3 Steps That'll Change Your Life Forever!

This post is going to be a little different since it's more of a personal rant. I've been telling myself for so long that I need to make a change in my life. That being said, I am going to discuss some things that I plan on doing, starting today!

It all started the other day, I sat down and thought about my life and realized I wasn't satisfied with something. Sure, I have a comfortable life. good friends, family, a roof over my head, a car, my education, but it's not enough. I want more. I want a change. To overcome this feeling, I decided that I would change my daily habits and set 3 specific goals for myself. I know these 3 things will make a significant difference not only in my life, but yours as well!

1. Exercise and Eat Healthy

 

First, I'm going to start working out at the gym. When I used to go to the gym, my life was almost

stress free. Lifting weights, running, playing sports, these are all the things that I found relieving. Of course I still had minor problems, (it's life what can you do?) but with a way to get rid of most of the stress, I was able to deal with my problems easily and effectively. Exercising also helped me focus better throughout the day On top of all of that, my appearance looked healthier and fit. I also started getting a lot of compliments! Girls would come up to me and say, "You work out don't you?" It really boosted my confidence (not that I didn't have any before, but still). I also noticed on the days when I wouldn't go to the gym, my mind would feel groggy and sluggish.

Exercising is the easy part though. Eating healthy is ten times harder.  For me, eating properly means more than just staying away from sugary drinks and snacks. Its means preparing meals, recording calorie intake (tracking macros, more on this in a future post maybe?), and staying hydrated. The hardest part about this is how much time this takes away from your day. Preparing 3 meals for the day would take up so much of my time. On top of that, the increased consumption of water left me having to spend a lot of time running to the toilet. However, eating healthy and avoiding junk leads to long term benefits that could make your life in the future easier. It could save you from risks such as diabetes, heart disease, strokes. 

Everything that I write about comes from my own personal experience. If you read my first post, I mentioned that I used to be a gym rat. (Read that post here http://them-kaytimes.blogspot.com/2016/05/pilot-part-2.html) I'm not sure that gym rat is the right word, but I was obsessed with fitness for almost two years. I could go on and on about the benefits of taking care of yourself. In fact, I was thinking of making weekly updates about my progress in the gym, but more on that in the future. For now, on to number two!

2. Read, Learn, and Execute

 

When asked how to get smarter, Buffett once held up stacks of paper and said, "I read 500 pages like

this every day. That's how knowledge builds up, like compound interest." Furthermore, when asked if they could have one superpower, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet both argued that being the worlds fastest readers would be nice. In fact, reading is considered important by many of today's most successful people. That's why I've decided that I'm going to start reading one book every week!

What I'm hoping to gain: I'm hoping to acquire knowledge that I can actually use. Growing up in America and going through the public school system, hasn't exactly taught me much that I can use in real life. Lets be honest, very few of us are never going to care about moles in chemistry or integrals in calculus. This is the major flaw of our schooling system. We waste our time and energy learning about things we don't care about or even need to learn at all. The thing about books is, you have the ability to pick and choose what you want to read about. For instance, this morning I picked up a book by Dale Carnegie called How to Win Friends and Influence People. As boring as it sounds, the topic caught my interest and I can actually put what I learn into immediate practice. 

After I finish reading the book, I will be writing a review on here, so stay tuned!

3. Sleep 

 

Being a college student, I tend to be busy throughout the day. This has recently created a problem for

me,  lack of sleep. Usually, I get about four hours of sleep a day. Obviously, this creates problems and one of those problems is my growing reliance on energy drinks to keep me awake during classes. Not only that, insufficient sleep detracts from your overall well-being. Lack of sleep can lead to obesity, increased risk of heart disease, and even early death. Crazy right?!

To avoid things like obesity, heart disease and death! I've decided that I will sleep at ten o'clock every night (starting from tomorrow) and wake up at 5. By getting at least seven hours of sleep, I should hopefully be able to cut RockStar energy drinks out of my diet. To help me do this, I will begin working out at night. Coming home from the gym full of fatigue makes me want to just fall into bed and sink my head into a pillow. Adding a hot shower on top of that, I find that sleeping early is no trouble at all! Also, I try to get all my work done before eight o'clock. This way, I have no reason not to sleep. Finally and most importantly, by turning my phone off and charging it on the other side of the room, I am left with no distractions to keep me up. 

Try these tips and let us know what you think in the comments below!

- Syed Mahmood

Edited by: Medina Kabir