What improved your life so much that you wish you did it sooner?

[Goodfella999]

Blue light glasses, holy shit have they saved my eyes the last 2 weeks. Gunnar blue light glasses. Was getting constant headaches even with apple Blue light settings but these saved the day.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DonyaSze]

Personal Development - from 17 to 27 I never read or listened to any podcasts or books or took any courses to improve myself. From 27 to now I have not stopped and my life has improved drastically.

This.

This is the one I wish I had done sooner. When I was young, I just thought I was too young for all that stuff so I never paid attention. It could have helped me a lot to prepare for the world and have a better mindset.

 

[Kevin88660]

Interest in business.

There was a hustle and entrepreneurship culture in the mainstream media in 2015-16 and TV was showing shark tank-like reality shows. I remember it was cool to be an "entrepreneur".

Now the atmosphere cooled down a lot.

There was no shortcut in taking the necessary wasted trips and lessons no matter how much you "read" so the only thing that matters is to start as early as possible.

 

[EngineerThis]

Have a few in no order....
-Getting and staying sober "Easyway to Quit Drinking" Allen Carr (Nuff said)

-#75Hard Program by Andy Friscilla (Let's just say I've never vbeen in better shape, and I'm one of those loonies that hits the gym at 4:30am before work now because of this program.. AND LOVE IT)

-Learning to cook and bake (Fun, get to be creative, don't feel like a loser depending on someone to feed me, or buying food)

-Starting Martial Arts, I'm learning TKD.. (New friends, confidence, power, the challenge)

-Finding Christ.. (The peace, strength, and knowledge are incredible to my soul)

-Getting married and having a daughter, and the sacrifices needed so my wife does not have to have a job, and homeschool our daughter.. (The fire you get when you're a family man, is absolutely insane.. I thought I was at my toughest when I was a drifter.. HELL NO. It's hard to explain but with my new family, Christ, and some discipline I feel incredible)

Fyi.. Besides getting married in 2022, ALL of these other things I picked up in only the last year!!! Probably due to getting sober, but still.. Massive self-beliefs have been shattered, new skills acquired, and I'm set to dominate 2024... You can do it too..

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Supa]

A pretty recent one: Internal Family Systems (IFS). Changed completely how I view myself and my psyche and personality, in a positive way. There is a great video series about it on YouTube by Dr. Tori Olds for anyone interested.

 

[NervesOfSteel]

What improved your life so much that you wish you did it sooner?

Saw this question on Reddit and thought it was a pretty thought-provoking question that may lead to some interesting answers.

It can be whatever in any aspect of your life, both big and small things.

1. I stopped being an emotional fool and learned to say "NO!"
2. Door-to-door insurance selling. Sales skills ++++, and some other additional skills.

(The fire you get when you're a family man, is absolutely insane.. I thought I was at my toughest when I was a drifter.. HELL NO. It's hard to explain but with my new family, Christ, and some discipline I feel incredible)

I second that!

 

[Aidan04]

As I said above, youth is terribly forgiving to poor or imbalanced diets.

Remember all those guys/gals in college who could eat whatever they want and never get fat? That's youth.

By the time they hit their 40s, they're fat sloths. By 50, they're on six prescription medications. Me? I'm on none. Not even an acid reflux pill, which BTW, I had to guzzle down in my 40s as I lived my "low carb" paleo life.

I am currently 19, a sophomore in college, and I most definitely had a junk food problem when I was in high school.

However 3 years ago, I found this video breaking down the science of what junk food does to your body and brain, and it kind of opened my eyes.

High sugar and saturated fat foods such as candy, soda, and chips absolutely spike your dopamine receptors and do all sorts of bad things to your digestive system.

Can speak for @Spenny as well here, but these days I generally only eat whole foods that are cooked by myself. I generally stay away from red meat and high-cholesterol foods.

Made some beautiful chicken with homemade fries and smoked brussels sprouts last night.

I'm not plant-based just yet but I plan to eventually get there. I just like meat a lot.

A lot of my peers unfortunately have the diet of a trash can and survive on ramen, doritos, beer, and pizza. It's quite gross.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[EngineerThis]

I am currently 19, a sophomore in college, and I most definitely had a junk food problem when I was in high school.

However 3 years ago, I found this video breaking down the science of what junk food does to your body and brain, and it kind of opened my eyes.

High sugar and saturated fat foods such as candy, soda, and chips absolutely spike your dopamine receptors and do all sorts of bad things to your digestive system.

Can speak for @Spenny as well here, but these days I generally only eat whole foods that are cooked by myself. I generally stay away from red meat and high-cholesterol foods.

Made some beautiful chicken with homemade fries and smoked brussels sprouts last night.

I'm not plant-based just yet but I plan to eventually get there. I just like meat a lot.

A lot of my peers unfortunately have the diet of a trash can and survive on ramen, doritos, beer, and pizza. It's quite gross.

You shouldn't be avoiding cholesterol and Saturated fats. They are great for you when they come from natural sources like grass-fed meat, butter, and animal fat. Here's a study about how the "war on cholesterol" was junk..

 

[Aidan04]

You shouldn't be avoiding cholesterol and Saturated fats. They are great for you when they come from natural sources like grass-fed meat, butter, and animal fat. Here's a study about how the "war on cholesterol" was junk..

I'm talking strictly things such as bacon and processed meat. Eggs contain cholesterol but are highly nutritious and I still occasionally have butter with some meals.

 

[dannyfor]

What improved your life so much that you wish you did it sooner?

Saw this question on Reddit and thought it was a pretty thought-provoking question that may lead to some interesting answers.

It can be whatever in any aspect of your life, both big and small things.

One thing that significantly improved my life was practicing mindfulness and meditation regularly. It helped me manage stress better, stay focused on the present moment, and develop a greater sense of inner peace and clarity

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[rjdgreat]

Praying the rosary right after waking up and confessing my sins to a priest.

 

[Dragos222]

Have a few in no order....
-Getting and staying sober "Easyway to Quit Drinking" Allen Carr (Nuff said)

-#75Hard Program by Andy Friscilla (Let's just say I've never vbeen in better shape, and I'm one of those loonies that hits the gym at 4:30am before work now because of this program.. AND LOVE IT)

-Learning to cook and bake (Fun, get to be creative, don't feel like a loser depending on someone to feed me, or buying food)

-Starting Martial Arts, I'm learning TKD.. (New friends, confidence, power, the challenge)

-Finding Christ.. (The peace, strength, and knowledge are incredible to my soul)

-Getting married and having a daughter, and the sacrifices needed so my wife does not have to have a job, and homeschool our daughter.. (The fire you get when you're a family man, is absolutely insane.. I thought I was at my toughest when I was a drifter.. HELL NO. It's hard to explain but with my new family, Christ, and some discipline I feel incredible)

Fyi.. Besides getting married in 2022, ALL of these other things I picked up in only the last year!!! Probably due to getting sober, but still.. Massive self-beliefs have been shattered, new skills acquired, and I'm set to dominate 2024... You can do it too..

Thanks for sharing! All of these sound absolutely amazing. I'm happy for you!

A big tip in staying sober which I discovered by myself is to never compare happiness with being high or whatever. In the past, I found myself thinking "Damn, I feel so good, you could say that I'm high". THAT IS A VERY BIG MINDSET MISTAKE. The reason why you feel good when you are sober is because YOU ARE SOBER. Never forget that.

Hope this helps!

 

[EngineerThis]

Thanks for sharing! All of these sound absolutely amazing. I'm happy for you!

A big tip in staying sober which I discovered by myself is to never compare happiness with being high or whatever. In the past, I found myself thinking "Damn, I feel so good, you could say that I'm high". THAT IS A VERY BIG MINDSET MISTAKE. The reason why you feel good when you are sober is because YOU ARE SOBER. Never forget that.

Hope this helps!

Agreed! I found my emotions were WILD for months after stopping. Proved how much I had suppressed them. And you're correct, the lie that causes people to fall back into drinking is "It makes me feel good, or gives me confidence" When in fact it does the literal opposite. I know the truth and actually haven't been tempted at all, stopping was easier than you think ... And I was at 1/2 a Fifth a day...

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[snowday]

I quit smoking. It thus far has been the hardest thing I've done in my life.

 

[Kevin88660]

Being an active user of chatgpt.

A lot shitworks that were not worth doing becomes worth doing. ROI equations changed.

It is no longer a secret but still underrated.

The most underrated things in the world are still things that almost everyone knows but doesn’t do it enough.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

For those of you who use biometric monitors, I'm finding that Whoop is a bit better than Oura.

Whoop seems to be far more data specific, allowing for better conclusions and better actionable data.

Whoop seems to be for the more serious individual concerned with fitness/health whereas Oura seems to be more for the average person. I still wear both, but my Oura (and it's recurring payment) is officially endangered.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ZackerySprague]

Figuring out how to payoff my debt much sooner than to a life of avoidance. I should have figured all of this stuff when I was 26 and yet I wasted a lot of time. I wasn't taking it seriously until a lawsuit back in 2022 was filed.

Also understanding my spending behavior. I'm keeping every statement to understand how I spend.

I have enough now to payoff a loan that I took out 5 years ago.

I'm grateful for these past few months, I don't get as many phone calls as I once did with every lender asking for their money. It's been nice to see most of mu old debts paid.

Been living off of strictly cash, earning it though will at Scale could potentially be a challenge.

 

[amp0193]

Also understanding my spending behavior. I'm keeping every statement to understand how I spend.

Along these same lines, years ago I got this app Pocketsmith. Basically a cashflow projection for personal finance.

I just put all my recurring charges in there, all my recurring paychecks, and set a budget for the non-recurring things, and then boom, I can see exactly what my cash will be on a day to day basis

 

[Luke D]

I stopped drinking alcohol in July last year. It was hard to start with, not from an addiction point of view, as my drinking was light, it was hard socially. However, I identified that when I did drink (specifically binge drinking), it created a cascade effect of inducing a high amount of calories whilst drinking, eating junk food the next day, skipping exercise, not engaging with my kids and my work would suffer. It wasn't helping me get to my goals, it was actually taking me away from them.

I did run an experiment after six months at a wedding where I drank, to see how it made me feel after the fact and whilst it was fun (though I would have fun anyway), I felt horrible the next day and it proved my thesis that the 'enjoyment' in the moment is not worth the downside.

Now, I still go and do all the same things, I just drink non-alcoholic beers and other NA options (soda water etc). I have attended bucks parties, family holidays, boys weekends and weddings without drinking, it just requires commitment at the start. Everyone identifies me as a non-drinker now, so there is no social pressure to drink anymore, it is quite interesting how the perceptions have changed over this period.

The impact has been losing 25 pounds, business has increased to the highest MRR ever, no more wasted days, I'm getting fitter every month, and spending way more quality time with my kids.

I would encourage giving it a try (I have inspired a few friends to try - of their own back), even for a month or two as an experiment to compare how it works for you. It is a big life hack from my point of view.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Along these same lines, years ago I got this app Pocketsmith. Basically a cashflow projection for personal finance.

I just put all my recurring charges in there, all my recurring paychecks, and set a budget for the non-recurring things, and then boom, I can see exactly what my cash will be on a day to day basis

Thanks for sharing. I used to have a little Excel file then Google Sheet that works out daily cashflow based on monthly and weekly income and outgoings. I always thought it might be a useful tool for other people. I'll check this out.

 

[ZackerySprague]

Along these same lines, years ago I got this app Pocketsmith. Basically a cashflow projection for personal finance.

I just put all my recurring charges in there, all my recurring paychecks, and set a budget for the non-recurring things, and then boom, I can see exactly what my cash will be on a day to day basis

I'll look into this, at the moment I use Personal Capital.

Empower Personal Wealth

What will Personal Capital becoming Empower mean for you? Personal Capital is bringing our award-winning tools and people to Empower, one of the world’s largest retirement planning companies.

www.empower.com

Its a great way to see all transactions bot only from a day to day perspective. But for past years as well.

I'll check out pocketsmith. Maybe it could replace my Excel sheet I use to keep track of my Fixed bills.

 

[random_username]

Number one has to be writing. If I don't write my thoughts every single day I slowly go mad. Recently, every time I had a few bad days stringed together, it was always the same conclusion - "oh you didn't really write for a few days".
Second thing is learning to let go of things, both physical and otherwise. I grew up kinda poor so I don't like throwing away stuff I might need. Until a year a go I literally had a backpack from the start of my high school. I was 29 at the time. Since I never liked buying physical things, it never accumulated, but I feel so much lighter every few months when I throw away useless shit. But more importantly, and the one I'm still learning is to quit on useless open loops. I call it the gospel of Josh Waitzkin, because life is too short to read books as shit as "Art of Learning". I feel much better right now by quitting stuff that is kinda fun, kinda important or kinda fulfilling.

I'll look into this, at the moment I use Personal Capital.

Empower Personal Wealth

What will Personal Capital becoming Empower mean for you? Personal Capital is bringing our award-winning tools and people to Empower, one of the world’s largest retirement planning companies.

www.empower.com

Its a great way to see all transactions bot only from a day to day perspective. But for past years as well.

I'll check out pocketsmith. Maybe it could replace my Excel sheet I use to keep track of my Fixed bills.

Maybe try YNAB as well. Ideas from that app and Dave Ramsey videos really helped me learn how to control my spending few years ago. I especially like how they talk about dealing with emotional side of finances instead of cold hard numbers.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[TempusFugit]

What improved your life so much that you wish you did it sooner?

Saw this question on Reddit and thought it was a pretty thought-provoking question that may lead to some interesting answers.

It can be whatever in any aspect of your life, both big and small things.

Reading more.

I was just talking to my wife the other day about how I hated reading when I was younger, but then after my Junior year of HS I started to like reading.

I only read a few books a year, but now I'm reading way more. I can now read relatively fast with solid comprehension.

I'm definitely not at all close to what speed-readers do, but that's not the point. The point is I can easily read several books a month now with little to no trouble. I have plenty of time as well after finishing college.

For example, I read TMF in a week. Probably could've read it quicker.

 

[amp0193]

I always thought it might be a useful tool for other people. I'll check this out.

It was extremely useful when I was paycheck to paycheck, and gave me peace of mind with little effort.

Before, I would get surprise overdrafts due to timing of a credit card payment or rent payment coming 2 days before a big paycheck or whatever.

Now it’s helpful for planning bigger outflows like booking vacations or buying a car or whatever and making sure I don’t let checking account dip below my threshold.

 

[ZackerySprague]

For those of you who use biometric monitors, I'm finding that Whoop is a bit better than Oura.

Whoop seems to be far more data specific, allowing for better conclusions and better actionable data.

Whoop seems to be for the more serious individual concerned with fitness/health whereas Oura seems to be more for the average person. I still wear both, but my Oura (and it's recurring payment) is officially endangered.

I'm going to check it out. I have PVCs and PACs, this will probably be worth the purchase to pay $30 dollars a month.

I started taking a half a gallon thermoat (Yeti) to work. To drink more water. It has been great. The filtered water from the fridge is nasty though haha!

I love how you can try before you buy that's an excellent value skews, plus the payment plan.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ZackerySprague]

Along these same lines, years ago I got this app Pocketsmith. Basically a cashflow projection for personal finance.

I just put all my recurring charges in there, all my recurring paychecks, and set a budget for the non-recurring things, and then boom, I can see exactly what my cash will be on a day to day basis

Going to switch to this app, looking at the Demo. It looks awesome!

 

[andyhaus44]

I stopped drinking alcohol in July last year. It was hard to start with, not from an addiction point of view, as my drinking was light, it was hard socially. However, I identified that when I did drink (specifically binge drinking), it created a cascade effect of inducing a high amount of calories whilst drinking, eating junk food the next day, skipping exercise, not engaging with my kids and my work would suffer. It wasn't helping me get to my goals, it was actually taking me away from them.

I did run an experiment after six months at a wedding where I drank, to see how it made me feel after the fact and whilst it was fun (though I would have fun anyway), I felt horrible the next day and it proved my thesis that the 'enjoyment' in the moment is not worth the downside.

Now, I still go and do all the same things, I just drink non-alcoholic beers and other NA options (soda water etc). I have attended bucks parties, family holidays, boys weekends and weddings without drinking, it just requires commitment at the start. Everyone identifies me as a non-drinker now, so there is no social pressure to drink anymore, it is quite interesting how the perceptions have changed over this period.

The impact has been losing 25 pounds, business has increased to the highest MRR ever, no more wasted days, I'm getting fitter every month, and spending way more quality time with my kids.

I would encourage giving it a try (I have inspired a few friends to try - of their own back), even for a month or two as an experiment to compare how it works for you. It is a big life hack from my point of view.

Luke, that is so awesome! Thank you for sharing this story. I went 6 months without drinking and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Never had a drinking problem, just wanted to better myself. People now identify me as a non drinker and I drink NA here and there