So this one is going to be shorter than the others…I think. So far we’ve covered the five best habits that I think will make the biggest impact on your life, that if I was to die and leave a short letter to my sons, those are the habits that I’d want them to do. The habits are as follows, in case you missed them.
I – Eat nose to tail and real foods.
II – Practice a combat sport, hiking is fine when older.
III -Read both fiction and nonfiction, prolifically.
IV – Meditate and get out in nature.
V – Learn soft skills, sales, marketing, politicking, things of that nature.
But now I have a sixth skill that I wanted to add in, though I guess if we really wanted to we could shoehorn it into the soft skills, but I think that it’s distinct enough that it should have a thing of its own.
The Sixth Skill
In addition to doing all of the above I think there is one more valuable thing that I’d like to mention. At first it might seem trite or even a joke. It may not seem like something that could have that much value in a man’s life, but the fact of the matter is that it does. From soldiers to politicians to those going through tragedy this is absolutely one of the most essentially skills that you can have.
And that skill is…developing a sense of humor. Now again, that might seem trite but I guarantee you that it is not. This world is going to have its way with you, one day or the other. Even if you’re rich and ridiculously good looking, the world will have its way with you at one point or the other. None of us get out this place unscathed, that’s just the way of things. And while there is certainly a time for tears, much of the time. It is better to laugh than to cry.
I’m told that Roman legionnaires were valued for having a sense of humor to make them better soldiers. I talked with some friends who have seen combat and they talked about humor. Joking in the midst of horror because otherwise you might freak out. But even if you’ll never see a firefight in your life, humor still has many practical applications for you.
There are simple ones like that people like people who have humor, likewise life is a whole hell of a lot easier the earlier you learn to be able to laugh at yourself from time to time, because we all mess up and if you take things too seriously it’s not good for you. That’s not to say that everything is a joke of course, simply that humor will help you through many things.
It’s a mental wellness skill in many ways, honestly. It can take situations where endless stress would be the norm and give you moments of peace and even joy during those stressful times. Joking during a firefight, works in life as well. Through mental and psychological firefights just as much as the physical ones.
Humor is an essential skill that may keep you mentally together just as much as
But how to develop it?
That’s the tricky part.
How To Develop A Sense Of Humor
So…this is not something that I’m an expert on. As a matter of fact, including humor on the list was something that just cropped up in the writing of it. So I’m going to lay out some things that have worked somewhat for me, though let me be the first to say this is something that has come more naturally to me and not something I have actively worked out all that much.
But with that being said…
I think watching comedy will help with this. Stay away from the dirty and negative comics. One, they’re not that funny and two, they use crutches in place of real humor to get a laugh. I’m not saying that they can’t curse or be raunchy, but at least let them be skilled about it. So that means avoiding most “comedians” you’ll see on the streaming services, though there are some exceptions.
You might want to make a study of humor and comedy as well. There’s a series of books called Scott Dikkers called “How To Write Funny” however in reality what they do is go into the building blocks of humor and how it works and breaks down on a basic level. Trust me, understanding this will not take away the magic of comedy. If anything it’ll make it all the better. Just like going to cooking school doesn’t make a well prepared dish any less magical or delicious.
There are courses and the like as well. And of course just find more things to laugh at in life. When you want to rage or get angry, try to smile instead. Damn is this a hard skill to master. This is not easy. Mentally its one of the harder things you can do. But it is oh so worth it. Understand that much of the modern world and modern life is a joke and so you have to laugh, otherwise you might go mad.
Laugh with friends and family. Smile and enjoy life. Sure there are plenty of bad things and work to be done, but that doesn’t mean everything is all doom and gloom because it’s not. There’s plenty of good. Whatever you do, work on developing this.
It’ll be an asset to you through all your days.
Best Wishes,
-Charles Sledge
