3 Simple Lists That May Change Your Life

read on: themovementmemo.com

read time: 6 minutes 

Welcome to The Movement Memo, a bi-weekly newsletter where I share actionable tips to help you live your best day ever, every day.

Today's Programming 

• Movement: Spring Chipper

• Quote: Goleman on self-awareness 

• Lesson: 3 Lists that changed my life

• Optimization: The ultimate meeting room

Today's Movement 

Complete 4 rounds for time of:

• 10 strict pull-ups
• 20 GHD sit-ups
• 40 dumbbell front-rack walking lunges

♀ 20 lb
♂ 35 lb

Today's Quote

When you stop chasing and start attracting, opportunities start coming into your life.

But this only happens when you stop “thinking” and start acting on the information you already possess.

A Harsh Truth: Most of the time we don’t need more information, advice, mentorship or coaching.

What we need is to start holding ourselves accountable.

What we need is to start acting on what we know to be true.

Most of the time we don’t struggle with a self-awareness problem. Rather we struggle with self-discipline. 

And the only “hack” to increase your self-discipline is to change your environment and the people with whom you surround yourself.

I promise you, that if you do, you will look back on 2024 and feel happier and more fulfilled.

Today's Lesson Learned

In my 20s, I remember someone telling me that their 40s had been their favorite decade yet.

I took it with a grain of salt. I thought I was living life up in my 20s. I had a supercharged Range Rover, a big condo, Zenga suits, Tiffany cuff links, and I could easily stumble home from the trendy bars within walking distance of my modern condo. I thought I had it made.

But my mentor was right. 

My 30's were better than my 20's. I started to prioritize wellness. I started to enjoy progressing in my fitness, more than progressing into a new income bracket. I started to place relationships and friendships above all else. I began doing things I was passionate about instead of just going through the motions to generate more income. 

My weekdays became the same as my weekends - I filled each day with what I enjoyed, and who I enjoyed being around. I became wiser, healthier, more community-oriented, and more fulfilled.

My 40s have been much of the same. I'm more authentic, vulnerable, comfortable in my own skin, and fulfilled in knowing who I am, where I want to be, who I want to be around, and how I want to live my life with intention.

What triggered this change? I started to make a series of lists that held two columns. 

The left side of each of these lists contained the activities, people, and environments that gave me energy. I started keeping track of the times when I would feel good about myself, when I would feel accomplished, and when I would feel I was progressing in life. 

The right side of each of these lists contained the activities, people, and environments that took energy away from me. I noted the times when I would feel anxious, when I would feel I was meant to be doing more with my life, and when I wasn’t living up to my potential.

Deep down we are already self-aware. We inherently know the activities that will bring us closer to achieving our goals. Yet we are drawn back into bad habits and poor decisions because they are familiar.

Creating these simple lists brings clarity; writing down these actions forces you to acknowledge what you already know.

Over time, I built my life around positive energy sources and cut out the activities that left me feeling drained.

The 3 most impactful lists were:

• environments
• people
• activities

To this day, I still maintain a “VIP” list of ~100 people whom I make a conscious effort to stay in touch with because they're such meaningful connections to me. I keep it in Evernote and have a recurring reminder in my calendar every month to reach out to at least 5 of them that I haven't communicated with in a while. It has been a game changer for fulfillment and generating opportunities for both parties.

Actionable Tip: Use a pen and paper to complete this exercise and place them on your desk, or somewhere you will look at them every day.

When you ask yourself these questions, you have to let go of your ego.

This review forces me to self-reflect and be honest with myself and my actions

My goal is to understand what I did yesterday that brought me to where I am today, and how I can go from today to where want to be tomorrow. 

Give this a try and let me know how it works for you.

(Tip: For two weeks, set the time on your schedule daily to monitor your progress in real-time.)

 Today's Optimization

The SISU Sauna has become the place where I take many of my business meetings today. I look forward to being able to share my passion for sauna therapy with others and expose them to the healing power of heat. Typically, I perform 3 rounds of 20 minutes in the SISU Sauna at 200’F directly into 3 minutes in the Ice Barrel at 37’F.

The SISU Sauna is paired HUUM Hive Heaters, the best heaters on the market, and is Bluetooth compatible. This makes it so that I can turn on my SISU Sauna from anywhere with my phone, and I use this most afternoons on my mountain bike ride on Green Mountain! Today SISU Sauna is offering Movement Memo subscribers a deal: $500 off their sauna using code “ehinman” at checkout

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Publisher: Eric Hinman

Editor-in-chief: Bobby Ryan