Habit 1: Sleep 8–9 Hours a Night
If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, then you’ve heard this one before.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a thousand times… You NEED to prioritize your sleep.
I know plenty of people who think that they will “Get” an extra 2–3 hours out of their day by sleeping on 6 hours and waking up early.
According to all of the science, they are wrong. Sleep deprivation (6 hours or less for most people) slows your cognitive process WITHOUT you even realizing it. It’s a form of self torture.
This means that even though you might not “think” that you are sleep deprived subjectively, when you measure key performance metrics against well rested subjects, the data tells a different story.
If you aren’t sleeping 8 hours a night you are doing something wrong.
Forget the 5 a.m. miracle.
Get your 8 hours and you’ll perform better, feel better, and do better than you would getting 6 hours but waking up early.
Habit 2: Drink One Green Smoothie Every Morning
I thought green smoothies would be a fad.
They weren’t.
I started drinking 1–2 smoothies a day and it radically improved my mood and energy levels almost overnight.
You don’t have to complicate things here.
Just a handful of organic spinach and kale, a 1/2 banana, cucumber slices, 1 celery stick, carrots, frozen strawberries and some water is all that you need to reap the many benefits of getting more veggies.
Habit 3: Take a 60 Minute Walk, Jog or Bike Ride in the Middle of the Day
One of the most common misconceptions about productivity is that getting things done requires you to work more hours.
In reality, it requires you to work smarter.
Few people realize that mental energy is a finite resource.
Scientifically speaking, you cannot sustain optimal levels of cognitive performance for more than 6–7 hours a day without the aid of narcotics or prescription meds.
You need to take breaks to restore your mental energy and inject some life into your work day.
I found that by taking a 90 minute walk or bike ride around 2 p.m. everyday (my least productive time of day), I’m able to overcome the afternoon slump and stay productive much longer than I can when I try to power through without rest.
Habit 4: Read for 60 Minutes, Take Action for 180 Minutes
You’ve all heard the saying that “Knowledge is power”
This is not true.
Knowledge is useless unless it’s applied.
Unless you take action.
Over the past few years, I’ve read hundreds of books on a wide variety of different topics.
And it didn’t change a damn thing in my life until I realized that knowledge without action is futile.
I made the commitment to educate myself in a 1:3 ration.
For every hour that I spent reading about performance, goal setting, personal development etc. I had to spend at least 3 hours taking some form of action towards living the life that I wanted to live.
If you implement this into your daily routine, it will change your life.
Habit 5: Quit Complaining
Complaining makes you dumb. Literally. It has been shown to decrease the size of your brain, negatively impact cognitive processes, and increase depression, anxiety, and chronic pain.
A few years ago I made a commitment to give up complaining for good.
It hasn’t been easy and I still catch myself whining about silly crap from time to time, but being conscious of how amazing my life is and focusing on the good has changed how I live forever.
I’ve learned that I am always in control. It’s always up to me to determine how I will react to something or how I should respond to adversity.
Quit complaining and reclaim your personal power.