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Emotional processing. Just sit or lay down for a moment and let that stuff come. Go straight into all of it. Awkward and painful moments. Frustrations.. It'll feel so much better afterward!
Something to avoid would be letting others set your standard. You set your own standard.
Keep a journal. Every day just jot down how you're feeling and what's on your mind, what you plan to do/did. Its amazing how helpful this has been for me.
Don't drink alcohol. It's not good for you in any amount.
Practicing critical thinking.
Many here have already recommended reading and, particularly, reading philosophy. That's a great way to practice critical thinking and to practice thinking outside of our comfortable or familiar ways. I'd add not to skip reading about logical fallacies and cognitive biases.
Many good things come from being a little cautious with apparent knowledge. To keep a reasonable doubt is also to keep our curiosity going, to keep asking questions, to imagine different ways, to discover new things, to avoid stagnant beliefs, etc. Critical thinking makes us not only less gullible but also flexible. This is valuable to understand everything, including one another, and perhaps in doing so, giving us better relationships and better societies.
Never start nicotine
I'd also like to chip in that alcoholism is sneaky. Be careful with drinking
Just use a password manager, FFS it makes all of your online interactions safer.
Once setup, it is easier than not using one.
Which app would you recommend/suggest?
Bitwarden is the best in my opinion
I use keepass XC, and keep it up to date on all my devices using syncthing.
I have considered bitwarden with self hosting, but keepass had always worked well.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future....
sunscreen...
would be..
it.
The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists.
~ Baz
jokes on you buddy, I don’t go outside
Absolutely lifting weights has been my all time favorite self improvement thing, would highly recommend it
I second this as a non-sporty person. I bought a couple of barbells (15kg apiece) for use at home and 20-30 minutes of just messing around with them daily has solved so many joint aches, it's almost ridiculous...
Read books.
Really anything, philosophy is great but some don't have the patience for it.
If it's graphic novels or "kids" books, it's all good. Spend a bit of time every day reading.
Getting an electric toothbrush, and flossing daily. My dental hygienists love me.
Learning how to say no, how to do it politely and how to do it firmly. I'm better at the latter but being able to do either is a goddamn superpower, it's incredible how many Americans cannot regardless of their situation, title, age, wealth, etc.
Just go for a walk. Calling it exercise scares people into thinking about running, cycling or the gym but for the last month or two i just make it my mission to go for a long-ish walk once a day. Nothing strenuous, some days I walk a couple of kilometres to the nearest big supermarket to pick up some stuff, or i'll get something delivered to a post locker thing or I'll just go for a nice walk around the nearby park and bring my neglected camera with me to take pics of some birdies.
You would be surprised how many calories it adds up to and how much better your well-being can get from some sunlight and fresh air.
This is very important. It's easier to do regular "exercise" if it's part of your daily routine than having to go out of your way to go to the gym.
The fittest I've been on the last years has been when I could bike to the office
So many people don't care about how their behaviors affect others. They are loud on the public transport, interrupt others when they talk, act like they are better because they got good looks, and a bunch of other things.
I really think people would get along better if all of us were more down to earth and listening and relaxing.
Be the opposite of what you see in reality shows.
I spent all of 2024 tracking my spending and saving. I didn’t “budget”, just had a spreadsheet and wrote everything down week over week.
I would recommend it as a habit people may benefit from just to understand where their money goes.
This is what I did this year and last one too.
I started tracking my spending to see where my money was going which was very insightful. Patterns emerged I never could have seen if it wasn’t all laid out in one spreadsheet.
For instance, I learned based on a little experimentation that driving 65 instead of 75 on the highway saved me like $50/month. Yeah, I’m that guy and my commute takes another couple minutes but I still do this today. I’ve reframed it in my head as a $50/mo subscription that doesn’t give me much value for the money and only costs an extra few minutes a day. Worth it in this inflation era.
Also realized I was spending money in all these categories that I could be getting some high cash back credit cards for. When you can see your spending averages over time, it’s easy to be confident about getting a strategic 5% card for gas or online shopping that can claw back a decent chunk of the money you already know you’re gonna spend.
It’s definitely useful to track your spending, in more ways than one
Definitely agree with your comments. The more you see the more you understand. The more you understand, the more you can control. Even if just a little bit.
Checking up on your friends and asking how they are. It never hurts to be there for your friends when they're having a bad day! ❤️
Not waiting for a day like new years to make a change that helps you.
The best time to do it was probably years ago.
The second best time is today.
Because if you make it about “new years” or some event, then it isn’t about YOU.
Do it for YOU, because you know that you’re worth the same amount of effort and affection as the others in your life.
Would you want this change for your friend? Turn don’t you think you skills care enough about you to give it to yourself?
I quit smoking the day my niece was born.
I quit drinking on April 1st, I've lost track of how many years ago it was, so that's nice.
don't discount the power of a specific date to reinforce a change and don't let the reputation of new years resolutions stop you from setting and crushing them.
Reading books on daily basis. It's a qualitatively different experience from reading websites or consuming other form of media. If you have trouble getting into reading, I recommend picking a particular time and place, then reading at least a few pages every day. Eventually, it will turn into a habit and you'll be reading for longer periods. Another thing I recommend is finding books on topics you're interested in, be it fiction or non fiction, and don't feel bad about abandoning books if you find you're not enjoying it.
Using a password manager and moving around every hour or so
Waking up at the same time every day, no matter if it's a weekend or a weekday and no matter if you stayed up too late and won't be getting full 8 hours of sleep.
As obvious as this might sound, this has really helped me to regulate my sleep schedule, something I've really been struggling with for pretty much my entire life.
Set a timer for when you're sitting at a desk and working. Every hour, I get up and do something or go get some water. It helps