7 Foundational Practices for a Life of Thriving Part 1

The unfiltered topic of “how to accelerate our development” can be overwhelming. Development is an endless rabbit hole and no one can work on every aspect of life all at once. We have limited resources in time and energy. Therefore to refine our lives holistically, we have to focus on specific areas at any given time. We can then refine those areas and finally integrate them into our routines. When we first approach a new activity, it takes extra time and energy to figure out how it works, if it’s really beneficial or not, and how we can fit it into our schedule. However, once we acquire proficiency in that skill, we can more easily fit it into our daily practice. So here, I’ve made a core list of habits that are essential to any life of thriving. By refining our relationship with these central practices, we can develop a rock solid foundation for growth, development, and realizing a life of excellence.

For each practice, you’ll find an overview of its benefits and also a potential challenge with actionable steps for integrating this practice into your life. Together, these seven habits comprise the core foundation of a healthy life on the path to mastery. By actively addressing these areas, which are common to all of us, we are not merely becoming healthier, stronger, human beings. Rather these habits comprise the foundation for a life of self-awareness and self-mastery. Each time we practice, we have an opportunity to confront our ego. By consistently doing the work, we develop the habit of overcoming the inner resistance that often stops us from realizing our dreams and potential. Overall, these routines give us the chance to understand how often we actually get in our own way and undermine our long-term success.

All of us find ourselves at different stages of development, with different levels of energy, discipline, and will power. Some may have already refined and integrated several of these practices into their regular schedules. Most of us will come to discover that we have room to improve in all of these areas. Regardless, initially focusing on 2 or 3 habits at a time may be the most practical approach for refining these practices. Developing proficiency in one area allows us to integrate it into our schedule efficiently. Over time, we can build a routine that includes all seven of these habits, thus transforming our daily schedule into the meta-habit of mastery. For all who take these challenges seriously, they are guaranteed to find their development accelerating towards a life we can truly describe as flourishing.

7 Foundational Practices to Life Mastery and Flourishing

Healthy Diet
Daily Meditation
Flexibility/Mobility Training – Regular Yoga or Stretching Exercises
Exercise – Strength and Cardiovascular Training
Daily Learning – Knowledge and Awareness
Develop Skills that Inspire You
Create Something Everyday

1. Healthy Diet

Benefits:

Increased Energy
Increased Clarity of Mind and Focus
Improved Fitness
Innumerable health benefits to every major organ system in the body, brain, and increased lifespan
Decreased Disease
Increased Well-Being
Increased Self-Awareness

Food feeds the fire that is our lives. It’s our source of energy, our central fuel, and how we eat ripples out to affect everything else we do. We all know we should eat healthily; we’re reminded constantly. But even though this topic is mentioned so often, it would be an inexcusable mistake to overlook it here. Any endeavor aiming at a complete life of mastery that bypassed such a critical subject would inevitably be incomplete.

Eating right is a special challenge because junk food is not like other vices. Unlike smoking, drinking, or television, we can’t simply cut out eating all together. So precision here requires diligence, even when we’re tired. Hunger affects us on days we feel disciplined and energetic, and also when we feel tired and apathetic. For this reason sticking to a diet plan has both unique challenges while also presenting ideal opportunities to step our self-mastery up a level.

The difficulty of this challenge, that we have to stay diligent multiple times daily, is also it’s primary benefit. By consistently making the growth choice, choosing whole foods over processed junk, we practice overcoming our inner resistance again and again (more on resistance later). We make a habit of overcoming our desire for instant-gratification and those little victories start to feel good. We can even experience a paradigm shift as we start to focus on the longer-term benefits of our eating habits. Our bodies and lives start taking shape. And this sparks a positive feedback loop where we can be proud about the results while simultaneously feeling motivated to keep up the good work.

Further Resources:

The Calorie Myth by Jonathan Bailor
The Great Courses: Nutrition Made Clear
4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferris

*** Healthy Diet Challenge***

Everyone is unique, so it’s important to find a diet plan that works for you. If you already have something that’s getting results, stick with with it. But for a very general yet solid dietary framework, try the following:

40-60% colorful vegetables
lean proteins
reduce or eliminate simple carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, white rice, flour)
reduce or eliminate processed foods and refined sugars
minimize sweets generally (1 day per week)
Avoid sugary juice and soda – Water and tea are ideal alternatives

Don’t stick to any single diet plan dogmatically. Find something that works for you, refine the best parts, and toss out what seems ineffective. But whatever you do, make it an experiment. If your diet isn’t getting you the results you want, change it up or toss it out. Stick to a plan for a minimum of two months, check your results regularly, and adjust the plan as necessary.

As a challenge, stick to this diet 6 days a week and make the 7^th day a “Cheat Day.” That means no junk food, sweets, or processed food during the week, but you can reward your efforts by eating whatever you feel like every 7^th day. This makes that 7^th day something special, guilt free eating, and you’ll feel good about your ongoing development.

For the second Foundational Practice for a Life of Thriving click here.

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