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

[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.

 

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[Aditya Gunjal]

I suspect this may be a pretty common response. This, or quitting a job.



I'll post my response later as I need to think about it a bit more.



Is there any specific example of this from your life?



I'll post my response later as I need to think about it a bit more.

I am much younger in terms of age ,sir, but experience transcendence age thats why i am sharing this. As you said big small doesn't matter.
There was this exam held at state level (just like Olympiad but state level,you may be familiar with this) which was basically based on all subjects that we study in school with reasoning (intelligence) added. It is held in 2 standards mainly 4th std. and 8th std. and if you get into merit list you are considered scholar(lol) and given awards and some money.
Not to brag but i am pretty good in studies and also earned Olympiad medals. So it was my duty to apply for these exams and excel in it which i actually did in 4th standard.
Now comes the main part, after 7th standard I somewhat ignored studies ( i was studying but before exams only) and played a lot.(mainly cricket as it is played everywhere in india and we are not different). Then comes 8th std, i did not wanted to appear for this exam this time but as you know "asian parents" pressurized me to do so. Anyhow i appeared for exam but just for the sake of appearing. Didnt followed the schedule given by school coaching and did it with half efforts. Like i said i made poor decisions and got just good marks(18 marks less than merit). This was just the outcome, reaction was yet to come.
Everyone was disappointed including me, but somewhere deep inside i knew i never wanted to study for this exam and results reflected this. I never committed for it.
But this helped me a lot. After that i studied more in 10th std examination which i committed the most. (we call it boards examination, another precious exam in life of indian student) and got 95 percentage. And it is still helping me to take decision.
Now i am 12th paseed out(higher boards examination, another precious one lol). Want to study physics and research in it. Also invent something that will change the world.
Another example (fresh one), i appeared for CET (common entrance examination) held to get into reputed engineering colleges in state which would land student on average 10 to 20 lakh ruppes package (considered as success in india). I got 98.12 percentile in this exam and "would" have gotten into one of these Colleges but instead i choose to study science.

 

[MTF]

Joining swim team. I was 15, I was always kind of naturally athletic but struggled with coordination, and was frustrated with sports. I could train hard but I sucked at throwing and catching and hated letting my teammates down when I just needed to grind it out to improve.

Joining swim team at 15 changed my life. I became an athlete. I went from chubby couch potato to varsity region qualifier in just 2 seasons, almost broke a school record (my brother broke it later, he started at 11) and really gained my fitness and confidence.

It honestly changed the trajectory of my life, my confidence, and my health. I know this isn’t a business answer but this was a huge deal for me back in high school and I wouldn’t be who I am today if I never decided to swim competitively

(Region doesn’t sound impressive as state but we were in one of the biggest in Texas - state was for D1 athletes. I didn’t get quite that good in 2 seasons lol)

It doesn't have to be a business answer and actually yours is way more interesting than a business one would be. Thank you for sharing that. Athleticism can teach you work ethic and build your self-confidence. It can definitely be life-changing.

 

[doster.zach]

In a funny case of irony, I stopped going to Reddit and it improved my life. Although this thread posted above has some great gems worth a read.

A lot of Reddit is shit but there are some subreddits and also some posts that incredible.

Stopped going to reddit for the past 2 months and have been much happier and productive.

I liked some subreddits but they would always degenerate is someway to referencing "the current thing". Some people on reddit just can't help themselves and virtue signal at every turn they can.

 

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[fastlane_dad]

I don't think that anyone would disagree with that. Everyone makes decisions to the best of their abilities. This question is more like your current self reaching back to your past self than regretting bad decisions because you didn't make them to the best of your abilities at the time.

I feel like if I was to do that I'd change some trajectory then in my past life -- that led me to my position today.

Sure I can tell my old self to focus and learn 'investing' earlier (my god how far more along I'd 'possibly' be today!?) - but that would have robbed me of focusing fully on my business, thinking about it, and working to build it up. Or costed me time with friends. Or my gf at the time.

So yeah - there are always things that I could have advised to my 20 year old self (invest in XYZ, learn ABC, workout harder, eat less pizza, etc), but I don't think that would of been a GREAT substitute for what I was already doing and working on.

So it's very tough for me to think back of what advice I'd give myself. But advice, mindset, philosophy and plan of action to any other 20 year old on business, life, investing, reading etc? SURE - all day long!!!

 

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[JamesQB8]

Solo Travel. Living in a foreign country and learning a foreign language.

 

[DennisD]

What type of meditation? Just clear your mind for 20 minutes, or ...?

My ex was into spirituality &etc and I experimented with different types of meditation but never got serious about it. I'm very good at clearing my mind of extraneous thoughts, taming the "monkey mind," but I don't perceive any benefit from it. I'm just shutting off my mind for 20 minutes, not accomplishing anything that's more interesting to me. How is that supposed to help me?

If it helps productivity, I'm all over it. I NEED help with my (lack of) productivity. I just never saw that from meditation.

My intrpretation of it in a very dumbed down way is this:

With dedicated practice, clearing your head gets easier (like all things we practice). You might calll this 'composure'. You are better able to limit thoughts, emotions, and impulses. This is an underestimated ability.

You also gain the ability to be mindful of what thoughts and feelings are intentional, and which are intrusive. You might call this "mindfulness." This is even more underestimated.

Ever get in your head while talking to an officer, doctor, client, customer, or pretty lady? Ever find your mind wandering away from something important? During an important class, lecture, oor meeting? Ever feel overwhelmed? Ever feel doubt, indecisiveness, or overwhelmed by an emotion? Ever have trouble calming down after you're angry, upset, or excited?

How would you like to have even more control over yourself during those pivital situations?

Just like running trains your physical endurance and just like planking trains your core - Meditation the the way to ACTIVELY train your composure and mindfulness.

 

[fastlane_dad]

@fastlane_dad

I've been watching this thread since the start. I cannot think of a single thing because like you said, it would change my trajectory. And I don't want that. There are plenty of things I still want to do and want to do them now, just nothing I want to go back and do sooner or change.

Example: I used to smoke. One could say "quit sooner" would have been better. Yet it was a social thing, where we drank, smoked and had a lot of fun as a group. I needed that period of life to define, experience and choose my future.

I could also have started my business sooner. But then, would we scale up as quickly as we did if I lacked the knowledge that came from a decade of grinding it out as employee?

Utopian as it may sound, I am grateful for experiences I've had - good and bad. They made me. My bad choices led to a crappy life and FTE that led to good choices and discipline.

It appears you and I are in the visible minority here, vast majority has something they wish they did sooner.

Well said - exactly. I'm guessing its a mindset / philosophy / approach to life thing. I'm not sure if it's right (to me there are very few absolute rights) - it's just the the system that works well for me to see the world, and look through the lens of the past, current and future. I'm also on the 'zero regrets' bandwagon - for all of my previous decisions, no matter how 'irresponsible' they might seem in hindsight.

Have I landed my feet in some 'doo-doo' that seemed like a bad event in the moment (or a bad event when seen through my future self)? Plenty of times! But not only have those become a learning moment for me, and sometimes a badge of honor for me to wear (how else will one EVER suceed in fastlane or any other aspects of life that require risk taking) - I want to welcome more of that into my life for the sake of knowledge, growth, perseverance, emotional training and best of all relatability (I AM human after all!!!)

The funny thing is sometimes these 'bad events' have turned into some of the best decisions of my life (years down the road). The 'We'll see' principle that is so dire and true to my CORE resonates very highly with me on every step of my journey ( CHECK OUT: We'll See Fable )

NO great life goes perfectly executed at every moment (that'd be impossible under my frame work as we all make tradeoffs with time/money/choices every day of our lives).

I view the framework of life many times like the stock market - sure I can be 'down' 25-50% in any given year (and that didn't mean I needed to pull out all of my money then!) but as long as I'm in the market, holding on to what I got I will come out ahead decade after decade down the road.

All of my previous knowledge, actions and choices are a culminative pot that led me to today. If I wasn't happy, or something was severely lacking - sure that would be enough reason to start addressing a certain point of my day - to - day life, and maybe once I snap out of my 'depression', I could of said that I should of acted on something sooner.

I also imagine and think of my 'future self' quite often, so I try to align my actions TODAY to benefit my future self, whether that person be tomorrow, in one year or half a decade (to the best of my abilities to predict what I will want). I try to fuse many of my actions not only with the right-now today gratification - but also simultaneously of benefitting ALL future versions of me that'll serve me well, and check off a lot of boxes (the big ones being health, wealth, relationships, etc).

But in general, I am of a very optimistic, happy go-lucky nature - so even the worst of my decisions and actions seem 'great' when looked through a lens of the 'past'. Sometimes it can turn into a great story, or a lesson, or ADVICE i can share and give value to with others. But at no point was I wishing to 'impart' some wisdom or an alternative life plan on a younger version of myself.

 

[Issi007]

I started 15min meditations every morning after waking up about a month ago.

I just sit and focus on breathing as best I can. Of course, thoughts always keep trying to flood in and I bring breathing back to focus as quick as I can

I find it very relaxing and calming, but I haven't seen a change in productivity. What sort of meditation are you doing for this?

I am doing the same breathing meditation mate but with a different philosophy.

When I started meditating, I frankly could not last longer than 10 min and could not see any results.

About 2 months later, I could last for 10-15min, got calm for a while then the monkey mind kicks in again.

6 months later and doing it daily, 20min feels like 2min and by productivity I mean having the necessary focus to get as much output per task.

So yeah, the philosophy is to keep doing it despite seeing or feeling any visible results, doing it seems insignificant but believing faithfully that if I stick long enough on the path it will definitely compound over time, that's exaclty where I persistently had to fight with my mind.

 

[DWX]

Truly internalising that we're going to be dead one day.

 

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[pickeringmt]

Self-acceptance

Letting go of all the judgmental bullshit that keeps you focused on turning everything into a statement about what kind of person you are and comparing yourself to other people.

Once you recognize that you are just a human being working on stuff and all that matters is getting better at working on it you can actually start to live your life you can start doing what you need to do to get your own approval instead of looking for it from everything else.

 

[Vinz]

May be one of the most common responses, but the #1 is lifting.
Totally changed me. I'm a completely different person and the confidence is fantastic.

Also positive affirmations tracks. May sound cringy. But just try it. Subconscious reprogramming is a real thing. You need to program it with something that helps you. To do that you need to constantly send to your mind positive messages.
It's wonderful when their effects start to show !

 

[Andy Black]

1) Had kids. I didn’t become a dad till I was 37.

2) Learned to say No. I’m still not good at it. It’s amazing how much faster things grow when you focus on them.

3) Let it go. Friends who went a different direction. Being right. Trying to force things to go at a certain pace. Etc.

 

[mikecarlooch]

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Before jiu jitsu, I had never been in a fight or ever stood up for myself.

This affected all areas of my life during high school, I had no balls to do anything even though I was a gym rat.

Brazilian jiu jitsu is one of those things where if you do it for long enough, it inevitably builds your confidence and character.

Also, from my experience, people who go to jiu jitsu gyms seem to be doing cool stuff in their lives.. A lot of them are heavily interested in entrepreneurship.

The people that you train with become your family. Rickson Gracie shows this in his autobiography.

You also won't encounter many yes-men. People are straight up and honest with you.

Here's one of my favorite jiu jitsu rolls ever:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ASonA9t6c

Also check out this video of joe rogan getting his black belt

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTIb16BiGc4

 

[mikecarlooch]

I'm seeing jiu jitsu mentioned so often that now I want to try it.
But I'm also dedicating to bodybuilding.
Interesting that you say BJJ had more benefits in character and confidence than the gym. It seems to me it gets you a different type of confidence, one to handle confrontation perhaps ?
Interested in seeing what you think it exactly benefitted you in

It's not even just that it helps with confrontation

The bodybuilding lifestyle can become a very lonely thing.

Jiu jitsu is a community of extremely disciplined people that is hard to find else where, and they're not gonna let you slip. If you're not training hard enough, you're going to get left behind If you quit and don't train for 6 months while everyone else kept going, you're going to be a lower belt and have less skill than your peers. It is a constant driver to be the best that the gym doesn't have most of the time, jiu jitsu strengthens the ego to want to be the best while also giving humility and it's helped me in all walks of life. I'm a blue belt in jiu jitsu and I'd feel ashamed to be submitted by a white belt. I just can't let it happen. It holds you accountable.

When you join a jiu jitsu gym you're joining a family with friendships that seemingly for me will last a lifetime

 

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[football4life]

stop watching porn. waste of time.

 

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[Xavier X]

How did you manage to get work done while traveling?

Didn't you find the constant changing of the environment distracting? Or have you stayed for a few months in each new place and had time to setup a small office?

I travel relatively slow, meaning it's rare I spend less than 1 month in a place. I don't stay at hotels more than a day or two, and only when it's necessary. Either in transit, or between apartment bookings.

In order to be "grounded and focused," you can't be in "vacation mode." You have to be in "everyday life mode," which involves living as you would at home, but a more interesting version. So I rent comfortable airbnb apartments that offer everything I need to live a normal life, anywhere from 1-10 months. 10 months is the longest stretch I've done in one apartment (at the height of the pandemic).

So I have the time and attention span to focus on my professional activities. I'm not distracting myself with a constant itinerary of tourist things to go see and do, but I still get to do a lot of interesting things.

I've also traveled with my now fiancee, for almost 3 of the 5 years, since I've been at it.

 

[Tina Diaz]

What I wish I knew a little sooner was to let go of people who were not on the same page as mine, let it be my friends or family, I wanted all of us to be on the same path as I was, having huge a$$ dreams, but some wanted to live a normal job life and I tried so much to be in the circle, to be included got humiliated for not having a "J O B" that pays every month, and NOW I realize the journey is very different . And we need to let go of people and circumstances that are not helpful for our road trip. I lost myself trying to be included, that's when I realized, " Its either my vision and dreams or their friendship". No ANDs, Only ORs! So I learnt to let go!

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

Reading some books earlier cos I heard of them earlier and thought they were shitty. Thought entrepreneurship was for the crooks and books on it were for the birds. Thought it was learned in some unreachable civilization in South East Asia by certain cute babes and dope guys. My thoughts were crap at the time. 7 yrs ago.

Thought it was morally honest and genuine to go to school, graduate and be a millstone at a job for decades, serving your nation and God and providing for family, waiting to build a house at 40 and own a home at 50 and be rich at 70 if and only if I am lucky like the cat with 7 lives. What a scripted fool of a rat I was.

Reading TMF the moment I saw it. I didn't because I thought it was some guru spewing gospel truth to idiots. I was stupid and myopic to think that way. 10 months ago. I have read it plus its 3 followers and life is easier. I infer what is and what isn't easily.

Focusing on what I can do to help someone instead of burying my head learning programming. I can do it another day. I am making things that help someone solve a problem.

Reading the 7 Day Startup when I saw it. I thought it was another guru promising quick heaven to dimwits. Wasted a lot of time action faking as a result.

Stopped eating all flesh. I am 26. I don't want to wait till it is a crisis. Reduced on wheat and sugar and processed food. Depending on my mind in future, I may eating them altogether. Stopped taking mostly all energy drinks. Stopped taking parked soft drinks. Alcohol is no longer essential.

I am waiting to see the results of many of these decisions. I guess they will be positive.

 

[andyhaus44]

Tony Robbins once said that you're only 2 millimeters away from the next level. Wish I would've started fasting 20 hours instead of 16-18 because for the first time in my life, I'm at 13.7% body fat

 

[Oilman]

Working out.

It helps with mood, your dating life, and your cognitive abilities.

 

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[emavery176]

Quitting social media - including YouTube.

It was a form of escapism for me. Now instead of scrolling, I read books or take a nap. Productivity has increased dramatically and I'm getting better sleep.

If I need the answer to a business problem, I buy or rent a book from Kindle Unlimited.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Do you use it for burning calories, or what's the rationale behind the treadmill?

Because sitting all day is bad. And it is starting to have a negative impact on my life. Dropping down to the gym for an hour doesn't fix 8 hours of sitting.

So now I walk a good part of the day and it has raised my caloric intake as well resulting in better fitness.

 

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[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.

 

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[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

 

[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.

 

[Rangermac2]

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.

Actually taking sometime to care for myself. I mean this as in taking more time to read, learn, have fun and experiences. School really shut me down from this and after a hard year with school I feel much better. Working on my goals and hobbies - doing stuff I enjoy.

Managing a balance between Family, Creating, and whatever else I want to do. Really helped push me in the right direction.

Final thing: I quit talking to my friends who ridiculed me with empty criticism. By not talking about my goals with just anyone I've had an improvement in focus and in skill by actually doing it instead of talking. But it doesn't help to have unnecessary criticism. A regular convo would go:
"What're you upto?" (My Friend),
"Nothing Much just working on X and Y" (me),
"Get real its very unlikely" (my Friend).

Once you have enough of the ridicule for no reason and put the right and supportive people into your life it helps its like adding a latter to a ledge you can climb it so much easier

 

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[windchaser]

1. HIIT
2.Weightlifting. Out of ignorance, I always avoided as I didn't want to get too bulky.
3. Ditching all unhealthy processed food (and learning how to detect fake healthy food), not that I ate a lot of it in the first place, but even that makes the difference.

 

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[Temerity]

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.

For me, it was financial pain, and still is to a degree today. I've had it since I was 16 but things really changed about a year and a half ago.

Previous to that time, I was involved in a lot of woo-woo garbage "manifestation" type philosophies which claimed you can have anything you want without much action. They are not only garbage, but harmful to your financial and physical health, quite literally.

It was finally seeing through this dumbed-down haze that lead me to a breakthrough. I'd had a brutally honest talk with myself about the state of my life in my 40s. I wasn't where I wanted to be and time is very limited, very short.

I think there is something to be said about fears between the genders. It's said a woman's greatest fear is loss of beauty and youth while a man's greatest fear is not achieving his goals. This rang true for me as a man, and I wasn't about to let my fears take hold.

As a result, I started a business that I've been committed to more than anything else in my life. Took 1.5 years just to set it up and I'm still fully in "on" mode.

So summarily, it was recognizing acutely that what I was doing wasn't getting me closer to my goals. They were actually pushing them away.

 

[OutofPoverty]

Going to the gym and working out with a personal trainer. I've been going since 04/18/22 and it helps with my anxiety and depression.This is better than taking antidepressants