Do This, Not That

I want to help you simplify your life.

There's a lot of information out on the worldwide web, on social media, from your family, friends, and colleagues, and sometimes you don't know who to listen to.

In this article, I will give you four ideas of things you should do every day and four ideas of things you shouldn't do at all.

Do this: smile.

Smiling doesn't cost you anything. And when I say?smiling. I don't mean a creepy smile. I mean a genuine, pleased-to-see-you-today smile.?When you smile, you don't have to say anything. So, if you're an introvert, you can still smile.

I used to be a portrait photographer back in the day, and I'd always tell my clients to smile with their eyes.

Don't do this: complain.

First of all,?complaining?doesn't do any good. When you complain to your spouse, kids, family, friends, co-workers,?or?on social media, nobody cares. And how does complaining make you feel? I'm guessing it doesn't make you feel very well.

Do this: be positive.

You may be going through a trial right now. There's unrest throughout the world.?People are starving, are dying, or getting sick every day. But I?choose to look at the world through positive pair of glasses. I'm not a Pollyanna; I don't think everything's great everywhere.?There are problems in the world. But I am a positive person. And I encourage you to always look at the positive side of things every day, in every situation.

Don't do this: be negative.

Stay out of the pool of negativity. Negativity is so toxic. I'm just going to leave that at that. We don't need to talk about negativity anymore.

Do this:?think about the future.

And when I say the future, I don't mean your lunch break, quitting time, the weekend, or?your summer vacation.

What do you want to do next year? In five years? In 10 years? In 25 years?

I'm 56 years young as I write this article, and I plan on being alive way past age 100. So I don't just think about what I will do this week, and I think about what I'm going to do in 25 years.

You need to think about the future because you'll get excited when you do. Don't you want to live an exciting life?

Don't do this:?dwell on the past.

Yes, you should learn the lessons from past mistakes. But don't live in the past. Tony Robbins talks about when you're driving your car, you're looking through the big windshield and not by looking in the rearview mirror.

Do this:?learn something new every single day.

This could be attending a webinar, listening to a podcast, reading a book, or talking to someone.

Don't do this:?waste time.

Social media is not your friend. They created endless scrolling.

And then there's?Apple TV+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and other streaming services. They keep serving up video after video?and show after show after show, and they want you hooked in.

Stop wasting so much time. Instead, learn something new every day.

I’m Mister Productivity , founder of The Productive Life Membership and host of The Mister Productivity Podcast . As a #productivity coach, I work with busy #solopreneurs to support and teach them time-saving strategies. Because we both know you have better things to do than trudge through a never-ending list, sign up for the 21-Day Productivity Challenge .