Your guide to living better - chapter one

Let's be honest: long-term, sustainable lifestyle change requires commitment, mental and physical work. There is no such thing as a quick fix. But don't worry. It can be done and it is so worth it! Here is a list of things that will guide you in your quest of making life better.  

You have to get rain before you can see a rainbow.
Photo by Rikke Wend Hartung, 2014

#1: Prioritise and do more of what makes you happy

Time is a finite resource and you simply can’t do everything. Something's gotta give and you need to focus on the things that are most important to you, good for you and make you happy. Sometimes you have to say no to something you would like to do in order to get time to do something you would like to do even more - including doing nothing at all. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a problem for many people and it can get in the way of your happiness. 

#2: Get your sleep

I don't care how busy you are, you need to get your sleep. How much we need is different from person to person but most people need 7-8 hours per night. Not in average but *per night*! When you have gotten a good night's sleep everything becomes a little easier, you have more energy and you're mentally and physically sharp. I'm sure you know this already from the nights where you actually do get all the sleep you need. Sleep is also an amazing way to reduce stress. 

#3: Take responsibility for your well-being

It's your body and your health. Nobody else knows your body the way you do and it is up to you to ensure it functions optimally and that you are happy and satisfied. Not only for the sake of everyone who cares about you and are dependent on you, but also for yourself. Treat yourself the way you would treat your best friend. Be kind and be responsible. 

#4: Empower yourself with knowledge

Study the subject of living better the same way you study other important things. You don't necessarily have to totally geek out like me, but there are some minimum requirements as to what you need to know to get the results that you want. Commit yourself to acquiring this basic knowledge. I promise you that the time you spend on this will be paid back to you a thousandfold. You can always learn a little more and become a little better at living optimally. 

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In coming blogposts I'll expand further on each of the four challenges. Until then: take care of yourself, be kind and be happy - and let me know if you have any questions. 

Set yourself up to success: First do what is necessary

We all have a unique combination of genes, personal history, experiences and emotional baggage that we carry with us through life. This is always important to remember - but even more so when it comes to motivating ourselves to reach goals. The tendency to compare ourselves to others is strong and can easily distort our goal-setting. What works for me does not necessarily work for you and the other way around.

This it what makes life both incredibly exciting and extremely frustrating. We can look at other people and try to learn from their experiences and take their advice, but we need to tweak it so it fits to us and our life style and everyday life. And sometimes we simply have to say: "That's not in my genetic make-up" and focus on the things that are instead. Don't fall victim to the Swimmer's Body Illusion: Olympic swimmers do not have those streamlined bodies because they swim a lot - they swim really well because they have the genetic disposition for that particular physique (read more about this on Rolf Dobelli's brilliant blog about The Art of Thinking Clearly). Swimming is a great form of exercise and it will make you feel great if you do it for the right reasons but you will set yourself up to fail if you think it can change your genes.

You are an individual: Stop comparing yourself to others and start working on improving yourself instead.

Set yourself up to success. Play up your strengths and focus on the things you *can* do. Experiment and you will discover that this list is much longer than you could ever imagine. As soon as you hear yourself go "I can't...." stop that line of thinking and focus on what you can instead. Remember your successes and move forward from there. If you had told me two years ago that in a not too distant future I would be blogging about how to become slimmer, healthier and happier based on my own experience I would have told you you were full of it. I just didn't have imagination to see that. But I started with doing what was necessary for me and it just rolled on from there... and I'm not done yet! You can do it too! :-)

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

The other day I spoke to a friend who is also very interested in nutrition and has been so for much longer than me. He spoke about fasting and raw foods and vegetarianism and I suddenly found myself panicking over all the stuff I don't know (that is: all the stuff I haven't had time to research yet) and that I might not be doing enough for my health. Then I realised I was falling into the classic trap of forgetting to appreciate how far I how come and that what I am currently doing is working well for me. We get ahead of ourselves so easily, don't we.

Living a healthy life is work in progress and all about the small steps toward a healthier life every day. It's about feeling good about ourselves and knowing that what we do is good for us. Not about stressing ourselves out over all the things we don't do. That's not healthy at all!