SELF-IMPROVEMENT
5 Habits That Will Make You Powerful Beyond Belief
According to Jordan Peterson
If you want to lead a great life, there are some key things you need to do.
According to Jordan Peterson, these approaches to life will make you a better person. And by being a better person, you will have a better life.
I got these tips from a video, which I have embedded further down. But first here is my summary of the tips.
#1: Stop abusing addictive substances such as alcohol
Is your abuse of alcohol or other drugs hurting you? If so, you need to reduce it.
How do you know if you’re drinking too much alcohol?
If you find yourself regretting what you do when you’re under the influence. For example, if it gets you in trouble with your friends or family or with the police.
#2: Get in physical shape
Being in good physical condition is one of the best things you can do to improve your quality of life.
Are you strong and coordinated? If not, you’d be better if you were. You would live longer and get less ill.
People who have been in shape when they were younger age better. And exercise is a great way of maintaining your cognitive ability. It’s better than doing mental exercises, which don’t work.
After the age of 25, your fluid intelligence starts to decline. Regular physical exercise will slow down that decline.
But you don’t necessarily need to spend hours in the gym. As I’ve said before, you can install some free apps on your phone.
#3: Maintain your relationships and foster them
Take care of those around you. It involves effort, but it’s well worth it.
Successful people are reliable. You can count on them. They are generous and they have a wide connection network. This becomes more valuable as you get older.
#4 Do things for other people
This is an extension of #3.
Doing things for other people is more rewarding than virtually anything else you can do. When you genuinely help someone else, it’s quite stunning how satisfying that is.
Be productive, reliable, straightforward, and generous.
Make everyone else around you better and everyone will want to play with you. The better a person you are, the more likely you are to get what you want in life.
It doesn’t completely protect you from bad things, but it’s the best life strategy there is.
#5: Think of yourself as a community of people over time
This is a variation on #4.
It might be tempting to be selfish and look after your own interests. But having the attitude of helping others is actually the best way to do that.
Why?
Because you aren’t just you right now. You are also all your future selves. You’re a community of selves stretched across time. So, don’t just do what’s best for you right now. Do what’s best for all your future selves as well.
Take care of your team. But consider your future selves to be part of your team.
The video
Am I succeeding at all the suggestions here?
No, not all of them.
#1 is not a problem for me. I’ve never liked alcohol anyway, and I don’t understand why it’s so accepted as normal in society. I wrote about this here:
#2 I’ve pretty much got covered. I use home workout apps on my phone, I do a lot of walking, and I have started attending a weekly self-defence class.
It’s the other three bits of advice I struggle with. Being an introvert on the autistic spectrum, I have difficulty maintaining friendships.
In terms of helping people, I have done that a lot in the past. But I have taken things too far and tried too hard to help people who were beyond my help. I discussed this here:
As for taking care of my future selves, there is room for improvement there too.
How about you? Are you succeeding at all of Jordan’s suggestions?
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