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Tips to look and live more productive lives

At its best, life can be an exciting and beautiful adventure that unfolds from one day to the next, and that gives us a deep sense of meaning, purpose, and fulfilment as we go through the process of writing your own personal life stories.

At the same time, however, there are all sorts of obstacles and situations that can arise which can prevent us from properly thriving, and from having the most adventurous and positive experience of life we can.

In particular, having a low sense of overall energy and vitality, and a low level of self-confidence, can really interfere with your ability to live the most outgoing and meaningful life you possibly could.

While things like low energy levels and motivation, and a low level of confidence as a whole are always going to be subject to a lot of particular individual factors that need a personalized approach to deal with, there are, nonetheless, plenty of everyday tips that you can try out which are likely to help you to have a significantly more energetic and confident life, more or less regardless of the specifics of your personal situation.

Here are a few everyday tips for living a more energetic and confident life.

 

Emphasize and prioritize taking action across the various different dimensions of your life

Although we often don’t tend to think of it in these terms, inaction is essentially a kind of habit that people can become trapped in, and that can become self-reinforcing over time.

If you’re constantly procrastinating, looking for excuses not to do things, and overthinking, however, it’s more or less inevitable that you’re going to put yourself into an emotional and mental state where you feel disempowered, where time seems to run away from you, where your energy levels and motivation seem low, and where your confidence deteriorates. 

While it’s all very well to think things through before taking significant action in your life, it’s also vitally important to actually get to the point of taking action sooner or later.

When you take action, things move, opportunities reveal themselves, growth and learning occur, and the story of your life gets written. By constantly sitting back on the sidelines in a state of passivity, however, you are essentially robbing yourself of the ability to unfold your potential and to write your own life story.

Emphasizing and prioritizing taking action across the various dimensions of your life may easily be one of the most essential things to do when you’re trying to increase your sense of confidence and capability, as well as living life in a more energetic, vital, and engaged way.

 

Don’t allow yourself to get too caught up in your thoughts; regularly engage in practices that get you outside of your own head

With certain modern technologies such as the Internet at our disposal, it is very easy for many of us to end up getting completely caught up in our own self-referential thought loops day after day, while we simultaneously construct elaborate mental maps of the world that may well be mistaken in some core ways.

Ultimately, our thinking minds should help to serve and support us in life, as opposed to trapping us and robbing us of confidence and vitality. But when you fall into a pattern of habitual overthinking and rumination, these negative consequences are very likely.

Many insecurities and perceived limitations are really just a matter of the mental constructs we’ve allowed to solidify in our minds – and by getting outside of our own patterns of thought and encountering new experiences, we can often re-evaluate what we are truly capable of in some pretty monumental ways.

Instead of allowing yourself to get too caught up in your own thoughts, take steps to regularly engage in practices that get you outside of your own head – whether those practices include things in yoga and meditation, or some form of sport or physically active pastime.

 

Take pride in your personal presentation, and aim to look your best each day

When you take pride in your personal presentation, and do what you can to look your best each day, and to be happy with what you see in the mirror, you will naturally tend to experience significant higher levels of confidence and well-being as a result, and will likely also feel more inclined to be outgoing, optimistic, and energetic with regards to how you engage with the world at large.

It’s important to point out here that you don’t need to have model good looks, or impeccable bone structure in order to feel the benefits of taking some pride in your personal presentation. All of us can do things that help to make us more pleased with the way we are physically presenting ourselves to the world.

Even on a deep and purely personal psychological level, taking pride in your personal presentation and spending some time exploring things like shea butter skin benefits sends a clear signal that you believe you are worth spending time on this way, and that you are willing to put your best foot forward in terms of how you treat yourself, and greet each day.

Many people, on the contrary, neglect their personal presentation out of insecurity and end up using it as a kind of shield – believing on some level that if they don’t put in any effort with regards to their personal presentation, others won’t be able to hurt their feelings by judging them.

Ultimately, though, by refusing to take any interest or pride in your personal presentation, you’re likely doing yourself a lot more harm than good. And there’s a world of difference between treating yourself with some self-respect, and being arrogant or shallow, as well.

 

Engage in some form of physical exercise each day

Physical exercise has remarkable benefits not only for overall health, but also as a means of helping to increase personal confidence, and generate a heightened sense of energy and drive in life.

When you see your physique changing after sticking with an exercise routine over a consistent period of time, or when you notice that you are able to do more than you were in the past, your sense of confidence and self-efficacy are almost bound to increase.

At the same time, exercise can help to significantly improve feelings of well-being in the moment, and it can help to make you more physically and mentally energized for the rest of the day.

Engaging in some form of physical exercise each day can be an excellent way of helping to boost your confidence and to make the way you interact with the world at large more energetic and positive. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should be training hard every day. On some days, you should be aiming for something more like “active rest,” such as in the form of a gentle stretching routine or a stroll.



Focus on establishing everyday habits that help you to step into the kind of identity you want to embody

James Clear, author of the book “Atomic Habits,” uses a powerful metaphor to describe how we should view the role of habits in our lives: he says that each repetition of a given habit should be seen as a vote for the kind of identity we are trying to create for ourselves.

Whenever you decide that you want to get fit, for example, that is actually a certain identity you’re trying to craft and embody. Instead of being the exact version of yourself you are today, you want to be a “fit person” version of yourself instead. And the way you get there isn’t by setting an intention for some point in the future, but by engaging in the habits each day that a fitness enthusiast would engage in.

With each repetition of a habit that helps to turn you more into the kind of person you want to be, your sense of confidence and self belief will naturally tend to rise, and you will feel more and more like the real deal, and less and less like an imposter.

 

Live your life in a way that you find meaningful, and pay attention to your own intuitions of meaning and purpose

If you’re going through day-to-day life ignoring your own inner sense of meaning and purpose, and are just going through the motions at work and with regards to how you spend your free time, it’s hardly surprising if you end up feeling demotivated and lacking in confidence.

By actually paying attention to what your deep intuition is telling you about the most meaningful direction to head in, in life, you can begin making everyday decisions from a significantly more empowered and positive place – with the result being that you are more enthusiastic about greeting each day head-on, and feel a lot more confident about the way you are living, as well.

Of course, this is often easier said than done. It might require you to start making some serious changes to personal habits and pastimes. It may even call you to make a major career change.

Either way, following your own sense of meaning is essential when it comes to your ability to really dive into the adventure of your life.


Written by:
#MenWhoBlog MemberBlogging GuruThought Leader

James' passion for exploration and sense of duty to his community extends beyond himself. This means he is dedicated to providing a positive role model for other men and especially younger guys that need support so that they can thrive and be future positive contributors to society. This includes sharing wisdom, ideas, tips, and advice on subjects that all men should be familiar with, including: family travel, men's health, relationships, DIY advice for home and yard, car care, food, drinks, and technology. Additionally, he's a travel advisor and a leading men's travel influencer who has been featured in media ranging from New York Times to the Chicago Tribune, and LA Times. He's also been cited by LA Weekly "Top Travel Bloggers To Watch 2023" and featured by Muck Rack: "Top 10 Outdoor Journalists for 2022".

He and his wife Heather live in St Joseph, Michigan - across the lake from Chicago.