2 Simple Routines That Will Smith Swears By

If you prefer pursuing  your goals and achieving extraordinary things rather than just taking life as it comes, here are a few simple routines that will drastically improve your progress in all the other areas of life. They're simply contagious.

Being physically active

It has never been easier to lead a sedentary lifestyle. Sitting is a silent killer and if you neglect that aspect, the consequences from a long-term perspective are quite damaging. 

Hitting the gym 3 times a week won't save you if you spend the rest of your day sitting in front of a screen, whether at the office doing some work or at home watching television. 

I've noticed that adding 1 hour walking sessions to my daily schedule highly improves my mood, productivity and overall wellness. Other than that, I lift weights 3-5 times a week, depending on my schedule. 

Reading books

Books have had a tremendous impact on the quality of my life, thoughts and ideas. Whatever problem you deal with was already solved by at least a dozen of people. At least one of them wrote a book about it. 

Reading has so many benefits I just can't imagine my life without it. Yet there are plenty of people who fully ignore this aspect. You'd hear them saying they don't have time to read or money to buy books or other nonsense that don't make sense. Books are damn cheap. And the only way to have time to do something is to prioritize. So if you end up in a situation when you can't find 20 minutes a day to read, most of the time you're fooling yourself. 

I read 1 hour a day during commuting. Carrying my Kindle wherever I go helps a lot, because if there's a moment of free-time, I can always fill it with reading meaningful books. You can check out my recent book recommendations post here.

Another incredible benefit of reading is that it improves your writing. Whenever I neglect my time for reading, I can see the negative effects in my writing performance. While I was writing my recent positive attitude book, reading helped my to write better content. 

What it takes to follow any routine

In order to pursue any routines, you need to learn how to have self-control - see this - so that you can stick to your commitments. Being physically active today won't change your life and reading just today won't change it either. You need self-control and discipline to repeat those tasks over and over again so that eventually, the compound effect kicks in.