Saturday, July 6, 2013

How to Contribute to Society

All men face the question "what is my purpose in life?" at some point, if not multiple points, in their lives.  In my opinion, a good way to answer this questions is to "Contribute to Society"  A man can contribute to society in a number of ways, but first we must define society.

Society, in its most basic sense, is the sum of all human interactions and relationships.  For an individual, being able to contribute to society means to positively impact other people with whom he interacts or has a relationship.  Therefore, contributing to society can span a wide range of activities.

Civic Duty
A man can contribute to society in a positive way by performing basic civic duties expected of all citizens (specific to the U.S.).  Things like paying taxes may seem like a pain and one may disagree with certain political officials in charge of making the tax laws.  However, something even more important to consider is whether you are pulling your own weight with everyone else in your community or life.  Are you utilizing services in the world that come at the expense of others' hard work without contributing anything yourself?  If you answer yes to these questions, you are probably not contributing to society like you should.  In essence, you are being a parasite to you neighbor.  In the short term, this may be okay since some systems are designed to help those in need until they can get back on their feet.  Using the existence of these systems like food stamps, welfare, unemployment, and disability to avoid actually doing something productive in society is despicable.  It is your civic duty as a citizen to give back in the form of taxes to help support these programs and other national and state infrastructure, whether you agree with the tax policy or not.  Other good ways to contribute from a civic duty standpoint are serving as a juror (or at least showing up), maintaining required insurance coverages (i.e. car insurance), and obeying laws.  Breaking the law is essentially going against the grain of society, which in some places is acceptable and the right thing to do, but rarely is the case in a democracy like America.

Teach
Teaching does not necessarily have to be in a classroom setting, but it is important to give back to the world by passing along some knowledge you have picked up along the way during your existence.  Many times, this act is simply raising your children to be productive members of society.  Instilling morals and manners in your children 100% qualifies as contributing to society, and it is shocking how often this teaching gets overlooked these days.  If you do not have children of your own, there is always someone out there who could learn from you.  If you are acting as a functioning member of society, then you have certainly developed some proficiency in a craft along the way.  Chances are, someone else in the world also wants to learn this craft or skill, and it should be an honor for you to help pass this knowledge along.  Even if you have taken all the wrong turns during your life thus far, there are venues where you can speak to groups of young people on what not to do and use your life as an example.  The point is there is no excuse to not give some information you have learned during your life back to the world  in some way, shape, or form.  It is never too early to start, and you might just learn a thing or two yourself.

Volunteer
Whether it is your time or money, every man should know the joy of helping his fellow man, woman, or child.  Volunteering and donating builds character and can prove to be more satisfying spiritually than most other activities, especially a selfish use of your time.  You can volunteer at any number of events, charities, churches, homeless shelters, etc.  The opportunities are endless because there will always be people who are less fortunate than you.  Be a man and seek out these opportunities to help people in need.

Hopefully this short article can serve as a guide to anyone struggling to find their place in the world.  You do not have to be a big shot, six figure salary guy to contribute to society.  The most critical part of succeeding in life is to bring something to the table that helps take some percentage of those people impacted by your life further along in their journey.  If your existence is dragging other people down or holding them back from achieving their goals and dreams, it may be time for a long, hard look in the mirror to ask yourself "how can I contribute to society?". 

Monday, June 24, 2013

How to Track Your Sleep Habits

As I mentioned in the post How to Build Willpower, adequate sleep is important for every man to be at his best 24/7.   Consistently getting a good night's rest is critical to refreshing willpower reserves, having enough energy to face the day's challenges, and maintaining a positive view of the world.  If you struggle to get the 7 or 8 hours every night, or think you are getting enough time in bed but are never really refreshed in the morning, tracking your sleep habits may be the solution for you.  Collecting data about your sleep habits and using that data to make decisions about your life is the best way to effectively manage your sleep habits.  There are a number of products on the market that do this type of data collection, but the best product I have encountered is the Lark Silent Un-Alarm Clock and Sleep Sensor.  Lark is the perfect tool if you want to get data on your sleep quality and quantity.  All successful men know that using data to drive your decisions is the best way to achieve desired results and meet one's goals.

The Lark system provides the user with a variety of useful information about each night's sleep and overall sleep habits.  Each night of sleep is given a quality score based on a number of parameters, including time asleep, how long it took to go to sleep, number of times awoken, and activity during sleep.  Each of these parameters are also shown individually for each night's sleep.  The system also captures the time you went to bed and the time you woke up (turned off the alarm).  An important thing to note is that Lark differentiates between time in bed and time asleep.  A difference between these two values could indicate a problem with sleep quality or bedtime routine.

Lark Pro Sleep Monitor Silent Alarm Clock and Personal Sleep Coach is another product by Lark with a few more features.  This product gives you access to Lark's online sleep coach, which assesses 1 week of your typical sleep habits and classifies your sleep type with recommendations for correcting any issues.  This product also allows you to set goals and track in your sleep history which nights you met your goals.  You can set goals for bedtime, awake time, and time in bed.

Some other features both Lark systems provide are your personal feedback on how you feel after a given night's sleep.  You can rank your morning feeling from Awful to Great, with a number of in-between options.  This color-codes the nights sleep and helps you recognize patterns with a particular week or time of the year.  The system also allows you to add specific tags to each night that may affect your sleep.  Tags include things such as computer or tv before bed, bathroom, sickness, exercise, etc.  Lastly, the Lark program shows your 7 day, 30 day, and all time sleep stats for a bigger picture look.

The Lark system consists of a wrist band that docks to the charger.  The wrist band vibrates to wake you in a less disturbing manner than a standard alarm clock.  The wrist band links with your phone or tablet through the Lark Up app.  This app is where you set your alarms and view your sleep stats.  All of your stats can also be accessed through your online profile at www.lark.com.



For more information on tools and gadgets that can help you use data to drive your habits, visit the article Track Your Life: Exercise, Sleep, Diet, and More!.  This article goes into details of other great products that turn your activities into data and help build productive habits in your life, whether that means eating healthier or tracking your workouts.  Tracking your sleep habits is a greaat starting point for this approach to building habits since sleep takes very little effort (unlike diet and exercise). Once you see the data, it will encourage you to change your ways or, hopefully, keep up the good work!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

How to Build Willpower

Something most people, especially in the United States, struggle with is willpower.  More specifically, people struggle with the lack of willpower.  Men are no exception to this problem.  With today's society built around instant gratification, it is a constant battle for any man to keep his primitive "caveman self" in control.  What most men do not realize, however, is that willpower isn't a have or have not.  Willpower is just like physical strength; one must work hard to develop and continue working to maintain it.  Building willpower, self control, and self discipline are critical to becoming the most effective, most successful man possible.

One of the most useful books on this topic I have found is The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal.  In this book, she discusses numerous factors contributing to an individual's willpower reserves (or lack thereof).   Here are some of the critical steps to building willpower like you've never known covered in her book.


Meditate 

Meditation is one of the best ways to start building more willpower immediately.  Studies have shown that regular meditation has helped people reduce stress, lose weight, stop smoking, and overcome numerous other popular willpower challenges.  A simple meditation, such as a breathing exercise where you focus on the inhale and exhale of each breath, trains your brain to focus and push out other thoughts.  Drifting from the thought of the breath followed by returning to the thought of the breath exercises your prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain that controls willpower.  Five minutes of meditation a few times a week will yield increased willpower almost immediately, with the results compounding over time.  Extending the meditation duration and frequency will simply yield better and faster results.

Get Some Sleep

The body uses energy for all of its daily tasks, both physical and mental.  The energy used to lift a book is the same energy needed to make the decision to get off the couch and exercise.  Sleep deprivation, even on a small scale (regularly less than 7 hours of sleep per night), impairs the body's process of absorbing glucose, it's primary energy source.  When you feel groggy and weak after a inadequate night's sleep, your willpower muscle is in the same state.  Therefore it is important for anyone fighting a willpower challenge to regularly get a good night's rest.  The good part is that a single good night of sleep is usually enough to restore a person's willpower reserves and get the body functioning normally. All that said, avoid depending on the weekend to catch up on your sleep or you'll find yourself exercising on Monday and eating cheesecake on Friday.

Fuel Your Brain

Although sugar does provide the body short term energy boosts, do not mistake sugar to be the answer to your willpower dilemma.  Swings in blood sugar levels over the long haul actually affect your body's  ability to utilize sugar effectively.  This results in a higher blood sugar level and no efficient way to use it, resulting in less energy and less willpower.  Unlike sleep, however, the solution to this is not a quick weekend fix.  Fueling your body with natural, non-processed foods like nuts, fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins is the best way to keep your body in prime, good-decision-making condition.  If it looks like you just cut it off the animal or picked it off the bush, it's probably a good food choice.


Pick a Challenge, and Be Specific

For your willpower battles ahead, avoid taking on too much at once.  Small victories are much better than major losses and no progress.  Pick something you struggle with daily, and make it something very specific.  For instance, try "I want to smoke 5 fewer cigarettes every day" instead of "I want to quit smoking forever".  Use small steps like these to make progress toward your larger goals.  Your brain processes small victories the same way as large ones as long as you specifically pick them in that manner.  An effective way to capture these "steps" is to write it down, either in a journal or on a white board.  Mark off your victories as they are achieved to activate the reward center of the brain and get the extra mental boost to keep working hard.

It is also important to avoid tackling too many challenges at once.  Tackling 3 or 4 major willpower challenges will have the same effect as trying to stop smoking all at once.  Your brain will be overloaded, and you will find yourself searching for "How to Build Willpower" again.  As you conquer your first challenge or two, you will have built more willpower and will be better equipped to take on subsequent challenges.



I encourage you to give the book mentioned earlier in the post a read.  Dr. McGonigal does a great job explaining exactly what willpower is and why we so often succumb to those challenges in today's society.  The book helps put your specific challenges in perspective and allows you to take a new approach at conquering what you thought could never be won.

As you work to build and improve your willpower, remember that everyone is capable of exhibiting great willpower, but it has to be developed before it is used.  You must exercise your brain to prepare for the big challenges ahead, whether that is resisting the flirtatious coworker, hitting the gym before work, or paying off your debt instead of buying that new toy.  Self discipline is the product of strong willpower, and a successful man always exhibits self discipline in the face of life's challenges.  Control your life; don't let it control you.