7 Habits that made me a better man
I started living with my parents when the pandemic hit in the mid of March, I was scared that I might catch it, and also I had to join my new job. So spending time with my parents before joining a new company seemed like a good idea, also there was free food, and housing.
The idea was to live with them for a maximum of two weeks, as I assumed after that the covid situation would get better. I wasn’t mentally prepared for 10 months of living in close space with my parents and interacting with my office colleagues over zoom calls every day. After some time the monotonous routine was getting to me. Luckily I had so much free time in my hand, as going out was not an option, I started using the internet for good things.
I started reading about people who were in their 30s and were able to manage both professional and personal life, maintaining habits like reading, writing, exercising, and other hobbies. Whatever seemed cool I tried to do, which included running for 5–6 kilometers, waking up before sunrise, painting on weekends ( I never thought I could), and taking some time every day before work for personal development. Gradually, three out of seven things started fitting into the schedule and were now my habits.
- Exercise: Just today, I was watching the Martian for the 6th time, and didn’t want to exercise or even move from my bed. After spending the whole day with that feeling, in the evening I just pushed myself, without thinking. I end up running for 10 kilometers. This only could happen, because I have tried to maintain this habit for quite sometime now, even on shitty days a small push is enough. And Well, it tremendously changed my emotional state and now I am finishing my blog. Most of the time exercises have made me a happier person. It takes away my stress. If you’re thinking about whether to do exercise or not. Let me help you. FUCKING DO IT. Most billionaires say this.
- Eating lunch/dinner with family/friends: I didn’t eat food with my family a lot because since college I had a habit of eating while watching something. My cousin brother showed me how fun it can be eating with family. You can talk about food, discuss vividly the best thing you ever tasted, or how your day went. Mindfully eating and having people around to share the moment made me happier. I even fix time beforehand with my brother, to make sure we are eating together.
- Meditation: I don’t know if Meditation has made me a calmer person or not, but I am surely aware of the time when I am not. Post-meditation I am calm and there are this utter silence and stillness in my body for which I go back to practicing meditation again. I usually practice 10 mins of meditation. Fun fact: I have slept thrice doing meditation, and the best streak I could do on my Headspace meditation app was 12 days. I forget to meditate once or twice each week but then continue it the next day whenever I remember. The idea is to just do it daily whenever you can.
- Waking up early: I am actually proud of this one. I wake up around 6 AM every day, and in order to wake up so early, I have to sleep by 10 PM. I love my 8-hour sleep. I think it keeps me sane, aware of my schedule, where I am spending my most time, and most importantly how much time I am able to give myself for personal development. Also, I don’t sleep in between the day. I started clearing all my meetings before 10 PM, so I don’t have to compromise on my sleep cycle.
There are times when I felt sad or couldn’t do anything. I realized that those days I slept at odd hours, and couldn’t do anything else for myself. Basically, breaking my sleep cycle is breaking from all the other habits which make me happy, so I try to sleep early like these people. - Reading: This is the best, and most rewarding habit I have built in the past few years. Nonfiction rocks! Like everyone around me I have 100s of questions about what is life, love, why don’t my parents or friends listen to me, why I am not cool or respected as everyone else, to whom I look up to. Then I came across books like 12 Rules of life, 7 habits, Lean In, Influence, and other books who not only answered these questions but helped me realise my potential and things I could do, like building small habits. I heard it in Game of Thrones that “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies” where “he-man who never reads lives only one.” I follow the advice from 6–7 authors on each day and well, I handle things differently.
- Morning Pages: When you wake up, you start writing whatever comes to your head. I write for 300 words at a minimum each day. Anything like — I feel cold, or Rakesh was acting like an asshole and I hate him. The idea is once you write about everything in your head your mind is free of any more thoughts. Since you just wrote everything that was in your head. And now with this clarity, you can start a fresh day. This is really amazing because it helps me understand my concerns which I don’t talk about and when I write about them in detail, I also think about how I can solve this or take out time to address them. Overall this reduces stress, anxiety, and makes me a better writer. Here a video link for people who want to learn more.
- Therapy: I heard the pros of taking therapy weekly from Chamath Palihapitiya in a podcast(The Knowledge Project). So, I tried it. Well, I feel I am at least 2X the person now since I first started. This is because I am weekly taking an hour to talk to someone neutral(who doesn’t take sides), experienced, kind, and calm, showing me the mirror to adjust my behavior and reminding me of my dreams and how my short-term goals, mood, or emotions affected it.
These habits not only kept me sane in 2020 but made me a better man. I cannot thank my friends and people on Twitter enough for giving out this free Gyaan.
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