“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Three activities that you should avoid
I’ve been in an unusually good mood.
Nothing seems to be a problem and I don’t have a worry in the world.
This is pretty strange, so I sat down and tried to figure out what was happening.
While the exact reasons are still a mystery, I did find three major factors that are increasing my happiness.
Surprisingly they’re all things that I’m not doing.
If you want to boost your mood here are three activities that you should avoid:
1. Gossiping
Do you know who spends their time talking about the lives of others?
Boring people with nothing better to do.
While badmouthing someone, when they aren’t around to defend themselves, might sound be fun, it’s a huge waste of time.
Instead of doing something of value, like learning a new language or lifting weights, you’re squandering energy on events that have zero impact on you.
Additionally, what do you think that your “friends,” who mock others behind their backs, are doing when you aren’t around?
2. Competing against others
Competition is a good thing.
Using someone else’s accomplishments as a benchmark for your own goals is a wonderful idea.
Trying to maliciously destroy another person’s achievements is stupid.
Yet lots of people do this.
30 day challenges are nothing new.
Matt Cutts did a whole TED talk about them.
Victor Pride wrote a fantastic book on the subject.
There’s even a 30 day fitness challenge blog that’s really popular.
To stand out I could have easily made some weird website that focused on bashing everyone in the same niche as me.
There are all kinds of negative losers who gravitate towards slanderous articles.
But, to quote Richard Branson, “Some business leaders spend so much time looking over their shoulders at the competition that they lose track of where their own companies are headed.”
Spending all of your time trying to bring someone down will destroy you.
Nothing of value is created and nobody prospers.
3. Associating with negative people
A long time ago I used to pal around with this guy who was a total deadbeat.
If you went out to eat he wouldn’t pitch in a single dime.
The dude wanted something from everyone but wasn’t willing to give back.
For a long time this made me mad.
One day I realized that there was a simple solution. I quit hanging out with him.
There was no drama, I just cut the cord and moved on.
Negative people will drain your energy.
They have no redeeming qualities.
Instead of putting up with them, do them a favor and stop facilitating their poor behavior.
You’ll be a lot happier.
Other thoughts
Most of man’s misery comes from constantly exposing himself to things he doesn’t like.
Look at how many people say stuff like “I get so stressed out when I’m around so-and-so.”
Unless the person who’s causing you stress is your Siamese twin don’t hang around them.
In a world of life-hacks and “one weird tricks,” it is important to remember that what you don’t do can be just as important to your well-being.