181. Study a role model. Adopt someone you admire to emulate in time of need. It could be a famous person who’s gone through rough patches in life, but it really doesn’t have to be anyone famous, just someone you admire and who has overcome adversity. One that works for me is Abraham Lincoln, for example.

182. Having dark thoughts? Sometimes the best reaction is distraction. Yes, just distract yourself. Now, don’t mean open the pantry and gorge yourself on five bags of potatoe chips washed down with a bottle of wine. Yes, that would qualify as distraction, but what we are aiming for is distraction that makes you feel better, not something that gives you a short-lived buzz to feel even worse after. Read a book you love. Do sudokos. Play chess. Watch one of your favorite movies. Don’t go binge watching series though. Remember, everything in moderation and we’re aiming for distraction, not escapist addiction. It can be a fine line to toe, but the trick is this: some nice distraction will make you feel energized or calm and focussed afterwards, addictive behaviour will inevitably lead to guilty feelings. Know the difference. Oh, and avoid social media, especially your newsfeed, we all know people habitually only post about the sunshine side of their lives. When you’re feeling down, the last thing you need is to be remembered about how everyone else is seemingly having the time of their lives. If you do go to social media, connect with a good friend in a one on one chat.

183. Get a fun hobby. Become a beekeeper, join a wrestling team, collect something you like, set up a hobby project you can always turn to. Keep it separate from the rest of your life, it will act as refuge or shelter when a spell of the blues hits you. NOT EVERY HOBBY SHOULD BECOME A BUSINESS. You will just end up with more work and no more hobbies if you do that. Of course you need money, and if you are really good at something and people need it, then yes, ask money for it, but also keep a hobby, something you do just because you enjoy it, just for the heck of it.

184. Surround yourself with things that bring you joy. If you get a kick out of staring at minitature aircraft or teddybears, or old lemonade glasses, or whatever, by all means, make them a part of your daily surroundings.

185. Change your online passwords in happiness reminders. We all type in passwords constantly these days. What if instead of typing something fairly random 5 times a day, you would type in a reminder of what makes you happy? You’d be getting lots of reminders and it wouldn’t take you any extra effort.

186. DECIDE how you want to feel before you start your day. So often we just wake up and let come what may. By consciously deciding how we are going to feel that day, we build the reflexes in our mind to deal with stuff that could otherwise throw us out of balance, and it will make us respond quicker to things that reinforce the mood we’ve chosen for ourselves.

187. Nobody will ever be completely honest with you or reveal 100 percent of themselves to you. Some will try to do this 100 percent though. When that happens… appreciate it, support them, encourage them, love them for it, cause it’s so incredibly rare for people to show that kind of vulnerability to us.

188. Screens don’t belong in the bedroom. You have no excuse, do not take laptops, computers or phones with you to bed. Prioritize your sleep!!

189. Tea and coffee IN MODERATION are good for you, BUT don’t drink it right after waking up and don’t drink any after 2 pm. Caffeine WILL mess with your sleep. Even if you have the impression it doesn’t, because you find it easy to fall asleep even after a double espresso. That doesn’t mean it affects the quality of your sleep. Believe sleep expert Matthew Walker: caffeine disrupts the quality of your sleep and trust me, you don’t want that.

190. Alcohol before bed messes up your sleep too, specifically your REM sleep. I don’t encourage alcohol consumption, but if you’re going to drink alcohol drink it early in the day so it’s out of your system by the time you go to bed.

191. Alcohol does make for a relatively good social lubricant when used in moderation. Like two drinks to loosen up. Still, your aim should be to be comfortable in social settings without relying on alcohol. However, if you can limit yourself to a small amount and don’t drink it too close to your bed time it may be helpful at times.

192. It’s a myth that any amount of alcohol is good for your health. It’s toxic and there is no way around it. Even moderate drinking, even very irregular drinking (like a few drinks per month) will make you more prone to anxiety. It’s also a myth that quitting alcohol won’t affect your social life in our western culture. It definitely will. So when it comes to consuming alcohol you very carefully have to weigh the benefits against the cons. The main thing is to never get addicted to it or let is mess up your relationships or your career or your health. So everything in moderation, at the right moment and in the right circumstances. Ideally though you’re better off cutting it out entirely. For most people this won’t be an easy adjustment to make, but it’s possible.

193. Refined sugar is poison. Cut it out. Cut it out. Cut it out. The benefits are huge. 

194. Trust once broken can never be fully restored. Trust takes years to build and one act of betrayal can destroy it forever.

195. The best approach to find the love of your life is to list all the qualities you want that person to have and then to start living a life in accordance with those qualities. Basically you start living by the values you wish your ideal partner would have.

196. Life is about discovering where you have an edge, what you enjoy and then doubling down on that

197. If you want friends start by being a good friend to people. Don’t sit around hoping for great people to walk into your life. BECOME a great person.

198. Learn to understand how correlations work. For example: ‘people who drink red wine live longer’. Don’t immediately assume that it’s the red wine that makes them live longer. What else could be at play? Maybe people who drink red wine tend to be much wealthier than those who don’t. With wealth comes better access to healthcare, possiblly also the time to find out what healthy nutrition is, more time for leisure, less stress, more time to exercise, more social status, more connections… Learn to spot this. Other example: people who eat red meat die younger. Again, it doesn’t have to be the red meat. Maybe people who eat a lot of red meat tend not to exercise much, tend to guzzle a lot of alcohol, tend to be overweight, etc. Again, don’t immediately it’s the red meat that’s behind it. Learn to look for the whole picture and not a detail. 199. Don’t hang out with people who drain your energy

200. Don’t befriend people who are not the right fit for you out of a fear of being lonely, don’t settle for sort of ok people to hang out with, be courageous and let them slide and trust you will find connections that nourish you. Trust good things and good people will come into your life and they will. If you are afraid of something you will unconsciously set yourself up to live through the situations you fear the most. The opposite is also true. If you trust your dreams are meant to be you will unconsciously navigate towards the circumstances, people and environments that are supportive of your dreams.

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