Success and Freedom

50 Ways Happier, Healthier and More Successful People Live on Their Own Terms- part 2

11. Do something every day that terrifies you.

 “A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.”  —Tim Ferriss

But you don’t have to battle your fears. Actually, Darren Hardy says you can be a coward 99.9305556 percent of the time (to be exact). You only need to be courageous for 20 seconds at time.

If you courageously confront fear for 20 seconds every single day, before you know it, you’ll be in a different socioeconomic and social situation.

• Make that call.
• Ask that question.
• Pitch that idea.
• Post that video.

Whatever it is you feel you want to do, do it. The anticipation of the event is far more painful than the event itself. So just do it and end the inner conflict. In most cases, your fears are unfounded. As Seth Godin explains, our comfort zone and our safety zone are not the same things. It is completely safe to make an uncomfortable phone call. You are not going to die. Don’t equate the two. Recognize that most things outside your comfort zone are completely safe.

12. Do something kind for someone else every day.

“Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad? If not, I have failed indeed. Has anyone’s burden been lighter today, because I was willing to share? Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way? When they needed my help was I there?” —Will L. Thompson

If we’re too busy to help other people, we’ve missed the mark. Taking the time to help other people is one of the greatest joys in life. Helping others opens you up to new sides of yourself. It helps you connect deeper with that you help and to humanity in general. It clarifies what really matters in life.

13. Go to bed early and rise early.

According to countless research studies, people who go to bed and rise early are better students. Harvard University biologist Christoph Randler found that early sleepers and risers are more proactive, more likely to anticipate problems and minimize them efficiently.

Other benefits of going to bed and rising early include:

• Being a better planner
• Being holistically healthier as individuals
• Getting better sleep
• More optimistic, satisfied and conscientious

Waking up early allows you to proactively and consciously design your day. You can start with a morning routine that sets the tone for your whole day. You show self-respect by putting yourself first. In your morning routine, you can pray or meditate, exercise, listen to or read inspiring content and write in your journal. This routine will give you a much stronger buzz than a cup of coffee.

14. Get at least seven hours of sleep each night.

Let’s face it: Sleep is just as important as eating and drinking water. Despite this, millions of people do not sleep enough and experience problems as a result. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) conducted surveys revealing that at least 40 million Americans suffer from more than 70 different sleep disorders. Furthermore, 60 percent of adults and 69 percent of children experience one or more sleep problems a few nights or more during a week.

In addition, more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month—with 20 percent reporting problem sleepiness a few days a week or more. On the flip side, getting a healthy amount of sleep is linked to:

• Increased memory
• Longer life
• Decreased inflammation
• Increased creativity
• Increased attention and focus
• Decreased fat and increased muscle mass with exercise
• Lower stress
• Decreased dependence on stimulants like caffeine
• Decreased risk of getting into accidents
• Decreased risk of depression
• And tons more… Look it up.

15. Replace warm showers with cold ones.

Tony Robbins doesn’t consume any caffeine. Instead, he starts every morning by jumping into a 57-degree swimming pool. Why? Cold water immersion radically facilitates physical and mental wellness. When practiced regularly, it provides long-lasting changes to your body’s immune, lymphatic, circulatory and digestive systems that improve the quality of your life. It can also increase weight loss because it boosts your metabolism.

A 2007 research study found that routinely taking cold showers can help treat depression symptoms often more effectively than prescription medications. Cold water triggers a wave of mood-boosting neurochemicals that make you feel happy.

To me, it increases my willpower and boosts my creativity and inspiration. While standing with the cold water hitting my back, I practice slowing my breathing and calming down. After I’ve chilled out, I feel happy and inspired. Ideas start flowing and I’m motivated to achieve my goals. Here’s a tip if you’re just starting out: Start your shower warm, as usual. Let the warm water on your muscles allow you to stretch them out. After you’re stretched and washed, switch to cold. It feels incredible. Just do it for 60-to-90 seconds then get out. See how you feel and consider implementing cold showers into your daily routine.

16. Say no to people, obligations, requests and opportunities that don’t interest you.

 “No more yes. It’s either HELL YEAH! or no.” —Derek Sivers

 Your 20 seconds of daily courage will most consistently involve saying no to stuff that doesn’t really matter. But how could you possibly say no to certain opportunities if you don’t know what you want? You can’t. Like most people, you’ll be seduced by the best thing that comes around. Or you’ll crumble under other people’s agendas.

But if you know what you want, you’ll have the courage and foresight to pass up even brilliant opportunities—ultimately they are distractors from your vision. As Jim Collins said in Good to Great, “A ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ is irrelevant if it is the wrong opportunity.”

17. Say “thank you” every time someone serves you.

It’s amazing when you meet someone who is expressively and genuinely grateful. It’s amazing because, frankly, it’s rare.

I remember one day as a teenager working as a table busser. Every time I went by a certain table, whether I was refilling waters, bringing food, anything, the kid at the table (no more than 20 years old) graciously said, “Thank you.” I even heard him from close proximity saying it to all the other employees when they stopped by his table. This experience had a dramatic impact on me. It was so simple what he was doing. Yet so beautiful. I instantly loved this person and wanted to serve him even more. I could tell by how he looked in my eyes when saying “thank you” that he meant it. It came from a place of gratitude and humility.

Interestingly, one study found that saying “thank you,” facilitated a 66 percent increase in help offered by those serving. Although altruism is the goal, don’t be surprised when your thank-you habit turns into even more to be thankful for.

18. Say “I love you” at least three times a day to the most important people in your life.

According to neuroscience research, the more you express love (like gratitude), the more other people feel love for you. Sadly, people learn absurd mindsets about being vulnerable and loving in relationships. Just this morning, my wife and I had to coax and prod our three foster kids to say one nice thing about each other and to say they loved each other. It took several minutes for our 8-year-old foster boy to muster the strength to say he loved his sister. Yet, all of our kids constantly berate and belittle each other. You know the feeling: When you want to say “I love you” but hold back. What a horrible feeling. Why do we hesitate to express our love? Why do we hesitate to connect deeply with others?

This might be strange, but if you tell your friends and family you love them, they’ll be blown away. I once knew a Polynesian missionary who told everyone he loved them. It was clear he was sincere. I asked him why he did it. What he told me changed my life: “When I tell people I love them, it not only changes them, but it changes me. Simply by saying the words, I feel more love for that person. I’ve been telling people all around me I love them. They feel treasured by me. Those who know me have come to expect it. When I forget to say it, they miss it.”

 “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” —Harriet Beecher Stowe

19. Consume 30 grams of protein within the first 30 minutes of waking up.

Donald Layman, professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of Illinois, recommends consuming at least 30 grams of protein for breakfast. Similarly, Tim Ferriss, in his book The 4-Hour Body, also recommends 30 grams of protein 30 minutes after waking up. According to Tim, his father did this and lost 19 pounds in one month.

Protein-rich foods keep you full longer than other foods because they take longer to break down in the stomach. Protein keeps blood-sugar levels steady, which prevents spikes in hunger. Eating protein first decreases your white carbohydrate cravings. These are the types of carbs that facilitate weight gain—think bagels, toast and donuts.

Tim makes four recommendations for getting adequate protein in the morning:

• Eat at least 40 percent of your breakfast calories as protein.
• Do it with two or three whole eggs (each egg has about 6 grams of protein).
• If you don’t like eggs, use something like turkey bacon, organic pork bacon or sausage or cottage cheese.
• Or you could always do a protein shake with water.
• For people who avoid dairy, meat and eggs, there are several plant-based proteins. Legumes, greens, nuts and seeds all are rich in protein.

20. Listen to audiobooks and podcasts on 1.5 or 2 times faster speed; your brain will change faster.

Listening to audiobooks at normal speed is so three years ago. There is a going trend—particularly in Silicon Valley—to listen to audiobooks at 150 or 200 percent, called “speed listening.”

In 2010, the tech blog GigaOm suggested “speed-listening to podcasts” as an overall time-saving technique. Software called FasterAudio promises to “cut your audio learning time in half.”

If you want to get hardcore, a particularly useful tool is Overcast—a podcast-playback app with a feature called Smart Speed. Smart Speed isn’t about simply playing audio content at 150 or 200 percent of the standard rate, but actually attempts algorithmically to remove fluff (e.g., dead air, pauses between sentences, intros and outros) that bulks up the play time of audio content.

Use this technique and you’ll be consuming as much information as you once consumed caffeine.