There are certain things that you know if you do them your life will be better. You have absolutely zero doubt that this is true and not just your life but your family as well. These things are generally not huge things and do not cost large amounts of money either but still, you do not do them. The only reason you don’t is that doing them will be uncomfortable. Its completely pathetic and you know that so you bury them as best you can, but they are always there in the background ready to show their face when you are not expecting them.
For me, I could make a list of several things that if I took them up tomorrow my life and therefore everyone else around me would be significantly better
They would be
- Getting up earlier
- Meditating
- Eating better
- Exercising
- Cutting down the internet
- Walking the Dogs more often
All of these things will cost me absolutely no money and will have a massive impact on my life. The truth is if I do them I’m sure that I’ll also be in a better place financially as well.
So why do we not do them?
We know that our lives will be better it’s an investment in the future. We’re having the sacrifice now, this moment of a better future tomorrow and we’re not designed to do that. So what is the answer? Just start. I’m going to run a 100-day challenge of doing all these things. It is going to start tomorrow and will run until 26th July. I’ll be monitoring my progress here, and on youtube and at the end of the 100 days we’ll see where we are. So as with any challenge, there need to be rules
The rules
Getting up early
Every day I will get up by 5.30. This will happen without exception even if I’ve had a late night. Somedays it will be earlier, but 5.30 is the latest.
Meditating
I will meditate at least once a day. This will happen in the morning once I’ve got up and drank a glass of water. This should be the easiest as I’m already pretty consistent with meditation. Sometimes I slip a the weekend, but that tends to be due to not having a routine
Eating better
This one is harder to define as it needs to measurable. My diet is pretty messed up at the moment. I’m really out of shape, very poor energy and feel like I’m slowly giving up. All of those things are really not good enough.
Hydration; I’m going to drink at least 2 litres of water a day. This can be a little tricky if I’m onsite all day with a client but its something that makes a big difference.
Food; Every meal I eat will have a component of vegetables or fruits. I’ve been thinking of going vegetarian for a while but I don’t want a massive upheaval to throw these change off, so I’m going to start by adding to my diet instead of removing. I’m also going to cut processed food and sugar out. I’m not going to be completely anal about this side of things. I’ll still be having my galaxy easter egg that’s on top of the fridge but apart from that, I’ll be avoiding most packaged crap.
Exercising
I’ve pretty much stopped exercising altogether apart from walking in the Mournes and I can feel it. Normal tasks are becoming harder, bones are creaking, joints are hurting and it needs to stop. I need to start a simple routine that I can do every day in the morning without fail. I think it should be a combination of running, kettlebells and body weight exercises that I can do downstairs when I get up. I’ll alternate between running and body weight, but if I can exercise of at least 20 minutes every morning, it will make a significant difference. When I say running, I must stress that this will not be running as they do on TV. It will be me alternating walking and jogging looking like I’m dying in between. I haven’t run for years and will probably only be able to do 30 seconds at a time but by the end of the 100 days, I should be somewhere about the 10k mark (that could be very wishful thinking, but I’m being positive).
Cutting down the internet
Internet creep has taken over my life, winning the battle by inches. Youtube is the main culprit. I also watch videos before bed and also on any downtime, which is not a great thing. Now I must stress I’ll not be cutting out the internet entirely, as I’m a digital marketing consultant, but I will be cutting it back significantly. I’ll be checking email twice a day from my laptop only, using LinkedIn once a day every morning and disabling youtube from my phone. I’ll schedule all social media posts and use youtube when its work related. I will, however, keep my podcasts. I feel that they make the time I spend in the car more productive.
Walking the Dogs more often.
This is one that always fills me with shame. I don’t walk our dogs enough. I take Lenny up to the Mournes, but Lester does not get out as much as he should. He’s got a bunch of social problems which makes walking him a little difficult but that is no excuse. They have no shortage of love and play but sometimes walking them falls down the list. This is something I’ll be addressing over the next 100 days.
That’s essentially it so wish me luck.