Which 10 Life Hacks Do You Do?

1)   Exercise regularly

Movement is life. Exercise is ‘prescribed movement’. By doing exercise at least three times per week – a combination of short & intense, versus longer and enduring – we can activate muscles, stimulate hormonal secretion, reduce mental stress, and engage our nervous system. Exercise is know to reduce the occurrence of mental depression, and retard some of the effects associated with aging. While you are at it, exercise in the sunlight, sometimes.

2)   Read

Reading helps us nourish our mind through the provision of ideas, knowledge and opinions. Words help us form images in our minds and bridge both cerebral hemispheres (both left and right sides of our brain). It also allows us to access our imagination. Reading is a form of ‘quiet time’ or meditation for our self. Read for information, education and entertainment. Read, consider, reason, argue and discuss –activate your thinking (cognition) through engagement with others.

3)   Write (express yourself: teach, share)

This is a way of expressing yourself privately and openly. It gets our thoughts onto paper, or on-screen. Writing is a way to think in words, phrases, and sentences. It allows us to express random thoughts, and place them in logical perspective. Writing helps the introverts express their inner feelings and deep thoughts ‘outwards’.

4)   Eat well

Eat as natural and unprocessed as often as you can. Apply the ‘80:20 Rule’, and eat as well as you can afford to 80 percent of the time. Eat your comfort and ‘cheat foods’ the remainder of the time. Focus on foods that do not encourage inflammation. Inflammation has been associated with a wide range of maladies and diseases. Focus on foods high in antioxidants, filtered-water, and herbs to cleanse your body and encourage healing. Keep fruit (and fruit sugars) to specific times, as it tends to stimulate hunger.

5)   Frame and re-frame my mind

Positive psychology is about learning to apply mental strategies and techniques to quell negative thoughts. We learn to focus on positive matters, like results instead of failure. Re-wording helps us appreciate another perspective and dimension in our communication. Our ‘self talk’ can be filled with excuses, blame, disappointment and resentment. By re-framing, we can focus on more useful parts of our communication with others. We take responsibility in the quality of our conversations with others, so that we can benefit from each interaction. Positive and optimistic people are also more fun to be with.

6)   Posture

This is about how elongated and stretch your spine is when you sit, move or sleep. Proper posture concerns us on how we move with ease and comfort. Pains, strains and stress place undue discomfort on our body, so that we do not breath deeply enough. When that happens, it disrupts our digestion, blood circulation, and how we use our body effectively. Minimise excessive time spent sitting. Sit on large balls or stand at your workstation.

7)   Seek Experts & Learn From Them

The Room is the expert. In almost every social setting, we can meet somebody of distinction. This may be an area of expertise, or self-mastery. Even hobbyists can be passionate in talking about their hobbies. Most of them are knowledgeable about that area which excites them, and provides them with a form of expression. It can be delightful to hear someone talk passionately about what they enjoy doing, or what they are competent in.

8)   Challenge yourself and measure your progress

Challenges allow us to expand our abilities. These can be translated into goals, and we can direct our resources and commitment to achieving them. As we measure our results, we can ascertain our progress. Part of the reason why people do sports, is to test their mental and physical limitations. Excuses surface when we test our limits, and we learn to curb them when we face chores, work, duties and other discipline-required matters. Challenges also provide us with a sense of purpose, so that goals can be created around them.

9)   Be inspired and motivated

Be curious. Be excited by new things. Enjoy new experiences. Nature can inspire us. People and their actions, can inspire us to be better versions of our selves. Read inspirational stories. Consider engaging some of their ideas into your life. Once we develop a sense of purpose and strength of purpose, we can act on our dreams and goals.

10)                  Sleep well

Sleep at least 7.5 hours a day. Six hours would be an absolute minimum. It is a single non-activity that allows our brains to do ‘housekeeping’. A comfortable mattress, a firm pillow, drapes drawn to keep our light, can help us sleep better.  Dreaming helps us in an unconscious way. If we sleep well, we awake refreshed and clear-minded, without the mind-fog that caffeine cannot fully vanquish. Tart Cherry juice can stimulate sleepiness and gives more sound sleep.