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

[MTF]

drawing attention to myself

As in, you're doing it more now?

 

[Aditya Gunjal]

Yeah, stumbled upon it when I was still a teenager as far as I remember (or early 20s). Been practicing and studying it more often recently again.
Yes sometimes i feel the commandment of control which sir mj has talked about in his book is taken from stoicism. Control what you can rather than thinking about what you cant.


I think as with all things in nature it's not that strange. It's just that we need the right balance. You can't live without comfort but you can't prosper without discomfort, either.



It's Martin DeDiscomfortarco.

 

[MTF]

Here's that thread... pretty lengthy...

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/vhki66 View: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/vhki66/what_improved_your_life_so_much_you_wished_you/

There's the thread you linked and there's also an older one with the same question and many more good answers as well:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/pbzt5b View: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/pbzt5b/what_improved_your_quality_of_life_so_much_you/

Big one: Stop worrying about what other people think, quite possibly the hardest thing to do for me outside of going plant-based. This is a big one for young people -- the less "F*cks" you give about what random strangers think (not customers) the more success and happiness you will have.

That's a good one that I could have included in my response as well. Looking back it's incredible how much I cared before and how little I care now.

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.

 

[Matesrate24]

Eat a lot healthier because making food is easier not having roommates "soaking" their old dishes for a week
- Food you buy isn't eaten by a roommate
- Working at night is no longer distracting with music and such
- Now can buy things from Home Depot / Lowes and keep them instead of just throwing things away because no place to keep it or you move every year or so.

As a person who currently lives with 3 other people, I completely understand you. When you just want to fry a steak, but the whole kitchen looks like a tornado went through it, You lose all the motivation to do so. (at least in my case)

In terms of sound, noise-cancelling headphones are a godsend.

 

[windchaser]

@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.

That is a very good point. I mostly agree with you. For that reason I wouldn't change anything, however, I make the exception with health related habits.

 

[whitworldwide]

My morning meditation,

Never knew back then that there could be a way to raise awareness to such an extent,

Now, 20min of meditation in the morning and get so much productive for the day.

Really wish i knew this sooner !

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?

EDIT: DennisDuty answered this beautifully. I guess I need more time at it

 

[whitworldwide]

purple mattress. sleep is key.
adding the oura ring and reviewing the data to get better sleep has powered me to do lots of other important things.
lot of cool biohacking you can do to help your main 'machine' run better.

Interesting. Been looking at the Oura ring. Has it made a huge difference? When you first use it, is it easy to learn what to do to make the changes to sleep better?

 

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

[whitworldwide]

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.

Thank you!

DennisDuty​

said much the same thing I think. I will carry on what I'm doing. I'm finding some days of meditation are better than others. I will absolutely persist!

 

[BD64]

house hacking

 

[doster.zach]

Just look at the clown who responded above. I'm so glad he is so concerned about what I put in my mouth. Doesn't even deserve a response.

Haha reminds me of the teenager a while back who introduced himself as 100% meat only and declaring that his diet was going to make help him become a millionaire and then got upset when people pushed back.

 

[ZCP]

Interesting. Been looking at the Oura ring. Has it made a huge difference? When you first use it, is it easy to learn what to do to make the changes to sleep better?

nothing to it. they've improved the app a lot. the desktop is cool too because you can run correlation studies ..... does this affect that, does that affect this. helped me figure out to go to bed later and get up earlier was the key to better sleep! (picked up 2 hours a day that i use for working out, etc.)

 

[heavy_industry]

Just google MTF and you'll see thousands of pictures

Yeah, naughty stuff.
But I think @MTF stands for Meditate, Train and Fast - the pillars of stoicism.

 

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

[Cait Mack]

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.

Publishing content online every day. Waking up early. My morning health routine. Investing regularly. All things I wish I started doing 10 years before I started doing them.

 

[whitworldwide]

1. Daily meditation. I've been doing this consistently for the past year and it helped me tremendously.

I like all 3 points you made.

Curious on number 1 though: What style of meditation do you use? Is it for calming purposes, improving focus, both or something else?

The subject has been brought up a couple of times in this thread, but I find it fascinating and believe in it's power. I want to get the most out of meditation as I can, so just thought I'd ask.

 

[Marcos Morales]

Getting tested/treated for sleep apnea due to a deviated septum from taking a hard knee to the nose in jiu jitsu, currently on a CPAP which helps tremendously. Before being treated I was so tired I was closing my eyes while driving, cranky as hell, and had 0 attention span. Have a septoplasty (deviated septum surgery) scheduled for later this year and couldn't be happier to get this fixed.

I'm happy for you to feel a tremendous difference.
I also have a deviated septum and post nasal drip due to allergies, so I'll try CPAP while I save for the septoplasty.

That being said, are you paying full, or is there health insurance in the US that covers it?

 

[JustMorpheus]

1) Hot yoga
I used to think yoga wasn't "real exercise" but I wish I'd discovered hot yoga many years before I did. I've done it for 4 years now and highly recommend it! Flexibility, balance, strength, purging stress, better sleep, and a mental reset for your day. What more could you ask for?! I've seen all ages in my regular studio... teenagers all the way to 80-somethings.

2) Weightlifting
Women are sometimes afraid of weightlifting because it seems intimidating, we don't want to look bulky, and we're often the only woman (or one of very few women) in that part of the gym. But it does wonders for your body and energy, for everyone! Not to mention, it protects against bone loss and breakage later in life. An ex introduced me to it years ago and I'm so grateful.

3) Prioritizing sleep
Our culture seems to love productivity and bio hacks so for those of us who need more sleep than most it can feel shameful. But once I accepted what my body thrives on, and actually gave it that, the benefits quickly followed. I need my sleep or everything else falls apart!

1) Hot yoga
I used to think yoga wasn't "real exercise" but I wish I'd discovered hot yoga many years before I did. I've done it for 4 years now and highly recommend it! Flexibility, balance, strength, purging stress, better sleep, and a mental reset for your day. What more could you ask for?! I've seen all ages in my regular studio... teenagers all the way to 80-somethings.

2) Weightlifting
Women are sometimes afraid of weightlifting because it seems intimidating, we don't want to look bulky, and we're often the only woman (or one of very few women) in that part of the gym. But it does wonders for your body and energy, for everyone! Not to mention, it protects against bone loss and breakage later in life. An ex introduced me to it years ago and I'm so grateful.

3) Prioritizing sleep
Our culture seems to love productivity and bio hacks so for those of us who need more sleep than most it can feel shameful. But once I accepted what my body thrives on, and actually gave it that, the benefits quickly followed. I need my sleep or everything else falls apart!

~80% of Americans are deficient in Magnesium. Not having enough can cause poor sleep quality. You should look into supplementing if you wanna boost you sleep a bit.

 

[Athena's Escape]

~80% of Americans are deficient in Magnesium. Not having enough can cause poor sleep quality. You should look into supplementing if you wanna boost you sleep a bit.

Thanks for the tip!

As far as I know, my sleep quality is fine (I meditate most nights before bed... the only things that mess it up are stress and alcohol). But if the stat is that high, I'm probably in that 80%. I'll have to look into that!

 

[Athena's Escape]

Thank you for the suggestion! I'll be checking this and Aron's book.

Social anxiety is my self-diagnosis, so I can definitely be wrong about it. My senses are pretty sensitive with regards to color, smells and touch. If I am an HSP though, then I seem to be particularly sensitive to social interactions as they stress me out the most. The constant input of data from reading body language, evaluating the verbal communication, noting the degrees of participation, noting who has been interrupted and what topics they were interrupted on in order to return to them if the situation permits it and the rest just gets exhausting after a while. It's useful as far being sociable and congenial, but exhausting.

I relate to this very much. Hopefully you gain clarity on the root of your issue. Keep us posted!

 

[Niptuck MD]

I'll never vote again for the rest of my life

Same here.

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

Reddit is a cesspool of drivel and I used to go on there to scower (briefly) emerging trends etc but its a shitshow

I would have to say, selling my stake of a joint construction and manufacturing business and switching industries has already begun to help me physically. I was only getting about 3.5-5 hours of sleep per night. Phones constantly going off due to worksite issues blah blah.. it was a mess and it took a toll on my body. After having knee replacements and a Roux-en-y (RYGB) (all in the last 18 months) I said something's gotta change and so far its been working out. Will try to update on my condition routinely but I came to the realization that some industries (despite being profitable and lucrative) are not worth the physical and mental toll on your health.

 

[Gavingonz]

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.

Im 23, if you could go back what age would you have liked to have kids? Why?

 

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

[Andy Black]

Im 23, if you could go back what age would you have liked to have kids? Why?

Probably about 33 or 34. Between that age and 37 was just more of the same.

 

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

[Andy Black]

#1 Learning to be comfortable in my own skin.
It took me over 20 years to finally admit to myself that much of what I was trying to accomplish was propelled by a drive to prove to others that I was what they would regard as a 'success.' It was a profound realization when it finally hit me that those 'A' students were now working for me. The dichotomy of what drives us to succeed versus just accepting the sidewalk can be fueled by so many reasons. I finally recognized the fact that much of my success was due to not feeling internally accepted in my formative years all the way through high school. It literally fed my desire to build and grow.

#2 Running and exercising.
I have 'learned' to love running. (Well, more like jogging at my age) It has put me on a path of eating cleaner. I try to focus on whole foods, nuts, fresh fruits & vegetables peppered with oats and whey smoothies. Lost weight, gained a bit of muscle. Still fast intermittently, but not daily. Still smoke a cigar almost daily Will abstain from that if I get serious about distance running.

#3 Separating myself from a toxic relationship.
I now live by myself and am so much happier. I don't 'need' anyone to feel complete. Perhaps there might be a long term relationship in the future, but not looking for one.

#4 Having a deeper spiritual life.
I am more at peace. I often pray. I feel it helps my decision making and definitely has been a stress buster. No more stress medicines; or for that matter no other daily pills once prescribed.

Life is good.

Love this. You sound at peace. I'm delighted for you Steve.

 

[Feliponius]

Big one: I went vegan in my late 40s. Every chronic ailment that I dealt with in my 40s (and spent $1000s of dollars on trying to diagnose/fix) disappeared in my 50s. Even had a scar on my face for 48 years which suddenly disappeared. Nothing dramatically changed at 48, other than dropping my Paleo, heavy protein low-carb diet to mostly plant-based, raw food and/or unprocessed food. On top of that, going plant-based has given me a great respect for all forms of sentient life which I felt I always had, but didn't live through my actions. I'd never murder a chicken, or pay someone to directly do so, but I'd have no problem eating one (and hence, indirectly paying someone for the slaughter). Going plant-based resolved this "I love animals" incongruity, a big source of cognitive dissonance in my life.

Buy a Water-Pik flosser for your mouth and combine with daily brushing. It will save you longer cleanings and big dental expenses. Nothing worse than laying in a dental chair for 2 hours with a rubber dam strapped to your mouth.

Big one: I stopped my daily visits on social media, and it improved my life.

And I stopped watching any network news, or news put out by big-tech/big-media platforms.

I stopped paying attention to politics, whereas before, I paid attention in an effort to make my "vote" count. Voting is worthless as the morons far outweigh and outbreed any intelligent opposition. I'll never vote again for the rest of my life as the last election showed me everything I need to know about that clown show, legit or not. Voting shows I consent for one of the two political parties, which I do not. They're both corrupt organizations who maniupulate the masses for their own gain.

Big one: Stop worrying about what other people think, quite possibly the hardest thing to do for me outside of going plant-based. This is a big one for young people -- the less "F*cks" you give about what random strangers think (not customers) the more success and happiness you will have.

Big one: I stop participating in organized religion which, like politics, is mostly about control, money, and manipulation, and instead, I started focusing on spiritual growth and enlightenment. When I noticed most churches (including my large Christian Church) were more opulently appointed than my own home (imported stone, marble, granite, shimmering chandeliers) the light bulb went off. No, this doesn't mean I'm an atheist, it means I have more faith in the higher power than I do humans entrusted with bringing truth to bear about a higher-power.

Bottomline, I'm all-in on living my life right now, while not giving any fuel to "what may happen," "who said what," or "who might do what" a few months from now.



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.

I had sworn off voting 2008. Decided it was all a sham and not worth my time. Also didn't like the idea that my vote was consenting to the inevitable fool who would further encroach on my liberty after promising they wouldn't. Was inclined to vote for the first time in a while this last election and then quickly learned it was even worse than earlier me realized. I think I'm just gonna keep it local from here on out.

 

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

[Fiza Hanif]

Reading MJ DeMarco and Michael Singer's work.

 

[Koen_88]

I did a NLP Practicioner course, this helped me communicate much better and see through my own and other communication problems. This helped me professionally as personally with problem solving by getting to the core problem faster by asking the right questions and listening to answers without filling in for the other.

I use backtracking and summarising to get really clear what they want. I'm much more sensitive for "holes" in someones question.

For example as an engineer I got the question to make something "more modular" I could go with the freedom of doing something what I thought was more modular. But I felt that the CTO had some expectations, so I asked for some clarification as the term modular is vague and the term more is objective.

 

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

[MJ DeMarco]

Any recommendations for how to start going vegan? (E.g. cookbooks, sites, etc.) I'm not familiar with much beyond Forks over Knives.

I've cut out almost all meat the past couple of years but I don't know where to start on a vegan diet. Maybe I'm overthinking it but as a southerner meat eating is baked into our psyche.

Here you go, there's a whole thread for the topic. There's no shortage of cookbooks to help you up your game. Also Game Changers and Dominion are good documentaries on going plant-based (the word "vegan" is pejorative for the average person) although beware, Dominion will make you cry and leave you traumatized.

NOTABLE! - Vegan / Vegetarians Only (Chat about lifestyle, opportunities, food, whatever...)

If you want to discuss VEGAN opportunities created by the movement toward veganism, please visit this thread. The Opportunity of Veganism / Vegan Opps This thread is to discuss the lifestyle itself for those interested. This is NOT a thread to discuss your world-view on meat or veganism...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[highway]

Getting my Computer Science degree. It opened up so many opportunities I never would have had without it. Travel, investing, home ownership, knowledge, personal growth, etc.

 

[hodio]

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.

To me it is: Delaying gratification. Delaying or sacrificing your present's enjoyment for your future self. If i had read a book instead of playing video games when i was 16, i might be a millionare by now. Well, guess my 25-year-old self is gonna have to thank me then.

 

[shashikr]

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.

Well particularly nothing changed my life yet but changed my mindset and perspective toward the world after reading self-help books. I have social anxiety and I accept it, and I desperately want to get rid of it asap to reach my vision. Right now, I am 20 years old and living with my family. I am thinking about forcing myself out of my comfort zone by leaving home and living seperately. I know 100% that this will turn out to be best decision of my life and I will be able to work on my full potential cuz it feels like hell going out with my F*ckin anxious mind telling 100s of stuff in public.

 

[DuncDad]

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.

Two things:

1. Getting a dog. And now I have 4!
2. Becoming a Swift Water Rescue Technician at 45, should have done it at 25 if only I knew it existed. I absolutely loved it but the fitness levels required are best kept for the younger folk