Improve Every Day

Today we live in a society that praises work and never ending activity. At the same time, rest and recovery are looked down upon.

Because of this collective societal thinking, we push ourselves to get even more things done, whether it's for work or hobbies.

I believe that you at least once, felt like you were not being active or working hard enough, and you asked yourself this question: "Why am I so lazy?"

But were you really being lazy? Or could it be that you were just tired from too much activity?

It's important that you understand the difference between laziness and exhaustion.

One of the problems in today's society is that we're purposely getting less sleep than our bodies need. Usually it's because we have to go to work, or go to school. And this is bad, as we're sacrificing our health in return.

Because of that, getting enough sleep can be a huge hidden advantage for you. Imagine having your brain function more efficiently than of those around you. That's what the right amount of sleep will get you. Better mood, better focus, ability to think clearly etc.

But getting sufficient sleep for just one night isn't enough. You need to get enough sleep every single night to reap these benefits.

Now you might be wondering, exactly how much sleep should you be getting.

The standard prescription is 7-9 hours, but how do you know where exactly you personally fall in that range?

First you need to understand that you, as an individual, are completely unique.

And the amount of sleep your body requires also depends on many different external factors.

That means there isn't an exact amount of sleep you should be getting, as the amount actually changes from day to day.

In this video I'll explain how to find out, how much sleep YOU PERSONALLY need.

Why is it so hard to follow up on our new habits?

One of the reasons is that the habit we're trying to form can seem a little overwhelming, so we have this mental resistance.

In the beginning, when we're super motivated it's much easier to do something. For example; going to the gym for 1 hour doesn't seem that hard, because the initial motivation is a powerful driving force.

But when we're motivated it's also easy to impose some super high expectations on ourselves.

We think: "Ok, so I went to the gym for 1 hour the first few days. From now on I'll to go to the gym for 1 full hour every single day."

But once that initial motivation fades away after a few days, there is now nothing that's driving us forward, and we haven't really formed a habit yet.

That's why when we're unmotivated, we'll probably just skip gym altogether, as dedicating a whole hour to it seems daunting.

So instead of relying on motivation to push us forward, we should focus on making our new habit, an actual habit.

Let me explain what I mean, by introducing you to the 2 minute rule.

Want to learn more about The 2 Minute Rule and habits in general?

Then check out James Clear's book, "Atomic Habits". It's where I found out about The 2 Minute Rule.

US: https://amzn.to/2nNYA1n

EU: https://amzn.to/2miAV8L

Nowadays we all want results and we all want them now.

However what we forget is that results often take time to show.

If you were to go to the gym today, workout, come back and look in the mirror, what would you see? Nothing, right?

And if you were to go the gym the next day and you came back to look in the mirror, again you would see nothing.

Clearly there are no results. Going to the gym and working out seems to be ineffective. So what do you do? You quit.

But is working out really a waste of time? No.

It's just that the results never seem to come quickly enough for us and that's why we give up.

Even if the results aren't yet visible, it doesn't meant the work is ineffective. The work is just stored.

A morning routine allows you to get the right things done throughout the day, without having to put too much thought into it. This is why it's important to have one, if you want to be successful.

However, it seems that people often forget about their evenings. You want to start your day successfully, but you also want to end it that way.

Night routines are not popular, as sticking to them isn’t easy, especially after a whole day of studying or work.

But the benefits are worth it. A more restful and higher-quality sleep.

And being able to tackle the next morning in a more productive way.

Today I'll share with you what my evening routine looks like.

It might not work as well for you, as it does for me, since we have different goals and different schedules.

However you might get some ideas which you could implement and tweak in your own routine.

This is how today's society thinks your life should look:

You have go to school for the first 20 years of your life. Then you have to find a high paying job that you'll work for the next 40 years. And after that, you can retire and finally enjoy your life for the last 20 years. If you're lucky to live that long of course.

The 40 years of soul-crushing work has been accepted as the default path. But is this the only way? Not at all.

Today we're going to challenge this notion by summarizing one of my favorite books. The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss.

Many people think that the point of this book is to work just four hours per week, however it's actually about working smarter and not harder.

I would recommend this book to anyone with aspirations to have more freedom in their life.

A common approach to resetting your sleep, is to pull an all-nighter. Basically you don't sleep for one day, and you go to bed at the desired time the next day.

However that's like putting a band-aid on a bigger problem. It's also one of the worst things you can do for your health, even if the end goal is a healthy sleep schedule.

Rather than pulling an all-nighter, you should focus on fixing your sleep habits.

It's good to to understand how your body knows when it's time to wake up or go to sleep. There are two factors that regulate this and I'll talk about them in this video. You'll also get some actionable tips at the end.

The Dunning-Kruger effect can be observed during talent shows like American Idol. The auditions are usually filled with a variety of good and bad singers. The ones who are bad at it, almost never realize how bad they really are.

Low ability people do not possess the skills needed to recognize their own incompetence or lack of knowledge. Their poor self-awareness leads them to overestimate their own capabilities.

However when you become more knowledgeable about a certain topic, that confidence falls. Only when you start to reach above average skill, is when the your confidence about a certain topic starts to pick up again.

But why? Why does being less skilled make you more confident in your abilities?

The survivorship bias is the logical error, concentrating on the people who made it or "survived" and overlooking those who did not.

There's a common misconception floating around the internet: You should focus on the successful if you wish to become successful yourself.

You have probably seen these types of articles before.

Like, "5 surprising habits all successful people have". Or, "4 things ultra successful people do differently". The logic is simple: if it helped them get success, it should help you as well, right?

Well not quite. When you factor in the survivorship bias, you notice that we're only focusing on the people that made it, aka survivors.

We're forgetting all the men and women, that have been applying those "5 surprising habits of the successful people", but are not successful.

So while their advice might work for some, it has to be noted that it won't work for everyone.

We don't even consider that there are probably other elements at play here, one for example: pure luck. Like being at the right place at the right time or having connections with key people. Those are just some factors that are often disregarded.

In today's world, having and using a phone is the norm. But there are some real dangers that come in to play when we use it too much.

Some people spend every spare moment of their day on it, and they get so sucked into it, that they end up wasting a lot of time.

Like that guy who says he's going on a 5 minute break, but takes his phone with him. What was supposed to be a 5 minute break is now a 20 minute break.

Also living your life through your phone makes you asocial and hurts your communication skills. This is because communicating through your phone is very simple compared to communication in real life. If you're trying to connect with people, and only using your phone and social platforms to do so, you're doing it wrong. That's not how you form real connections.

But why do we keep coming back to it? Why can't we just put our phones down?