7 Rules to Live your Best Life

The most important principles to being consistent in life.

The most important principles to being consistent in life.

Nothing gets done without a set of guiding principles to help us get there. In today’s world, of fast information and quick fixes, it is easy to be consumed by the busyness of everyday life. We’re pulled in multiple directions by what we “should” be doing, what we “could be doing,” and what we “need” or “want” to be doing. Soon, principles fall by the wayside, and we are left holding the pieces of a fragmented life that once was ours. Now we just wander aimlessly, wondering who we are and what we want out of life. We lost sight of our guiding principles.

These principles tell us to value our time and protect the things we really want to do. Like our family, friends, and ourselves.

Here is a list of 7 guiding principles I use to help me stay consistent with the goals I have for my body and my best life.

1. Dial it up. Dial it down.

Life isn’t about ‘everyday i'm hustlin,’ despite what Rick Ross has to say. To grow your body and mind or fine-tune your skills, you do need to push out of your comfort zone a bit. You need to put in the time to work hard, followed by recovery and reflection. Let go of the go-go lifestyle. Keeping busy doesn’t mean that you are doing meaningful or essential work that you need to keep progressing. Like a bank account, you can’t make withdrawals without depositing anything. Learn to dial your activity up and dial it down. That is how you get stronger and faster in the gym. It is also how you get to live a fit life, understanding is the foundation of being consistent. No one can sustain hustle 360 days out of the year. Learn to dial it up and dial it down to maintain the consistency it takes to reach your goals. Whether that be weight loss, confidence, and more strength/power.

1. Focus on the Process, Not Results

Get off the scale. Focus on the things you do every single day. Improvement doesn’t just occur when you feel like it or when life is good. Progression isn’t just about the results, it is about finding the path that works for you. Often, we get so distracted by the outcome that we don’t look at the things we are doing to get us there. Do we eat enough protein every day? Do we get enough quality sleep? Do we have proper stress management techniques? Do we train efficiently? Are we hydrated every day? Do we have high-quality relationships? When you stop stressing about external outcomes (whether you win or lose), a huge burden is lifted off your shoulders, and you can start focussing your energy on the things you can control; What you do, day in and day out!

1. Stick-to-itiveness

Maintain an open mind. Be open to opportunities. Focus on progression, not perfection. When something serves you & your principles, stick to it. Show yourself you are worth it. When that thing loses meaning, learn to change your path vs. trying to hold to something that no longer has meaning. Brian Tracy has a famous quote: “Discipline is doing what is hard and necessary rather than what is fun and easy and doing it when it is necessary whether you feel like doing it or not.” That is stick-to-itiveness. What worked once, might not work again. Go against the masses. Go against the fads. Forge your own path when it comes to being consistent with the principles you set for yourself in the gym and in the kitchen. If you are not listening to your own voice than who’s voice are you listening to? Do more of what feeds you. Build what is strong, not what is wrong. In other words, do more of what you do well.

4. Build Your Tribe

There’s an old saying that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Turns out that’s true, motivation is contagious. If you surround yourself with people who have a negative attitude, you set yourself up for a less fulfilling experience. Having a tribe behind you means they will remind you of your critical principles in hairy situations.

5. Take Small, Consistent Steps to Achieve Big Gains

Habits build upon themselves. If you want to make any kind of significant change, you’d be wise to do so gradually and over time. Start with small goals. Make them so damn small that failing is impossible. Soon, this modest goal is ingrained in you. It becomes second nature, something you just do with little to no thought. Then build in the next small goal, then the next, and then the next. Over time you end up with a ton of behaviours that lead to significant change. Procrastination is what stops us dead in our tracks from thinking that executing small, easy-to-complete tasks is not where the magic happens. Instead, we believe that setting lofty goals is where we will get the most bang for our buck. That is why quick fixes are ever so popular. We are addicted to immediacy, instant gratification. This pulls us away from plugging away from doing the small steps. We want to feel good now, not wait until those small steps add up. Many don’t want to commit to the long haul and believe in the process, you continue to do little things that bring immediate rewards but have no impact. No matter how much you desire the rewards that come at the end of the journey, you will battle against the need for immediate results NOW!

6. Embrace this motto “What would this look like if this were easy?”

Willpower is overrated. Rather than relying entirely on self-control, intentionally design your environment to make the hard thing easier. If your challenge is eating healthy, instead of relying on your willpower, merely keep the brownies out of the house. If you struggle with getting up in the morning to workout, set your alarm, clothes, shoes, keys and breakfast out the night before. Make it easier to say YES. Often, we over complicate things. Maybe because we are looking for the magical unicorn that will bring us the body of our dreams as efficiently and quickly possible. By doing so, we toss to the wayside the things, although small, that form the cornerstone to consistent success, a.k.a. Winning at life. What if rather than radically changing your eating habits you merely continue eating the way you currently are and only changed the speed you eat? That is too easy, right? But think about it…if you were reaching into that bag of Chips and your only goal was to eat them slowly, wouldn’t you by default eat less? Couldn’t that then make a difference? Bottom line: don’t just think about how you’re going to accomplish your goals; think about how you’re going to design them.

7. Bring Joy into your everyday life

How is that current diet bringing you joy? Many eat chicken, salads, or drink magic potions rather than eating proper food every day, believing this is what needs to be done to lose weight. That is one way, but not the only way. It is entirely possible to lose weight or live your best life with an interjection of joy built into every day. Life is meant to be enjoyed. The time around the dinner table with friends is intended to be appreciated. Your time in the gym shouldn’t make you cringe either, it is essential to put in the work to love yourself. Until you are comfortable, happy and competent in who you are and your body, it is hard to feel the same about who other people are. This brings you more comparison, envy, insecurity and ultimately robs you of joy. If you are a Type A, like me, it is easy to lose sight of joy as you keep growing and progressing that you miss the present’s special moments. Your body is a vessel meant to experience the world. Start embracing your body and your strengths vs. continually obsessing about it. Where is the joy in that? Weight loss is not an achievement. Live in your joy!

There is nothing fancy about any of these principles, though they do work best when all are applied together. Build them into your life, and they will help you accomplish — whatever that is — better.

Which principles would you add to this list?