No-nonsense life advice for people who like to hear it straight

I won’t even faff around with an intro (kind of).

Here’s the no-nonsense advice I’ve picked up and used to great effect over the years:

Give trust freely in the moment, but don’t build your future on the assumption it will last. People change, and not always in your favour. Assuming your friends will remain friends makes you vulnerable. Don’t tie yourself into anything you can’t easily walk away from.

Sometimes, the most enlivening decision you can make when you feel a little low or fed up is to refuse to be a loser. You use your being fed up as fuel, not an excuse to spend all morning eating ice cream in your pants. Stop whining and do something. Yes, life is often tough, but that’s no reason for you to succumb to its frequent waves of overwhelm.

Being nice will not necessarily earn you respect. People can feel it when you use ‘niceness’ as a manipulative tactic to avoid being disliked, to protect your ego. Let go of Mr/Mrs Nice, stop trying to please everyone, and experiment with being honest and friendly, rather than nice and dishonest.

No long-term therapy. If you’re consistently struggling emotionally, you may need a little therapy to get you thinking in a way that serves you better. But once you’ve done this, don’t stay in therapy for years, as many do. Get out of it quickly, and instead focus your attention, not on the past, but on success and the future. This means embarking on a journey of success in business, in art, in relationships, and in doing things. The best therapy is action, not wasting years talking about your daddy issues on a sofa.

If you aren’t seeing the results you want in your life, it’s not them; it’s you. You’re either simply not skilled enough or you’re not putting in the repetitions required to see it through. And that’s fine because you now have an opportunity to narrow down your focus to the things that have good potential for working for you, coupled with actually putting in far more work than you anticipate to get it. Practising more, and handling more NOs, setbacks, and failures is likely why you aren’t there yet.

Most of your problems are rooted in what you consume. You’re not depressed about your job. You’re depressed because you eat microwave dinners and watch p*rn. Many people consume a conveyor belt of absolute trash, and many even believe that what they’re eating is actually healthy when it’s anything but. Your gut is closely connected to your brain and your happiness and focus. Ignore the masses and focus on what makes you feel good long-term. In the diet arena, avoid grains, starches and sugars and amp up your quality proteins. I know, I’m simplifying, but understanding what’s best for you in the kitchen and sticking to it will transform your life.

One of the absolute best ways to guarantee your misery, and lose the love and respect of others is to make everything about you. When you’re quick to take things personally and go off on a sulk, you become highly vulnerable to perceived rejection. When you’re unable to handle what looks like rejection or criticism, guess what? You immediately close off about 90% of the opportunities available to you. Because most opportunities require you to lean into the possibility you might be judged, criticised or rejected.

If this made sense to you, but you need a little more guidance on developing a level of mental resilience that 95% of people will never have…

Join over 250 students who love Untethered Mind course here.

Alex