More ways to transform your life

My previous article, 4 Ways To Live a Kick-Ass Life, is currently my most popular. So I thought you’d enjoy reading about another 4 ways to live a kick-ass life. You can read the earlier article by clicking the link below.

1. BE ADAPTABLE

I’ve noticed that the most successful people and most happy people in life tend to be the most adaptable. Years ago I knew two people that had worked in a local factory for many years. Both got made redundant at the same time. One went on to get an even better job while the other never worked again and drifted into a deep depression. So what was the difference between these two individuals?

The answer is that the successful one was adaptable, while the other one wasn’t. The unsuccessful one claimed that all he knew in life was how to work in a factory. He thought it was impossible to get any other kind of job. He then seemed to give up on life.

The successful one found it difficult to get another job at first. But he went to evening classes to update his skills. That led him to get another job and then a few years later he was earning much more than he was at the factory. This guy was adaptable. He knew he didn’t have the right skills for a different job so he decided to learn whatever new skills were needed. He adapted to the new situation he was faced with.

I live in Thailand these days and see the same thing here. Expats are generally split into two groups. A happy group that has adapted to a new culture. And an unhappy group that refuses to adapt. The latter group wants everything to be the same as their Western culture back home.

Being adaptable in life is critically important. The world is changing at an increasingly faster rate. We will need to be even more adaptable in the future than we have needed to be in the past.

2. CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

This is somewhat related to being adaptable, although it’s not quite the same. I talk to many people that often complain about certain aspects of their lives. Yet many don’t do anything to change what they are complaining about. If you do the same thing you will get the same results. But if you don’t like the results, why do the same thing?

Some people may have got unhealthy by eating too much junk food and not doing any exercise. They wish they could become healthy, but continue to eat junk food and not exercise. The idea here is to change your behavior to change your life. So if you’re unhealthy, start eating healthier food and start exercising. These will make you feel healthier. The sum of all your behaviors is what has given you your current life. You need to change those behaviors if you want to change your life.

If you find change difficult, then start small and work your way up to bigger changes. If you currently don’t exercise, then you don’t need to start exercising at the gym for an hour every day. You can start by walking to the store every day, taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Those little behavioral changes will lead to bigger changes and also to a better life.

3. BE CONSISTENT

This sounds so simple, yet is much more difficult in practice. Even though I’ve known about this for many years, I still struggle with it.

I remember going for a health check-up about ten years ago. The doctor I saw specialized in sports health and injuries. As part of the health check-up, he took me to the hospital fitness room to test my fitness. He then gave me some exercises to follow over the coming months.

As part of this, he asked how many times a week I could exercise. Being all enthusiastic, I said I could commit to five times a week. He looked a bit doubtful, as he’d heard his patients say this many times in the past and then not stick to it.

At that point, he advised me that it was better to do less but to be consistent. It is better to work out twice a week consistently than 4–5 times, but inconsistently. He said that consistency wins every time.

Over the years I’ve come to understand that he was right. If I overdo things in the gym, I tend to need a few rest days. Those few days can turn into weeks, and sometimes months. I know this because I’ve done it many times. Some things are harder for me to learn. Now I promise myself to go twice a week, and a third time if I feel like it. The result is that I rarely miss a session now, and as far as my fitness goes, I am very consistent.

It’s also the same in other areas of your life. Take writing for example. Sometimes we can get overly enthusiastic and spend hours writing every day. Often this pace can’t be kept up. We then take a day’s break. And then we think we may as well have another day off. We lose consistency. Slow and steady usually wins the day, as we know from the tortoise and hare story.

4. DOUBLE DOWN ON EVERY SUCCESS

This is something I always try to do. If you’re successful at something in life, double down and make the most of it. Great opportunities don’t present themselves too often in life. That’s why you need to take maximum advantage of them.

Take writing for example. Suppose you write an article a day for two different platforms. Platform one earns you $100 a month, while platform two brings in $500 a month.

The majority of writers would continue writing 30 articles for each one every month. That would bring in $600 a month. Not too bad you may think.

But platform two brings in way more money, so it’s better to double down on that one. What you should be doing is publish all 60 articles on the second platform. All other things being equal, that should make you $1,000 a month.

I’ve also seen people doing similar things with various side hustles. They may have one side hustle that’s working well. Instead of doubling down on it, they decide to start a different side hustle. They often claim it’s to diversify. But what’s the point of diversifying if it makes you less money.

What you should do is go all-in on the one that’s working. You can invest the extra money you make, and this will grow over time. If the idea stops working, you can then go try your other idea.

Focusing on one thing also tends to make you better at it, which is another advantage.

Let me know in the comments if you have any useful tips to add to this.