7 rules for a stress-free life

1  See eye-to-eye with your job
“The situation can never be greater than you are,” he says. “If it is, you’re never going to be able to engage and give your full talent, because you’re not looking at it eye-to-eye.”

2  Learn the sneaky workout
McConaughey has those days, too: no
exercise time. He compensates with active bursts throughout the day. “I’ll drop and give myself 20 pushups at intervals. Also I have a 5.5kg medicine ball. I’ll think, pick up the medicine ball and don’t put it down for 30 minutes.”

3  Customise your to-do list
“I’ll put fun things on my list to give me more things to cross off,” he says. “Like, ‘surf for an hour’. When you get to the one near the bottom and it says, ‘Watch Monday Night football’, it’s like, yeah!”

4  Adopt a simple philosophy
Some of life’s biggest stressors are the remains of self-destructive things you do. “I don’t like to leave crumbs,” he says. “I like to do things right, and not cheat to get ‘em done. I don’t owe anybody anything. I never go anywhere and worry, ‘Oh shit, so-and-so’s here.’”

5  Insulate yourself
McConaughey explains with a metaphor: “I like to create my own weather so then I can blow in the wind. If you’ve got positive, likeminded people around you, then your systems are in place. I don’t have to be looking over my shoulder. I can just blow in the wind.”

6  Know what you don’t know
Fighting to prove you know something when you don’t wastes time and sucks energy. “‘I don’t know’ can be perceived as a weakness, but I see it as a sign of intelligence. How else will you learn something new?” he asks.

7  Schedule the pleasure, too
How much pleasure do you really allow yourself to have every day? “You have to be more fl exible and enjoy things. Lighten up! It’s your lifestyle, not your life.”