Toss Your Resolutions, Focus On This Instead

Today is the last day of 2022. It's a great time to reflect on accomplishments, failures and changes over the last 365 days.

Many of you have completed your annual planning, goal setting and set some resolutions for 2023.

But I don’t want to talk about 2023, annual goals or resolutions.

I want to focus on January 2023. Not a 10 year vision, not a 3 year plan, not annual goals. Just one month.

Why?

Because the idea of thinking that far into the future freaks many guys out.

If you are in your 50's or 60's and think about 10+ years from now, all of a sudden you are nearly 70 years old (or maybe approaching 80).

And if you aren’t in a good place with your health & fitness, that picture isn’t pretty.

This causes many Men to stay in denial and not take any action.

So let’s look at one month from now: January 31, 2023. That’s it.

We aren’t going to do any goal setting.

Instead, we are going to talk about setting standards in at least one area of your life.

Personal Standards

Yes, you have current personal standards. We all have default settings for standards in every area in life, whether you intentionally set them or not.

For example, many men have a standard of 2 IPA's every night. Often times that's their minimum standard.

Default standards tend to be ones that we aren't proud of. They lead to weight gain, poor sleep, lower fitness, foggy thinking, and sub-optimal performance.

The key is to identify a few important areas that you know can improve your life and then set standards for those areas.

Where We Start

At Argent Alpha, we set standards in 5 areas, what we call The Alpha 5:

• Mindset

• Sleep

• Nutrition

• Fitness

• Hydration

Here is an example of a standard for each area:

Mindset - every morning I spend 5-10 minutes planning my day and set my top 3 priorities.

Sleep - I stop eating 3 hours before bed.

Nutrition - I eat 150 grams of protein everyday.

Fitness - I lift weights 3x per week.

Hydration - I drink half my bodyweight in ounces per day.

The idea is to choose a standard that is slightly better than your current standard. Then, follow that standard. Make it non-negotiable.

Most of our guys set standards in all 5 areas and as the standards become habits, they raise their standards.

Some people start by setting a standard in one area and over time they add standards.

Raising Standards

As your standard becomes a habit, start raising your standard to improve your outcomes.

Here is an example of someone who raised their Sleep standard:

Initial sleep standard: I stop eating 3 hours before bed

Raised sleep standards:

• I stop eating 3 hours before bed

• I stop drinking all liquids 2 hours before bed

• I stop all screens 1 hour before bed

• I stop all caffeine by 1:00 pm or earlier

• I go to bed the same time every night

• I sleep in a cool, dark room

• I wake up at the same time each morning

We measure sleep quality using the Oura ring. This person increased their sleep metrics across the board, including overall sleep score, deep sleep, REM sleep, and many other factors that contribute to sleep quality.

This was achieved by raising their sleep standards over time.

The impact of improved sleep quality is dramatic in making you Harder to Kill (that's a subject for a future newsletter).

All of our standards are designed to make Men over 50 Harder to Kill. Some guys start by focusing on one standard, master it, and then add another standard.

Most of our guys start on all 5 with very attainable standards. As they become habits, they raise those standards.

The results of this process include lower body fat %, improved cognitive function, increased muscle mass and strength, higher energy, age reversal and increased hope and optimism about the future.

Improve your standards, improve your life.

Back To You

What area of your life will you decide to create a standard?

My recommendation: start with hydration. It’s easy to measure and master in a short amount of time. Aim for half your body weight in ounces. If you are a 200 lb. man, drink at least 100 ounces of water per day.

Why hydration? Up to 75% of Americans are dehydrated. This causes brain fog, lowers metabolism, increases risk of kidney stones and all other sorts of problems.

Easy way to hit your target ounces: Buy a 25-40 ounce water bottle. Divide your target ounces by the capacity of your water bottle. So that 200 lb man above has a target of 100 ounces and a 25 ounce water bottle. He drinks at least 4 of those per day.

Creating a hydration standard is a no cost, high reward habit you can start today.

This is low hanging fruit.

And coffee, soda, ice tea and other liquids don’t count. Pure H2O is what you want.

Don’t overthink this. Pick an area that is important to you, create a standard that is higher than your current standard, and make it non-negotiable.

On January 31, 2023, review your results. Make adjustments if necessary.

Then, create another standard. Keep following this process and you'll be amazed at the changes you'll experience in 2023.

Improve your standards, improve your life.

Happy New Year to you and your family!

Ready to join other Men Over 50 who are becoming Harder To Kill everyday?

We are accepting applications for our next cohort of Men Over 50. If you want to make 2023 your best year in decades, complete this form by 12:00 CT on January 15, 2023.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share this with 3 Men over 50 who you think might be interested in becoming Harder To Kill. Thank you!

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