15 Ways To Level Up Instantly

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Good morning fam,

Recently I had a tweet that did #numbers talking about ways in which you (starting today) can radically change your life via leveling up as quickly as possible. I wanted to cover these steps more in-depth and rationalize that although not easy, they can be done with a relative amount of steady effort, concentration, and most of all consistency. Although this isn’t my normal finance, business, and tech newsletter I truly believe that if you utilize this list it will vastly improve all areas of your work, concentration, and life.

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I am not your guru. Mend this list to your needs, desires, and limitations. This list is comprised of principles and behaviors that I have found that worked for me. Along with this, I am well aware that this list isn’t for the faint of heart and if you are able to even complete 75% of these tasks and goals on a day-to-day basis you will likely and hopefully see a dramatic increase in your productivity, mindfulness, health, and most importantly overall happiness. Leveling up truly isn’t just “making more money” it’s largely about improving your own self-worth which in turn will carry over into all areas of your life - business, relationships, networks, and hobbies. Enjoy 🤠

1. Drink a gallon of water a day - It’s almost a no-brainer but a gallon of water is crucial to keeping hydrated, energized, focused, and of course, helps with virtually every system of your body. A hack that I use to lose stubborn weight is chugging water before every meal - works like a charm.
   
   💡 Action item: Go to your local 7-Eleven today and buy a gallon to refill every night and keep track.

2. Limit alcohol to max 1 day a week - This is a hot take but I’m almost convinced at this point that alcohol was invented to keep the rich richer and the poor poorer. The worst part about alcohol (besides the wasted calories) is the cascade of poor decision-making after a night out drinking. Let’s run through it: 
   

   • You go out on a Friday night and drink till the bar closes

   • You wake up at 11 am hungover and exhausted because you got terrible sleep

   • Your head is pounding and the only way to get over the hangover is to eat a greasy breakfast burrito which is packed with calories

   • By the time you realize it BAM it’s 4 pm and you have done absolutely nothing with your Saturday (working out is totally off the menu so that is skipped too)

   • Now it’s 5 pm and you get a text saying “It’s happy hour, where are you, the game is on” and you are right back into the mix

   • You blink and it is Monday and you haven’t worked out in 3 days, destroyed your liver, done zero extracurricular work
     
     💡 Action item: Keep track of how many times you drink (and the amount) in a single month. Notice how productive you are or unproductive you are around the days you decide to drink or not.
     

3. Go to the gym at least 4 out of 7 days - Like anything, you are a creature of habit. Flip the message of “I have to go to the gym today” to “I’m going to the gym today whether I want to or not”. Make it your new norm. You have time. It’s incredible how effective and efficient a quick 40-minute workout can be when not distracted by your phone.

   💡 Action items: Track in your notes app on your iPhone every day you go to the gym or every day that you miss - mark an x if you miss. This will inspire you to stay on track. Get an Apple watch and challenge track with others your rings - you will find yourself competing with whoever notifies you of their completed workout. The phrase “Just put on your shoes” resonates well … on a day that you feel like garbage and reaaaaallly don’t want to go to the gym just put on your shoes, go in there, start with slow exercises (can be simply walking), and before you know it you will start breaking a sweat and getting into it.
   

4. Walk 30 min outside at least every other day (perfect time to listen to your audiobook) - Just walking for 30 minutes can be life-changing for many. Like drinking water, it helps with virtually every system of the body. Most notably it kicks your metabolism into gear which can be crucial for weight loss. Put on your headphones, listen to your audiobook, and bam you’ve killed two birds with one stone.
   

5. Brush & floss your teeth after every meal - You’ve heard it before but I will say it again: You can only control what you can control. What is the first thing people see when they see you? It’s your face and smile. To a certain extent, keeping your teeth clean and white is largely in your control and will take you a long way.
   
   💡 Action item: Here is the toothpaste, floss, and electric toothbrush I use on a daily basis. If you are a big coffee drinker like I am make sure to swish with water between sips, especially after finishing. Do not use toothpaste after every meal (only should be used morning and night). Every month or so use a whitening crest strip.
   

6. Create a skincare routine - I am not an expert in this but likely there are people on the internet who are. This dude seems to know what he’s talking about, check it out here.
   

7. Meal prep for the week on Sunday - Meal prepping is crucial with any type of weight loss plan. I’ve found that when my meals or prepped (even just lunch) I don’t snack throughout the day. Most importantly you are saving 30-45 min at least of cooking by prepping for just one meal!

   
   💡 Action item: the first step to meal prepping is buying Tupperware. Do yourself a favor and buy good Tupperware out the gate because you will eventually when your cheap ones break.
   
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8. Up by 7 am either Saturday or Sunday - Again, getting a headstart just one day out the weekend is a crucial step to leveling up. If you get up at 7 am on Saturday or Sunday you are much more likely to workout, work for a couple hours, answer emails, and meal prep.

9. Accomplish your first task, make your bed - Being a military academy graduate I could probably write an entire newsletter on the importance of this but I will save you an eyesore and share this incredible video below.

   💡 Action Item: Watch Navy Seal Admiral McRaven’s University of Texas Commencement Speech and get ready to feel like you want to run through a brick wall.
   
   For those that didn’t watch, the main message about making your bed is it accomplishes your first task, and will move you to completing your second and third, etc. No matter how bad your day was you will always come back to a made bed.
   

10. Create a checklist of objectives every morning - My daily planner has been a life changer. I track everything in time slots and it’s rewarding as heck being able to check off what’s been completed.
    
    💡 Action item: Get a daily planner and start planning your days and week ahead. You can get the one I use here. 
    

11. 2 hours of work on Sunday to prep for the week - I can’t express how much ahead I feel when I get work done on a Sunday to prepare for the week. Even just writing out in my planner what I want to accomplish will save time during the week. Knockout the mindless activities on Sunday (checking emails, making a list of tasks) so you can save energy for critical thinking during the week.
    

12. 30 min of intellectual/self-help reading per day - I have never been a reader but when I discovered audio books everything changed. The first audiobook I ever completed was “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins (one of the best books I have ever read) and was the inspiration for the photo at the start of the newsletter.
    
    💡 Action item: Listen to your audiobook when you are on that 30-minute walk or when you are doing cardio in the gym. The minutes and pages will fly by.
    
    Books I wish I could read again for the first time because they were so good: Atomic Habits, Psychology Of Money, Flash Boys, One Up On Wallstreet, Zero To One, Rich Dad Poor Dad, How To Win Friends And Influence People, Can’t Hurt Me, Lean Startup, Die With Zero

    

13. Create a month-to-month budget plan - There’s a famous saying “The quickest way to be a better investor is to be a better saver”.

    💡 Action item: Get an Excel going that draws out every month of the year. Track all your expenses, subscriptions, income, etc. I promise you will start making better financial decisions. Here are some templates if you are lost.

14. Sell unnecessary items in your possession, and put all money from sales into index funds - Trust me you have too much stuff in your house that you rarely ever use. Just think for a second about how much you really use certain items in a given month and/or year.

    💡 Action items: I have sold countless items using Facebook marketplace and highly recommend it. After getting some sales, a good place to start is to look into the Vanguards Index Fund ETF list. I suggest looking at $VOO, $VYM, and $VTI … remember these are all ETFs you can purchase in your brokerage account.
    

15. Set up recurring deposits for your brokerage account - This is a no-brainer and one of the best practices that I started in the past year. Even if it’s $20 or $30 every other week, the cash will start to stack up in your account and you will be able to DCA into whatever ETF you found in point 14.
    
    Bonus: Increase your 401k by 2%, and you're welcome for the reminder - With the way inflation is going you are going to need a lot more for retirement than you probably are even planning for. Get ahead of that right now. Any time you get a promotion or pay increase it’s pivotal to increase your contributions to your 401k and brokerage accounts.

Hopefully, you enjoyed today’s newsletter. If you think this would help a friend don’t be shy and share!