At The Warrior Journal, we talk a lot about elevating, amplifying, and leveling up your lifestyle. We believe that the Warrior Spirit is most clearly seen in those people who boldly, courageously, and honorably confront the challenges and difficulties of everyday life in order to make themselves into better people.
The Warrior mentality is a form of radical responsibility that not only improves our own personal lives, but also seeps out into our families, our communities and broader society, creating a world that is better for everyone.
With that in mind, I thought I’d end this year by looking back over the past year and putting together nine ways that we can level up our lives in 2023. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does provide some of the best methods that I have found to increase your effectiveness and your efficiency in your life, no matter who you are or what mission you choose to pursue.
Without further ado, here are 9 ways to level up your life in 2023:
Number 1: Read Great Books!
One of the single best ways that I have found to transform my mentality, hone my thinking, and level up my life is by reading great books. As you read the thoughts and stories of great people, you inevitably start to adopt their mode of thinking. You challenge your own beliefs and assumptions about life, and you broaden your worldview.
For these reasons, I highly recommend making reading a regular part of your weekly and monthly schedule. If you are not a “reading” person, then audiobooks are a great alternative. Personally, I love throwing on my current reading list while I am traveling to and from the gym in the morning. It turns down time into productive time just by listening.
For my complete list of great books, check out my recent blog post.
Number 2: Create a Sacred Time / Space
I talked about this little tip in one of my earliest blog posts – 4 recommendations to revolutionize your fitness journey. Honestly, I think that this is one of the biggest game changers for people looking to make improvements in their lives.
Let’s be real, life is full of distractions! Every single day…sometimes every single minute, there is something that is calling for our time and attention. So, if we are to have any hope of making real changes in our lives, we need to make the new routine, habit, or resolution a priority. One of the best ways to do this is to set aside a sacred time and space.
This truth can apply to almost any area of life: fitness, journaling, meditating, a creative outlet, etc. YOU NEED A SACRED TIME AND SPACE. This can be early in the morning, or late at night, or during your lunch hour. It could be a gym. It can be on the top of a bicycle. It can be your bedroom or living room. It can be in your garage. It can really be any time and any place that you can SHUT ALL THE DISTRACTIONS OUT…for a short time, center yourself, and ENGAGE in the work that needs to be done.
Create that sacred time and space and level up your life!
Number 3: Get in a 45-minute sweat every day
I can’t stress enough the benefits that this simple routine will bring to your health and wellbeing. A simple, 45-minute exercise routine that makes you sweat will reduce stress, clear your mind, increase your mood, and exponentially amplify your energy.
Keep in mind, this commitment does NOT need to be an extreme workout. It could be something as simple as a brisk walk outside. Start as small as you want, but just start! As human beings, we tend to OVERESTIMATE what we can accomplish in the short term (hence the failure of all too many New Years resolutions), and we UNDERESTIMATE what we can accomplish in the long term.
Start wherever you need to start for you, but just focus on keeping it consistent and doing your 45 minutes a day. Trust me, your future self with thank you!
Number 4: Fix your circadian rhythm
If you truly want to level up and amplify your life, you need to prioritize SLEEP! Yes, sleep is where your body, mind, and spirit recover from the day and prepare you for the work that must be done tomorrow. It is not optional. IT IS A MUST!
If you are having trouble with your sleep patterns, one of the best remedies that you can do is to develop a ROCK SOLID morning and evening routine. It is for this reason that I have put together my own WARRIOR MORNING AND EVENING ROUTINE and I am giving it away ABSOLUTELY FREE! To download, follow this link, scroll down the page, and enter your name and email in the pop-up.
Number 5: Create a strategic plan for your year
This idea was the topic of a recent article that I posted on Commander’s Intent. A strategic plan has 3 huge advantages for your life:
- A Commander’s Intent Provides Focus
- A Commander’s Intent Provides a ‘WHY’ for your Life
- A Commander’s Intent Minimizes Deviations
If you truly want to level up your life in 2023, you need to start by making a conscious plan. Remember, a dream without a plan is nothing but a wish. Stop wishing, START PLANNING.
Number 6: Optimize your health
Most of the recommendations we have spoken about thus far have incorporated health to some degree. Well, this tip takes that idea to the NEXT LEVEL.
I am so passionate about optimizing my health and performance that it will be the subject of my upcoming podcast with Dr. Carleigh Golightly-Downing. Dr. Carleigh has worked as an anti-aging specialist for 3 years and has helped hundreds of people to optimize their health and level up their lives. You can find her website at this link.
Look out for our upcoming podcast next week!
Number 7: Start a writing / journaling habit
This idea may surprise some people, but trust me when I say that one of the best practices you can develop to focus your mind and level up your life in 2023 is simply by writing on a regular basis.
I am so passionate about this topic that I actually made it the topic of one of my articles earlier this year. You can find the post here. In the article, I list 3 reasons why writing is important. Allow me to summarize below:
- Writing is maybe the best form of thinking
- Writing is useful for career progression
- Writing helps you to get what you need from other people
Writing forces you to take all of the jumbled thoughts in your head and put them onto paper. It allows you to empty your mind of all of the clutter. This has two advantages: (1) It reduces the stress inside your head and can actually lead to better sleep; and (2) it helps you to analyze your jumbled thoughts, put them in order, and dispense with those that are no longer helpful or necessary.
Simply put, if you want to level up your life in 2023, START WRITING REGULARLY!
Number 8: Embrace Gratitude
I talked about this idea a couple of weeks ago in the article, 3 Life-changing reasons to embrace Gratitude this Holiday Season. You can find the article here.
I start every single morning with gratitude. It is the first question that I answer in my journal: what are you grateful for today?
Answering this simple question on a regular basis has absolutely revolutionized my mindset. Think about it this way: whatever we focus on, we MAGNIFY. If you constantly think about your problems, you MAGNIFY YOUR PROBLEMS. And, if you do this often enough, you also train your mind to focus on your problems.
But, if you choose to consciously focus on your what you have to be thankful for, then you MAGNIFY YOUR GRATITUDE. This has 3 benefits:
- Gratitude protects us from a destructive mindset of Victimhood
- Gratitude provides Perspective
- Gratitude Reminds us that we can Overcome!
Level up your life in 2023, embrace Gratitude!
Number 9: Enhance Your Warrior Spirit
The Warrior Spirit is that force that enables us to boldly, courageously, and honorably confront the opportunity and danger we face in their lives. This is the entire focus of my upcoming book, Redefining the Warrior Spirit, due out in March 2023.
In my book, we will explore what the Warrior Spirit means in our modern Western culture, especially as it concerns the 4 primary warrior virtues of Service, Truth, Strength, and Fortitude.
If you are interested in learning more about how to incorporate this essential spirit into your life, then I highly recommend signing up for my regular newsletter here.
Conclusion
As we head into this new year, I hope that you all take a moment and consider how you can level up your life in 2023. These are my 9 recommendations, but I would love to hear yours. If you have any thoughts, feel free to drop them in the comment section below.
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Jayson Downing is a former Marine Corps Captain and now works as a business owner, author, writer, speaker and podcaster dedicated to helping people find the Warrior Spirit inside of themselves.
To keep up with Jayson, subscribe to his newsletter here.