What habit changed your life?

[Sander]

Tomorrow I'll set my 14th day checkmark for a handful of new habits I'm building (reading, writing, meditation, no alcohol, healthier eating etc). Going really good so far.

That got me thinking.

Any new habit/habits that changed your life for the better or had a positive major impact?

 

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[BigRomeDawg]

Eating right. Once I started eating for fuel instead of fun and found out what type of foods work best for me, my energy increased significantly. I owe my business success to food, when your brain is fed right you have more energy and a clearer mind, it's easier to focus and GSD.

 

[DonTriumph]

Reading. My life changed when I began reading.

I learned a lot of new things, opened myself to new ideas. If not for reading, I wouldn't even know about TMF - and I wouldn't be here (I discovered TMF through a blog, by the way).

Reading will also improve your comprehension. You may think it's a small feat, but I see people who are either not confident in their comprehension or they don't just bother to understand what they read at all.

As for what I read: books and blogs.

 

[ZF Lee]

Writing.

You'll be doing a lot of work for copywriting and selling via email, social media, forums and text.

In general, all writing:
- Caters to an audience with a need
- Offers content that is uniquely focused on solving the need
- Has a call to action/conclusion that sets the catalyse for the reader to take a different course of action, preferably in the direction put by the writer

You have to train the writing muscle every day. It's not enough to write shit in a blaze and drop the pen. That is what exams in school and university have trained us to do, I'm afraid.

 

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[Siberia]

Tomorrow I'll set my 14th day checkmark for a handful of new habits I'm building (reading, writing, meditation, no alcohol, healthier eating etc). Going really good so far.

That got me thinking.

Any new habit/habits that changed your life for the better or had a positive major impact?

My life changed when I began the habit of not procrastinating in creating new good habits, one at a time, consolidating them and replacing them with the wrong ones”.

 

[raad182]

Planning

I didn't realized how much my life was on my control since I've started to plan my days with simple to-do lists, Why?!

- Already know what I expect to accomplish that day.
- Freeing my mind from concerns about what should I do next.
- Avoid wasting time with meaningless tasks.
- Personally, gives me a motivational boost to achieve things as I really dislike to leave a task unchecked.

One tip is to reserve the winner hour at the end of the day, like a prize. So if you accomplish every task on your list, you win an hour at the end of the day to spend how you please without guilt, just give yourself an award for the hard work.

 

[Olimac21]

Meditation and journaling, it gives me more perspective and allows me to be more self aware. Before meditation I was still quite an organized way but my emotions would affect me 5x more, especially anger.

 

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[RazorCut]

• The habit of curiosity has always been with me. Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes it's not
• Meditation (always considered it was hippy hocus pocus in the past but it actually works)
• Gratitude Diary (see above)
• OMAD - Health benefits of Intermittent Fasting are truly remarkable

Those four have made the most impact.

 

[rwhyan]

• Waking up at 5am (and going to sleep early)
• Going to gym first thing in morning
• Cold showers in the morning
• Daily journaling
• High protein meal as first meal of day (don't start your day with a crash)
• Zazen practice (highly recommend "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Suzuki if you're interested)

 

[eliquid]

taking time to LISTEN and comprehend what someone smarter than me was saying

 

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[Jello]

1. Working out three to four times a week.

2. Eating healthier, less meat more vegetables.

3. Getting out of my comfort zone and actually reach out to people to ask help or offer them your help / product/ service.

4. Reading more and listening more. But staying critical.

4. Not taking everything so personally. In business sometimes you have to deal with customers or employees who are easily light tempered and say all kind of things. No problem, resolve the problem and don't take it personally. This applies to my personal life too.

Great thread btw

 

[Mattie]

I stopped watching television and playing video games and started using my time to master my writing skills, educate myself, and work towards my goals. I don't usually like watching television much anymore for the last nine years.

 

[Process]

Doing AT LEAST ONE THING a day to put opportunity in my pipeline.

-gives me constant feedback loops. Constant action used to make me uncomfortable.
-can be a call, an email, direct mail, etc. It just has to solve someone's frustration.

 

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[SMH]

Eating right. Once I started eating for fuel instead of fun and found out what type of foods work best for me, my energy increased significantly. I owe my business success to food, when your brain is fed right you have more energy and a clearer mind, it's easier to focus and GSD.

Absolutely this, along with working out and sleeping better. I used to wonder how people got all that energy to do stuff while I was sleeping too little, eating bad and not moving. Thought I needed more power to work out, turned out the oposite.

 

[jesseissorude]

Loving this thread. I'm using it to find new habits to steal from others

For me:
"win the morning"

It's from a Tim Ferriss blog post, but the gist is that you have 5 tasks each morning:

Make your bed
Meditate
Exercise (minimum 10 pushups)
Hydrate (+bulletproof coffee or tea)
Journal
​

If you do 3 of the 5, then you "win".
I'm allergic to fad-blog-post-meme-tasks, but this one actually works great for me. Maybe it's the mindset of "winning" and the fact that it can be a little flexible. It's also great to start the day with an accomplishment. I dunno, it's small but it really works for me.

Another great habit I've heard of:
Picking up habits

I had a friend who made it a habit to pick a new habit to focus on every 2 weeks. He'd pick a useful habit, focus on it 100%, and after 2 weeks decide if it's helpful and worth keeping. No matter what, when the 2 weeks were up, he'd pick a new habit to add for the next 2 weeks.

 

[COSenior]

Planning strategically, with tactics for implementing.

I've always had goals. I've pursued action plans to reach them. But when I put a few things together, more started happening.

• I use the principles of The Twelve Week Year to plan a few goals every quarter. A few, because too many overwhelm.
• I brainstorm tactics to reach them, and schedule when to implement those.
• I use an online to-do list that permits recurring tasks to remind me what tactics to employ every day, which also integrates with...
• An online Pomodoro timer to keep me on task.

And it has just reminded me that my break is over and it's time to get on with work...

 

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[Zcott]

Doing something productive as soon as I wake up.

I noticed that back in uni I'd be a lot more productive if I woke up and read something or did some work straight away, compared to doing whatever and then starting to work. I'd get so much more work done. I would become literally obsessed with it. To be honest, I loved it. This would last until the work was finished, could be a day or so, or could be a week or two.

I noticed similar trends when working too, but it's hard to be like that when you are working, because you don't wake up to start working, you wake up to commute like a lamb to the slaughter. But now I am working on something, I am reintroducing being productive as soon as I wake up back that into my life. For the first time in five years, I finally feel happy about working on something.

Typing that made me feel nostalgic for my student days, sad at my recent work life, and excited for the future.

 

[Suzanne Bazemore]

Since the new year, I have been following the Kaizen Principle, working toward goals a little every day. I have accomplished a tremendous amount in 3 weeks. It's amazing how quickly the little steps accumulate into real progress.

 

[Vadim26]

*Being 100% responsible for everything you do* has helped me tremendously

- bad job - don't blame the economy, it's YOU who are at fault;
- not satisfied with the relationship - it's not "happens to everyone", but YOU who left it stagnant.


Take full responsibility, and lead life, not the other way.

 

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[TonyStark]

Reading

 

[Kak]

Very cool thread!

When I started picking up the phone and making phone calls... It moves business along far more quickly.

Also, adopting Skype for faster information exchange.

I try to only use email for data heavy reference, or when my words need to be perfect and it gives me time to think.

I will probably think of more... but just particularly happy with those.

 

[Royce2]

There's a habit I know that most likely changed everyone's life here for the better or worse.
And that habit is Repetition.
Every kid that tried to ride a bike without training wheels for the first time most likely failed. And every kid that kept getting back on that bike eventually learned how to ride it.
There's a fun and enjoyment aspect of learning how to ride a bike which makes the learning stick forever I would say. Reading every book on how to do something is not going to change anything. The body needs experience, as the wobbly riding goes, the body and mind calibrate to balance and smooth itself out.

So for me personally, I have yet to achieve conscious repetition of certain things as habit, but I'm getting there. I'm beginning to consciously tell myself to breath deeper and capture my thoughts and my mind it its current state. I will say, so much more has been opened up to me recently because of that. I would read a book or forum while breathing deeper and I would notice myself remembering more parts of what I read and actually understanding the content more.

So I guess two things: Conscious repetition of things, and breathing deeper heh

 

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[SquatchMan]

Going to the gym at 7AM. More specifically, doing heavy compound lifts.

Seriously, starting the day with a heavy squat or deadlift feels great.

I'm sure there's some unknown psychological benefit to getting a big physical victory in the morning. Or maybe it's just the increased testosterone from being stronger.

 

[NMdad]

Daily tracking on the things that sustantively move me forward.

For example, since my revene (for now) is mainly consulting, I track:
billable hours
offers made
clients/prospects contacted
% of billed hours delegated

Tracking billed hours--instead of client hours (which could include nonbillable tasks), or a general bucket of "work" hours (which could include random research & action faking)--directly predicts revenue.

Tracking daily metrics helps maintain focus on what's actually going to move the needle--whatever your needle is.

 

[NMdad]

taking time to LISTEN and comprehend what someone smarter than me was saying

So true. I'd add: ...and then act on that insight.

I end up ruminating on these kinds of things--like I see the wisdom but it takes some time for it to percolate to the surface & adjust my mindset to the point where I act on it.

 

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[csalvato]

When feeling the urge to respond, taking a deep breath and listening/processing what the person was saying. I started this with the goal to focus on their intent, and not my reply based on a quarter of their message.

After learning to do this, it struck me that this is what really competent, composed and influential people do.

For example, watch how Steve Jobs processes and responds to this question at 4:12:

View: https://youtu.be/qw7VrZSAUEU?t=256

 

[Andy Black]

1) “Yes, and” instead of “Yes, but”.

2) “How?” instead of “How!”.

3) Looking for the silver lining in *everything*.

4) Beating people to it (e.g. saying hello or smiling at people before they do it).

5) Seeing obstacles as stepping stones and barriers to entry.

6) Enjoying the awkward silence (when you’ve stated your price for example).

7) Producing more than I consume.

8) Trying to find the thing that makes whoever I’m talking to open up and get excited.

9) Assuming that *everyone* is interesting (and that it’s up to me to find their thing).

10) Looking people in the eye and saying “Sorry” or “Well done”.

11) Posting daily in this forum.

12) Taking time out to observe the wind blowing through the trees.

13) Allowing myself to get giddy with excitement when I talk about *my* thing.

14) Always chipping away.

15) Staying in my lane.

16) Listening to smart people yet completely ignoring them.

17) Saying “ok” or just not replying when folks look for an argument (that I don’t want to be dragged into).

18) Documenting as I go along, not after.

19) Saying Please and Thank You.

... loads more I’m sure.

 

[maverick]

Turning sexual energy into focus and drive.

 

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[MHP368]

Tomorrow I'll set my 14th day checkmark for a handful of new habits I'm building (reading, writing, meditation, no alcohol, healthier eating etc). Going really good so far.

That got me thinking.

Any new habit/habits that changed your life for the better or had a positive major impact?

Meditation. Its a keystone habit , it made fitness stick , improved my work and home life , I keep a cleaner house , im more detail oriented , ive been eating better etc etc

If I was asked i'd say a solid daily sitting practice trumps any other single habit one could aspire for because it allows discipline in all other areas of life.

 

[ExaltedLife]

Waking up at 4 AM and making my bed