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Improve Yourself: Things To Start Today For A Better Life
Throughout our lives many of us probably everybody strive to become a better person, a better version of ourselves.
But it’s easy to get derailed, to get sidetracked, it’s easy to put things off another day. It’s easy for people to look for overnight success or radical change but that is the hardest thing because what works are small incremental improvements.
Self-improvement is not a destination it is a journey, and it happens day by day with small things.
Here are 4 things you can do starting today that are no longer than 1 to 30 minutes or so. And devoting a bit of time to each of them on a daily basis can ultimately send you down the path of longevity for a happy, healthy long-lasting life.
Such a small amount of time can accomplish big things if applied consistently.
Mind Games For Cognitive Durability
When it comes to the mind, cognition, wit, sense of self-awareness, and mental grit, you have to keep the brain active. If you don’t use it, you will lose it as the saying goes. And It applies in this case as well. The mind stays strong when the brain is challenged with small but complex exercises.
This first tip comes from an educator. Riddles are an excellent option or perhaps learning to speak a new language or can be as simple as a board game like backgammon.
This one is for everybody, riddles for kids are just as fortifying for the mind as they are for adults.
Quit The Toxin Called Refined Sugar
You’ve heard that too much sugar is bad for you right? Well, in reality, things are much worse. This tip comes from a neurologist. Spiking your blood with sugar can be destructive to the brain.
Refined sugar can induce inflammation. It creates a thing in the body called “oxidative stress” which is defined as “an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract or detoxify their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants.”
This means to reduce the chance of a fried brain and inflammation in the body you need to eat healthily where there is no room for refined sugar. Eat foods that help your body improve insulin sensitivity. Throw out the trash candy and eat fish like tuna or sardines. Eat meat as grass-fed and grain-finished beef. Eat vegetables and some fruit.
Eat healthy fats like olive oil and avocados. Eat some nuts and seeds and avoid processed foods. And avoid grains too, this can be hard, but it can also improve your ability to function at a better level for a better quality of life.
Exercise – Get Up And Move – Do it!
This tip comes from a new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, and it is titled “Increases in physical activity is as important as smoking cessation for a reduction in total mortality in elderly men: 12 years of follow-up of the Oslo II study”.
In the study, some men exercised for thirty minutes a day at six days a week, and some did not. This simple yet effective physical activity created a reduction in mortality risk by 40%. Even more remarkable was that there was a “5years increased lifetime when comparing sedentary and moderate to vigorous physically active men.”
Get 8 Hours Of Sleep
This is what senior citizens know, and this is what kids and working adults need to learn – get more sleep! Now understand some people get their sleep religiously, and we applaud them for that, but others do need to stop staying up so late and get their behinds into bed.
You know what it feels like when you had to stay up way too late to finish a project and then you are like a zombie afterward. This tip comes from an in-home caregiver. After not getting enough sleep your memory is faded, your ability to function declines to the point of delirium.
Compare this to one who is fully rested, their hormone levels are reasonable and they have a smile on their face. Did you know that sleep dramatically affects one’s hormone levels?
Did you know hormones regulate mood and a sense of wellbeing? Yes, they are all tied together!
So To Summarize and Improve Yourself
These four essential things can easily be overlooked and taken for granted. But if you can start young to keep your mind sharp, your body clean of toxins and cycled between periods of exercise and rest you will see your life improving in many unexpected ways which cannot be explained in this article because beneficial side effects manifest differently for everyone.
A happy long life starts with foundational guidelines on body mind and spirit. These four tips are considered core building blocks to that foundation. Mahalo!
