Welcome James Davis to KeeganSH.com – James is a chartered account who’s pound for pound stronger than most premier league footballers and would also know better how to deal with their millions!
James Davis – World’s strongest chartered accountant!
Keegan has asked me to write about “the methods that have helped me the most”, so I have broken this out into 5 distinctly different, but inextricably linked areas: sleep, happiness, work, gym and diet!
1. Sleep
I’ve written extensively on sleep and how much I love it!
I never used to think of sleep as a thing, it was just something I did when I was tired.
I didn’t actively track it and had no real idea of; hours slept, quality of sleep and how I felt in the morning.
Now I am very conscious of all those things and as a result I train well, feel mentally alert throughout the day, am rarely grouchy and haven’t been ill in 2 years, all of which I attribute to greater levels of quality sleep.
My methods;
- I try to go to bed and wake at the same times
- I make sure my room is dark, chilled and quiet
- I don’t use any electronics (computer/TV) before bed, but read for 30 minutes
Recommendations:
- Find your sweet spot first through trial and error. This means monitoring and tracking hours slept, quality of sleep (did you go right through or did you wake) and how did you feel in the morning.
- Once you’ve found what’s right for you, try to be consistent by going to bed and waking at same time.
2. Happiness
Happiness is largely an objective thing and isn’t entirely measurable. However, by being more positive you can increase happiness and much more.
My methods;
- Writing a “positive” diary every night before bed
Recommendations:
- I have a small A5 note book in which I write one page every night before bed. I try to be funny. At the end of the entry I write 3-5 good things that happened in the day.
Watch this –
- The diary has worked for me, but has also been proven in social psychology (see video).
In summary; positivity (which can be increased through writing a diary) leads to greater happiness, increased performance and a whole host of other good stuff.
3. Work
I am probably in the minority, but I actually really like my job, it’s challenging, intellectually stimulating and enjoyable. My only real criticism is that I am sitting down looking at a screen for the majority of the day.
My methods:
- Not believing in talent, but instead believing that hardwork will always prevail
I’ve always believed this subconsciously, but it was so eloquently put in the book Bounce by Mathew Syed that I started to really believe it.
Recommendations:
- Believe that with hardwork you can be the best (and read Bounce).
I always give 100% at work, and why not, because if I do then I came become the best.
4. Gym
My methods:
Training legs.
Why? Its hard, it gets results, it teaches mental toughness (if you have done a hard legs session everything else is easy in comparison), you look better aesthetically, it will improve sexual and sporting performance, it will increase testosterone and growth hormone leading to further gains elsewhere, it will burn fat….need I say anymore?
Recommendations:
- Squat more
5. Diet
2 years ago, I ate what was then, in my mind, a normal diet.
However it turns out that normal, isn’t optimal.
I have now gone from 14% bodyfat to a consistent 8%, I have more lean muscle, look better, have more energy, less lethargy and feel happier, avirtuous circle!
My methods:
- I reduced my consumption of carbs, especially gluten (now entirely cut out of my diet)
- I increased my consumption of meat
- For James’ tips on superfoods click here
Recommendations:
Implement changes slowly. Going from current diet to a low carb, high protein diet is hard and unsustainable.
Follow James Davis on twitter @jimmydiv123 for sporadic nuggets of knowledge, thoughts, photos and the occasional retweet and check out his blog jamesdonaldavis.wordpress.com
Made with Bullet