Ask HN: Do you have a cheat sheet for life?

Here's a possible answer:

First, fix health (8h+ sleep, diet with minimal processed foods and added sugars and seed oils, few hours of exercise a week)

Then, find meaningful work and good social support/tribe/friends

Relationships:

Spread kindness. Assume the highest and best intention of others. Ask questions out of genuine curiosity. Be generative. Tap into the listening of others and always respond with compassion and grace. Spend as much time as possible with people I love.

Health:

Move. Do something active every day that I enjoy and embrace the mantra, "I am strong in my body" (great for getting the most out of workouts)

Eat as much fresh food as possible. When a craving for junk food happens, think about how it will make me feel afterward then ask if I still want it. If yes, then enjoy fully.

Work:

Follow my curiosity. When inspiration strikes, do one small thing right away to set it in motion. Help others. Be generative.

Mental health:

Reframe "failures" as unmet expectations that need a bit of reframing so essentially, be kind to myself.

Embrace impostor syndrome. It means I'm learning, growing, and I care. Focus on how I can improve on yesterday vs comparing with others.

Work actively on self-acceptance.

Parenting:

Experiment, experiment, experiment. Try lots of different things and double down on the things that work that enable your child to be great citizens and confident in who they are.

Help children be in control of their emotions by putting words to their requests.

Help them be resilient by teaching them how to accept hearing "no"

It goes fast. If your youngest is over 3 and your oldest is under 11, this is the best time in your life with your children. They are old enough to do things with you and young enough to want to do them and have the time to do them with you.

On happiness:

Happiness is not a destination. It comes in moments. The trick is to be present when they happen. In 100 years what you've done with the majority of your time on earth won't matter much if at all. In 10 years what you think is important now won't be. In 1 year the extra time at the office, away from your family and things you love to do will be discarded for the next new thing. So don't miss your moments of happiness striving for some destination you believe will make you happy.

Remove things the decrease your moments of happiness (negative people, indecision, unhealthy habits, etc).

Ask high quality questions to get unstuck and create more moments of happiness

Life's one of those things that you can't explain. As I've aged I've learned facts that I can't communicate to younger people. Presumably more of these will reveal themselves to me as I age more.

Bible. Exercise. Mechanical keyboard. James Allen books. Ignore politics. Throw away your TV. That's my cheatsheet.

my life motto is "don't be stupid" and it's the best life advice I can give or take. of course I have failed following this advice as much as I've succeeded. which also further proved my advice to be a really good advice.

if you feel like crap, fix (in order of priority): sleep/nutrition/exercise

don't beat yourself up over "missed" opportunities, like getting into university or a job, there's always an easier long way around

play the long game, generally.

1. yolo