Thank GOD!!! Chemistry is almost over….that class has been sucking the life out of me! I have a beast post for you to check out and take action with NOW.

I have been going through the past couple of weeks and really trying to think about how I improve my day and life in general. Some things I have simply broken the habit of doing or just simply overlooked. I wrote these things down and started to use them right away. Big difference not only in my own quality of life but the impact I had on other people. Check out this short list of things you can immediately do to crush your ordinary day and turn it into something big!

1) Sacrifice yourself daily: This is so easy to push-off and never really do. Our natural instinct is to protect ourselves. Keep ourselves comfortable and in a safe position. I want you to kill that mindset at least once daily. This means you need to put yourself aside at least once during the day to go out of your way to improve the life of someone else. The sky’s the limit. Whatever you feel lead to do, do it. Don’t hesitate…don’t think about it just do it. It’s a rush especially if you know its something out of the ordinary for you and going to improve the life you’re targeting. It’s a crazy feeling. I’m not talking about the mushy gooshy stuff but the reality that you broke the norm and did something against out cultural expectation.

2) Learn one thing new daily: This is a lot easier than you think. We have access to so much information via the internet it’s not even funny. Other resources like podcasts, books, audiobooks and magazines are full of some respectful info (some is crap so be careful). People get stuck with learning the stuff for their job or college but that’s it. The average person stops learning anything other than what they have to the year they graduate from grade school. Thats crazy!! Take the time to research something you know nothing about.

3) Make eye contact and say Hi: I know this is nuts. This is some pretty new age stuff. We are a part of a cyber-social media-anti eye contact kinda generation. We have built this comfort bubble around ourselves that wasn’t there 10 years ago. We enjoy being able to view someone from a distance and not have to actually interact with them unless we have to or feel the need too. I have seen this in my own life. I’ll go places and not really look around or acknowledge anyone around me. I am just in my own world or on my phone checking the score of the Denver game. It’s a pretty good feeling to actually take the time and look somebody dead in the face and ask them how they are doing or better yet, respond to them asking you in a way other then “pretty good how about you?” This stuff is simple I know but we have lost touch of this simple practice that has the potential to change the world around us. Get after it!

4) Eat one giant salad daily: Who doesn’t like salad!? With all the different kinds of dressing out there your salad can practically taste like anything. I understand that veggies arent for everybody but you gotta hear me out. Getting stronger in and outside of the gym has more to it then just swiping in at your local gym. It’s a lifestyle that has to be adapted in order to really crush it. The average joe doesn’t eat a whole lot of veggies simply because we don’t have them readily available. Think about it, you can go to just about any fast food joint and get your meats and carbs but what about veggies? All they offer is salad (which for this challenge is good) but what about all the rest of the goods? Steamed asparagus, broccoli, kale!? I mean seriously, you can make some killer dishes out of these things other than a salad. Make it a point to pack a salad with all your favorite fixin’s. I don’t care if it’s the only thing you make yourself that day. At least you will know that besides all the business lunches and “hot cart” foods you did something good for your brain and body!

5) Add Lemon to 3 out of 8 bottles of water you drink: Lets hope your actually drinking that much. Lemons aid in digestion and cleansing different organs in the body. One of the best things you could do the first thing in the morning (even before your coffee) is drink a glass of lemon water. It’s something simple and easy to implement. First thing in the morning your organs are still waking up so chugging a glass of lemon water is like priming your systems before you actually start the motor. Your gut is going to love you for this so make sure you do it!

6) Get uncomfortable multiple times a week: Now I’m not talking about doing something like eating your lunch standing up. More like choose a different place to eat lunch, read something you wouldn’t normally read, talk to someone you usually don’t talk to. Just something that forces you out of your normal day-to-day grind. This is going to force you to stop running on auto pilot and start thinking again. We get so routine with our lives that it almost makes us mad when something is thrown into the mix unexpectedly. Embrace it and look at it as an opportunity to grow and be challenged.

7) Build the illest motivational playlist ever: I am somebody who can get fired up just from listening to a certain style of music. Sometimes I have to go through a few songs just to figure out whats really going to get me moving. Right now old school rap along with some recent artists like Lacrae is whats fueling my workouts. Sometimes the hardcore stuff is necessary but lately its been more about keeping the rhythm going during my workouts and not catching myself just sitting around (it tends to happen a lot at 6am in the morning) Take a couple of days and do a little research on some of your favorite songs that get you fired up and invest in them. Turn them into a playlist and listen to it daily. You don’t even have to be in the gym. You can be anywhere. This is your life playlist. Something you can turn to when you feel like nothing else is working.

Train something new weekly: Sometimes this is more of a skills test for me than anything else. When I get a chance I try to add something I don’t normally do in my training routine. We have been on a pretty strict training program lately but I have been known to throw in a random Olympic lift, body weight or gymnastics skill. Something that is against the norm for me. It tests my skills and also reminds me that there is more to training then trying to master a handful of exercises. It’s about challenging yourself and getting better all around. Your training for real world application. Not Olympic or strong man competitions.

9) Speak positives constantly the first 4 hours that you are awake: You really want to try to do this all day but life is crazy…I get it. What you need to do is start focusing on what your telling yourself during the first few hours that you are awake. These are your first thoughts of the day. They can either set you up for success or crush you. No matter how bad your day was the day before or how much stuff you have to do today. Speak positive things until the second you walk through the doors of your office. Check yourself throughout the day to see if this technique helped.

10) Give thanks daily: I learned real quick that I would never be able to get through this life solo. I thank God daily for an amazing wife, an awesome job and some of the coolest friends in the world. No matter who or what you believe in be sure to acknowledge these people. It’s a way of humbling yourself into realizing that it’s not all about you. I am a firm believer in Christ and can give you numerous stories where I have been pulled out of some crazy stuff in ways I can’t even describe. I am thankful and blessed!

BOOM! 10 things that will change your life instantly. We all grind daily in our own way. These are real world things that you can start doing now to drastically change the way your day goes! Take action!

Be sure to hit LIKE it you got anything from it!

William