13 Sensible Daily Habits

https://livingwithconfidence.net/page/1/

Go to bed early and get up early. Staying awake while tired will make you feel
more tired and irritable the next day. It’s almost never worth it to stay up late
watching t.v. or getting extra work done. You’ll be more efficient if you start your
day earlier and you won’t have to live with the hangover of being tired from the
night before.

Start your day off in silence. No phone, t.v., internet, stressful conversations, etc.
Enjoy the quiet of the early morning. Pray, write down your thoughts, read a book.

Drink plenty of water. Especially in the morning. Drink two glasses of water upon
waking up, before eating anything. Drink a glass of water 30 mins before every
meal and 1-hour before bed. If you’re going to drink something with a meal, hot
water or tea is better for digestion.

Don’t wait too long to get up and start moving around. After you’re done with your
quiet reflection time, go for a walk or do some things around the house. Sweep
the floor, put things away, etc. Do some light stretches or joint mobility. These
things will help wake the body up and remove stiffness. It will also energize your
mind and establish a mind-body connection. You’ll feel better and it’s good for
you. Exercise also helps inspire better idea generation and build confidence in
your abilities.

Consume fewer calories. Especially simple carbs (things containing refined sugar).
Only eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re 80% full. If you’re feeling
hungry, it might be dehydration. Drink water first before eating anything.
Consume a high fiber diet  — all-bran cereal in the morning is a good start. Fiber
counterbalances the negative effects from highly processed and sugary foods. It
also fills you up. So does food that is high in protein and fat . Fat doesn’t make you
fat , carbs and sugars do. Delay eating in the morning as long as you can.

Limit your time on the internet, the t.v., texting, listening to the radio, etc. They are
addictive and distracting. You’ve got better things to do and better messages to
feed yourself with.

Limit your exposure to the news. The news focuses on negative events, because
negative events are more rare than positive events. The news is more about
entertaining you than informing you. Ent ertainment is what keeps you coming
back, and you coming back is everything to them. Most of what the news informs
you about are things you don’t need to know and much of it is biased and
inaccurate.

Save and invest your money. Maintain a budget, where you keep track of every
dollar you spend. Allocate every dollar at the beginning of the month to a
particular expense or savings category. Keep expenses as low as possible. Borrow
as little money as possible (preferably none). Don’t incur credit card debt, as the
interest rate is far too high. If you insist on using debt to buy a car or renovate your
home, use a line of credit instead of a credit card. As for investing, beware of
mutual funds, hedge funds, bonds, and crypto-currencies. They’re inferior to index
funds that track the broader stock market. Or learn to invest in individual stocks
for the long-run (invest in companies that have a “durable competitive
advantage” (Buffett). Don’t short stocks and don’t use opt ions. Also, all get -rich-
quick schemes are wrong-headed, ignore them.

Don’t have arguments with yourself or with others. Keep mental dialogues to a
minimum — breathe, pray. And don’t let real arguments with people get heated.
De-escalate as much as possible.

Be a listener more than a talker. You’ll learn more that way. You’ll have fewer
arguments. And people will respect you more.

Live as though you’re valued by God and treat everyone as though they’re
equally valued by God. We’re all sinners and saints. You may have made your
peace with God, but you’re not perfect and neither is anyone else. Don’t expect
them to be.

Live as though everything you have is a bonus, rather than a right. Anything you
have can be take away. Even your very life can be extinguished in a moment. Be
thankful, always, for what you have. And don’t brag.

Tell your spouse and children everyday that you love them. Tell them with words
and with actions.