| Saturday - January 2, 2010 You've already set some significant goals for 2010. (You have, haven't you?) And today, I'm going to ask you to set one more: to become a better person. You are going to do that by making a commitment to... - pay less attention to yourself and more attention to other people
- focus on opportunities, not problems
- criticize only when your criticism is helpful
- never speak badly about anyone
- never complain about anything
- perform an act of kindness every day
This will have a profound effect on your happiness. Nothing else you do will bring you peace of mind. Money won't. Success won't. Fame won't. The secret to substantial and enduring happiness has nothing to do with putting yourself first, nurturing your inner child, or any of the many other forms of narcissism so popular among today's pop psychologists. As someone who has spent too much time in the vain (and I do mean vain) pursuit of self-gratification, I am here to tell you that happiness and fulfillment in life is usually about doing less for yourself and more for others. This is not a revolutionary concept. It was, it seems to me, the essential message of Christ and Gandhi, to name just two. I'm probably not saying anything you don't already know. And you may be much further along than I am in making selflessness a permanent part of your life. Still, as I'm sure you've discovered, putting others first is a commitment that seems to require constant attention. And that is precisely why I am asking you -- as I am asking myself -- to renew that commitment now.
When I think about the happy people I admire, they are invariably those who are always looking out for others. I'm not speaking of missionaries and professional humanitarians but of ordinary people who make it a habit to care about those around them. They are the people who ask you how you are doing and pay attention to your answer. They visit you when you are ill, and have kind words for you when you need them. They are ordinary people with the same problems that other ordinary people have -- yet, they don't ask you to pity them. When they see you limping because of an injured knee, they don't tell you about their aching back. They give you sympathy and recommend a helpful treatment. When everyone gets up from the holiday meal and rushes off to have an after-dinner drink or smoke, they linger with the host -- helping out by clearing the dishes or wiping off the table. They know the names of your children. They remember your birthday. They know how you take your coffee. And though they want you to be better and stronger and more successful than you are, they never give you the feeling that they are unsatisfied with what you are, in fact, right now. I am fortunate enough to be married to one of these people. My elder sister is the epitome of this type. And I have friends and even colleagues that fit the bill. I am always astonished by their goodness and humbled by their strength. They make me want to be, a little bit each year, a better man.
Becoming a better person starts with trying to make the people in your immediate family happier. Your spouse and children, mother and father, aunts and uncles, and nieces and nephews were not brought into this world to solve your problems. That's your job. Resolve to spend less time complaining to them and more time listening to their complaints. Smile when you see them. Give them the time and attention they need to share their dreams and ambitions with you. Give them the advice they want and shut up when they don't want any. Become the person they turn to when the chips are down. Learn to love their peccadilloes and encourage them to overcome their faults. Above all, be loyal to them. Be a reliable and steady resource for your business colleagues, too. Help them achieve their goals -- not because you want their support but simply because you want them to succeed. And do something for people you don't know -- a stranger you come upon, a foster child, or a sick or poor person who can benefit from your help. Spend money. Spend time. Most of all, spend your love. Make this outward focus a natural part of your daily life. Do it purposefully and deliberately until it becomes second nature to you. This is not the kind of goal one can achieve in a single year. It will be on my list next year. Perhaps it will be on your list too.
At the top of my goal list every year is good health. Because to accomplish my other goals, I know that I need a well-running machine of a body and a sharp mind. Achieving good health is mostly a matter of developing two good habits: eating well and exercising sensibly. To help you come up with a regimen that works for you, here are some things to think about: - Eating well makes you feel great and look great. It also boosts your immune system, strengthens your muscles, limbers your joints, and puts energy in your stride.
- You don't need nearly as much strength training as you may have been led to believe. Most people can achieve all their strength goals with an hour of training per week.
- The most common health problem for Americans is obesity. Get your body fat measured. Ideally, it should be 12 percent to 16 percent for men, 15 percent to 20 percent for women.
- Mental and emotional vitality are just as important as physical strength, flexibility, stamina, and appearance. And they require the same two good habits: eating well and exercising sensibly.
I'm a strong believer in taking steps to turn back the hands of time. I am willing to die when I am 82, but I want to live with the energy and enthusiasm of a 25-year-old till then. In pursuit of this goal, I have read all the anti-aging literature I could get my hands on. I am reasonably knowledgeable about many of the studies that have been done. As a result, I've changed my eating and exercise habits. A big breakthrough came when I gave up weightlifting and aerobics. For many years, my body was screaming at me, trying to tell me that these unnatural forms of exercise were aging me prematurely. But I didn't listen. Then I met Dr. Al Sears. He talked to me about the science of aging and confirmed my body's message about weightlifting and aerobics. I gave them both up and took back 20 years of my life in a matter of months. These days, my exercise consists of yoga, PACE calisthenics, and submission wrestling. I spend only as much time I want with each, and I never, ever over-train. At nearly 60 years of age, this has put me in the best shape of my life. I'm gradually switching to a "native" diet. It consists of the kind of food our bodies were built for: free-range beef and chicken, wild-caught fish, organic vegetables and fruit. And I intend to do more walking and some meditation. But there are two methods for increasing longevity that I won't be trying. One is extreme calorie restriction. Substantial scientific research has suggested that we can live a lot longer by eating about a third of the calories that we are accustomed to. A doctor friend of mine has maintained an amazingly youthful body by limiting himself to 1,200 calories a day. He says he will live to 120. I tell him that when he visits my grave he should think about all the good meals I enjoyed that he never did. The other method is to inject snake venom into the bloodstream. I have a forty-year-old friend from England who looks 25 -- really looks 25. He's been treating himself this way for years and it seems to work. I'm not opposed to this method. I admire him for trying. But when he told me how he almost died when "the needle" slipped once, I decided to pass. I'm most optimistic about supplementation. I've read dozens of reports in the past few years about how supplementation can slow the aging process and restore vigor and strength to the body. THB's Jon Herring showed me one report by the Life Extension Foundation on resveratrol and pterostilbene with more than 60 scientific references. According to the report, "It's truly remarkable how closely these compounds can mimic the beneficial effects of calorie restriction on a molecular level."
Resveratrol and pterostilbene can be found in blueberries and grapes, among other foods. But Jon's team has concentrated these two nutrients in a new formula that provides far more nutritional punch than a glass of juice or a cup of blueberries. It is a bright purple powder you mix with water. I have tried it and the taste is excellent. And it's nice to know I don't have to starve myself to increase my healthspan. If you're interested, Total Health Breakthroughs is offering the formula at a significant discount for a small number of initial testers. Click here to learn more.
Getting a good night's sleep is critical to your physical, emotional, and mental health. But as you get older -- and this I can attest to -- it's harder to do. One big reason is that your body produces less melatonin as you age. Without enough of this natural hormone, you sleep fewer hours, get up more often during the night, and wake up earlier. For years, natural health doctors have been trying to solve this problem by recommending melatonin in pill form. But, they've discovered, taking it in a pill is inefficient. By the time it circulates through your gut (where it is digested) and works its way up to the sleep center of your brain, most of it has been destroyed. A much better way to ingest melatonin is by spraying it into your mouth. It's absorbed immediately into the bloodstream and is, therefore, much more potent when it reaches the brain. Dr. Sears has a formula for this. He calls it Native Rest. I first tried it last year and it worked very well. I keep it by my bed and take it with me when I travel. If you'd like to know more about it, go here.
Speaking of sleep aids, here's another thing to consider. Do you know how much extra sleep the average sleeping pill will give you?
The answer might astonish you. The average, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health, is only 11 minutes!
Along with the risk of addiction and side effects like brain fog and daytime drowsiness, that's another good reason to ditch the pills.
For a free report from Total Health Breakthroughs on how to put sleepless nights behind you once and for all, click here.
[Ed. Note: Michael Masterson welcomes your questions and comments. Send him a message at AskMichael@ETRFeedback.com.] | 
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