The 101 Best Practices for Modern Life

I have a Kindle short coming out soon and one of the themes of it is that most of the things we do wrong in life are not rocket science. They’re ultimately a result of easy-to-spot mistakes that most of us know we’re making as we do them. Yet, we do the wrong thing anyway because it’s easier, because it’s faster, or because we’ve just gotten into the habit of doing the wrong thing. This is intended to be a reminder of all those simple, obvious things that will pay off for all of us over the long haul if we do them.

1) Treat the fairly limited number of people who will still care that you are gone six months after you die with the respect and affection they deserve.

2) Don’t ever abandon your family or close friends over political differences.

3) It’s perfectly fine to feel good about compliments from people you don’t know or respect, but they have not earned the right to negatively impact your mood.

4) Don’t take out your anger with a situation or person on someone who has nothing to do with it.

5) Be polite unless there’s a very good reason not to be polite.

6) If you have a parent, child, or “partner” that you love, endeavor to frequently tell them so.

7) Really listen to people instead of thinking about what you’re going to say next and focus more on asking them questions than talking about yourself

8) If you’re thinking something complimentary about someone, sharing it can really make someone’s day.

9) Don’t look at your cell phone when you’re eating with other people.

10) A few kind words, flowers, or a little food mean a lot when someone dies. Maybe not right at that moment, but down the road? Absolutely.

11) Practice basic hygiene. Don’t stink. Shower. Shave. Fix those errant eyebrow hairs, ear hairs, and nose hairs when you get older.

12) Give your kids chores and responsibilities.

13) Just because you go to a party or an event, it doesn’t mean you need to stay there all night. After you make an appearance and see who you need to see, it’s fine to duck out. Most people will just remember that you were there.

14) Don’t try to “fix” people. Accept them as they are or jettison them if their flaws are too much to bear.

15) Listen to other people and ask questions.

16) When it comes to important friends or family, don’t get hung up on who calls who first.

17) If you have a lot of money, under no circumstances should you get married without a pre-nuptial agreement.

18) You can give your friends money if you want but don’t ever loan them money if you’re going to get upset if it doesn’t get paid back.

19) Go above and beyond to avoid quarrels with your neighbors.

20) On average shoot for at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

21) Don’t do anything on the bed you sleep on other than sleep or sex.

22) Make sure the room you sleep in is pitch black even if it means getting blackout curtains and putting electrical tape over lights.

23) Avoid third-shift work if at all possible.

24) Minimize or eliminate cigarettes, illegal drugs, and alcohol from your life.

25) Don’t have your cell phone in the same room you’re sleeping in unless it’s turned off.

26) If you can afford it, filter your water and your air in your home.

27) Get some type of regular exercise every week.

28) Do your best to reduce the number of chemicals you’re exposing yourself to on a daily and weekly basis.

29) Ideally, get your exercise early in the day to make it more likely it gets done.

30) Shoot for at least 8,000-10,000 steps per day.

31) Do not just let pain go long term without addressing it because it can and will get worse over time.

32) Eat mostly whole foods.

33) Aim to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day.

34) Get a full panel of labs done early in life so you see where your biomarkers are when you’re young and strong.

35) Date food you put in the freezer that may be there for a while. It may save you from eating some old stuff.

36) If you’re going to be near the water for more than an hour, in the sun for a good bit of the day, are closer to the equator than normal, or are frequently in the sun, day after day, use sunscreen or a healthy sunscreen alternative.

37) Pay attention to what your doctor tells you, but also double check his recommendations or medicine he recommends with other doctors, knowledgeable people, or even excellent AI.

38) Put some type of relatively low-level exercise equipment near the entrance to a room you enter a lot and do a few repetitions each time you go there. It will really add up over time.

39) Get out into nature semi-regularly, even if it’s just a city park or garden.

40) Especially as you get older, spend some time working on your flexibility and mobility. Keep your frame functioning well and working.

41) Get shoes that fit and that are right for your type of foot.

42) Have your car’s oil changed and tires rotated regularly.

43) Cut your water off when you leave town.

44) Cover your faucets when you have a big-time cold snap.

45) Own a gun and learn to shoot and maintain it.

46) Buy a few high-quality pens rather than lots of low-quality pens.

47) Learn to tie a tie.

48) Wear your seatbelt.

49) Keep your laundry done, take the trash out, and leave no dishes in the sink. This will keep your home from getting overly filthy.

50) Put multiple tags of different colors on your luggage to make it distinctive when you’re picking it up after a flight.

51) If you have a house, learn how to turn off the water.

52) Get your eyes checked yearly.

53) Set a goal of arriving everywhere 15 minutes early and rarely will you ever be late.

54) If there’s an opportunity to negotiate, you should almost always do it. Ask them to throw something in, give a little more, or take a little off the price.

55) Make your bed every morning.

56) Read books. You can’t have a deep understanding of the world without them.

57) Keep your keys, wallet, and phone in the same spot all the time to make it easy to find them when you need them.

58) Keep an umbrella in your home and your car.

59) If you haven’t used something in a long time and are unlikely to use it in the future, don’t be afraid to sell it, give it away, or just throw it out.

60) Keep enough food and water on hand to get you through a few days without power. This is generally applicable but particularly matters in disaster-prone areas.

61) Police what your kids under 18 do online.

62) If you’re out and about and hear something you want to remember or need to make a note to yourself, text yourself whatever it is.

63) Back up your computer and your social media accounts.

64) Never put anything illegal you’re doing in writing.

65) If you have a dog, make sure you take bags with you to pick up their defecation.

66) Never make naked videos or pictures of yourself that you aren’t comfortable with the whole world potentially seeing.

67) Turn off the notices and alerts for any program that’s absolutely not essential to see as quickly as possible including email.

68) Unsubscribe to emails you don’t want and set up rules to keep emails you don’t need to see out of your inbox.

69) If you get an email about something related to finances, like a bank, Amazon account, investment opportunity, etc., always go DIRECTLY TO THE SITE rather than clicking through your email.

70) You don’t need to be hyperaware, but you should be situationally aware enough to know of any threats, problems, or potential dangers around you.

71) Have an extra set of keys.

72) If you travel frequently, have bags with everything you will need for your trips that are completely separate from the things you use day-to-day.

73) Donate your organs when you die.

74) Set aside 3 to 6 months’ worth of income that you can tap if things go south.

75) Have a budget that includes everything you spend.

76) Unless you have a lot of money and no debt, try to keep what you pay on housing per month to 25% of your income or lower.

77) Invest a little bit of money each month.

78) Don’t quit your job unless you have another job lined up.

79) Protect your downside financially. Never put yourself in a position where you can potentially get financially wiped out.

80) Get health insurance.

81) Don’t be a moocher. Pay your own way.

82) Work a second job for a while in order to save up enough money to make sure that you’re not living paycheck-to-paycheck.

83) You don’t need nice stuff in your house until you have a long-term place to live and even then, don’t go into debt for furniture.

84) If you have to choose between paying for experiences and things, go with the experiences.

85) If it’s something you should tip for and you don’t have enough to tip, you can’t afford the service.

86) Learning some basic cooking skills pays off big time over the course of your life.

87) Have a place where you write down your ideas. This will help settle your mind and create a list of good ideas over time.

88) Make notes on your achievements and key things that happen at a minimum and what you eat, how you sleep, and how much you exercise if you’re so inclined.

89) Have a to-do list.

90) If you have something you need to do and can do it in under two minutes, do it.

91) Have a place to store your important documents.

92) Write down your goals and your dreams.

93) Have a will.

94) Have an end-of-life directive explaining how you want things handled if you are unable to make those decisions yourself.

95) Sometimes, you need to just do nothing and think. It allows your brain to process things and come up with new ideas.

96) Be the person who says, “Thank you” and shows genuine gratitude when other people deserve it.

97) Forgive yourself and forgive other people, but don’t forget what happened.

98) Pray for yourself, ask other people to pray for you, and pray for other people if they ask for your help.

99) Try to regularly take in what smart, successful people who have admirable lives are doing whether that’s via reading books or video.

100) Don’t stop learning new things just because you’re out of school.

101) Before you get upset about something, ask yourself if you will still remember it in 5 years. If the answer is “no,” maybe you shouldn’t be all that upset.

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