Simple Steps to Get You Started

Beginning to change your life is the most difficult part, so it is best to take it one aspect at a time.  Focus on one thing, learn about it and experiment with it.  Then implement it as a routine in your daily life and begin investigating another area.  Do not try to do everything at once because you can burn yourself out by trying to do too much too quickly.  I try to incorporate a rhythm or cycle into my learning.  Have a period of improvement and learning then a time of relaxation and recuperation.  Sometimes I will read two or three books in a weekend other times I will not read a book for a month or two.  Follow your interests and do not push yourself into something you have no desire to learn.  Your interests are a way in which your subconscious mind directs your actions.  I will give a recommended progression for improving your lifestyle, but feel free to alter it based upon what you enjoy.  Take advantage of your interests which can make the process more enjoyable and successful because you are willing to work harder.

Begin by improving your nutrition.  This is the easiest place to begin because you must prepare your food anyway.  Diet also yields the largest improvement per input effort.  Begin by trying to use foods which are less processed.  Get rid of sugar, artificial sweeteners, vegetables oils (except olive and coconut), and white flour.  Eat more animal fats.  If you eat out a lot try to begin preparing more of your own food.  Preparing your own food gives you a better connection to it and forces you to acknowledge the substances you are eating.  Buy the Nourishing Traditions cookbook and use recipes from here.  It has many written sections which will expand your theoretical knowledge and correct many false ideas you have about nutrition.  Next replace the staples of your diet:  breakfast cereal with soaked oatmeal, wonder bread with whole wheat sourdough bread, or bullion cubes with a bone based stock.

When you feel ready, shift your focus to exercise.  If you are not exercising begin with something easy.  I recommend the two minute workout concept explained by Dr. Alexa Fleckenstein’s book Health2O.  Just do two minutes of exercise a day.  Use some old exercise equipment stored in your house, or do body weight exercises such as pushups, pull-ups, running up stairs, or jumping in place.  Spend some time and learn the Five Tibetan Rites.  This is a simple exercise program with five movements.  Take your weekends off allow your mind and body to rest.

If you are already doing exercising, pick a goal you want to achieve or select a sport to excel in.  Spend some time researching the sport.  To learn the basics get an introductory book, but then look for people in the sport who have unconventional views:  most of the time their ideas are valid.  Conventional thinking works better than developing a strategy from first principals, but there are always major flaws in popular opinion.  To excel, one must find these flaws and correct them.

When you have a healthy diet and are in an exercise program, begin to explore areas which interest you dealing with nutrition, exercising, or the mind.  Always be on the lookout for things which don’t seem right or don’t make sense because this is a sign that something is flawed and through investigation you can find and correct this error.  When you learn something implement it in your daily life and then look for something else.  This process will never exhaust itself.  I know this from personal experience because my lists of topics to investigate, books to read, and topics to write about are always growing.  Remember to pay attention to your mind and body.  If you become bored or exhausted, take a break and look for a new area to investigate.  You can return to the old subject in the future.