Ten Habits that will get you ahead of 99% of People

The concept of habits became extremely popular in the recent years, mostly due to the personal development wave brought up by the Gen Z culture.

Also, due to the books that appeared in the recent years, out of which, the most famous and a favorite of mine, Atomic Habits.

Mostly, all this movement is about is taking control of your life. People were living on autopilot for so long, adhering to standards imposed by society, doing what needed to be done, without keeping track on how they spend their time.

As mental health became something people took seriously, it was inevitable that we would go to the cause of these issues and analyze what we do with our lives, and that is tracking habits.

The unrealistic habits movement

The huge talk about habits and attention spent on it, sparked a lot of analysis into high performers, celebrities, CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors and any personality that is even remotely famous or has a following.

Out of these podcasts, books and YouTube videos, there appeared a multitude of habits and routines that are not only unsustainable and unrealistic, but they might cause anxiety and strain on the body, which defies the purpose of having them in the first place.

So let me tell you something once and for all:

The 10 habits that improved my life

What I planning to give you today is a list of the habits that I have personally picked from the thousands that are popular, implemented, tested and adjusted into my life.

The order is completely random. So let’s begin:

In my own personal development journey, I was working on multiple aspects of my life: fitness, relationships, nutrition. But I was always leaving sleep as something to tackle on down the road.

I was always choosing having fun, partying, watching Netflix, movies, going out, reading, instead of sleeping.

While being in a plateau with my gym goals and nutrition, I got a dog. As some of you might know, dogs go to sleep pretty early and don’t tend to sleep in. This forced me to leave parties earlier, prioritize sleep and go to bed earlier because I was woken up pretty early in the morning.

They key takeaways here are:

Go to bed relatively earlier and wake up earlier (follow the natural circadian rhythm of your body)

Sleep for 8 hours (at least 7, at most 9)

Wake up at the end of a sleep cycle. Sleep cycles usually take 90 minutes. So set your alarm at the end of a multiple of 90 minutes.

Keep your bedroom a bit cooler than the rest of your house

Keep your bedroom dark while you sleep

There are countless studies on the benefits of exercise on your body, both physically and mentally.

What I observed with my training was that it gave me a few valuable things:

Discipline

Stress and Anxiety relief

A purpose / Goal

Dopamine

Energy

Motivation

My training / exercise routine includes 3 or 4 strength training sessions that are no longer than one hour, once a week boxing class / swimming laps and 10.000 steps a day.

A great suggestion here based on my trials as a busy individual and studies from other specialists such as Andrew Huberman, it’s best to have these sessions in the morning, before work. This will help keep your energy levels high, avoid the afternoon energy drop, avoid over-caffeinating, keep your motivation high for the day and improve your mood.

Whenever you have time to do it, make sure to include it within your habits.