Scott Adams’ Happiness Formula

Although I would put this “happiness formula” first…

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33, NIV).

…this one from Scott Adams (in <em>How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big</em>) seems pretty good:

Book cover
Image from Amazon.com

Recapping the happiness formula:

Eat right.
Exercise.
Get enough sleep.
Imagine an incredible future (even if you don’t believe it).
Work toward a flexible schedule.
Do things you can steadily improve at.
Help others (if you’ve already helped yourself).
Reduce daily decisions to routine.

What do you think?  How do you rate?  (I’ve got a ways to go on quite a few of them.)

List from book

(Cross-posted on my 30 Day Quest blog.)

What?!

Reality

What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.

As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one” (Romans 3:9-12, NIV).

The fact is that non-whites are often every bit as racist as whites, for reasons that have far more to do with the brokenness of human nature than any abstract system of white supremacy.

6 Weeks Challenge Complete, 7.7 Pounds Down

I completed The Athlete District‘s 6 Week Challenge, ending up 7.7 pounds down, and in better shape. These before and after pictures don’t do justice to what their challenge accomplished (especially since the side shot wasn’t at the same angle):

Front before and after

Side before and after

It may not be obvious, but the belly is smaller. 🙂

(And, my muscles are more defined.)

However, probably the biggest things it did were:

  1. Made me a lot more cognizant of what I am eating (I tracked carbohydrates, protein, and fat macros to meet the daily goals they set)
  2. Cemented my commitment to regular, vigorous exercise

Although I wish I lost more weight (at 243.3 pounds, I need to still lose about 40), I can tell it was far from “all for naught.” I feel better, I can put shirts on I wouldn’t wear 6 weeks ago, and I stand up almost like normal (which says a lot given my two bad knees).

Am I going to pretend it was easy? No. However, the dieting part, especially, wasn’t horrible.

If you are overweight and/or out-of-shape, don’t believe the “noble lies” people tell you so you don’t feel so bad about it. Don’t believe your own rationalizations either (they are just lies we tell ourselves).

Don’t beat yourself up about where you are, but start on your path to a healthier life. You can do it!

(Cross-posted on my 30 Day Quest blog.)

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