Do Less
Of the Things That Aren't Good For You

Happier men do less of things that aren’t good for them.

It's very easy to have most of your precious time wasted on nonsense. 

Other people are only too happy to drag you down. 

Excessive talking and gossip.  Hanging on the phone for hours.  Going to pointless meetings.  Getting involved in extra activities.  Joining groups.  Caring about things that have no relevance for your life.

Using guilt and manipulation to get you to work more for less money or for free.

You find yourself with no free time to just sit and think.

This list of things to cut back on should be obvious, but it is not. So here are some of the biggest time wasters that you can cut back on and it will not cost you anything and in some cases will save you a lot of money.

Do Less of These

Do Less TV

I like TV. I have my favorite shows. I can spend a few hours in front of the TV just like you. But really, how can you do things you want to do and need to do if you are watching many hours of TV every day? You are just fooling yourself.

Besides, TV shows portray what we really want to be doing ourselves:

  • Joking around with friends
  • Making wise cracks
  • Avoiding work
  • Hooking up with someone new
  • Having lots of money to spend on fun
  • Traveling to exotic locations
  • Driving fast cars
  • Seeing beautiful people
  • Going to nightclubs,
  • Getting into mischief
  • Going on wild adventures
  • Saving the day
  • Solving crimes
  • Courtroom drama

So just start doing those things, instead of watching others do them.

Do Less of this

There are not too many shows about people sitting alone and watching TV.  Whenever you see people on TV watching TV it is always about making fun of the ones watching.

The people who make TV shows think of the ones watching TV are ignorant, lazy, uninspired and have nothing better to do than watch TV.

Do Less Eating

I’m kind of fat. I have a large frame so I can carry a lot of weight. It is just that I am too big. I am working on it and I have cut back tremendously on what I eat. Most of my meals are now much smaller than what I used to eat. I have mostly given up the excessive junk food I used to devour.

I still love the junk; I just don’t have so much on a daily basis. It is a lot less expensive to buy food for me now, which is nice. I have lost some pounds and do feel better. I know it is hard to lose weight, but you really cannot go wrong by eating less food. One of the better tips I ran across is to just eat half of what you ate for breakfast and lunch. I do this now and I now don’t miss those big breakfasts and lunches. You will be hungry for dinner though.

But you cannot go wrong by eating less. You will become leaner and healthier. You will spend less money. And you will also save a lot of time that you spend on eating, planning meals, going out, buying snacks and cleaning up afterwards.


Do Less Drinking

I like to have a few alcoholic drinks at the right times. I love all the low calorie beers. I like an occasional Bloody Mary or a Whiskey Coke. I will have a Jagerbomb at a bar if the mood is right.

But mostly, I enjoy the low carb beer. I can control how much I drink when I stick to that. I do not party like I am in college or in my early twenties anymore. I just do not need that kind of fun.

Looking back, I did not need it then either. It has always been fun to drink a lot but I have always felt better when I stayed in control.

Drinking responsibly can be done. I never liked the feeling of being out of control. You are at the mercy of others at that point. Hopefully your friends will take care of you. But who knows, what if they are more out of control than you. Then what?

You really need to know how many drinks you can handle for your size. You need to be counting your drinks and know how long you have been drinking. Wear a watch and have a plan of how long you think you will be out and how many drinks you can have.

Knowing that, you can determine how many drinks and if you need to have some water and soda. It is not that hard to do the math.

Obviously, driving when you have had a lot to drink is more dangerous. Getting stopped by the cops will ruin your life. So will getting in an accident.


Do Less Excessive Exercising

Exercise is a classic example of something that is good for you turning into something bad for you. When I was in college I really wanted to be in great shape. I am not sure why.

Maybe I thought girls would be more attracted to me.

Maybe it was for my own vanity or sense of pride.

I would go all gung ho trying to get in great shape. I’d lift weights heavily many times a week. I’d ride my bike for miles. I’d go on long hikes. And I would take aerobics classes and bounce around with the girls and stretch like crazy.


What did I get for all this? I suffered aching shoulders, bad feet, constant soreness, exhaustion and less time for my schoolwork and everything else.


To top it off, I never got in that great of shape in spite of this huge amount of effort and time.

Don’t feel guilty if you are not at the gym every day. Work out as you see fit. Some exercise is better than no exercise. Not everyone has the genetics to be a massive, muscular bodybuilder, beautiful fitness model, martial artist or athlete. I would say that hardly anyone does. Look around, most people are in pathetic shape.

The ability of a small percentage of the population to get in remarkable condition is amazing. I think some people are born with this ability and then are able to focus on it and have the discipline to get to the level of extreme fitness they are at.

It just seems that most people are not born with this ability and trying to get in that kind of shape, no matter how hard they work, is impossible.

Plus, I think most of the great athletes use performance enhancing substances and build their entire lives around their sport. I don’t have a problem with that either. I wouldn’t mind trying some of that stuff at some point but it is just another expenditure I don’t want to make now.

The truth about very fit people from Bold and Determined.

The Secret to Gaining Muscle

The Secret to Gaining Muscle Part 2

The Secret to Gaining Muscle Part 3

Victor is excellent at getting to the truth.  Do less reading from poor sources, and more reading of exceptional writers.

The biggest thing that will help you to feel better is to eat much less than you are eating now, cut way back on junk food, do some gentle exercising a few times a week and some intense exercise as you can handle it.

I lift heavy weights 1 to 3 times a week at the most. I walk outdoors or walk on the treadmill as many other days of the week as I feel like I can and that I have time for.

I’m nearly 52 years old. I’m not going to be in a bodybuilding show, power lifting competition, run a marathon or be in a bike race. I don’t play any sports or do martial arts either.

I just want to feel good and look good. I do get carried away sometimes and my body lets me know right away that I’ve done too much. I’ll be exhausted, sore and start to feel myself getting sick. I know then that I have to go to bed early, take some naps and not work out again until I feel better.


Do Less Staying Up Late

I am not going to preach about going to bed early and at the same time every night. That seems hard to do and a boring way to live.

I like to stay up late on the weekends and then sleep in. I am either out late socializing or up late watching a good movie, reading a good book, surfing on the internet or something else fun.

I do not stay up late to clean the house or reorganize my stuff. Staying up late is for fun and for reaching my goals. It is not a way to catch up on stuff that should be done during the day.

If you are staying up late to catch up on work, do housework or errands then you need to re-evaluate your life.

I go to bed early most of the time so that I feel good most of the time. I go to bed when I’m tired and I feel no guilt.

Do Less Gossiping

I have never been one to gossip but people will spend an enormous amount of time doing this. I just do not see how this can help anyone. It seems that you could really have a lot more time for good things for yourself if you just cut the gossip out.

There is the time spent gossiping. There is the time spent listening. There is the time spent wondering if the stories are true and if you should do something.

Worst of all is the time spent doing this when you could be adding value to your life.

Do Less Talking on the Phone

I never liked talking on the phone for very long. I have talked to my mom, dad and good friends for up to an hour at a time, but not that often.

When I was married my wife would spend hours on the phone every single day. Before getting an unlimited cell phone plan, our land line phone bill could be up to $400, I am not kidding. She talked that much. The phone bill would show many hours a day and day after day.

It is impossible to get a lot done if you are on the phone for hours. The only exception to that rule is if you have a job or business that actually pays you to talk.

Do Less Hanging Around the Office

I am now keeping my hours at work right around 40. I used to work a lot more. I made more money, but my health suffered and I had little free time.

I do not miss staying late at work at all. I love having lots more free time and get irritated if I do have to work longer. If you are salaried worker the pressure on you to work longer will probably be intense.

I am an hourly worker, so I don’t have much advice but it would probably help you to be as organized as you can, work hard while you’re there, be productive and go home.

Do Less Worrying

I spent a lot of my life worrying about things that never happened. When I worry too much I tend to get a backache. The worry seems to have settled in the middle of my back and this really affects the quality of my life…

Being worried will not help you. If something is of concern you should spend some time determining what it is and seeing if there is anything you can do about it. Many times there is not. In that case, do nothing, and try to stop worrying.

Do Less Living in Fear

Being afraid only helps you in really dangerous situations. You should be afraid in those types’ of circumstances. This will help you to survive.

What I am talking about is not being afraid of circumstances that are inconvenient, frustrating and that you wish wouldn’t happen. These types of things will happen but you will survive. Life will go on.

For example you may be afraid of losing your job. This type of fear is common but it does not help you. You can only do the best you can at your job. You may lose it because you are not really qualified to do it or you screw up in some way. Or it may be because of circumstances beyond your control. You cannot control how the place you work is managed unless you are the boss or the main manager. You cannot control the larger economy. You can only control what you do.

Since there is nothing you can do about the big picture there is no reason to be afraid. You also cannot expect to keep your job if what you are doing is not needed anymore. You will just have to move on.

Do Less Staying in Bad Relationships

If you are in a bad marriage this advice doesn’t apply. Getting out of a bad marriage will take massive effort, lots of time, huge amounts of money and will bring you to the brink of ruin and despair.

All of that is worth it to get out.

But getting out of a bad marriage is a complicated subject beyond the simple tips in this article.

What I am talking about is getting out of relationships that you have just started that turn bad or aren’t right. When you have a bad feeling about someone, you shouldn’t feel like you have to continue the relationship.

If the person just doesn’t seem right for you, move on. Trying to get out of a bad long term relationships is so difficult; it is so much simpler just to avoid bad relationships from the beginning.

There is no guarantee that your good relationship will not turn bad, but it is guaranteed that your beginning bad relationship will stay bad. Do you get me?

Bad at the beginning means get out, now. If your girlfriend or boyfriend or friend is not treating you right you need to just walk away, now.

Having friends, lovers, partners and significant others is not worth it if they are not good for you.

Being good alone is better than being bad together. 

Do Less of all the things above and have more time to enjoy your life

Me at Corbett's Cabin. Top of the mountains at Teton Village
Me at the end of Cirque Trail
› › Do Less

The only way I could become the happier man I am today was by leaving my wife.  You might be in the same situation I was in.  I suggest you take a look at my book - Leave Your Wife & Become a Happier Man with the 3 Step System.

Click to go to learn more about the book

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