I believe that being a good person overall is a pretty self serving thing to do in general. You end up living a good life with no regrets and get to be in the moment. A lot of the ways you get there aren’t really that hard! So here are 10 easy places to start.
Watch the full Youtube ad
So your about to skip the add after 5 seconds, take a look at the time remaining. If it’s a 15 second ad, maybe just let it roll. We no longer pay for cable and so I watch way less advertising as it is. Even the most successful youtubers make about 300 k a year which is nothing compared to all of the actresses, actors, producers and on, and on, behind a show you used to pay a cable company to watch. Let them have the whole penny! Next level me by watching 30 second adds.
Walk or Bike for the environment
Dashing out to the corner store, don’t want to beg for a ride to the mechanic or going out to dinner? Take your bike or walk even it it will take you 20 minuets or so, you’ll save a bit on gas, wear and tear on you car and get in a work out. Win – win. My grocery store and mechanic are 5 km away. 20 minuets on the bike or an hour long run there and back, check! Backpacks just add to the intensity level! Next level me by dragging a cart or using public transportation, like ever!
Eat less meat
Do you want to know a dirty little secret about global warming? Meat production is the number 1 source of greenhouse gasses, it’s more than transportation! Plus a plant based diet is known to reverse heart disease and generally make you healthier. It’s cheaper and less doesn’t mean none. Meatless Mondays is a thing, or cook more veg and less meat at each meal. What about just eating meat at dinner? Veggie pizza and burgers are good too! Next level me by becoming vegan, or not?
Once its out you can’t take it back, Retreat than react
I learned this at 13 years old after telling my mother I wish she was dead or something equally terrible. I regretted it immediately, felt absolutely terrible and realized I couldn’t take it back. I learned not to say things when I was angry because they would always be out there. If for no other reason, avoid this simply to avoid that terrible feeling. Perhaps more for more self serving reasons, who ever your fighting with won’t be able to throw it back in your face during the next fight. Take a minute to calm before you snap, it’s better in the long run to walk away! You can always keep fighting when you get back.
Don’t humble brag, just brag if your going to
This day in age this is probably on social media but this applies in real life too. We all have that person in our feeds posting some perfectly lit picture of their adorable children on a designer (and clean sofa) while the text reads about how messy their house is and they ate store bought pasta for lunch, gasp! We all secretly hate this person, just a little. We all know you posed this picture, cropped it, increased the saturation and light before adding some magical filter. Or how slow your marathon time was, how your double chocolate brownies came out slightly overdone or your pintrest level craft project seems slightly crooked, to you anyway. Stop it, just STOP IT! Write; I ran a marathon today, these were delicious and can you believe I made this instead! The humble brag is TOTALLY transparent and breeds resentment and judgement in your circle. Be proud of your accomplishments, share that! That’s what your doing anyway, we all know.
Do you best not to be late so you have time to be nice
Psychologists say running late is a sign of being selfish, chew on that over the next few weeks, I tend to agree. If we made plans for 1 and you don’t show up until 1:10 your telling me that your time is more important than mine. That’s an asshole move! When your running late you’re stressed and stressed people aren’t generally known for being nice. Late people don’t pause to hold doors open for people or let someone else with a few items go first at the grocery store. They don’t exchange pleasantries with the people they meet or take time to enjoy the moment they are in. People around them also think they are jerks! Make a point to give yourself enough time to get things done, giving yourself a little more than you need lets you be nice and you get to enjoy the moment! Plus people aren’t looking at you and thinking, what a jerk!
Put 1 thing in the food bank bin
Not necessarily if your popping in for just 1 thing but if your doing a big shop buy one thing to put in the bin. What’s three extra dollars or one or twenty, the nice thing is this can totally fit any budget. If you shop the sales you know what’s a good deal that week, buy that! It gives you all of the feels which is nice plus it can also make grocery shopping more fun as you decide what to get. See something you know they need in the bargain bin while your shopping for cheap nail polish, pick it up! Food banks always need dry stables like pasta, rice, flour, cereal and canned meat which are often on sale. They also like to receive basic hygiene items like soap and feminine products, shelf stable produce like potatoes, onions, turnip and garlic. They turn around product pretty quickly, think about what you would like to receive and what expensive items might free up money for something else. Next level me by buying more than 1 extra thing.
Be that person in your office in 1 good way
Buy and take around the birthday card, bring in treats on Friday, organize the lottery pool, say yes to kid’s fundraisers or make time to have lunch with someone you know is struggling. But do it genuinely and really enjoy it. It’s an easy way to be a better person and the results are so self-serving. You’ll be thought of well which is nice when your up for promotion but it also boosts the morale of the whole place making it way more enjoyable to work there. Next level me by organizing fun social stuff.
Give yourself a time limit on being upset, consider telling people how long
Maybe not at the height of your anger but once you have hashed it out and or calmed down for the most part. Decide how much time your going to give this. Did someone carelessly drop you grandma’s teapot, maybe two hours. Did a co-worker overstate their role in your project, maybe a week. Did a driver steal your spot and give you the finger, maybe a whole minute is fine. By rationally limiting how long your going to dwell on it, it has an end. Stress chemicals from the adrenal gland can be damaging to the body so your only dragging it out and hurting yourself. Now onto telling the person how long its going to be. Well if you’re rational enough to articulate this your probably in the perfect mind set to actually confront the person. This is ideal with your partner. Tell them I’m going to be pissed off about this for two days. They will give you a wide berth but also you give yourself some added artificial pressure to get over it. I’ve used this strategy professionally and personally too with good results. It can go something like this. “Co-worker A, I didn’t appreciate you taking credit for my work during the meeting yesterday. I’m actually quite upset about it but I’ll be passed it for the most part in two days, so before the next staff meeting.” You tell them your upset and you confront the bad behaviour but you’re also not stressed about it at the next meeting and avoid coming off aggressive for no reason. Next level me by getting ing over it right away if your going to.
Get a hobby you love
Like a real hobby. Not watching TV or scrolling through the whole internet, not even blog reading. If you have a hobby your passionate or at least knowledgeable about it makes you a more interesting person. You have potentially interesting stories to talk about and or something to share with the people you love. Maybe it’s cooking, crocheting, crafting, sewing, biking, hiking or sydiving. In fact you might want more than one, it’s nice to include a quiet at home hobby that you can fill your time with when your bored that can give you comfort when your upset. You never know if you stumble onto the right one it might become your full time gig! Well I have a lot of hobbies so…
Sweat Sweetly 