Hello and welcome to 4-Minute Friday where I share, in four minutes or less, the latest things I’m doing to enhance my health, develop a better mindset, make day-to-day life easier, and other shenanigans.
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Mindset I’m Embracing:
I stumbled upon an Instagram post recently that surprisingly added some value to my life — unlike most things on social media nowadays.
The quote read something like this… “if your life were a movie, what would the audience be screaming at the screen telling you to do right now?”.
Read that again.
Anything come to mind?
We’ve all seen those horror movies where the protagonist walks toward their fatal end while we scream for them to turnaround and change course.
And although it’s obvious to us viewing from outside the situation, they have no idea what’s to come. They’re oblivious.
Metaphorically, this overlays quite seamlessly with real life.
Even though we subconsciously realize we could benefit from a course correction, we often get lost in the busyness of life and get stuck.
Which is why taking time each week or even daily to ask yourself the question above can be so powerful.
Another way to put it is if your best friend were in your same situation, what advice would you give them?
We frequently have no issue offering rational guidance to others while being terrible at doing the same for ourselves.
Therefore, stepping outside your monkey mind and looking at the landscape from a broader viewpoint can be an absolute game changer.
Take a couple minutes and give it a try!
Reminder That Age is Just a Number:
No, this isn’t justification for Leonardo DiCaprio’s dating shenanigans — I’ll let People Magazine lead the critique on that topic.
This is about Jeannie Rice, a 77-year-old marathon runner who continues to take life in stride as she ages like fine wine.
Nothing that she does is going to come as a surprise to you, either.
She doesn’t credit a magic berry potion extract, mouth tape, or a daily cold plunge for her current health status.
Rather, she picked up running and a fitness-focused lifestyle at age 35 and hasn’t looked back as she’s completed over 100 marathons with many of them clocking in as world records for her age group.
She’s done this while maintaining a 3x/week strength training regimen and has suffered ZERO overuse injuries such as tendinitis or stress fractures.
Who was it that said running will tear up your knees?
Digressing, I think the overall message here is that, yes, adhering to a consistent exercise regimen is crucial to living a long, healthy life.
Period.
But more subtly, I think Rice’s story also demonstrates that maintaining a sense of purpose and goals to strive for makes a world of difference.
She has spent much of the latter portion of her life preparing for marathons which means waking up with a to-do list to check off each day.
As opposed to rolling out of bed lacking a sense of direction or any idea of what the day has in store — unfortunately, that’s reality for many in the later stages of life.
This isn’t propaganda for you to purchase a pair of Hoka’s and sign up for the next marathon in your vicinity, rather, it’s yet another suggestion to find a physical activity you enjoy and stick to it.
For the rest of your life.
80, 90, and 100-year-old you will look back and thank you for doing so.
Finland Does it Again:
The World Happiness Report recently released their 2025 yearly update ranking the happiest countries in the world.
And for the eighth consecutive year, Finland took the crown.
Which means some deeper exploration into their methods is warranted in an attempt to spread the wealth to the rest of us.
The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) sought out to uncover these secrets after the outcomes were revealed.
When interviewing the Fins, they were graciously accepting of the award but rather than “happiness”, they agreed that a better way to summarize their way of existence would be “contentment”.
Tim Bird, the journalist covering this topic, realized that the Finnish life isn’t full of laughter and grandiose moments, rather it’s accepting of life as it comes.
This is a great reminder.
I think many of us get wrapped around the idea that the quality of our lives is determined by our “happiness peaks”.
But rather, it seems enjoying the mundane of life might be the key as opposed to striving for the fleeting highs.
Finland also just so happens to be the sauna capital of the world.
Of course I’d argue this isn’t a coincidence.
Finally, you might be wondering where the U.S. ranks.
Although we’re near the top of the list in terms of economic success, we stumble in at 24th when it comes to happiness and quality of life.
Maybe money can’t buy happiness after all?
What else?
Need a simple and straightforward goal for your upcoming week? Try keeping that screen time below 3 hours — I’ll be joining you. Even better, establish a penalty if you fall short.
Don’t live for the highs and lows — live for the here and now.
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DISCLAIMER
This is NOT Medical advice. Consult your medical professional before starting any supplement, diet regimen, or workout program.