Physical Fitness
Fact: Diet and exercise
WHAT! No it can't be that simple. You also need diet pills, lap band surgery, expensive meal programs, expensive workout equipment, and of course expensive workout clothes. Because we all know that you can't be fit unless you look good at the gym while you are doing it.
Seriously people, its that simple. We all know what we need to do. Every single one of us. You have to stop eating crappy foods and exercise. If you forget everything else in the entire fitness community and just focus on these two things, I promise it will work. Every time. Its guaranteed. Ask any doctor or personal trainer. They will agree.
Financial Fitness
Fact: Stop buying stupid crap that you don't need using credit and save money
OMG NO! You have to build your credit because if you don't pay a bunch of money in interest to credit card companies then you won't be able to buy and house and you will live your entire life on the street and become a crack addict…
Look, we all want to be financially secure and maybe even wealthy and guess what, the scammers of the world know this better than anyone. It seems like every second we are getting the classic "Make x amount of money working from home and not doing anything" gig in a different flavor. It simply doesn't work that way. You have to be intentional which means actually paying attention to where the hell your money is going. Sometimes having to delay buying something until you actually have the money to buy it. Just take a second to think about what the U.S. would be like if everyone took this advice and used it. Just think about it.
Intellectual Fitness
Fact: Actually go to class and try to learn something
There seems to be an epidemic that has happened over the past 30 years or so. People seem to have this obsession with obtaining pieces of paper with their names on them. They go into tens, and sometimes hundreds, of thousands of dollars in debt to obtain them. After they receive them, they walk out into the world expecting jobs and money to be thrown at them like they are strippers. Only to be met by the reality that employers couldn't care less about what pieces of paper they have and they especially don't give a crap about who gave it to them. If you haven't figured it out by now, I am talking about college degrees.
I was one of those people in a way. I went thousands of dollars into debt to get my piece of paper too. But I realized early on that what employers care about is skills and knowledge, not the degree. And yes, to all my engineering brothers and sisters, they even don't care about your engineering degree. Now sure, some jobs you need to have the degree or certification to get the job. But we have somehow confused this with the idea that the degree is ALL you need to get the job. If you have a degree and didn't learn crap, then even if you get the job you won't keep it for very long. They WILL fire you for lack of knowledge. Don't think for a second that they won't.
So here is a thought, go to class and actually try to learn something about the subject. Forget grades and tests. Just try to learn the subject the absolute best you can. If you come in and hold that attitude, the grades and tests will mysteriously work themselves out. Trust me.
Quality Relationships
Fact: Stop being mean to people. Instead, try actually caring.
This is the modern version of "treat others how you want to be treated". Is it that difficult to grasp? If you are mean to other people they will in turn be mean back. If this happens over and over again you will earn the reputation of being a mean person and people won't want to be around you. I feel like everyone just has this obsession of being "right". Most people think it's more important to be right than it is to be understanding. I'm not telling you to let people walk all over you or be a coward, but there is a big difference between just straight up being a douche and not letting someone take advantage of you.
Here's the deal, if there is someone in your life that you can't find the capacity to care about then they probably shouldn't be in your life.
Career Success
Fact: Come in early, smile, and actually give a crap about your job
I know this is probably sealing the deal of you thinking that I am a lunatic, but stick with me for a second. Imagine what would happen if you actually, legitimately cared about what you did at your job. Do you think your boss would notice? Do you think you would do a better job in general? Do you think you would be light years ahead of your coworkers? If you said yes to all the of the above, you might actually be grasping this very taboo idea!
Now I know what you are thinking. We've ALL muttered the exact same excuses when it comes to not caring about our jobs: my boss is horrible, they don't pay me enough, the hours suck, they actually expect me to do things, all my coworkers hate their job too, blah blah blah.
Let's cut the crap, you get almost exactly what you give in your career. If you don't care, don't try, and feel entitled to your paycheck, then you probably are miserable at work. Here's the bottom line much like above. If you can't find the capacity to care about your job then go do something else. For real.
Happiness
Fact: Stop putting yourself down and just be grateful for what you have
Isn't this what we are all looking for in one way or another? Almost everything we do in life is so that we can be happy in some sense. But how many people have ever taken the time to think about what actually makes them happy? I am guessing not many. All the things I have mentioned above ties into this one. So I want to take some time to explain this.
I think the best way to understand happiness is to first understand what keeps us from it. I believe that jealously and greed are the exact polar opposite to happiness. I use greed here cautiously because, as of the past couple of years, greed has somehow almost become a synonym for wealthy. This is completely not true. What I mean by greed is basically never being satisfied with what you have. Let's use an example, think about the last time you got a new cell phone. When you first got it you we so excited! You probably played around with it all day and were pretty happy. Within weeks that euphoria has dissipated. A couple of months later you will be complaining of how slow it is. Then when they release a new version of the phone with, of course, a faster processor and better camera… because you were totally thinking that the pictures could be just ever so slightly better. You are now completely miserable with your phone and run out and buy the next greatest one and start the whole process over again. This is how we live most of our lives! Much like living paycheck to paycheck, we live euphoria to euphoria. Something always bigger and better comes along. Jealously of what someone else has (or better yet your perception of what they have) will slowly make you feel like what you have is inadequate. This spans to anything from cars to spouses. No wonder everyone can't find happiness!
So here is a novel idea, lets be grateful for what we have. Lets stop looking in the mirror every morning and picking out all the things we hate about ourselves and instead pick out some assets (women, I am mostly talking to you!). Lets stop thinking about the problems in our lives and start to think about the good things we have. If you are having trouble finding things to be grateful about then go volunteer at a homeless shelter. Go volunteer at a hospital. Go volunteer at an orphanage. See the pain and suffering that people are experiencing in other countries around the world. Think about how freaking lucky you are to even be alive on this planet. You can use the old Zig Zigler trick. You make a list of the things you are grateful for. Do you have your vision? Write that down. Do you have hands? Write that down. Are you able to walk? Write that down. Do you have a family that loves you? Write that down. And so on. After you are done you will have a long list of things that you are grateful for and suddenly you will feel a lot better. It's like…. magic, bro.
Now it is not a realistic expectation to live in some super happy fun land for your entire life and never experience other emotions. You need to feel other emotions. If a loved one dies, I don't expect to just be like "oh well at least I have other family!". Of course not. But I want to average out all my good and bad days to mostly have good days. It's real simple, the secret to happiness is really just being content with what you have. It's not complicated at all.
If It's So Simple, Then Why Doesn't Everyone Do It?
Well that really is the million dollar question, isn't it? We all know what to do. No one read that above and thought "omg! I have never heard of this before in my entire life!". It's supposed to be common sense. But then why doesn't everyone do it? Well the problem is that the IDEAS are simple but the EXECUTION is extremely, extremely difficult. Because you have to be intentional! You have to actually, consciously think about what you are doing. You can't just go do whatever feels good at the time. It doesn't happen overnight and, for a while, it is going to suck. Everyone wants to be fit would probably be happier and live longer. But does dieting and exercise make people happy in the moment? Hell no! If you say that you just really love dieting then you are kinda weird. It sucks to not be able just to eat whatever tastes good, but over time you know it will be worth it. Its like that with any of those above. If you want to obtain success in any of those areas then it is going to take discipline and hard work applied every single day over an extended period of time. It's not glamorous. It's generally not fun. But that is how things work. Freaking get over it.
Most people will read this and think "oh that is some great concepts" and move on with their lives as before. That is fine. It's like the old saying. You can lead a horse to water. You can explain to him how he needs to drink this water to live. You can show him statistics and articles about the benefits of the water. You can grab its head and shove it in the water and yell and scream at it to "drink the freaking water, you idiot!". But in the end you can't make the horse drink the water. For those of you who want something more out of life, who are just looking to be happy and are willing to learn. Try these ideas. Live them every day. Write them down and put them on your mirror. Read them out loud every day. I promise that eventually, you will be glad you did.
