3 important health habits that help me earn big money on the side

I’m really tired today and I’m mad about it.

One of the reasons I’ve been able to make really decent money on the side while still showing up for my family and working a full-time job is that, for the most part, I’ve been really disciplined health-wise for more than a year.

This weekend was a busy one.

I had a ton of life responsibilities to juggle and my health suffered as a result.

I ate at the wrong times, and the food I ate was crap.
I went to bed too late and the fatigue put me in a bad, impatient mood.
I planned to make it to the gym at night (my favorite time to be there) but couldn’t drum up the motivation to go.

But today is a new day and I plan to reset.

And it’s critical that I do.

In order to have the energy and positive mindset to do anything exceptional outside of your core responsibilities, you need to treat your body and mind like a high-performance machine.

If you don’t take care of it, it won’t perform for you.

I’ve repeated ad nauseam here that consistency is everything when it comes to building a successful content business.

The same goes for your physical health.

If you’re consistent, then something that once felt difficult not only feels routine, but you almost get addicted to your good habits. It puts you in a bad mood not to go to the gym.

And those good habits produce good results in every other areas of your life.

Here are 3 good health habits that are critical to my business success.

Getting your health in order should be Job 1 if you want to have the energy to build a business on the side. (Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash)

Number 1

I avoid alcohol at all costs.

If you’re interested in my decision to quit alcohol and my strategies for doing so, I have two well-stocked publications full of stories and advice.

It really is the key to everything for me.

Before I quit drinking, my sleep was garbage and my fitness was disappointing.

Because I didn’t get enough rest and so much of my mental bandwidth was tied up in alcohol (when can I drink? what can I drink? where can I drink?), there was little room for anything else.

If you find you don’t have the energy to pursue your dreams in your spare time, try taking a break from booze.

Sober October is a great time to start.

Number 2

One reason I would never go back to alcohol is that I value my sleep too much now.

About six months ago, I bought this Fitbit (affiliate link) specifically because it had sleep quality tracking.

Every night you get a sleep score. Anything over 80 is decent, but I really started to notice how much healthier and more energetic I felt when I could get that score up into the mid-80s.

A couple of weeks ago, I did really well:

Last week, my numbers weren’t great, and last night my score was 77 (barf).

I’m committed to getting back on track with sleep because I know how important it is to my long-term success.

Number 3

Getting enough sleep is the key to getting enough exercise, which is the third health habit that’s key to producing big success on the side.

I marvel at folks who can sit in the office all morning, then sit at a restaurant table all lunch, and then go back to the office and sit all afternoon.

Then they go home and sit in front of the TV for hours before going to lie down for 7 hours in preparation for another day of sitting.

How are you supposed to drum up the energy to accomplish anything with that kind of lifestyle?

There are a million ways to get your body moving and get your energy up.

My favorites are running outdoors, power yoga, and bodyweight exercise at the gym.

Whatever you do, make sure you get moving. Even getting outside for a long walk can help.

Win

Building a side business to change your life is hard work.

There are days when it feels like a total grind.

But you vastly increase your odds of still showing up and producing if your physical and mental machine is finely tuned.

So start building those good habits today!

Publish Every Day Goal Tracker

How much I need to retire comfortably: $250 CAD per day

What I earned yesterday: $11.87 (writing), $1.68 (YouTube) — $13.55 total

2023 averages:

What I published yesterday:

An article about why I keep writing on one topic even though nobody seems to care about it

Looking for something else to read?

My 10 most popular stories:

My 3 most popular videos:

Number 1: 8,000+ views

Number 2: 8,000+ views

Number 3: 7,800 views

Thanks for hanging out with me today!