Thread by @Camp4

🧵 How to build a great life (17 things I’ve learned)

I’ve run hard my whole life—always charging forward, rarely looking back. But 50 hits you different. It’s caused me to pause & reflect. ⬇️

Lots of people have had more success in business & made more money than me. What I’ve done better than most (along with my wife, the unsung hero) is put it all together to build a great, multi-dimensional life—one that I don’t need a vacation from. I’m not boasting here...

...I’ve made huge mistakes & learned most of this stuff the hard way. For many years I was unsatisfied and would have benefitted from the advice in this thread.

⬇️ Here are 17 time-tested things I’ve learned. My hope is that you can apply at least 1 in your own life.

1/ The only things that really matter are relationships & experiences. And the best of both cost nothing. Sharing amazing experiences with those closest to you is as good as it gets. This seems obvious, yet we look for joy in all the wrong places.

2/ Biggie was right - beyond a surprisingly low threshold, mo’ money often means mo’ problems. I’ve met dozens, maybe hundreds, of very rich people and wouldn’t trade places with most of them. That’s easy to say when you have money, but even if you don’t...

...you can shift your mindset to live more richly now. If you’re under 40 you’re a *time billionaire*, truly wealthier than Warren Buffet! If you don’t believe that, ask yourself this: Would you trade places with Warren Buffet if it meant being his age (90)?

3/ Study minimalism - it’s not what you think it is. Minimalism isn’t about self-denial, it’s exactly the opposite - editing your life to make room for *more* of the good stuff. 👉 Start with @TheMinimalists (they have a doc on Netflix).

4/ Be multi-dimensional. I’m convinced it’s the only way to be happy. I wrote a whole thread on this 👇

https://twitter.com/Camp4/status/1370798715057942534?s=20

5/ Be the fittest version of yourself. Your body is your vessel for life’s journey - treat it accordingly. Fitness is the rising tide that floats all boats, a multiplier for everything. I’m not talking about hitting the gym a few times a week...

I’m talking about making fitness *part of your identity*, a lifestyle. There are no shortcuts, just hard work so it’s best to find an athletic pursuit that you can enjoy for life. Something that takes you outside and has a strong mind-body component. Say... rock climbing 😜

6/ Write regularly. Writing is a lost art that has too many benefits to list. It’s been a life-changing & cathartic practice for me. As @paulg has pointed out, writers are never bored. It's important to know that you don’t have to be a good writer to write...

What you write means nothing, the *process* of writing is everything. Start with just 5 minutes a day with your morning ☕️ and see what happens.

7/ Don’t do dumb things. There’s too much talk on this site about all the sensational & smart things you can do with your money & time, but so much of success in life is in the mundane: Simply *not doing dumb things*.

For example, when it comes to money stop buying shit you don’t need, get out of debt, & save. Those 3 things are 80% of financial success. The same applies to all aspects of life.

8/ Keep your burn rate low, even as wealth increases. It provides peace of mind (priceless) & freedom to be opportunistic. Too many are handcuffed to soul-crushing jobs bc it (barely) pays the bills on an outsized lifestyle. I’ve seen 7-figure earners trapped in this situation.

9/ Find your happy place (and your tribe). A great life is one you don’t need a vacation from & location is a key factor in that equation. It’s bizarre to me that people are super-deliberate about their choice of life partner but put zero thought into their choice of place.

Your home town is the substrate for life, informing & influencing everything. Also, birds of a feather flock together so if you find your happy place, you’ll also find your *tribe*. There’s a great big 🌎 out there & now more than ever we have freedom to locate where we choose.

10/ Go out of your way to help others. Not only when it’s convenient or self-serving, but when it’s hard & uncomfortable. This is the single best way to experience joy and selfless acts have a funny way of coming back to you magnified.

Related to this, have a mindset of abundance. Life isn’t a zero sum game and *you don’t lose if others win*, it’s exactly the opposite!

11/ Ignore haters. Toxic behavior comes from fear & pain. It helps to be mindful that toxic people are already paying the price for their behavior - they’re sentenced to a life of misery. In many ways it’s a cry for help, so kill them with kindness.

12/ Learn to say no. Be ruthlessly deliberate with your time & attention - they’re more precious than money. We guard our money carefully yet we often treat our time as if it’s a limitless resource.

You have about 1 billion seconds left - how will you spend them?

13/ Baby steps + compounding apply to everything. Even the biggest of goals can be broken into a series of small steps. Play the long game, making small daily deposits & progress will add up faster than you think. Even on bad days, you'll take comfort in taking just 1 baby step.

14/ Show up on time, be enthusiastic, & keep your promises. These 3 things alone will elevate you above 95% of people.

15/ You owe it to yourself to explore religion and draw your own conclusions. There are 10,000 stars in the universe for every grain of sand on 🌎 & physics suggests there are dimensions beyond our comprehension so it’s pretty small-minded to think that humans are peak existence.

As a Christian (and a dreamer), I like to think there’s more to this life than living & dying. Even if there’s not, it’s good to live with hope. All I’m suggesting is that you seek truth - it has a way of revealing itself to those who seek it.

16/ Spend time outside. Homo sapiens evolved over 300k years to live in harmony with nature, and only recently have we retreated indoors under artificial light. If you’re not spending time outside, getting sunlight and touching 🌎, you’re fighting biology. (Hint: You won’t win.)

17/ The grass isn’t greener. Today more than ever, society encourages us to chase shiny new objects. If you’re not careful you’ll end up chasing your tail, building nothing of lasting value. LeBron James said "consistency is greatness over time".

Longevity is it’s own reward, especially when it comes to relationships. If you don’t believe this ask a few elderly people what they treasure most.

Ultimately happiness is a choice - the glass is either half empty or half full. There’s zero upside to being negative or pessimistic - only downside. But there’s huge upside and no downside to being enthusiastically optimistic. Make the asymmetric bet!

🙏 Thanks for reading.

[drone video credit to my daughter Abby who shot this in high winds]

TYPO: LeBron said “GREATNESS is consistency over time”