Tons of people start missing the “good old days” as they get older. I’m going to tell you how to bring those days back to your life.

What Were You Doing in Your “Good old days”? For most people, it’s a combination of these 5 things:

1) They were doing something new in their life.

Maybe they had moved to a new city and were discovering a new life there. Or had just started college or university. Or had just started their career. Or had a new romantic partner.

The point is that they were not stuck in a rut and had something new to look forward to. They were not living the same day on repeat ad infinitum.

2) They were focused on building something (and growing and learning from the experience).

Most people remember their first few years in the gym as a very transformative experience. The same is true for the first few years of building an online business.

They were beginners at something and were learning and getting better every day. There was a goal in their mind that they were trying to achieve and they were working towards it.

3) They were less stressed and having more fun.

They were less stressed and were enjoying life more. Could be as simple as coming home from school and playing video games to hanging out with their buddies after work.

There was time to have fun and enjoy themselves without worrying about anything else.

4) They were spending time with their friends and family.

People miss the friends and family they lost along the way. In fact, not staying in touch with friends and family is one of the biggest regrets that people have in their old age.

5) They had more energy and ability to do things.

People miss the times where they were young and energetic. They miss the vigor of their youth where they could travel and do whatever they want whenever they want.

When you miss the old days, what you are actually missing are the emotions associated with having new experiences, building things, learning and growing, having fun, spending time with friends and family, and having high energy.

At some point in your life, you got busy with work (or whatever) and just stopped doing these things.

When was the last time you did something new? I don’t mean a 1 day thing. I mean something that lasted a few weeks or months (e.g. living in a foreign country for a month).

When was the last time you were fully focused on building something new? Could be a new business, or a skill, a new hobby, or something else that takes months and years to master.

When was the last time you felt completely stress free? In your youth, life is usually stress free with occasional periods of high stress (e.g. exams or deadlines). As you get older, the peaks are fewer but the baseline is higher i.e. you are chronically stressed.

When was the last time you just chilled with your friends and enjoyed yourself? Is it frequent (2-4 times a month) or is it quite rare (once a few months)?

When was the last time you did a full speed sprint? When was the last time you trekked a mountain? When was the last time you slept in a camp? Yeah. For most people, the answer is 10+ years ago. Sometimes it’s as high as 40-50 years ago.

HOW TO TAKE YOUR LIFE BACK

How you bring the good old days back is to basically just start doing these things again.

1) Do new things.

Get off your ass and do something new.

I’m not talking about token experiences like signing up for a 3 hour workshop or eating at a new restaurant. This is not a checklist where you do the minimum to tick off items.

Get yourself into a new environment for a while.

An example that anyone can do is to take a trip to a foreign country (or a different place in your country where you don’t know anybody) and live there for 3-4 weeks minimum. Try to learn their language and figure out their culture.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money to do this. I travelled a lot even when I had little money.

Stay in cheap hotels, take the train instead of flying, and eat local food (local food is always cheap).

Note: I mean local food, not street food. Eat hygienic when travelling.

2) Get back to building things.

You should have something going on in your life.

For most people, it should be an online income stream of any type. Build some kind of online business that makes you some money in your sleep.

It might take months of effort to even get your first $1 but you will be a changed man by the end of it. I guarantee it.

Once you taste scalable online income, you will no longer look at working the same way. It will open up a new world for you and you will never want to go back.

If you have already done that, then pick something that will take at least a few years to master and that you enjoy doing. And then build your skills in it.

It could be something like learning a martial art, or learning a new sport, or building your body, or learning public speaking, or something else.

Join a class or club where you can practice and learn it regularly and try to attain mastery in it.

It will take years but it will be worth it. You will remember what it was like to be a beginner again. You will get better every passing day.

Pro-tip: Try to make as many likeminded friends as possible. There is almost no hobby that does not become more fun when you do it with friends who are also serious about it. You can meet these people in classes and clubs. For example, if you want to learn MMA, don’t hire a 1-on-1 coach to come to your house to teach you. Go to an MMA gym where many people train so you get to meet more people.

3) Have some fun in life. Reduce your stress levels.

What happens to most people as they grow older is that life gets more and more stressful (as responsibilities increase).

Instead of learning to manage stress (just ignore things you can’t control), they get “used to” being stressed out all the time and use escapism as a coping mechanism.

What does escapism mean? It means things that help them forget the pain for a bit. Things like pornography, doomscrolling social media, watching reels, alcohol, smoking weed, etc.

You want to replace escapism in your life with play.

Schedule time every day that is just for you to enjoy and have fun. Whatever that means to you. You could be going to a club with your girl or just go alone to the pool and relax. Whatever interests you.

The point is that play needs to be a priority. Life cannot be just work and stress and coping with that stress with escapism.

Make time to do things you truly enjoy. You will regret not having fun in your life. I know tons of older people that worked all their life and then wished they hadn’t worked as much and had enjoyed their life more instead.

Do not let that be you.

4) Spend time with friends and family.

If your mom and dad are still alive, spend time with them. They will not be alive forever.

Hang out with your friends. Shoot the shit and have fun.

If you don’t have friends, make some.

5) Fix your health to bring back your YOUTHFULNESS.

This is covered in great detail in my classic piece The Real Goal of Training. READ IT. I am telling you that this will be the most important thing you read all year.

You MUST retain youthfulness as you grow up. If you are an older person who let things slide, you MUST try to reclaim as much youthfulness as possible before it’s too late.

Otherwise you may live long, but it will be a shitty life. You may be alive, but you could be in a wheelchair, or have joint issues that force you to do everything slowly (e.g. some people can’t even climb stairs or travel far from home without a caretaker), or be in constant pain from some health issue (e.g. arthritis).

And with modern medicine, that shitty life can extend for 40-50 years.

You want to grow old gracefully. That means training to retain your youthfulness. There is no other way.

If you do these 5 things, and incorporate them in your life, you will be back in your “good old days”.

That’s all for this piece.

With Love,

Harsh Strongman