Working on self-control

Trying to retire very early, or to achieve financial freedom, you will often hear references to stoics, Seneca, self control and other stuff related to this.

How to resist temptation, how to get that elusive self control that will help me to reach my goals faster than i am thinking?

You want to find out? Let's start together on this journey. First i will underline the importance of intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation. If you rely on some external help, the probability to fail is higher. After this, you will need to act, to plan and stick to your plan, day by day, even if the results are not there at the beginning. To withstand to some emotional discomfort now for greater rewards later.

Adopt a set of exercises and routines to gain self control. Sleep is the most important, i would say. Set a sleeping schedule and follow it. You can also use the habit of making the bed right after you wake up. For more about making the bed habit research just google search. You will be surprised when you will read the benefits. Learn how to meditate. A lot of successful people said to me that meditation helped them to grow. Find a kind of meditation that you enjoy, and do it daily. No need to do it for hours, even 15 minutes after you wake up or before to go to sleep will give you tremendous advantage. Or maybe you are the experimental type. If meditation is not something you enjoy, try lucid dreaming as a hobby. Plan your life. Plan your month. Do not plan your day. Some researchers find that is more effective to have directions of action instead of to do lists. You can experiment here to see what work better for you. If you have some gigantic task, change it in 100 smaller ones. If you read 20 pages daily, you will still read around 30 books per year. If you write 50 pages every day, you can write a 500 pages book every 10 days. Right? Books are important, the real ones, where you can feel the pages. They have an important role in creating new inter-neuronal path and bla bla bla, giving you an edge versus Kindle like. Is about your senses, seeing versus seeing, tactile sensation, smell and so. Real books make you smarter. There is a research about this too.

Take care of yourself. Train your body to be in shape, Check what you eat, Cut extra-refined stuff, white sugar (did you tried honey, agave or maple syrup?), too much salt, heavy, fatty meat or whatever is creating you problems. Cold showers for a change, or fasting for 1-2-3 days, in order to surpass yourself and change your perspectives. You can gain a boosted immunity and more as a result.

This is a mere suggestion, you can find your own way to improve yourself and to control your excesses. I will appreciate if you can write me about your ways of doing this. Any help is well received.

Good luck and see you soon.
G.

Healthy ever after - why I want to become a Bruce Lee of financial independence

   Yes, we are aiming for financial independence, and i heard people eating only noodles or some other things like that. But in my opinion, because even me, at the beginning, i was temped to do everything in order to save x% more, we need to learn to enjoy life altogether, even if we want to be financially free. A Chinese saying tell us: Best time ever to plant a tree was 20 years ago, second best time is now. I am talking about the habit of living healthy, eating well and sleeping properly. While on short term some side hustle burst of extra-activity are welcomed, on long term we need to take care of us first, because will make no sense to have all the money and couldn't enjoy the benefit because poor health. I remember in 1979, one flight departing for New Zealand to sightseeing the Pole, and the route had 1.5 degree error, but somebody was thinking that this is irrelevant. They ended up crashing into a volcano - Mount Erebus. Small things, if not corrected, can lead to major catastrophes. 
   So, that's why, starting from now, i will add to my monthly report some health data. Today was a perfect day for this, as i had a yoga session in the morning, followed by a strength training in the afternoon, and 5 km/3.1 miles run (5k in 2015 Challenge achieved!!!). Probably will be something like:
Week 14-20.12
Weight - 81kg
Body Fat - 16%
Training session - 1
Running session - 2
Yoga session      - 1

I will see at the end of the month. Anyway, i feel good i started again, because in between 12.11-14.12.2015 i have not done too much except working and walking from and to work.

Sleep: Aiming for an average 8 hours/night. I always try to go to sleep early but something happen. Every day.

Eating: The idea is not to eat cheapest food, but to cook wisely and efficient with top ingredients.

That's all for today. Have a perfect week.

G.