86Thousand400: ‘Stones of Life’ – Take your own advice

In his book The Chimp Paradox, the author Steve Peters talks about writing down your ‘Stones of Life’; the advice you would give yourself on how to live your best life summarised into bullet point form. Below are ours. Please don’t feel you have to take our advice, however if you write down your own ‘Stones of Life’ then hopefully it will help you to start achieving a few more of your goals. 1. Invest in Yourself: Put your own oxygen mask on first. Before helping others get yourself set.

2. Energy: We're either giving it to others or taking it in. It can take many forms; eating, drinking, sunbathing (enjoying the sun’s energy and simultaneously producing Vitamin D), to name but a few. Using food as an example, how does it make you feel? Being mindful about how things make you feel can shape the decisions you make in life.

3. Utilise your Assets: What are you good at? What are your strengths? What assets do you own? How can you help others? (Altruism) Who are your friends and colleagues? Could they benefit from your assets or help you by using theirs? If everyone practices being altruistic by helping each other out life becomes simpler and everyone feels good in the process. (Everyone's winning)! If everyone is selfish then life becomes a bit harder. What are your assets and how can you help others?

4. Live within your means: We're either working to earn money or spending it. Is the balance between earning and spending and meeting your wants and needs right for you? In most parts of the world it is a lot harder to earn money than it is to spend it. Think about the time it took you to earn that amount when you next buy something. Is it a good or a bad investment? Try to only make good investments. Of course we all make mistakes but simply try not to make them twice. Buy once and buy well. Invest in yourself and your health and happiness. Consider adopting a minimalist lifestyle.

5. Who are you comparing yourself to? Money – a child in a third world country or a city banker? Health – An Olympic athlete or the majority of the population? Happiness - a child in a third world country or a city banker?

6. Leave no trace: Take responsibility for your own actions. Why leave it for someone else?

7. Move towards your weaknesses: We all have weaknesses, whether it be fitness or health related or personality or socially related. If we move towards those weaknesses we can start to reduce them. 'We are only as strong as our weakest link'. If your weakest link isn't too bad then you have nothing to worry about!

8. Happiness: Attentional energy and pleasure/purpose balance. How much attention do we give to things that make us feel happy? Practice mindfulness. There are a certain number of things in life that we cannot control or sometimes even influence e.g. feelings, hormones, the weather! However everything we can control e.g. thoughts, diet, environment, people we surround ourself with. Why not try and implement changes that make us feel happier?