Lifestyle Kit

I have to admit, last week when I opened the opportunity for consultancy, I didn’t expect the deep issues of work, life, relationship and impact of COVID19 that were shared.

Based on some of the queries that were raised and areas that some people asked me to advise on, I’m beginning a 3-part email series – The Lifestyle Kit.

Subscribe to the email list to get the rest of the Lifestyle Kit directly on your email.

A kit is a unit that contains the necessary things you need to get a job done or to go through a particular event. Makeup artists have a makeup kit, soldiers have a survival kit, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, engineers, etc. all have kits.

So, do you have a kit for getting through this impact season of COVID19 and other life-threatening calamities?

I’m not talking about the first aid kit in addition to the masks, gloves, and sanitizers. This Lifestyle Kit is simple to build and it will not only be necessary for this season, but it will also take you through the happier times of your life.

Here are the first 5 tools in your kit.

1. Healthy lifestyle habits (work out, eat, drink water)

Because we are naturally lazy beings, we will likely want to obey the quarantine to the extent of sitting in the house the whole day without much physical activity. It is also likely that we will limit our eating to what is affordable and not necessarily healthy or good for our bodies. Maybe because healthy food is more pricey and we are trying to be careful spenders.

It is also likely that one might want to cut back on food consumption to stretch out the resources as much as possible.

Knowing that your body is a tool of productivity, whatever you do or why you do it, there are three things that you must give your body:

Proper food

food is a lubricant for your body. Eat well to energize you and keep your brain working for your betterment. Finger foods such as carrots, pears, apples, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, grapes, avocadoes, etc. are nice to have in the house. They are healthy comfort foods that make up for junk that does nothing positive for your health.

Activity

Whether in a single room flat, four-bedroomed apartment, or a house with a compound, you and your children are not in short supply of activity that will keep your blood and body juices flowing.

You may not be able to go to the gym or out for a jog, but you can do stretches and simple workouts in your living room or bedroom. The internet is flooded with examples of workouts and activities that are family-oriented to keep you fit, and no you don’t need special work out shoes and clothes.

Water

Clean water cleanses both the outside and inside of our bodies. Inside, it takes care of every one of our internal organs including the brain which is the epicenter of all our creativity and decision making.

Why would we want to deprive our bodies of the very ingredient that makes all the difference in our lives? I keep saying that water is the fuel for our bodies while food is the lubrication.

Have you ever seen a man walk through a desert without water and food? What is the first thing they seek when their rations run out? Water!!!

2. Read & Learn

Feed your intellect. Feed your brain with knowledge and information that helps it grow and open your eyes to new or existing possibilities. This is not just for the children.

We have been tossed into a new dispensation of homeschooling, for those who have been taking children to private or public schools. There is a present need to have more detailed information than just the one that you needed when doing homework. Companies have adopted work from home with online meetings. Tech laggards have no option but to catch up. The home quarantine requires marital issues that were swept under the carpet for a long time, to be dealt with. Business owners and self-employed people need a new strategy in the current and future economy.

With the sea of knowledge that is available at our fingertips, it would be sad to go through this season without reading to improve at least one element in our lives.

Which Self Development or business impacting book would you like to read? The $100 Startup, The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, The Compound Effect, Before you Quit your Job?

You can buy a copy here and get started on a book.

3. Make your bed

I never understood, for me, why making the bed in the morning is always so therapeutic. There is just something that awakens when I see my straightened bed. It’s a sense of victory over my Achilles heel. I love my sleep. In fact, I believe it to be a God-given gift to His beloved. However, when morning comes, if I obey its sweet call courtesy of a warm bed, my day goes downhill because of guilt!

So when I wake up and make my bed, I feel like there is no mountain I can’t climb that day. It also gives me a 3-minute stretch as I tuck in the bedsheet corners.

If you haven’t been making your bed when you wake up, try it! It’s a free therapy session that fires up your brain to the next challenge of the day.

4. Social distance but socialize

How an airborne virus will be prevented by staying at 1.5 meters away from someone who might have it is beyond me. Nevertheless, this COVID19 has all of us staying away from each other and for those who are single or have long-distance relationships, this is a particularly difficult time.

We are social beings and we need to associate with others. Even the most introverted person will once in a while need some company.

Contribute to conversations on your WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, and Twitter threads in a way that is sensible and enriching to the participants. This is a basic level of socialization that can be engaging.

Make a habit of texting or calling friends and family. As I recently learned, people who are not used to social distancing might be suffering silently and your friendly check on them will be highly welcome.

5.Declutter your mind/ life

If you take a close look at your house, you will notice you have things, notes, papers, chargers, screws, broken or chipped cups and plates that you probably have not touched or interacted with in the past six months. If someone was to ask you to throw them out, you have a ‘pretty good reason’ for not doing so. Other things you are probably holding onto for sentimental reason but the fact is, in case of an emergency, you would not give them a second thought.

The other day I gave my family a challenge. I asked them to name one thing in the house that they would carry if we were to relocate with limited carrying capacity. That little exercise was more difficult when I applied it to the intangible.

What, in your current life – habits, beliefs, values, information, relationships, memories, etc is pure clutter? Could it be time to discard and create space for new helpful stuff?

So there are your first 5 tools to carry in your lifestyle kit: – Decluttering, Socializing, Health Management, Small Wins, Knowledge Enhancement

Read the next 5…