Life is beautiful. It’s all about perspectives, but in the end, as my grandmother used to say, everything works out the way it is supposed to work the first time.
All we can do is put in our efforts.
Efforts mean putting work into building healthy, sustainable, and positive habits like the top 1% of successful people. A simple Google search will bring up the following habits of the top 1% in the world. Here, you can take a look.
Today, I am going to share the top 6 habits that have been fruitful to me.
Shameless plugin → I am an experimental guy, way far from theoretical work, which means if someone tells me something is working out for them and I should give it a try, I will go ahead and do a 30+ days challenge.
You will be surprised to learn that I completed 29 challenges last year, and some of them might stay with me for the rest of my life. I will soon write a 365-day streak, which started as a 30-day challenge. Here is the list of the 30-day challenges I have accomplished.
#6 Read daily as your life depends on it.
Reading is one of the best habits you can develop to live as many lives as you want to. In the beginning, do not follow a particular genre of a specific author. Every book has something to offer.
There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island. ― Walt Disney
How to start a reading habit?
Here is an excerpt from one of my 30+ days of challenges, reading merely two pages a day. For details, please read this article once.
I wrote this article on the 28 rules that helped to build a solid reading habit.
These 28 Reading Rules Transformed My Life
Importance of reading in a nutshell
- Helps to improve your communication skills
- Educates you
- Helps to keep your brain healthy and active
- Helps to reduce stress and anxiety
- Helps to stimulate your creativity
- Helps to improve your writing abilities
#5 Prioritize sleep — 8 hours (MUST)
The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep. — Dr. Matthew Walker
Do not underestimate the quality of sleep; it basically resets your brain to handle more challenging tasks as soon as you are up for a new challenge.
In my 20s, I used to sleep a maximum of 6–7 hours per night, but this could have been more consistent. Sometimes, I would sleep merely 5 hours and be okay to function.
However, reading this book and implementing an 8-hour sleep regularly helped boost my overall health.
Importance of 8 hours of sleep per day
My top 6 tips to sleep better
- Set a sleep schedule; I sleep 11-7 am — 8 solid hours.
- Try to avoid caffeine at least 7 hours before bedtime; try decaf
- Exercise: Hit the gym, walk, hike (best), try outdoor activities
- Avoid big meals before bedtime, and focus on a healthy breakfast
- Set room temperature, invest in excellent curtains to go pitch black
- Do not sleep with your cell phone at night. I don’t take my cell to my bedroom or home office.
#4 Walk 8–10,000 steps daily.
This one is a no-brainer; I suggest you do the following activity before asking yourself any questions.
Activity: Walk 8000+ steps
Start walking 8000+ steps right now, without a cell phone, watch, or any digital distraction; I prefer to walk in the woods, mountains, or around a body of water.
Your brain will help you a lot to introspect and bring way more ideas than taking shower idea community; for me, it works like a charm; it allows me to solve complex problems, get more ideas, and think about what life is.
I have 10000+ steps daily for 30+ days, and here is my detailed article.
My results after doing 10,000+ steps a day
- An adult human step requires roughly 200 muscles. Consider how much of a workout your body will get if you do the 10000 steps challenge!
- I could not do 10000 steps for a few days but saw the benefits (sleep).
- I actually accepted the challenge to increase my sleep quality. I generally walked 10,000 steps with my partner after dinner, about 6/7 p.m..
- I work full-time in front of computer screens, and 10000 steps helped me relax and decrease physical stiffness. I slept the entire night peacefully.
If you could choose one advantage to better your life, it would be sleep quality. And I may tell, you will notice a significant improvement in your sleep on your first day of the 10000 steps journey.
- I also remain attentive while sitting in front of computer screens throughout the day. I felt more active and alert after walking 10,000 steps.
#3 workout per week (3–4 times)
I read somewhere that if you want to live a healthy and productive life, you should do 3–4 strength training workouts, and if you want to live a long life, you should walk 10000 steps a day.
And if you can do both, you are set for life. Credit goes to Dan Go, but I am not sure.
Importance of workouts
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regular physical activity is paramount for optimal health.
- It helps to improve your brain health.
- It helps to manage your weight.
- It helps to reduce the risk of disease.
- It helps to strengthen bones and muscles.
- It helps to improve your daily activities.
My findings after/during each workout session
- If I am in a bad mood, I go for a long walk or gym (fortunately, I have a home gym). It always helps to change my mood. It’s not wrong to say that it actually makes me happy. I used to have a heater on in the garage gym (living at -10 the whole winter). I decided to turn off the heaters to save power and try to work out in the cold to boost my immune system; I felt a bit chilly in the beginning, but after 10–15 minutes, I got warm.
- It’s a fact that regular exercise definitely helps you manage weight. As a matter of fact, if you are a big eater of junk food, after each session, you will inclined to eat more healthy food than junk. The reason is simple: exercise helps to make you happy, and I do not know anyone who is ever satisfied after eating junk food.
- Another proven fact is my energy levels; if I feel lazy, I go and hit the gym; sometimes, just pull-ups do the magic, and then I am back at the home office.
- Exercise will help to promote your sex life. The idea is simple: exercise helps to strengthen your heart, which helps improve blood circulation, flexibility, and muscle tone. That, in the end, helps to improve your sex life.
- Research shows that regular strength training can help reduce chronic disease risk.
Heart disease
Cancer
Type diabetes
Hypertension
#2 Document everything — in other words, journaling.
I never wanted to share my journal with anyone but myself. I was shy to share my writings in public.
I started to journal because my long-term memory sucks; I cannot recall anything that happened a year or months ago. I made this decision to start writing a journal for even a 2-minute per day to strengthen my memory.
It has been almost a decade since I have maintained a digital journal; I use the Day One app and plugin for nearly anything that jumps into my mind.
Writing helps me clear my mind because the brain has to think and shoot many neurons to make a sentence rather than a simple word.
My results after journaling for a decade (almost)
- If something is bothering you and you cannot share it with anyone, start typing in your journal; it will help you to reduce your stress level. A study shows that merely 15 minutes of writing a day for 3+ months helps to improve blood pressure and liver health.
- It is always a safe place to dump what’s happening in my head. It helps me to think clearly. Here is a tiny activity: Start writing on paper if something is bothering you. Write all the possibilities, why they happened, and a possible solution. Your brain is wired to find a way for you where you will feel more comfortable or safe.
- I always write my tiny wins or what’s going on in life. Then, after 3+ months, I read what I wrote to help me see what I was doing right or wrong.
- It’s my record of all the things I’ve said. Here is another article by a fellow medium writer on the benefits of journaling.
- I am a fan of the book Meditations by Marcus, the most powerful man on earth with a personal journal to write his thoughts. I highly recommend to read at least once. If a powerful man has a journal, why can’t we boost our lives?
- Two Books I Will Re-Read Every Year Until the Day I Die
#1 Family time to keep you emotionally healthy
I was a workaholic, especially in my late 20s and early 30s. With a full-time job, I was running a couple of online gigs.
My old schedule
9–5 job
5–7 commute + dinner
7–10 — work on the first side gig
10–12 — work on 2nd side gig
12–6 sleep (sometimes 1 or 2 to 6 sleep)
6 am — wake up
Long commute to work
Where the hell is the family time? My side gigs also consumed my Saturdays and Sundays. Instead of using the 9–5 on weekends with family and friends, I used it to work; I made more money, paid more tax, and then spent more on my health.
I won’t recommend this lifestyle to anyone!
My new schedule
7–9 — breakfast, gym
9–12 creator time — I write
12–1 lunch with wife
1–5 reading, researching, calls, networking, etc
5 — onward family time
6–7 walk with partner, bonding booster
11–7 pm7 pm — quality sleep time
My results
- My wife always used to complain that I did not have enough time to spend with her or her friends or even with her family, which was causing strain in our relationship. Now that thing is out of the window, I have no complaints; we are happier and love to do things together. I am not interested in watching TV. But recently I started to watch TV because my wife loves it. I enjoy watching the show Yellowstone, the Dutton Ranch, and I know all the characters.
- We have a Disney+ membership; I have never watched it. However, I pay, but it gives me satisfaction that many family members use the membership. It’s their way to relax, and my way is reading.
- Many studies have shown that spending quality time with family helps to improve mental health, especially stress and anxiety.
- Quality time with family helps to strengthen emotional intelligence.
- If you have kids, you are their role model; you will never know when they grow up, and the best time to spend time with them is now.
- My family time also helped me to boost my physical health; I always love to go on long walks with my wife. It also allows us to share what’s going on in her life, especially at work. She loves to share the gossip, which creates armstrong bonding.
- Research shows that quality time with family helps to boost self-esteem and confidence. Family is there to support and love.
Key takeaways
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. — Will Durant
It’s going to take a lot of work to develop healthy, productive, and sustainable habits. It’s going to be challenging. But I can assure you it will be fruitful to actually spend time to develop these basic habits to live a healthy, productive, and happy life.
Develop a habit of reading daily. Even two pages a day is fine.
Never underestimate the power of quality sleep; a solid 8 hours without interruptions is paramount. I highly recommend this book if you struggle to sleep throughout the night.
- Develop a habit of walking 10000 steps a day.
- Find an activity to strengthen your muscles. A basic 3–4 day gym will do the trick.
- Journaling is great to talk to yourself. Write all your insecurity or bothering thoughts in a private journal. While writing, it’s possible your brain might find a solution.
- Spend more time with family. PERIOD
Thank you for reading. I wish you a happy and healthy life.
