Several years ago, I was at an event with a group of people that I had just met. It was the week before the Super Bowl. NFL quarterback Tom Brady was the main topic of conversation.
One of the women in the group brought up Brady’s habits and lifestyle. He follows a unique set of healthy living principles that he refers to as The TB12 Method. This approach includes drinking virtually no alcohol or caffeine, eating virtually no processed foods, and sleeping nine hours each night.
“That guy is such a weirdo,” the woman said.
“Yeah, that’s no way to live,” said one of the men in the group.
I just sat there and listened, while thinking to myself about the amazing results of Brady’s “weirdo” lifestyle.
His health and performance have improved after the age of forty. He is widely considered the greatest of all-time in his profession. He is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He is married to a supermodel.
Do the Opposite
Tom Brady’s habits and lifestyle are not typical. That is why his results and life are not typical. Unlike Tom Brady, most people eat too much junk food, drink too much caffeine and alcohol, and go to bed way too late. Then, they make excuses (no time, poor genetics, etc.) for why they aren’t where they’d like to be.
The late speaker and author Earl Nightingale once said, “Watch what everyone else does. Then, do the opposite. The majority is always wrong.”
Unfortunately, most people watch what everyone else does, and then they do the same. For example, over 45 million Americans start a fad diet each year. It’s what everyone else does, so it seems like the right thing to do. In reality, over 95% of all dieting efforts fail. Even worse, research by Dr. Traci Mann of UCLA has found that more than 40% of people starting a diet will actually gain weight.
Summary and Final Thoughts
Pick an area of your life that you would like to improve. It could be your health, your finances, or something else. Then, ask yourself the following two questions:
- What do most people do to try to improve in this area?
- What are you doing to try to improve in this area?
If the answer to each of those questions is the same, you have a problem. Nothing great was ever achieved by following the herd. If you do what everyone else does, you will get what everyone else gets. You will be average at best. If you want to be exceptional in any area of life, figure out what most people do. Then, do the opposite.
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About the author: Pete Leibman is the Creator of StrongerHabits.com. He is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, executive recruiter, athlete, and peak performance coach. His work has been featured on Fox News, CBS Radio, and CNNMoney.com, and over 500,000 people across the world have read his articles.
