7 Stupid Things You Should Stop Doing Now, To Live A Better Life
#7 will destroy your life
We can’t help ourselves.
Although we might have our bright moments, most of the time, we do stupid things. After kicking a goalpost and double-fracturing my right foot, I’m the first to admit that.
But what if we can stop doing stupid things?
What if we can make more of our time?
Then, there’s no limit to what we can achieve.
Here are 7 stupid things you should stop doing now, to live a better life.
#1 Procrastinating on important tasks
It’s easy to do, but it’s also easy not to do.
That’s the principle James Julian lives by. It’s genius.
It’s easy to sit here and write this article. But it’s also easy to go make myself a coffee and sit down to watch sports highlights.
With this principle, we can put what we need to do in relation.
For me, it isn’t difficult to sit down and start typing. So why wouldn’t I do it in the first place?
Procrastination has become a pandemic.
No wonder, when we get almost everything on demand. The next quick fix is only at the tip of your fingers.
The problem?
The more often, we procrastinate, the worse our lives become.
At work, it’s easy to do the things you need to do because otherwise, your boss would fire you. It’s an extrinsic motivation relying on existential anxiety.
However, understanding how easy it is to get done, what needs to get done, can become your intrinsic motivation to do things.
It’s easy to do, it’s easy not to do. Choose the second, easy.
#2 Not prioritizing physical health
We lost our way.
With more computer jobs than ever, we forget one important truth: we’re still physical human beings. We’re better fits for roaming around and making fire with wood sticks, than we are for typing our days away in an office. Sounds weird, right?
When I was working as a recruitment consultant in London, I neglected my physical health big time. I gained 3 kgs, snacked too much, and got too little sleep.
And I wasn’t even the worst case because I still had my exercise habit.
Once they start working 9 to 5, many people neglect their physical health. They don’t move anymore, eat junk, and gain weight.
I don’t blame them.
Because nowadays, it’s easier than ever to do nothing.
Why do you think so many people buy “Just do nothing.” and “Fuck off” shirts? Because they’re already so tired.
But that’s the paradox.
We get so tired because we DON’T move. We exhaust our brains, but not our bodies. This imbalance is critical.
The solution? Moving more. Building up mitochondria to deliver energy, whenever we need it.
You only have one body, take care of it.
#3 Ignoring mental health
Your physical health is only half of the equation.
Your mental health is the other. Often, we neglect it even more.
When I lived in London, I thought about work all the time. Often, I’d wake up in the middle of the night, worried if the company would accept or reject a certain candidate. Then I went to sleep again. Only to wake up and worry if the candidate will accept or decline a possible offer.
I was stressed out all the time.
This job freaked me out. The long hours, the many calls, the many rejections. At some point, I knew I was not the right fit for this type of work. I took my chance and quit.
But stress is subjective. You may have been in the same situation and would have slept like a baby. There’s no right or wrong strategy.
But there’s the courage to act the way you need to.
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been working for it or how much you earn in the position you’re in. Because what’s worth a bank account full of money, if you get sick because of all the stress?
Nothing.
Take care of your mental health.
#4 Wasting time on social media
No matter how immune you think you are, you’ll get sucked into mindless scrolling, wasting hours of your precious life.
We start on Instagram, move over to TikTok, then go to LinkedIn, followed by X and Facebook, and when we finish there, we start all over again.
This isn’t how our lives are supposed to be.
In late 2018, I quit social media. I couldn’t believe how many more hours my days had. It was incredible. All the anxiety and insecurity? Gone.
When I started writing again, in November 2023, I created an account on X. Within two weeks I regretted it. People selling something at every corner. Big writers sliding into your DM’s, trying to be your friend. Only to sell you their courses.
If you’re only consuming content, social media is an anxiety-inducing waste of time.
It’s like hitting yourself with a burning baseball bat.
Yes, exactly. Why would you do that?
Turn off your screens, and get out in the real world.
#5 Neglecting personal relationships
With all the scrolling and texting, we forget something.
The people in front of our eyes. The ones who truly care about us.
One of the biggest regrets of dying people is the fact that they’ve neglected important relationships over the years.
At some point, they stopped speaking to their friends from high school, didn’t return the phone calls of their siblings, or neglected to call their parents.
Only to realize that they should have done that when they had the chance.
Why? Because we are social animals and emotional beings.
We aren’t made to connect only with people over the internet.
Many scientists, Cal Newport among them, believe we need conversational cues to create real emotional connections. We need facial expressions or changes in voice to understand how we fit into the grand scheme. It gives us purpose.
Call up your loved ones, fix a meeting, and spend quality time together.
#6 Not setting personal goals
This one is controversial.
There are people believing goals are for companies, not for humans. Then there are others believing without goals you’re lost in life.
I’m somewhere in between.
In my adolescence, I started having goals. I wanted bigger biceps, good grades, and a good job. I got all of that, but I wasn’t fulfilled, once I started working in my “good” job.
Then, I stumbled across The Minimalists.
They believed in having no goals.
Because I resonated with most of what they said, I canceled my goals. I lived without goals for a while.
First, it was fun.
Then, I had no idea, what I was doing.
Because goals aren’t only something you strive after. Big goals can also be your shield against the pressure of societal expectations.
If you define individual big goals, you shield yourself against overthinking where you might fit in. Why? Because you know what you want and can strive after that.
Here are my current big goals:
- stay location-independent, when it comes to my work
- earn €3.000 after taxes per month, which is enough to support the life I want
- work less than 35 hours per week to have enough time for my mental & physical health, as well as connecting to friends & family
Don’t neglect goal-setting.
But be smart about it and set big goals, helping you to live your life.
#7 Refusing to learn from mistakes
This is a big no, no.
In my life, I made many mistakes. I failed in glorious ways, like:
- finishing studies I never liked
- double-fracturing my foot by kicking against a goalpost
- starting and quitting two corporate careers
- thinking I could only take a step on the island of Bali to become a digital nomad
- neglecting outreach to get new clients
- spending thousands on stuff I don’t need, like an electric skateboard, which I used less than 10 times
These are only the tip of the iceberg. Don’t even get me started on the many mistakes I made on the football pitch, how often I hurt people I care about, and me because I didn’t know better.
Especially in the beginning, I refused to learn from my mistakes. I thought life’s unfair (which it is) and I was the victim (which I’m not).
Then, I’d make the same mistake again.
That’s stupid. Don’t do the same.
Learn from your mistakes because they are lessons in disguise.
With the right mindset, mistakes are awesome.
They are feedback on how you got something wrong. And if you think about them longer than a second, often you find out what could be improved.
Mistakes are lessons, ready to help you reach your next level.
A better life is closer than you think if you:
- work on important tasks
- prioritize your physical health
- take care of your mental health
- pursue meaningful spare time activities over social media
- spend quality time with family & friends
- set big, specific, and individual goals
- learn from your mistakes
