 minutes
• write for several hours

I do this to build momentum so that by the time I sit down to work, it's a breeze every time.

The military is known for doing the same thing—when every morning they make their beds. It's all about positive momentum!

As for a nap, around 1-2pm I sometimes get tired. That's when I eat lunch and spend 30-60 minutes reading. By the time I'm done reading, I'm ready to work more or hit the gym. So honestly, I never need actual sleeping time, because every night I get 8 hours of quality sleep.

 

[HyperFocus]

I do a morning routine upon waking:

• 30-minute walk with a podcast on 1.5x speed
• cold shower
• meditate 15 minutes
• write for several hours

I do this to build momentum so that by the time I sit down to work, it's a breeze every time.

The military is known for doing the same thing—when every morning they make their beds. It's all about positive momentum!

As for a nap, around 1-2pm I sometimes get tired. That's when I eat lunch and spend 30-60 minutes reading. By the time I'm done reading, I'm ready to work more or hit the gym. So honestly, I never need actual sleeping time, because every night I get 8 hours of quality sleep.

Thats great! Before u said from 10 to 5 so I thought only 7 hours.
I like that u do some exercise and writing, why/what do u write?

Im doing the same since 7 days now, but more cardio with higher heart rate and reading instead of writing. And during the day I read another hour or two. Im happy to hear someone else is doing the same waking up early thing.

Btw its normal to be tired after lunch, I heard its the least productive time of the day in companies.

Meditating for 15 min is long man! Haah im doing 3 minutes, but want to build it up to 10. Rather do 3min and keep up than 10 and stop, because when Im not in the mood I might not do 10.

 

[BellaPippin]

I'd add to this:

A big (literally) component of one's circadian rhythm is our favorite life-giving nuclear reaction, the sun. When the sun comes up, your body sends out hormone signals to really say "hey mothaf***a, time to get moving!" and when it goes down, the opposite message is sent. So, for me I have an old-school one of these

which has my desk lamp plugged into it, and it is set so the lamp turns on about 15-minutes before I intend to wake up. I've found this method to be VASTLY more effective for me than the old, blaring loud and annoying alarm on the opposite side of the room, followed by stubbing my toe cuz I can't see shit, followed by eye pain caused from turning the lights on in a pitch black bedroom.

Phillipps actually has a more robust alarm clock that does this same thing, only it simulates a real sunrise with color/brightness/time settings. And also their newer models have a generally "meh" quality to them, so some lighting savvy Fastlaner out there might consider investigating a bit more

Super true. My bedroom is very dark but whenever I get to sleep somewhere else (like a hotel on vacation) and there's big windows there NO way I'll be sleeping long after the sun comes out. Your brain just wakes up and that's it.

Question(s) is your desk lamp normal light or some kind of UV? Just wondering if an artificial light would do the trick *sort of* like the sun. Cause we all know that sensation your eyes get when you're sleeping and someone turns on the light. It's like acid haha

Also how is that called? I wanna look one up on Amazon and try.

 

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[Mr.Donnerhuhn]

well the lamp I'm currently using is actually a lava lamp! so I now wake up extra-groovy lol. I had been using a low-watt incandescent before hand but it went dead a few days ago.

Here's the amazon link for more all-in-one products that do this:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=hpc&field-keywords=Wake up light