Be The Best

There are key attributes to become the best or succeed in any field. Knowledge, time, people and focus.

Knowledge is knowing all there is to know about how to become the best. This could include talking to experts, reading books, or developing the right mindset and diet to become the best. It is not enough to just do your best or work hard; you must know what to work on.

Time is practice. This is putting in the hours in applying the knowledge in working towards your goals. Great accomplishment is typically the result of years of passion and dedication, and not something that flows naturally from a gift. The right approach combined with the passionate hours of practice will deliver the results.

People are those around you. You cannot achieve anything big by yourself. You need to get out and connect with people who are trained in your field, ask questions and learn.

Gates and Buffett said that focus is the number one thing to succeed. Focus by eliminating distractions.

Keep in mind other attributes. Have passion for what you do to such a level where you would want to pay to do it, work hard, be damn good through continual practice, focus on one thing, push away shyness and self doubt, serve others, have an idea, and persist through failure, criticism and rejection.

Revisiting Times Past

I was trawling through old photographs. These activities always bring back old memories. Reminding me of times gone. Of people I have not seen for years... years. Of places wandered. Memories of the air, the people, the laughter, the celebration, the past come flooding back. Joyous times and painful flashbacks, tinged with lingering. Reminiscences. Still moments captured in time.

Nickelback's Photograph playing in the background. So too When You Were Young by The Killers.

How quickly does time pass? Fly by. You look back. Yet, so quickly time passes. You can relive those days. But you know better than to dwell on the past. As they say, the past is history, the future is a mystery, the present is a gift, that is why it is called a present.

Life is about

relationships

health

happiness

memories

God.

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These are the most important things in life.

Relationships with people who are close to you is what is most important. I realised that family is most important when I thought that my mother went missing. Nothing else mattered. I have the fight inside me, it's just sometimes suppressed. This is something worth fighting for. Relationships are key, built by being good to everyone and not too serious or needy, accepting there are both good and bad people, and associating with those who you want to be.

It is often said that without health, there is nothing else. Many people do not take care of their health. Two thirds of Australians are overweight or obese.

Happiness is connected to one's self worth.

God is connected to one's life purpose.

Healthy Living

Some every day steps for a healthy life:

• Take 3 deep breathes of fresh air and focus on your body
• Drink at least 2 litres of water and green tea
• Take in morning sunlight for at least 15 minutes and look up
• Get 8 to 9 hours of sleep
• Walk briskly or exercise for at least 60 minutes
• Do a basic strength training workout
• Eat whole foods 
• Avoid smoking

Positive eating habits include:

• Eat foods with higher moisture levels, including foods that are boiled, steamed, or stewed
• Have 5 or more servings of vegetables each day and consume less meat
• Reduce baked, fried, toasted, crunchy, barbecued, roasted, processed foods as well as butter, coffee, soft drinks, emulsifiers, and foods high in animal fat, which tend to be high in AGEs and are linked to aging and bad health
• Minimise consumption of salt and sugar

These steps help if you are in need of a lift or feel stressed:

• Talk to supportive people
• Write down thoughts and feelings
• Disconnect
• Appreciate
• Stay positive

To increase longevity:

• A study of middle aged people found that the most powerful predictors of staying alive from the most to least powerful are social integration (how much you interact with people each day), close relationships, quit smoking and boozing, flu vaccine, cardiac rehab, exercise, being lean (as opposed to overweight), hypertension prescription, clean air [1]. 
• A major factor in longevity is the number of face to face interactions you have along with having at least 3 stable relationships, with women usually prioritising in person relationships. 
• Walk at a speed of at least 5km/hour and jog
• Strong grip strength and high push up ability
• Reduce calorie consumption
• Maintain a healthy BMI of between 18.5 to 25 or a BMI under 30 and waist under 90cm (for more muscular and fit people)
• Eat less red meat and more fish and nuts
• Happy marriage with more children
• Keep active and interested, such as singing with others
• Avoid bacteria, falls and bites
• Have an optimistic outlook

The Blue Zones identified nine common factors that increase longevity:

• Move naturally: The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron or run marathons. Instead, their environments nudge them into moving without thinking about it.
• A sense of purpose and direction: Why do you wake up in the morning? Knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to seven years of extra life expectancy. Be the person who has that energy and spark about them. Note that your purpose is what you want it to be, it can be doing as little as possible and not caring about anything or anyone.
• Down shift: Stress leads to chronic inflammation, associated with every major age-related disease. The world’s longest-lived people have routines to shed that stress.
• 80 percent full: “Hara hachi bu” – the Okinawans say this mantra before meals as a reminder to stop eating when their stomachs are 80 percent full.
• Plant focused meals: The cornerstone of most centenarian diets? Beans. They typically eat meat—mostly pork—only five times per month.
• Moderate drinking: Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers, especially if they share those drinks with friends.
• Belong to a faith: Attending faith-based services four times per month – no matter the denomination – adds up to 14 years of life expectancy.
• Loved Ones First: Centenarians put their families first. They keep aging parents and grandparents nearby, commit to a life partner and invest in their children.
• Right Tribe: They world’s longest lived people chose or were born into social circles that support healthy behaviors.
• Additional things that can help: A positive attitude, small portions, exercise, faith, a loving family and socialising, lower oxidative stress, more green space [5]

Researchers at the University of Cambridge in England followed 20,000 middle-aged men and women in England for 11 years and found that nonsmokers with the healthiest eating and exercise habits at the outset had a 14-year-life-expectancy edge over the people with the worst habits

Researchers at the Pacific Health Research Institute in Hawaii who followed 5,820 Japanese American men for 40 years found those who avoided risk factors such as obesity, heavy drinking, smoking and high blood pressure in middle age had a 69% chance of living to be 85, versus just 22% for men with six or more risk factors. [2]

People who make it to 100 tend to have staved off serious disability until well into their 90s, either by avoiding disease or by limiting its consequences.

Regular exercisers generally live five to seven years longer than inactive people.

A lack of iron is probably one major reason that being vegetarian is healthy for you. There was a very good study looking at the intake of red meat and heart disease in Leiden in the Netherlands: in regions where people didn't eat red meat, those populations had half the rate of heart attack and stroke compared to the populations that did eat red meat. This is one important reason why women live longer than men - women have an advantage over men in terms of cardiovascular disease, like heart attack and stroke [3].

Nutrition and medical researchers have identified persistent inflammation as one of the worst offenders in aging, as its factors predict the risk of virtually all chronic diseases. And since chronic diseases cause the majority of early deaths, eating a diet that minimizes inflammation and the risk of chronic disease is key to increasing longevity and quality of life. 

It advises consuming more nutrient- and fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes and less fatty meat, high-fat dairy, and refined, processed foods. An eating guide emphasises the importance of consuming nutrient-dense foods, sufficient fluid intake, and specific recommendations for the basic food groups. This includes brightly colored vegetables, deep-colored fruits, lean proteins, and healthy types of fat. A diet that adheres to these guidelines will help lower the risk of chronic disease yet provide plenty of health-protective nutrients. 

The New England Centenarian Study at the Boston University School of Medicine is the largest, most comprehensive study of centenarians and their families. One goal of this study is to observe lifestyle factors that study subjects have in common to try to determine the “secrets” of a long and healthy life. To date, no specific foods have been noted, but the study has shown that almost all people who reach the age of 100 are lean, particularly men [4].

The Cold Hard Truth

There are many people who say they deserve better in life (myself included). They complain about their lot. They say things like I should be this, that, or the other. They bicker.

Deserving to be better means nothing. Millions upon millions of people deserve better.

You can give as many reasons or excuses as you like about why your life should be better. You can whine until the cows come home. The truth is it don't mean jack.

The proof is in the pudding. The proof is your results. What you have to show.

It takes action. Putting in the hard yards. Making it happen. Now.

It's all up to you. The only thing you are assured of changing is yourself.

Be that person who delivers not just talks.

Self Help

The self help genre contains some gems of wisdom.

It teaches you about the possibilities open to you:
Change your life by taking responsibility for it and changing your thoughts. Achieve your dreams by setting goals. Do what you love and are motivated to do and you will be happy. Keep in mind the bigger perspective. Appreciate yourself and transform yourself for the better.

In terms of business, it provides some useful advice:
Strong psychology - have the right mindset, be willing to take risks and make mistakes
Networks, alliances and mentors - its not what you know but who you know
Plan - know what you want and what is important, develop business structure and systems
Persistence, commitment - surpasses talent and genius, concentrate on what you can do and improve on
Marketing - start simple, create a positive experience, understand target market

Also, some nice tidbits:
It takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice over many years to become a master. It takes 1 book a week for 5 years to become an expert. A confident impression in the first 3 seconds can make all the difference for job interviews and dates.

Steps to Success

I asked myself what would I do if I were mentoring myself. What would I tell myself? It's easy for people to advise friends, yet when it comes to themselves they have trouble. It is useful to think about what you would say if you were giving yourself advice, addressing yourself using your first name.

1. Define a goal or focus that genuinely motivates you. Set small targets that lead to the goal. The targets must be primarily based on your own actions and they must be SMART. Identify the few critical tasks that contribute the most to your goal and scheduling them with very short and clear deadlines, focusing on one thing each day. Be clear about the benefits of achieving your goal and the costs of inaction.

2. Set up a weekly system. Create a regimen and put in habits that allow you to work on the tasks on autopilot. Practice as close to the real challenge as possible. Focus on the process, growing and getting better, not on intelligence or ability. Put in your best effort for the target. Team up with supportive people and coaches who have completed the target or experts who are working on the target. Copy people who are the best at the target. Take advice from people who have achieved what you want and are living the life you want.

3. Fast feedback. Evaluate your results using metrics. Ask for negative feedback. Document what you did well, what you did not do well, what you learnt, and what you can improve on. Review your targets and be open to change. Reward yourself after achieving the target to anchor the positive feeling and inspire more, although you need to also keep your emotions in check.

4. Word hard and persist at it. You have to make mistakes, and try again, without even flinching. Repeat what you did well and work on what you can improve. It will take knowledge and time. Get rid of obstacles and distractions and don't waste time. Keep motivating yourself by enjoying the process and being positive, believing, reinforcing and visualising the goal until the learning and behaviour becomes unconscious and part of your life.

Thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become habits. Habits become reality.

The growth you achieve will depend on how determined and committed you are in achieving these targets. It is up to you to achieve your targets and the goal will come. This template helps [1].

You don't need a life coach. Find out what area you want to improve on. Work on that area and find experts to support you.