Podcast Episode 7 Show Notes- 36 Tips To Upgrade Your Life Pt1
(Listen to the full episode here)
Welcome back to the Eternal Crown Lifestyle! I hope you are doing great! Today is episode 7 and the first part of the 36 tips to upgrade your life. The second half will be revealed in next weeks episode. These episodes will provide you with very practical and in most cases very simple tips that when implemented can really positively impact your life. These tips have the potential to help you change up your life, find break through, and move forward. At the end of this episode I’m going to introduce you to the new Eternal Crown Lifestyle Weekly Challenge. This will be regular part of the podcast each week. It is a 7 day challenge to help you implement some aspects of these 36 tips and others into your daily life. This will help you implement what you are hearing and give you the opportunity to see transformation take place. Too many times we just hear and consume a lot of info, but never apply it in our lives. Last year around this same time on Instagram ( which I have not been on in since around October) I issued what I called the Daily Comfort Zone Buster. It was a 5 item daily challenge to get people doing things they were not regularly use to doing. I have decided to turn it into a 7 day weekly challenge instead of just one day. But I will tell you more about that later at the end of this episode.
Now let’s get to the first 10 of the 36 tips to upgrade your life. Tip number one is to perform a new exercise. This is a simple one. If you are going to the gym or exercising at home, do something new. First off if you are not exercising, start! If you already are exercising then find something new to implement into your training routine. Changes things up to reinvigorate you and to keep it feeling fresh. Find a machine at the gym you have never used before or try a new stretch you do regularly use. In fact if you really want to challenge your self in this area, find an exercise that addresses a weakness you have. If your back is not as strong as say your chest, then find a new chest exercise to really focus on a get good at. Or if your legs are weaker than your upper body, then focus on them. If you always do body building style lifts throw in a power lifting move or some CrossFit exercises.
Tip number 2 is to start playing a sport regularly. This will help you to be more active, but too also enjoy what you are doing. Sports can bring so much value to your life, activity, coordination, focus, community, and fun! A sport can give you a new focus or goal that can help you enjoy being physical active. You can choose a team sport or an individual sport, both will have a positive benefit. Not everyone enjoys just lifting weights in the gym like me, so find something you do enjoy that allows you to get your heart rate up regularly. Growing up I played soccer at a young age, then tennis in middle school, basketball in high school, and several intramural sports in college too. Sports were a big part of my life and have helped me in many different ways. In fact this is making me want to get back into play sports again, so maybe I will take my own advice and try to join a soccer program or something soon.
Tip number 3 is to just simply spend more time outside. Just get out of your house and get out into the sun. Spend more time out in nature, maybe even take off your shoes and walk around barefoot for a while. Because of all the technology we have, we spend way too much time indoors. In front of computer screens, TV screens, and Phone screens. Enough with all the screens, get outside and enjoy what God has created for you. Be present and view the sights, hear the sounds, smell the smells, and let your senses be emerged in what is around you. View the sky, when is the last time you looked at the clouds like a little child and used your imagination to figure out what they looked like? This really helps your imagination as well, so you get bonus benefits.
The fourth tip combines all the last 3 and is to simply be more active. Get out of your chair and sit less. Get outside, go for a walk or hike. Visit a lake, swimming pool, or beach, whatever you have close by around you. Just find more ways to get outside of your house and stay moving. If you live by yourself then you really need to get out and be around people and find community.
The first 4 were focused more on physical fitness health and now tip number 5 is more about creativity and the mental health aspect. Tip 5 is to start reading more. When is the last time you have picked up a good book read? You need to watch less TV and read much more. Get away from all the screens and pick up some good ole fashion paper to engage your mind. Read different types of material both non fiction and fiction works. No fiction will stimulate more of the intellectual side of the mind, but fiction will allow your creativity and imagination to grow stronger.
Tip number 6 is to learn a new skill. Is there something you have always wanted to learn, well now is the time to start doing it! Learn to play an instrument or how to sing. Learn how to pain or draw. Learn to build something with your hands. Learn a new computer skill. Learn a craft like sewing or knitting. There are so many options out there to learn a new skill and add a new tool to your tool belt for the future.
Tip number 7 is to use your imagination more. When you were a young child this was probably really easy for you, but as you got older you may have shut this down without even really realizing you were doing it. This area has been one of the more difficult ones for me. I use to be really creative as a child and loved doing things involving my imagination. I was into all types of arts and crafts, writing poems and stores, but as I got older I did less and less of those things. Some of the previous tips really help with this area like, being outside more, reading fiction books and watching less TV. You need to get back to being like a child and create a story with unique characters. Design a world for them to live in and a plot to the story. Visual the story , character, and environment as you are creating it. Day dreaming is not a bad thing when you do it at the right time and intentionally. This is all about having fun, let yourself have more daily fun.
Tip number 8 is to color or draw. This is another one that will also help with your imagination and creativity. The great thing is you really don’t even have to be good at it, to get great benefits from doing it. You can get a coloring book and just color if you don’t prefer drawing. Another thing you can do that is slightly different, is to draw or right with your non dominate hand. So if you are right handed draw and right with your left hand, this will activate the creative side of your brain. This can be as simple as writing your name or writing words with your non dominate hand regularly,
Tip number 9 is to start incorporating some type of fasting into you life. You can start with just skipping one meal. Then move to intermittent fasting where you only eat for a few hours a day. Next try a one day water only fast where you consume nothing but water. Then maybe do 3 days with water only or go on a juice fast. Fasting has a lot of physical benefits, but it also provides mental benefits too. Fasting helps you to get control over your bodies cravings and hunger. This helps stop mindless eating just because you are bored or eating for emotional reasons. This trains you to recognize what real hunger is and also what it is not.
The final tip for this episode is number 10 and it is to consume less sugar. Very simple in concept, but hard for most people to actually do. Most of our processed foods contain some amount of sugar in them. Sugar is pretty much added to everything these days. One way to cut back on sugar is to stop consuming sodas and fruit drinks. Next is just limit the amount of junk food and candies. If you are already doing both of those, then just get back to eating more whole foods. These are foods that are not processed, not frozen, and not consider fast food. Basically stay on the outside perimeter of your grocery store and avoid the inner aisles as much as possible. Look for the fresh and perishable foods, because those will be that do not have added sugars in them. (12 min)
Ok that’s is the first 10 of the 36 tips I have for you, but I’m going to stop here, because I want to go back to and introduce the new regular feature to the podcast that I mentioned in the beginning. Now it is time to introduce you to the Eternal Crown Lifestyle Weekly Challenge or ECLWC for short. This challenge will help you to regularly Implement the tips I’m sharing with you and many more into your life. Each podcast I will give you a list of 5 items ( or actions) to take that will help you improve your mental, physical and spiritual health when you perform them. The challenge is to do this 5 items every day for 7 days straight. If you listen to this podcast on Mondays when it first comes out then for the next seven days ( which includes today) these 5 items are your daily challenge to complete. Without any more delay here are the first 5 items for the first Eternal Crown Lifestyle Weekly Challenge.
1.) No TV- for the next 7 days do not turn on your TV at all for 7 days. Every single day this week keep the TV off. Can you do it? Can you go 1 whole week with out TV? Is it possible? Yes, it is. I have done it many times and most days of the week I do not turn on my TV at all. Now the question is can you do it? For most people TV is an every day activity, so that’s why this is called a challenge.
2.) 100 Push ups- every day perform 100 push ups of some variety. You can do them on your knees, you can do wall push-ups, just do the variation that you can do best based on your current level of physical fitness. Just make sure every day this week you perform 100 of them. Just think that will be 700 at the end of the week. What an accomplishment that will be for you both physically and mentally.
3.) Read for 30 minutes- This is one to exercise your mind and depending on book choice your imagination too. Since you shouldn’t have the TV on this week, this pairs great with reading more. When you would normally watch a TV program, just pull out a book and dive into it for 30 minutes. 7 days straight of 30 minutes of reading is probably more reading than a lot of people have done in a long time. One tip here is schedule your reading time, to make sure you get it done. Easy way replace your TV time with a book.
4.) Every time you find yourself looking into a mirror just smile at yourself- sounds simple right? That’s because it really is. This will just help you get into the habit fo smiling more regularly in life. Smiling is great for your body and mind! It actually sends signals to your brain that you are happy, which we all need more of in our lives. There are mirrors everywhere and so every time you look into one , smile back at yourself.
5.) 100 squats- Now for the final item we go back to a physical task. Complete 100 repetitions of some variation of a squat. These can be air squats, barbell or dumbbell squats, whatever fits your fitness level.
Also I want you to remember with these physical items of the challenge they don’t all have to be performed at the same time. You can do multiple sets throughout your day until you reach the desired number. So maybe do 50 to times a day or 25 four times a day. The way you get it doesn’t matter as much as just complementing the total number by the end of your day.
There you have it the 5 daily actions or items for the first ever Eternal Crown Lifestyle Weekly Challenge. No Tv, 100 Push-ups, read for 30 mins, Smile at yourself every time you look in a mirror and 100 squats. Do you have what it takes to complete the challenge perfectly? Can you be disciplined and dedicated enough to do all 5 for 7 days straight? Even if you do not complete it perfectly, you will get great benefit from just trying and participating. Give it a shot and see how well you do. You can even post pictures or videos of you doing the challenge to social media using the #ECLWC so others can join in the fun with you. Please also send me a message and let me know how the challenge has helped and impacted your life. Doing these challenges consistently will show you that you have what it takes to accomplish your goals. Once you have done certain activities consistently for 7 days straight, you might just decide to keep them as part of your regular lifestyle. Which is really what these challenges are about, getting you to put things into action. We consume a lot of information from many different sources, but we don’t always apply what we are learning. When we don’t take action with the knowledge we are missing out on opportunities for improvement and upgrade.
Thank you so much for listing to this episode please come back next week for part 2. To hear more of the 36 tips to upgrade your life and to find out what the items are for the next Eternal Crown Lifestyle Weekly Challenge are. You don’t want to miss it!
