Whether it be something to buy, an experience, a hobby, a perspective, or any anything else, please share some thing you recommend.<p>Some things I recommend to most people I meet:<p>- Google Chromecast. While the chromecast does not add any new functions, its ease of use is so high that you will get a lot of utility from it. Due to how easy it becomes to stream music/tv shows/movies etc from your phone/tablet/computer to your TV, you will end up streaming all the time. For example, now whenever I am near my living room, I'll put on music through my TV or an episode of Seinfeld or something.<p>- E-reader. They are quite cheap. I find the reading experience to be far superior to reading a physical book (especially if the book is heavy). You now have access to almost any book whenever you want it (and potentially for free/low prices). Anecdotally, I have heard that once people buy an E-reader, they find that they end up reading significantly more.<p>- Squash (or any other quick-cardio based sport instead of a cardio workout). Each game is short but still an incredible work out. You feel great afterwords and most importantly, each game is a ton of fun to play (a lot more fun than running on a treadmill). It's easy to learn/start out and not very expensive (atleast in the places I've lived)
Read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. It's about a psychiatrist's experience in Auschwitz, and helps with identifying purpose and finding meaning in life.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27s_Search_for_Meaning" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27s_Search_for_Meaning</a><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/MansSearchForMeaning_201507" rel="nofollow">https://archive.org/details/MansSearchForMeaning_201507</a><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/080701429X" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/0...</a><p>Try to be 1% better and whatever you're focusing on improving. It's manageable. It's realistic. It adds up.
Get lots of sleep, and exercise regularly.<p>Even if you're in a job you don't like, you'll still feel okay about life (serious depression issues aside).<p>Everything seems 10x worse when you're not sleeping well.<p>How do you sleep well? Get rid of your TV. Seriously, throw it out. You don't need it. Read a book that doesn't pertain to your career 30 minutes before you intend to go to sleep.
I cannot recommend running enough. It's the best form of free therapy (well, after you buy proper shoes that is) on this planet. I don't run huge distances anymore (25+ km on weekends was regular, I've run two marathons, but now I stick to lifting mostly at the gym) but I've never gone on a run I've regret in a decade of doing it.
Learning to Cook - Alton Brown started me down the path of learning cooking from a science/chemistry point of view. After a year of on and off research I've been able to make meals from just things I find on sale over the weekend. It's almost like a puzzle. The pieces are all the food on sale (potatoes for $0.49 sign me up!) and the final product is full meals that I cook. (Plus always good way to impress another by cooking for them).<p>Monogatari (Anime Series) - It is a jumbled mess that is a jumpy as it is deep. If you don't want to see any fan service at all in your anime I would skip over this. If you don't mind that (or enjoy it) this is a great anime. It doesn't knock my favorite anime (Cowboy Bebop) off of my Number one slot, but this one is a great that I would wager will stand for the future. (Bakemonogatari is the first season).<p>Don't Panic - There's a reason it is written in big bold red letters on the universe's best selling book.
Google Play Music - my favorite music collection service. Same price as Spotify ($10/month), but with the bonus of being able to upload 50,000 of your own song files (for any oddball music you have that isn't in their collection) as well as YouTube Red. Generally less buggy and doesn't have Spotify's streak of weird/terrible software design choices. (there's a script for porting your playlists over from Spotify: <a href="https://github.com/rckclmbr/pyportify" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/rckclmbr/pyportify</a> )<p>Tweetdeck - I'll bet a lot of people on HN already use it, but to any Twitter users still using twitter.com instead of Tweetdeck, I highly recommend giving it a shot. The abundance of information on screen will be overwhelming at first, but give it a day or two, and your brain figures out how to make sense of it and love it.<p>Pushbullet - Receive and write text messages from your PC via Chrome extension. Receive push notifications for just about anything. I combine it with IFTTT to receive alerts for RSS feeds of blogs and comics I like (my recipes if anyone's curious: <a href="https://ifttt.com/p/oxguy3/shared" rel="nofollow">https://ifttt.com/p/oxguy3/shared</a> ).
If you're a nail biter, I can't recommend N-Acetyl Cysteine enough. I was a nail biter for my entire life - I don't think I'd used a clipper in over a few decades. On a recommendation I tried NAC and haven't bitten my nails since. I don't even take it anymore - after a few weeks the urge to bite never came back.<p>It was actually a key moment of enlightenment.<p>First, I realized how powerful, yet fragile habits can be. By forming habits, you can do things effortlessly for years on end without even thinking about it. At the same time, small interruptions can derail the behavior permanently.<p>And second, I realized that what we eat can influence our behavior in ways which are imperceptible. When I took NAC, I didn't feel any different - I just didn't bite my nails. It got me thinking that I should be more careful about what I put in my body, because even little things can make a big difference. Since then I've learned to cook, and now eat a far healthier diet than I used to.
A couple of suggestions of ideas that have worked well for me.<p>- Find a purpose in life. This does not have to be some big, grand thing but just something that you are passionate about. For example, I like to create products and businesses.<p>- Help others because that gives greatest joy. I have deeply thought about what makes me very happy and I realized I feel really good when I have helped someone even in a small way.
Sketch. I've transitioned my UI/UX workflow completely from Photoshop and haven't looked back. The hype is real and well-deserved.<p>Truman Capote's book - In Cold Blood. Also, The Great Gatsby. There are countless phrases littered throughout both where I just think 'fuck, that is really something'.<p>Keto. It's easy to stick to and I've consistently lost weight. I no longer have brain fog, bloating, and I can't even remember the last time I felt hungry or craved sugar.<p>Buddhism / meditation. It helps being thankful and to understand that there is something more to life than what is on the surface.<p>The Doors because, well, Jim Morrison.<p>Water. Seriously, drink more of it.
Kettlebells. They're a good, time-efficient way to get a bit of aerobic and a bit of anaerobic exercise. Especially useful if you have problems that stop you running, e.g. foot problems or knee joint issues. Just make sure to get the technique right before you push yourself with them.
Taoist Tai Chi <a href="http://taoist.org" rel="nofollow">http://taoist.org</a><p>It helps with balance, dexterity, openess to change, learning, letting go, relaxing and much more, both mentally and physical.<p>I got rid of 20 years of back pain and livea more healthy and balancee life now.
Keeping a journal or diary. It's great for mental health and creativity. Not to mention the many benefits of more focused journals (food, shop journals, etc...)