April Fuels

At the start of the year, I set myself another literacy challenge. Last year it was 23 books in 2023 and rather than just trying to read as many books as possible I also committed to learning a poem by memory per month. Last month’s poem was Today by Billy Collins. We had great fun trying to memorise this poem with its sharp visuals and really enjoyed the challenge. This month’s poem is Who Has Seen the Wind? by Christina Rossetti.

Who Has Seen the Wind?

By Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you;
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I;
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.

More creative nourishment for the month ahead is the changing of the clocks and the beginnings of Spring. Evenings are lighter and the trees are starting to bud; much more pleasant for evening walk. I have been planning a greenhouse for a few months now, the base went in last October in readiness. I am really looking forward to creating a cacti habitat and growing some Summer vegetables. I had a greenhouse for many years but when I moved location it unfortunately was a bit too decrepit to come with me. My usual greenhouse Mediterranean veggies were: chilli peppers, sweet capsicum, zucchini/courgette, zucca/marrow, long thin variety of melanzane/aubergine and unusual tomatoes. I will post a picture later in the year!

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Into March

At the start of the year, I set myself a literacy challenge. Last year it was 23 books in 2023 and rather than just trying to read as many books as possible I also committed to learning a poem by memory per month. Last month was Love’s Philosophy by Shelley and we both found it very hard to retain and visualise. Too long too! This month we have chosen the beautiful Today by Billy Collins. Illustration above created by Chat-GPT4.

Today

By Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary’s cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.

Our monthly culture is going well and I will do a quarterly review at the end of this month. Of my other goals for the month, sleep quality is varied as always and I am sporadically producing art as and when I can. As a taster, here is a photo taken in Nottingham this weekend at the Pugin designed St Barnabas Cathedral:

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Brain Food

At the start of the year, I set myself a literacy challenge. Last year it was 23 books in 2023 and rather than just trying to read as many books as possible I also committed to learning a poem by memory per month. I’ve also decided to read at least a page (and aim for a chapter) of a book each night. I’ve just completed a 400 page novel and started a new one this weekend. Apparently learning to recite a poem by rote can help exercise your memory cells! Last month we successfully recalled Robert Frost’s Nothing Gold Can Stay (I know it’s a short one but we needed to ease ourselves in). Our second poem of 2024 is:

Love’s Philosophy

BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

The fountains mingle with the river

   And the rivers with the ocean,

The winds of heaven mix for ever

   With a sweet emotion;

Nothing in the world is single;

   All things by a law divine

In one spirit meet and mingle.

   Why not I with thine?—

See the mountains kiss high heaven

   And the waves clasp one another;

No sister-flower would be forgiven

   If it disdained its brother;

And the sunlight clasps the earth

   And the moonbeams kiss the sea:

What is all this sweet work worth

   If thou kiss not me?

A popular Romantic poem suitable for the month that includes St. Valentine’s Day!

Follow a Football team

Another goal for the year was to start following a football (soccer) team and get interested in following the team’s ups and downs. Randomly, I picked out Aston Villa who happen to be doing really well at the moment in the Premiership. Their route to the F.A. cup is also on track and I have found the Villa smartphone app really useful in catching up with the players and weekly results. My only issue is that I used to be a big fan of Liverpool FC and it feels a bit treacherous to follow another side! What if Villa played The Reds? I would surely go back to Liverpool as my team. Consequently, I have returned to supporting Liverpool again and getting to know the current side; their strengths and weaknesses and the genius of The Boss, Jurgen Klopp. I’m still looking out for Villa but only out of interest, not a supporter to be truthful. Comparing the players, tactics and play of the two teams has been as equally brain engaging as the poetry and has proved stimulating – no wonder my teenage and younger self was so obsessed!

Pros: I have a team I can talk about results with to other members of staff and when Klopp announced he was leaving Anfield a week or so ago, I was genuinely interested not jut curious.

Cons: Premiership matches are only shown on Sky Sports so I am resorting to live text updates and results highlights. This is very annoying.

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Goals for 2024

As we start the new year, I have realised the personal benefits of settings some achievable targets last year. Short-term goals help focus the mind, give a sense of new psychological beginnings and embrace something more tangible than a resolution. Last year, I went for 23 Things to do in 2023 – it was very ambitious but thoroughly achievable but this year I am going to go for a few more basic ideas.

This is my goal list for 2024:

Daily positive habits
After using a selection of mindfulness apps for a number of years, I regularly use Headspace now and have decided this could be a daily habit built into my morning ritual! I get up at 6am and can easily do 15 minutes or so before breakfast. My Duolingo activity picked up during December and I am going to try to keep my ‘streak’ going throughout the new year.

Reading and brain exercise
Last year I aimed to read 23 books and smashed it! I’m not going to set a target this year but am to read at last a few pages each evening. We read that learning to recite a poem by rote can help exercise your memory cells! We have agreed to try and learn a poem each month (for my wife this will also be her creative stimulus for her artwork). Our first poem is:

Nothing Gold Can Stay

BY ROBERT FROST

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

Monthly culture
We did a few city trips and took the opportunity to go to museums, art galleries and theatres so want to make this at least once per month in 2024. It won’t have to all involve travel and could be the local cinema just as much as a national event.

Follow a Football/soccer team
I used to be a massive football fan (Liverpool FC) as a youngster, partly as a glory supporter and also as my uncle was a genuine fan. He took me to matches occasionally but then in the 1980s we had football hooligans, Heysal 1985 and Hillsborough 1989 (in which 38 and 96 fans were crushed to death and subsequently unfairly blamed). I stopped supporting any particular team and limited my interest to the FIFA World Cup. I often get asked by students who I support in the Premier league… this year I will randomly select a team to follow to the end of the season.

Improve sleep quality
In an effort to improve my sleep this year, I have decided to not read work email after 7pm, limit after hours blue screen (no iPad/phone screens after 9pm), seek a few early nights too. My sleeping is disrupted mainly by trapped nerves in my back but the medication knocks me out for 36 hours! Alcohol helps but isn’t the healthiest option.

Art space
It will be great to create a space for art at home and maybe get a press for making our own prints. This is potentially a medium term project but we are going to get started on this during the new year. The recent painting I did was completed in the garage with very poor light and no easel so anything will be an improvement.

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Recipes: 23 Things for ’23

It’s almost a year since I put together a list of 23 things I’d like to do in 2023. It was intended as a positive habit/motivational idea based on something I tried before. Experimenting with new recipes helps with variety and interest and we have quite a few recipe books and of course there’s always online recipes. One a month seemed a reasonable goal? Well, we both enjoy cooking and easily did more than one a month! Here is a sample of our Top 5:

1. One pan paella with vegan ‘chickun’ pieces
   A classic Spanish-style rice dish using saffron and short-grain round rice. We found a herbs/spices mix in a deli that inspired us and could’ve used a vegan chorizo rather than the chickun pieces. Essential sweet paprika makes this a warming and comforting winter dish! Recipe from Minimalist Baker here. We have made this again since using Sainsbury’s chorizo style vegan sausages and the result was much more golden.
2. Coronation Quiche (vegan version)
   A recipe spotted on The Vegan Society website here. This is made from broad beans and tofu and is incredibly satisfying! Although we haven’t attempted another quiche, we have used gram flour/chickpea flour for other recipes such as mini breakfast omelettes and Sicilian panelle.
3. Vegan Lancashire Hot Pot
   This uses oyster mushrooms, jackfruit and yeast extract to create a variant on the traditional family recipe. We based ours on a recipe from One Green Planet that can be found here.

   

   Lancashire hotpot (vegan)

4. Farfalle with portobello mushrooms and rosemary
   This is a very Autumnal pasta dish with a ‘dry’ sauce rather than cheesy one or tomato ragu. Good quality extra virgin olive oil and meaty mushrooms are a must with a pasta of your choice. We adapted this recipe to our tastes.
5. Singapore noodles and tofu
   We like to get noodles from our nearby Chinese take away restaurants and one will even make their Singapore-style noodles vegan for us by leaving out any egg or prawns. We made this dish using oven-baked tofu cubes and a very spicy, curry-based noodle stir fry. Mainly inspired by this recipe from Connoisseur Veg.

   

   Singapore chow mien with tofu

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Cocktails: 23 Things for ’23

It’s almost a year since I put together a list of 23 things I’d like to do in 2023. It was intended a positive habit/motivational idea based on something I tried back in 2014-15 and I re-read that post often to see what I achieved. I hadn’t intended to develop 23 new cocktails btw, the intention was just to try out something different and maybe… sophisticated?

We have a variety of pubs and bars where we live and even a dedicated cocktail bar. On a whim, I ordered an Old Fashioned in there only to find that the mixologist gave me some weird yellow, frothy drink in a fancy glass. I’m by no means an expert or even a connoisseur, but I knew this wasn’t even bourbon! I’ve sampled all the modern daiquiris, coffee martinis and passion fruit ones but some of these don’t pass my Hemingway¹ test. So, during 2023 I made an extra effort to try out some different recipes in Nottingham, London and beyond and try to recreate them at home too. Here are my personal top 5 cocktails from this year and years gone by.

1. Dirty Martini 
   A classic cocktail with 150ml of Dry London Gin, 25ml dry vermouth, ice and three green olives and the ‘dirty’ part is 25ml of the olive brine from the jar. In my opinion, the king of all cocktails and height of sophistication! I’ve drank these in the early hours at Moonshadows, Malibu (famously the haunt of Mel Gibson²) and recommended to friends and work colleagues alike. This year I had to teach a mixologist how to make it to perfection as it wasn’t on the London cocktail bar menu and he’d never made one before! He had a box full of unopened vermouth that he didn’t know what to do with…
2. Caipirinha
   Take 200ml cachaça rum, 5 tbsp of caster sugar, citrus juice and lots of ice. The perfect summer cocktail in the sun that we have enjoyed on our visits to Portugal. 
3. Zombie
   The classic Halloween cocktail! Blend 25ml white rum, 25ml dark rum (I used spiced rum), 50ml lemon juice, 1 tsp grenadine and 150ml pineapple juice. Serve with cherries and mint sprigs on a bed of ice.
4. Manhattan
   A new favourite; use 75ml bourbon (I like Bulleit), 15ml extra dry Martini vermouth and 15ml sweet vermouth, 2 dashes of bitters, morello cherries and some of the juice from the cherry jar. Serve with a strip of orange zest. 
5. Negroni
   This is all about the balance of flavours and can be easily messed up. Use 25ml gin (try Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla), 25ml sweet vermouth, 25ml Campari stirred with ice. Serve with a slice of orange. This is my go to Christmas special!

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¹ The legend of Ernest Hemingway in a Havana cocktail bar is my measure of suitability for macho cocktails!

² The infamous story of the actor, Mel Gibson prior to his DUI arrest

N.b. Alcohol isn’t suitable for everyone, be it due to abstinence, religious reasons or tolerance levels or even family or own problem drinking. See DrinkAware for further information and take the drinking quiz if you are worried. 

Books: 23 Things for ’23

It’s almost a year since I put together a list of 23 things I’d like to do in 2023. It was intended a positive habit/motivational idea based on something I tried back in 2014-15 and I re-read that post often to see what I achieved. Not a lot!

One of my aims was to try and read 23 books in the year. I read on a Kindle and average maybe 12 to 16 per year? I sometimes read hardbacks too and education books but think it’s a good thing to increase reading and escape into someone else’s vision. I use Goodreads to help suggest new books and keep a track of my own reading. By July, I had only completed 8 books and thought it wasn’t going to be possible to meet my goal. The answer? Shorter books and a few audio books when I’m driving on long journeys! So as we near the end of the year, I’m on 20/23 books… here are my top 5 recommendations from this year.

1. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (Gabrielle Zevin) 2022
   Centered around two individuals’ love of gaming, this book spans thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California. Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before
2. Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing (Matthew Perry) 2022
   I listened to the author reading the audiobook version of his life story. In an extraordinary story that only he could tell—and in the heartfelt, hilarious, and warmly familiar way only he could tell it—Matthew Perry lays bare the fractured family that raised him (and also left him to his own devices), the desire for recognition that drove him to fame, and the void inside him that could not be filled even by his greatest dreams coming true. But he also details the peace he’s found in sobriety and how he feels about the ubiquity of Friends, sharing stories about his castmates and other stars he met along the way. Frank, self-aware, and with his trademark humour, Perry vividly depicts his lifelong battle with addiction and what fuelled it despite seemingly having it all. I found the book bittersweet; sad and funny and so tragic to listen to so soon after his untimely demise.
3. The Blackbird (Tim Weaver) 2022
   A recommended on TV book? The story does keep you at the edge of your seat and wondering what/when/who, however a bunch of little details that feel just out of place or like right-out omissions to make the plot work, took me out of the narrative a bit… well worth a holiday read though.
4. The White Hotel (D.M. Thomas) 1981
   I wasn’t sure about this at first. I heard a radio play based on this book and it was unusual enough for me to seek the novel. It is a dream of electrifying eroticism and inexplicable violence, recounted by a young woman to her analyst, Sigmund Freud. It is a horrifying yet restrained narrative of the Holocaust. It is a searing vision of the wounds of our century, and an attempt to heal them. Interweaving poetry and case history, fantasy and historical truth-telling, The White Hotel is a modern classic of enduring emotional power that attempts nothing less than to reconcile the notion of individual destiny with that of historical fate. Not what it seems in the first few chapters and well worth getting to the end.
5. Scary Smart: The future of Artificial Intelligence (Mo Gawdat) 2021
   Artificial intelligence is smarter than humans. It can process information at lightning speed and remain focused on specific tasks without distraction. AI can see into the future, predicting outcomes and even use sensors to see around physical and virtual corners. So why does AI frequently get it so wrong? Scary Smart explains how to fix the current trajectory now, to make sure that the AI of the future can preserve our species. This book offers a blueprint, pointing the way to what we can do to safeguard ourselves, those we love and the planet itself.

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Half Year review of goals

Photo credit: National Geographic

Firstly, if you are an infrequent visitor or subscriber you might have noticed a more minimal look to the blog. I also haven’t posted for a couple of months and was starting to consider a longer hiatus or account deletion.

I’ve done this many times with social media (maybe more than 8 with Instagram for instance) and last year deleted Twitter after 14 years of use. I have been reading Jaron Lanier’s Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now and can see how we’re being behaviourally manipulated in a way beyond advertising and marketing. Also, there’s the behaviour of the tech billionaires (such as this) that puts us in a mirror-dimension of the world of the movie, Idiocracy (2006). Anyway, for now I’m sticking with Instagram for a while longer but avoiding the Reels, Search suggestions and Like counts and focussing on sharing ideas and photos specifically from people I respect.

Who would win a fight between Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg? It’s the sort of question that might be asked over a drink in the pub. But a clash between the two of the world’s tech tycoons may no longer be hypothetical after Mr Zuckerberg apparently agreed to a cage fight with Mr Musk. ~ 30th June, Independent

Even though personal blogs might be a bit passé, I decided that mine can be used for more than validation and as an online notebook.

Back in December, I  put together a list of 23 things I’d like to do in 2023. We’re now into the start of July, six months into the year, so I thought I might do a little half way review. My ambitions were:

Go Abroad

We didn’t travel much since the pandemic but have now been on a little visit to Portugal and another planned for Greece for some Summer relaxation. The costs have gone up and this is going to be a common moan in all my goals.

Improve health & fitness

Without too much personal detail, I have started to recover some of my fitness and off painkillers that I have used for back pain due to slipped discs. Exercise is on my list for the next stage of my recovery. No, I can’t do a HIT workout.

Create more art

I have enjoyed my photography so far this year; it’s immediate and not so time consuming. I haven’t had time for printing, painting or anything else just yet. Plus my eyesight is deteriorating! I need new glasses.

Music concert performance

Not yet. Unless watching Glastonbury on tv counts!

Regular Cultural events

We went and saw To Kill a Mockingbird in the West End, took in a few free exhibitions of multimedia art too while in London. Also saw the Chris Kilip photo exhibition at The Photographer’s Gallery and Peter Doig at The Coutauld. We look out for any local events in and around Nottingham too.

City breaks

We had a weekend in London and will certainly go elsewhere this year, costs permitting (as well as train strikes).

Eat/Drink healthy

Whilst I think vegan/plant-based is generally healthier than most common diets, there is still a lot of over processed junk. Cooking from fresh is better and as my dedicated ‘gram shows, we mostly do this. I have also got a healthy crop of fresh veggies from my kitchen garden. Next year, a greenhouse!

Read 23 books

I’m on the eighth book of the year so behind schedule. Maybe I should choose shorter books?

Try and save some money

Not happening. Everything is shooting up in price. I’m actually selling some of my camera equipment and even my shoes so that we can do some fun stuff. I have a few pairs of shoes.

Cinema visits

Not been yet, unfortunately. At £12 a ticket on a weekend, for a drink, snack and VIP seat it’s a major night out. The movie has to be worth it! Plus an agreement of what to see…

Duolingo again

Regretfully not.

Learn a new recipe every month

This has worked quite well so far; either veganising traditional meals or trying something from scratch, they’ve been mostly edible so far.

This is a tofu and chickpea flour quiche made with spinach and broad beans.

Date night

Too many £££… we opted for a short trip to Portugal in May instead.

See Parents more often

Still feel bad about this but haven’t been able to drive long distances since last August. 

Try new restaurants

This is another case of costs permitting but we did try lots of new places in London and whilst on holiday. Locally, there are some new places closer to home we want to try and some quite well established that we just hadn’t been to.

Make or sample new cocktails

Hic. Seriously, it’s surprising that many bars/pubs only know a few standards and these are the popular daiquiris. porn star martinis etc. rather than ones that would appeal to me. 

Play more board games

We’ve done this a few times. And Mario Cart. Backgammon and Monopoly mainly. I want to get a Cluedo set.

Brewery or Distillery tours

I priced up a trip to the Bombay Sapphire Gin distillery tour and a B & B nearby; maybe when we’re feeling a bit more flush?! A retirement goal maybe. These things are really expensive!

Regular hikes and walks

Walking yes but hiking is not an option until my back recovers from the procedure and I’m more mobile. 

Picnic time

When the sun is shining! We’ve done this a few times, cheaper than eating out and the food is better. No, a trip to McDonalds for a McPlant burger isn’t a picnic.

List achievements and a 5 year plan

This is perhaps something to look at toward the end of the year, we are doing a bit of planning though. 

Pick up someone else’s rubbish

Still an ambition, especially near our house and the main road. I need one of those grabber stick things…

Develop a good habit

So far hydrating sufficiently has been a priority (it was a warm and sunny May/June) and I read the news headlines everyday before work so I can ask students their opinions on current events.

I’ll do a full review in December and chuck out the unrealistic or super-expensive goals and add a few new ones for next year.

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23 Things to do in 2023…

As 2023 quickly approaches, I thought I would put together a list of 23 things I’d like to do in 2023. I did some similar posts back in 2014-15 and have re-read them to see what I achieved. Not a lot! However, the gist of my ambitions are the same so here goes…

Go abroad

Due to the pandemic and other issues, we haven’t been travelling abroad for a few years and have more or less travelled just around the UK. Although last Summer’s trip to Scotland was amazing, I haven’t felt the heat of the Mediterranean sun or swam in the sea since 2018. I’d like to try continental train journeys to city breaks if possible and maybe a short haul somewhere sunny.

Improve health & fitness

As a chronic back pain sufferer, I go through periods where I’m able to get quite fit and in good shape and then crash to immobility. During the lockdowns in 2020/21 I did a lot of walking and even the daily Joe Wicks You Tube workout. I felt great. Last Summer my back went again and I am expecting some sort of procedure in 2023. I want to improve my fitness to help the recovery as much as regain my health.

Create more art

I like to make photographs and enjoy getting outdoors for this, weather permitting. I’d like to get back into my other art skills too; painting and print-making specifically. As an art teacher, my main creativity is in aiding students but if time can be set aside to practise then it should. I intend to look for a mini printing press to use with Lino.

Music concert performance

We haven’t managed to go to a large gig for a while and there is a growing band of new performers who are interesting enough to want to go and see. Maybe The Weeknd or Jungle would be a great large-scale show to take in next year.

Regular Cultural events

Locally or nationally, there are exhibitions on around the country that I think we should make the effort to see. I haven’t been to the theatre for a while either and would like to use the train to do so once the unions and government thrash things out. A West-end show in London or maybe something more local has to be a priority.

City breaks

The need to escape for a weekend is better than staying home watching TV. Abroad would be great but alternatively see more of the UK, one Premier Inn at a time.

Eat/Drink healthy

Although I follow a plant-based/vegan diet and have since 2015, there is so much novelty out there with new products coming online. Usually they’re based on junk food or street food though and can have high fat and sugar content. In 2023, I would like to build on my repertoire of healthy fresh meals made with fresh ingredients. Alcohol wise; be more choosy.

Read 23 books

I read on a Kindle and average maybe 12 to 16 per year? I sometimes read hardbacks too and education books but think it’s a good thing to increase reading and escape into someone else’s vision. I will try to aim forth or so a month in the new year.

Try and save some money

Instead of reacting to costs and splurging unnecessarily, I’d like to try and put some money aside if possible next year. Currently, we are experiencing a cost of living crisis where some of the economically challenged are suffering the most. Also, the banks aren’t offering good investment opportunities. Nonetheless I would like to have some savings should we need it.

Cinema visits

The last movie I saw in the cinema was Dune (definitely worth seeing on the big screen). I am hoping there will be something worthy in 2023 of a visit to a multiplex cinema. When Avatar 2 was released last month, I thought – wow at last… until I read the reviews!

Duolingo again

A fantastic app for learning basic vocabulary although I’m not sure you can actually learn a language with it. Currently, I have scores on Italian, French, German and Greek, all at varying levels of difficulty. Maybe I should maintain a streak for longer?

Learn a new recipe every month

Experimenting with new recipes helps with variety and interest and we have quite a few recipe books and of course online recipes. One a month seems a reasonable goal?

Date night

This year we will have been married for 30 years. A regularly date night would be a an excellent goal for the year.

See Parents more often

My parents are in their late 70s now and who knows how much longer we have to spend with them? Life can be short so count the blessings.

Try new restaurants

I use HappyCow app when I’m in a city I don’t know to find vegan options. There are so many new places too that it would be interesting to visit and start adding reviews myself on the app.

Make or sample new cocktails

There is a cocktail bar in our little town and I have started to try a few cocktails I hadn’t had before. Once sampled, they can be recreated at home (cheaper) or even improved! There are so many available, my new favourites are Old Fashioned and Negronis.

Play more board games

We have a family room with books and board games, no TV or digital distractions. Finding time to play cards or board games is better wet weather activity than watching TV.

Brewery or Distillery tours

We went to Scotland in the Summer and went past many of the distilleries. During a period of rainy weather we decided to book a tour only to find they were all pre-booked. I’d like to try again in 2023.

Regular hikes and walks

In addition to improving my health and fitness, I really want to get out more and explore our local areas.

Picnic time

This has got to be the best bucket list idea for a couple. Pack up some delicious foods in a picnic backpack and take it somewhere pretty like Fountains Abbey or the Peak District.

List achievements and a 5 year plan

To be mindful and grateful of achievements and also make some positive plans for the next 5 years.

Pick up someone else’s rubbish

Improve the locality where people’s rubbish blows into the trees and bushes. A bin bag and a grabber tool are all that’s required. Likewise, the verges and pavement edges have weeds and detritus gathering that would take a short time to improve.

Develop a good habit

Such as going to bed and waking up early, cleaning up after yourself straight away, drinking 7 cups of water a day, reading or meditating before bed (instead of scrolling your phone), reducing stress, cutting down on alcohol, eating healthy, and exercising every day.

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