There are three ingredients that I have incorporated into my lifestyle that I think are key to living a healthy and happy life.
- Diet
- Exercise
- Tea
Diet
I eat slow-carb as prescribed by Timothy Ferriss in the 4-hour body. I find eating this way allows me to sleep better, have more energy and sustain lean body mass. It may sound strange at first, but reverting to my old diet habits leaves me tired, sluggish and devoid of energy; it’s a horrible feeling! If you’re tired of feeling tired, I definitely recommend altering your diet to improve the quality of your life and well-being.
Exercise
Find a sport that you love. I love to rock climb and ski and these sports help me stay active and focused. I can’t rock climb or ski everyday though, so I supplement these activities with going to the gym.
I know a lot of people (especially gamers/programmers) despise going to the gym, but I used to be one of those people! The trick is to set yourself some goals and stick with it through the tough initial period; if you push through you may find going to the gym to be a very rewarding and even enjoyable experience.
You can even approach it from a learning perspective – there are so many different exercises, machines and routines to learn and master, it just takes a little bit of time and dedication to build some momentum. There are many ways to get started, but there are often barriers to entry so I’ll break them down below:
- Are you too tired? Either change your diet or muster all of your available will-power and just do it! The first time is always the hardest. Humans are creatures of habit, and building healthy habits like regular exercise can only improve your quality of life.
- Are you too busy? Change your priorities; your health is one of the most important things in the world and you need to make some time to look after yourself.
- Do you simply lack the necessary motivation? Try to understand why this is. I know humans prefer instant gratification, but try to imagine the two future versions of yourself and which one you would prefer to be.
- Do you find exercise too boring? Try turning it into a game, making it social, or both!
Tea
I’ve always been a tea-drinker, but watching Kevin Rose interview Jesse Jacobs about Samovar Tea Lounge opened my eyes to a new perspective of tea and how to further incorporate it into my lifestyle. I had never heard of teas like pu-erh or white tea before and I loved exploring this new world.
Now, the ritual of preparing and drinking tea is an even more regular occurrence in my daily life. It helps me to think, re-energise and enjoy the present and I believe it can do the same for you, too! So drink tea.
