TLDR; #mindfulness, hobbies, no sugar, balance and clean dieting, exercise, a consistent sleep schedule with an early wake up time, cycling ๐ด๐ปโโ๏ธ ๐ต๐พโโ๏ธ ๐ด๐พ
- Sports (once youโre older and realize youโre not going pro you can play pickup games or practice solo or with family/friends)
- Going for long walks (you can accomplish this by taking public transit to work or walking daily to relax your mind and get some fresh oxygen plus youโll develop your Lowe extremities and improve your balance โ when I was in my 20s I couldnโt stand on my feet for longer than 30-minutes or so and when Iโd jog Iโd experience soreness โ Iโve always been athletic but once you stop stretching and working out you will be human again and feel painโ keep the routine going gangโ youโll love yourself for it)
- Conditioning (working out without air conditioning year round to improve your heart rate, stamina, and enduranceโ donโt try this for an extended period of time out of the gate cuz youโll pass out โ do a gradual build up over time โ if you live in Antarctica ๐ฆ๐ถ you can probably still pull this off cuz Global Warming + Climate Crisis, but places like Florida, DC, Georgia, Texas, and are perfect ๐๐พ)
- No shaving creams...unless โ๏ธ- Ditch products high in chemical contentโ my face broke out in college cuz of I was a novice at make grooming and I knew nothing about how to properly shave ๐ช. However, I did discover Proraso via ๐ฐ Amazon and it worked great ๐๐ผ
- Breathing exercises ๐ฌ- even if youโre not a #yoga person (and itโs great zen if you are),, then 10 minutes of inhale/exhales cycles will help balance out your mood and keep your blood pressure at the proper baseline - there have been times I have been pinned up in the office and hope for weeks at a time and been oblivious to the fact that Iโm stressed out for no reason โ my heart rate gives me feedback during these moments and the jolt of chest pain finally manifests itself once my normal flow of breathing is no longer being stalked and assaulted (figuratively speaking but I have dealt with literally stalkers ๐ both in and out of the office in the past โ so /- #scales aka itโs all the s
๐ ฐ๏ธ ใฝ๏ธe) - No carbonated beverages or sugary drinks (ok,, mostly ban them from your life but once a week at most cuz who donโt love a lil flavor) - this should be it no surprise this stuff slows you down, clogs your pores, dehydrates you, makes you fill sluggish, stresses the lining of your esophagus, and stresses your digestive system cuz evil chemistry ๐งช be realโ not to mention itโs addictive)
- Plant based all the things with minimal read meat ๐ฅฉ- I feel much much better after limiting my weekly red meat intake and spiking on the healthier food choices like fruits, vegetables, whole grain, seafood (thyroid cancer is real โ there are powder based supplements you can purchase online if your anti-ocean but if you are pro-ocean then sardines with cilantro are great โ basically try to consume a non-predatory fish ๐ฃ but who can resist a lobster ๐ฆ or crabs ๐ฆ from Pappadeaux w/ those beloved cheese ๐ง grits ๐ฝ โ yes Iโm aware that DC and New Orleans have seafood culture as well (who is the best is how to the universe) in addition to other Metro Areas but I cannot be YELP.com today unfortunately soโ #brevity ๐ โ again everything in #moderation)
- No sports drinks (e.g. Gatorade) - this comes w/ a caveat - if you are training or low on fluids then yesโ itโll give you a boost- Iโm talking about my case where I drank Gatorade with meals multiple times a day and made it a regular part of my dietโ that %%#* was a mistake and flat out wrong
- No sitting down ๐ช for extended periods of time throughout the day - in my experience this has hurt my blood circulation and can lead to vertigo vibes + increase stress as you are preoccupied with work or some for if activity (if itโs engineering related and a challenging problem to solve that you donโt have experience with or can not locate a solution to through coworkers or online resources then stress will spike as frustration sets in)โ- take recurring breaks when work gets intense โ this can be a great coping mechanism when youโre in an intense meeting with coworkers where sensitive issues and topics must be discussed (e.g. retrospectives, bikeshedding, microaggressions, why are we upgrading to or why are we sun setting
- Full body workouts (not for the faint of heart) - this is intense and took me years to master but itโs far better than using free weights and it makes you Navy Seal Strong ๐ช๐ผ and Ford Truck Tough (that doesnโt not make you an instant member of Seal Team 6 or invincible but youโll perform really well at all the things especially at night time when you know โ sparks โก๏ธ tend to flyโ need to keep this PG13 as kids are watching ๐)โ always stretch ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ before your workout ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ ๐๐ฝโโ๏ธ contrary to what narcissists tell youโ youโll love yourself afterwards
- Ditch the coffee and energy drinks - a little coffee here is there is great for flavor IMHO but I have never been a heavy coffee drinker and energy drinks are evil - there are cleaner coffees on the market these days so Iโm all for that (especially from the mom & pop joints or the Italians โ I could be mistaken but I think theyโre like the OGs of organic, homegrown, authentic coffee โ๏ธ as they are w/ pizza, pasta, and <insert-addictive-cultural-thing-the-Western-world-loves?> โ on behalf of #italy ๐ฎ๐น and my cousin Taj who is part #italian
- Jogging ๐๐ฝโโ๏ธ ๐๐พ- you donโt need to be a Jamaican Olympic quarter finalist to pull this off. Something light will be plenty sufficient. There are of course treadmills are your local gyms but I prefer to mix it up and go outdoors cuz again.. oxygen+ stress relief+people watching+ sight seeing be lifeeeeeee ๐ฆธ๐ปโโ๏ธ ๐ฆธ๐ปโโ๏ธ - #extrovertmafia
- Reading+Writing - this helped sharpen my patience and increase my IQ in addition to making interviews less stressful as switching jobs comes with the territory in any career until you locate your Dream Job with the roof top terrace and 12th generation cubicles that can float on water and read you books and make you โ never mind it was all a dream but yesโ do read + write (30 minutes per day works great for me but sometimes I do much more cuz cognitive development is a thing plus it makes you more secure ๐ ๐- weโre all natural born scientists ๐ฉ๐ปโ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฟโ๐ฌ anyway)
- Hobbies (in general) - there are tons but yet to pick a few you love and do them for life (routine is the key โ if you canโt do them for life then you donโt love them and if you have no hobbies thenโ- ๐จ๐ปโ๐ฆฑ โ.no worries itโs not the end of the world just a suggestion)
- Join online communities - my favorite are Reddit, Quora, Twitter, and LinkedIn. If you want to keep a low profile then Twitter, Imgur, and Reddit are best from a privacy perspective as you can create scopes handles and not get spied on against your will (just donโt use your government name or anything that relates to your identity cuz search engines be real)
- Waking up early (no later than 0730) and in bed before 2200 on most nights - I donโt always play by the rules here but at least 4/7 days per week a minimum would be my suggestion (an engaging job with its highs and lows+kids+relationships+sh## happens will interfere at times โ cuz #webehuman ๐ฏ)
- Socialize - learning other cultures in addition to the ones I am fortunate enough to be apart of due to my ancestral lineage go a long way. There are channels on Reddit scoped by city and country if youโre looking for a place to start, but the YouTube videos covering the history of Europe and are amazing. You can pickup new languages and learn how to travel abroad in style (the doโs and donts videos are great as well as the post-travel reviews travelers ๐งณ upload to the universe ๐ช after theyโve completed their trip and returned home safelyโ start with Germany ๐ฉ๐ช- Iโm biased cuz Iโm โ you guess itโ part German and have traveled their twice already - ๐ ๐ ๐ถ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐
โ๏ธ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ซ ) - Always be laughing ๐- this releases endorphins of course and again,, youโll love yourself not only afterwards, but fuhevaaaaaa (you know all things, Jon Snow โ๏ธ ๐ก โ๏ธ ๐ฃ๐ง๐ปโ๐ฆฑ)
- Neuroscience+Mindfulness ๐ง - obviously everything I am writing about has to do with this subject in general. Psychologists such as myself will tell you that itโs all about flow and finding a grove. I will leave you this to you to research in your own time but WebMd has a great quiz and there are sure to be great videos on YouTube and other major platforms
Breaking old habits so hard to do - try to make good ones on behalf of Notorious B.I.G.
Assuming that we are not under 24-hour surveillance was the most st#pidโdangerous and esoteric thought I have ever had in my lifeeeeeeee