Things I did to improve myself everyday.

Hi all- first ever post on reddit.

[32/M] and wanted to share what I did to improve myself in the last 17 months.

• Started Learning One Foreign Language - put one block of time 1 hour a day everyday to learn. Sometimes it goes over 1 hour... but never under.
• Learned how to cook - I put a list of all the things I've cooked with the # of times I've cooked them. Invited friends over to try. Hit and miss... but if you cook something 5 times, it will be better than your 1st time- usually.
• List of Books - I made a list of books I wanted to read. I scheduled 2 books per month and read them.
  
• Started Exercising - Going to the gym everyday except on the Weekends.
  
• Stretching - it's important- do it. I sit all day so hip exercises saved my life. I don't have an anterior pelvic tilt anymore.
• Changed Diet - Strict diet except on Weekends (excluding Friday night, but including Sunday Night). I allow myself to cheat once. And if I do a week-day cheat, it has to be something I cooked. Btw, cooking allows you to see how much salt and sugar you put in things.
  
• Improved Posture - Kept a strict tab on my posture and made sure I never slouched. A bunch of techniques are out there, but what worked for me are post-its. Look for a system that works for you.
• Rest Eyes - as an office worker I didn't blink enough. So I started resting my eyes and taking realistic breaks. I also had a post-it that reminded me to blink.
• Quit Social Media - Quit FB, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. Life got real quiet, real quick.
• Limited Screen-time - I put a block of one hour to do whatever I wanted on the internet.
• Improved personal hygiene- went a little crazy and had a rolling schedule for haircuts, nail-clippings, eyebrow plucking (had a unibrow going if I didn't) and other stuff. Used essential oils, Cerave.. and other beauty products on myself. Nothing too fancy or crazy. Not sure if any of it helped but it was an exercise in discipline to put them on everyday. Discipline is lifeee.
• Scheduled all my doctors appointments - I made a list of appointments and went to all of them. It sucked, but I feel a lot better. Got some surprising news: like how I found out that I had an excess amount of vitamin D. I would've never known if I hadn't gone to the Doctors and kept taking Vitamin D pills everyday.
• Massage/Chiro - these two services are so helpful. Felt like a new person.
• Teeth - Improved dental hygiene. Got Invisalign so my teeth are nicer. Also flossed correctly everyday. Was flossing lazily everyday. Now I take my time.
• Water - drank lots of it. If you're thirsty, it's too late. So drink and hydrate and live the good life. Didn't go as far as tracking my drinking habits, but always had a jug which I had to finish before I got home from work.
• Cut out snacks - I miss you cookies and creme nestles bar and twix ice cream bar.
• Sleep - SUPER important. I'm telling you... please take care of your sleep. fight to get a good nights rest. I installed blackout shades, bought a white noise machine, stopped my screen-time before bed, changed and modified my dinner time, and put my phone far away from me. I did so many experiments to get it right... so yes, fight for it.
  
• Wake up consistently - all my life I woke up at different times cause I never fixed my sleep. I made it consistent that I would wake up at 7 AM unless it's a special circumstance (like I'm travelling or in some kind of predicament. Normal days.. 7 AM).
• Stopped Coffee excessively - I miss drinking 3 cups of coffee everyday. Saved a lot of money and flexed my self-control. I miss fake energy. Only one cup now... :(
• Did a 20/20/20 one hour creativity hour.
• Write 20 minutes a day - just pick up a pen and just start writing.
  
• Draw 20 minutes a day - just drew some art. I believe this can be anything, as long as it's creative.
  
• Meditate 20 minutes a day - had no guidance or did anything fancy. I just closed my eyes and played a game of let's not think. Crazy stuff happens when you play this game. For example, one time I had a good empty streak going for 10 minutes but suddenly had flashbacks of how my cousin lost my PS1 memory card. 50 hours of save data all gone. ANGER.
• Got rid of stuff - minimalism at it's best. Just reduced my possessions. So many resources are out there to help you with this and I definitely recommend it.
  
• Took breathing - Mad? take a deep breath. Sad? Take a deep breath. Dead? Can't do it, but you wish you could take a deep breath.
• And a lot more....

Hopefully this list helps someone somehow. I'm a better person everyday because of it. Remember to do this for yourself and no one else. The reward is in the process. I'm not some superhuman now, but I do feel a lot better about myself and my life.. and I still have so much to work on.

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Cheering for all of you!

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-K

Submitted May 22, 2019 at 04:10AM by RRLyraevariable http://bit.ly/2M1AETQ