I recenty turned 30.

I know, I know.

You must be thinking: "GOD Simon, you're such and old man now"

And in truth, I am.

I can only imagine what being 40 must feel like.

OR MORE.

Oh god, the horror.

Anyway, since I've spent roughly 38,28% (I'm optimistic about my life expectation) of my time on this planet it's only fair that I inpart a little semblance of my acquired wisdom unto the younglings of this earth.

And I always liked the articles other people wrote on this, so might as well do it myself.

What else to do with all this boundless free time we all enjoy, right?

Simons' very awesome life tips of joy and happiness ™️

0. Track what you want to improve.

By default track your body weight and finances. It's cliché, but just the simple act of monitoring what you want to improve makes it improve. You change your behaviour once you start monitoring certain things.

Optionally expand to others you care about: time spent on screens, kcals eaten, hours of exercise, number of times you take a poop.

1. Get in shape as early in your life as possible.

Maintaining an in-shape state is a lot easier than having to get there. The body you graduate - for many - is often the one you get to maintain later in life when there's less time to prioritize this.

Being in shape makes all the rest easier: Moving, walking, playing, talking, thinking, social activities. You're just more able to fully enjoy the depth and breadth of life.

That doesn't mean you need the body of a greek god like me, it just means that you're not tired after 1 flight of stairs, you can pick up your child without your back caving in and you've seen the inside of a gym at least once.

3-5 hours per week of any exercise you enjoy and working on your health is a good number IMO.

2. 80% of your diet should be 1-ingredient foods.

This is basically when you look on the ingredients list and you only see one thing;

ingredients: 100% rice

Find a way to e njoy eating them. There's many. There's plenty of restrictive/absolutits/religious diets but if you follod this rule

Yes that also means the evil broccoli and cauliflower monster. If you're not 5 years old, you shouldn't eat like a 5 year old anymore.

[evil broccoli]

3. Learn a rare and valuable skill

Skills pay bills to a certain extent. To escape the race to the bottom, be able to do something that others cannot.

You can't negotiate yourself out of a bad bargaining position. No-one hires someone that has nothing to offer.

If the only thing you're able to do is folding boxes, you'll compete with everyone. If you can fit pipes together (eg plumber), you'll compete with maybe 50 people.

It ensures an above average income and upward social mobillity and has saved my life.

Thank you capitalism!

16. Learn how to learn.

The world is going fast. Apparently there's even things around these days called 'computers' and they can add numbers together without an abacus.

Imagine the future possibillities of that!

The only skill that you really need is the one to learn new ones.

It's infuriating, exhausting, but the truth.

It might feel as if everyone else knows what they're doing and you're the only one struggling. But that's nowhere near the truth. Everyone else is playing catch-up as-well. Some just hide it better.

That, but for the rest of your life.

Take breaks

4. As early in life, get to an environment you fully control.

It's easier to make "good" choices if you can set the options.

5. Have a goal-setting and feedback loop to build a life by design.

Lead a life by design and take some time to think about what you really want and write it down. Break it down in smaller parts and come back to it.

I usually set 3 month goals and reflect on them sunday about.

Incorporate a journal for some "memory happiness".

To enjoy your past, is to live twice.

6. Focus on wins (things that went well), gratefulness and excitement in your life.

We all want many things. But in the pursuit of those we often forget the ones we already have.

Remember the days you wished for the things you have today. It'll make you more at ease and a peaceful person instead of this frittery anxious forward-pushing gremlin.

Focus on the things you have often instead of the ones you still want. Happiness is reality minus expectation.

7. Flinch forward.

Whenever you're scared of something, go do it. Meaning, in the face of fear accept it and jump in;

It'll give you the confidence to do hard things.

Most things in life aren't that impactful and nobody really cares that much about what you're doing anyway.

Be the person that's able to do the uncomfortable in life.

Pick up the phone, give the presentation, start the conversation, wear two different shoes.

If you're not courageous to do the small unimportant things in life, you won't be ready to do them when it matters.

8. Low information diet

There is nothing happening on social media that's important in your life. We all get sucked into an attention seeking black hole of crapness.

Few social media accounts are worth it (if any), own as few screens as possible, especially the addictive ones.

Use blockers, time limits. I have at least 3 different chrome extensions that block social media and entries in my hosts file to block newsfeeds and ads.

The days I do manage to be clueless of what's happening are so damn blissful. Join the quiet side.

9. Strive for a simple life and avoid many life 'traps'

1. high fixed expenses
2. hedonic treadmill
3. status games

10. Prioritize the important: your health, wealth and social life.

It's fine to let the dishes grow mold and attract rats in the sink for a week if it means you'll meet up with friends and get an additional workout in. A FIGURE OF SPEECH. The uncomfortable things are usually the important ones.

11. Read and walk daily.

Yes those are two, but this is my list, I can do what I want.

Read non fiction in the morning and fiction for relaxation in the evening. Probably the best two things you can do for your brain and body.

12. Have a social hobby

If you're not an outgoing person. You know, the strange type of person that reads articles online: Have a social hobby.

Not only does it force you to go outside more, it's good practice and exchange of idea's.

13. Focus on work when working. Ignore work when not working.

Train your abillity to focus without distraction. Train your abillity to be in the moment when not working.

Just this abillity sets you apart.

14. Maximize your sleep.

Splurge on a great mattress, right bedroom temperature, air quality, eye mask, ear plugs.

Having good sleep changes everything for the better. It is is the single most important thing you can be doing.

Have a consistent wake-up and bed time, even on weekends and holidays

15. Be an optimist.

Life inherently is pointless and we make it meaningful by just choosing a direction and start walking. It's easy to discount the future based on current trends. Be hopeful. Force yourself to be hopeful. Be a techno-optimist. See the positives that come from innovation, build the change you want to see in the world; It's never the critic that counts.

17. Be useful.

Be a net positive to society. You don't have to change the world, but don't strive to make it worse if you can.

Nestle, McDonalds and Coca Cola, I'm looking at you.

18. Passion doesn't exist.

Or at least not pre-existing ones. Focus on getting good at something and you'll eventually start to like it. Young people (including me) get caught on the horrible "follow your passion" advice.

Don't do this. Get good at something you have a good chance at and grind on it until you like it.

19. Know your strengths and weaknesses.

Do MBTI, ask others; . I don't have much chance to be greatly competitive in soft skills, but I have an edge in hard skills.

20. Fence in your vices.

It's almost impossible to completely eliminate all temptations: drugs, alcohol, junk food, smoking, ... . And everyone is entitled to at least one way to escape when life becomes overwhelming. But at least add boundaries for yourself to not let any individual one consume you. 4. substitute non-ideal habits for better ones. eg; replacing video games for boardgames, 5. create rules: only watch x number of episodes of a serie, not easing desserts, not touching your phone before lunch, ... 6. Add friction to bad habits (move the television out of the living room, make a separate closet with all the unhealthy food)

21. Invest early.

Put a % of your income aside and put it in a world ETF

22. Make backups.

` Especially pictures are irreplaceable. Or trust a cloud provider to handle that for you. Use google photos/drive if using android and apple cloud when. I'm not a fan of both, but it's better than ruin and losing everything.

23. Remember birthdays, remember names.

If needed, put them in the calendar. The best way to be safe is help others to be safe. People with strong social ties live longer, healthier and happier lives.

Being part of a community is a better survival strategy then focusing on yourself. People look out for each other, but nobody helps the unhelpful.

24. Take ownership of your life.

When you're sad, depressed, angry, victimized nothing positive happens. Focus solely on the things you can do to change your situation. Be able to bounce back quickly; To catch yourself.

25. Check in/call other people on a regular basis.

This is one of my weaknesses. Living with eye shutters and failing to look around to see what's happening around me.

26. Never be afraid to take risk early.

When you're young, you have the most time and energy left to recover from bad decisions. As you get older, become more conservative to avoid ruin.

Live laterally, try many things

27. When spending money, think first about upgrading the things you use daily

clothes, laptop, phone, teeth, nose (septoplasty), coffee machine, desk, bike, ... or experiences.

28. Know how things work.

Basic car maintenance, house repairs, electronics, camping, first aid)

29. Crystallize your thinking by writing or speaking.

I think more when I write the things down in ly head and they can refine. It's basically a way

30. Live a slightly uncomfortable life.

Get up earlier than you want, eat healthier than you want, . People rise stoic.

31. Break the rules.

You know, break the mold once in a while. When people expect 30 tips, give 'em 31. Bazinga

I'm talking real crazy.

Just do what you think is needed. It's true that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permissions for actions on the edge. Stop living as sacrifice for others. Agressively pursue what you want out of life and ignore the rules that stand in the way. Especially bureaucracy and red tape used to enrich bureaucrats

That's all folks. You can go back to tick-tock and instagram now 😘

All these things are easier said than done and probably will take another 30 years to master.

Good luck!