Could be physical, mental, philosophical, religious etc
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Walking. Long daily walks.
It changed (& helped save) my life.
Edit (to give some context):
When I started to walk, I was barely able to walk at all. Like, really, a few steps to get to the mailbox would kill me and have me lay on bed for hours. I was in a really bad, bad shape (in the head too). Nowadays, I will walk 8-10km every single day and, added to that, I will go everywhere walking if at all possible. I’m still not an athlete but at the least my body is not a dead weight anymore (I feel better in the head too). And it all changed the day I decided I would simply walk a little more. A few steps at first, and then more, and then more. I was impressed by the huge impact of a seemingly little change. I celebrated each ‘win’ (the first time I walked the block, the first kilometer, and so on) and I never blamed myself for the (many) fails. Instead, I tried to analyze the reasons why I failed so I could do better next time.Agreed so much. There is a good mental component to walking outside. It helps me de-compress the day. I also make a point to walk 6/7 days even if it’s raining or cold or just miserable outside.
It doesn’t need to be much, a 20 minute walk each day is way better than none at all.
It doesn’t need to be much, a 20 minute walk each day is way better than none at all.
Exactly, I could see the effect on me (body and mind…soul?) very quickly, and back then I walked not much at all :)
This is solid advice and a well-written post. Thank you!
Thank you :)
Don’t compare yourself to others, compare yourself to your past self.
Oddly, that works in negatively for me.
If you dream of a past high point and wish to return to it, it’s better to use it as inspiration and look to create new high points that belong to your current self.
If more of us were doing that, the world would most certainly be a much, much less shittier place than it is!
I’m still fat by these rules … damn
I deamericanized my social media on the wake of the Trump electoral win. Desubbed from US Youtube channels, blocked magazines here that mostly deal with US politics while keeping world politics, unfollowed Masto and Bluesky accounts using similar rules.
I thought it may be an empty gesture, but… no, no it wasn’t. My social media is healthier, I’m more keyed in to domestic news. Apparently somebody shot an American CEO and I’m not sure when it happened or what’s up with that because all my feeds are about France and South Korea, which are objectively way more important.
If you’re not American, consider it. Walk away from the cultural imperialism. It’ll only become a better choice over time now.
I’d even say to consider it if you are American. There is so much great stuff out there that you only find outside the bubble.
Thanks for this, I might have to try it this new year. I’m not conservative, so the coming Trump administration will emotionally affect me.
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If I choose to do something later, put it physically in the way.
Trash needs taking out, but I’ll do it in the morning? Put it in front of the door.
It is both a reminder and an obstacle to overcome.
Are you my wife?
I call this “physical memory”. If you struggle with remembering things, you can organize your space to augment your memory. It’s VERY effective and is often simpler/easier than writing things down.
Also, if you are living with someone who does this, for the love of god, do not move their stuff without asking. You are basically erasing part of their memory and setting them up for failure.
Immediately tossing negative/intruding thoughts when i think them. It took a year or two to start doing it so naturally i didn’t even realize i was doing it.
Huge game changer with depression, and just life in general.
Drink water. Just have a waterbottle within arms reach and take a sip every so often. Makes way more of a difference that you would think with very little effort and eventually becomes a habit, making it take even less effort.
This is even more important as it may also force you to get up and go to pee now and then, which may save someone from building stones.
My 1.5 liter water bottle is one of the most useful items I’ve ever bought in my life
- Meditating (not very good at it, but getting better and it’s seriously helping)
- Blocking Reddit on my router, blocking political communities in Lemmy
- A consistent, normal sleeping schedule (a bedtime routine is more important than a morning routine, imo)
- Yoga every morning to help my body work with me throughout the day
- Reading more books
- Getting outside more often
- Paying closer attention to the thoughts that cross through my mind and stopping them when they’re not helpful - this also helped me realize the underlying anxiety that’s been with me for who knows how many years
- Drinking more water
Edit: Oh I also:
- Quit drinking alcohol, almost at the 1 year mark
- Quit smoking weed, almost at 2 months fully sober now
I did these things one at a time, not everything at once. Mostly just sharing what I did here, but if you plan to do the same - listen to yourself. Start with #7 imo so you get a better idea of what you’re up against. If it feels like too much, take a step back and slow down. You’re not failing when you do this, you’re helping your future self not fail entirely.
Oh at the first two words of point 8., I thought there is finally something not like what every adult would tell youngsters again and again, but no. Water. You said water. What a missed opportunity!
But in all seriousness, very good tips, all of them. I’m implementing all of them (though I’m struggling with 4 and 6), I would add just one and a half:
- No phones in bedroom. This is the absolute prerequisite for number 3 (sleep schedule) and can be an enabler for reading books.
- You may or may not get enough excercise from yoga and getting outside. If needed, add more.
Flossing is great. Don’t gamble with your long-term oral health, which can have devastating consequences on your overall quality of life.
Using those small “circular toothbrushes” is even better, flossing forces the teeth to move a little when you force it in.
Source: my dentist.
Which one is that?
Also, there’s studies recently saying not flossing can lead to a higher chance of dementia, as the rotting tooth can go to the brain
Even better, check out a Waterpik. Basically power wash everything out. Feels so much nicer than floss.
Waterpik is great, but it’s not as good as flossing. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of done though!
Adding on to this, the easiest way of implementing this habit is to keep a bag of floss picks at your desk. Seriously, I don’t even think about flossing anymore, I just do it when I’m bored or have an idle moment. My gums have never been healthier!
Taking walks
Using a calendar religiously.
To remind you when it’s Sunday?
I have ADHD, and relying on calendar and reminders applications have been the single biggest improvement for me other than medication.
Disabled the Shorts section on YouTube with an extension. Drastically reduced spaced out doomscrolling.
Taking walks. It made me more aware of how isolation changed my perception of the world.
Things are uglier now that I’m no longer used to it. The garbage, the decay, the lack of maintenance everywhere, things feel unclean. I feel unclean.
So I try to be cleaner and look after my own garbage. But man do I hate random people sneezing around me!
“Achievement unlocked! You now have Mysophobia! Your prize is a pack of tissues.”
“Perfect is the enemy of good enough” This changed my view about so many things: Exercise, it’s fine if I don’t go 100% everyday. Work, it’s perfectly fine to negotiate agreements. Etc.
Sorry this is unedited because I’m on a train, winding its way through Fukushima at the moment.
Let’s go the Moc masterlist:
- Drinking coffee black. Used to think that I wouldn’t like coffee without milk and coffee. Turns out I love it, just needed a few weeks to wean myself off sugar and milk and learn to enjoy it. Lost heaps of weight by doing this.
- Weightlifting three times a week. Gaining muscle mass helped me look and feel good in my 20s and now 30s. I was never a good looking teen, but now in my 30s I get compliments from people pretty frequently.
- Losing weight. I have sleep apnea. Losing weight is the single most effective treatment for it.
- Getting jaw surgery. I have TMD, and this constricts my breathing at night. As part of my orthodontic treatment, I opted to get my jaw extended by 7mm. This was very expensive, but I’m in a high paying profession and I’m good at saving. Between this and losing weight, I sleep much better and don’t snore at night. I never used to feel like I ever got any rest.
Getting my ADHD treated
Getting medicated. I have ADHD. If you’re clever enough, you can brute force your way through the entire education system; school, undergrad, and postgrad without realising you have ADHD. It’s only after a couple of years in a demanding profession (SWE in my case) that I realised I needed help. I was prescribed Ritalin (methylphenidate hydrochloride) and the difference is night and day.
Because I don’t have to wrangle my brain into submission the entire day, I’m no longer completely mentally exhausted after 4 hours of work. I can focus for long hours now and feel pretty normal at the end of the day.
Dealing with high cholesterol Listening to scientists instead of keto idiots. I went to my GP for the third year in a row for my physical and got told I have the highest cholesterol of anyone in their 30s he had ever seen (I was 31).
He wanted to immediately put me on statins, because he had never seen someone with my level of cholesterol who didn’t have familial hypercholesteroloeamia. I asked him if he could give me six months to try and fix it through diet.
I had been following fitness influencers, and had lost 10kg cutting calories and eating heaps of beef, butter, and eggs. I cut that out, and upped my plant protein, lean poultry, and fish protein instead. I feel and look heaps better, and am still gaining muscle at about the same rate I was before. I just try and eat heaps of fibre (veggies) and aim for about 100g of protein a day.
I went for my most recent physical and have the cholesterol of a normal person now. Doctor isn’t trying to put me on statins anymore. I couldn’t believe it.
Deciding to be an optimist
I, like my late father, was a pessimist. My whole extended family is and was locked in generational poverty. I took advantage of my intelligence and work ethic and got into university, but my pessimistic attitude towards life persisted. And it seriously limited me.
I had to actually decide to be optimistic, and believe in myself before things got better. I won’t go into too much detail on this, but my outlook is that;
Pessimists are more mentally prepared for hardship, but optimists and more emotionally prepared for hardship. Maybe, It’s better to weigh the risks, and still take risks than forever be risk-averse.
Years of pessimism grinding my spirit into a pulp has beaten this into me. It’s only by adopting an optimistic outlook, working hard, and taking risks that I managed to finally achieve a better life.
What I’m working on
At the moment I’m trying to get into the habit of journaling, and quit coffee (drinking green tea instead).
I need to do better with mental habits such as journalling, not browsing Reddit and YouTube, and doing hobbies such as writing and reading instead of playing video games.
That is far more thought than I put into this comment.
Ah just an ADHD hyperfixation/rabbithole mate 🙃
Congrats! Sounds like the world is your oyster my man
Thanks my dude! I’m still working on stuff— but I think we all are 😊
Loosing weight starts at the supermarket.
If you decide to buy sugary delicacies, you’ll have to resist the temptation at home, which you’ll inevitably fail. Just skip that boss fight entirely by not buying tempting things in the first place. Ok, maybe once a week, but certainly not every other day. You just need to resist the temptation for a few minutes at the store. Once you’re at home, you have no option but to eat normal food, because unhealthy food simply isn’t available.
