tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73051331540081986092024-03-13T04:08:00.785-07:00Inspiring Stories and Quotes"The biggest mistake people make in life is not making a living at what they most enjoy." Malcolm ForbesPREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.comBlogger708125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-35038673741704916392013-08-08T13:28:00.001-07:002013-08-08T13:28:34.064-07:00zen habits: The Fear of Being Found a Fraud<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Fear of Being Found a Fraud</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/fraud/">The Fear of Being Found a Fraud</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 08 Aug 2013 07:36 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>My friend Brian asked me yesterday what my biggest fear might be, and the first fear that came out of my mouth was: “The fear that people will discover I’m a fraud.”</p> <p>The truth is, this fear isn’t something I think about a lot, but it’s often present in the background of my mind, unnoticed but working its dark magic on me. Lots of fears work this way, and until we say them aloud, they have a power over us. Once we say them out loud, really bring them out in the light of day, and give them some thought, we take away their power.</p> <p>How might I be found a fraud? Lots of ways:</p> <ul> <li>Because I blog about habits, and mindfulness, and simplicity and minimalism, people have certain ideas about who I am. This picture in people’s heads isn’t true, of course, because the reality is never the same as the fantasy. What if you find out I’m not what you think I am?</li> <li>People might think I’m amazing at forming habits, and while it’s true I’ve found some pretty good success over the years, much of the time I still struggle, and <a href="http://zenhabits.net/failed/">still fail</a>. Habits aren’t just a skill you learn and then all of a sudden, you can flip a switch for any habit you want to create. You have to <a href="http://www.nomeatathlete.com/motivation-secret/">constantly remotivate yourself</a>, constantly check your urges to quit, constantly analyze what’s working and how to overcome the obstacles that come up. Each habit is different, and yet they’re all the same in this way.</li> <li>I put myself forward as a <a href="http://mnmlist.com">minimalist</a>, but I’m not nearly as extreme a minimalist as others. I’m OK with that, because for me minimalism is a philosophy, not a competition. It’s a check against the urges and consumerist tendencies of our modern consumerist lives. So yes, I might have less than the average person, but I still buy stuff regularly, and I worry people will judge me for that.</li> <li>I’m a fairly successful blogger by most standards, and so people might think I have it all figured out. I don’t. I’m still figuring things out. I still have nervousness, with every post, that I’ll be judged and thought stupid. This has gotten less true as I’ve come to know my audience and trust that you’re a very positive, supportive group, but honestly it still happens. For example, someone attacked me on Twitter a couple days ago for my post on a <a href="http://zenhabits.net/plant-fueled/">Healthful Vegan Diet</a>. Apparently, I don’t know anything! And I accept this as true.</li> <li>I’m a husband and father of six, and I do my best, but while others might see my family life and think I’m an amazing dad and husband, the truth is I don’t always know what I’m doing, I get mad at my kids, I fight with my wife on a regular basis, I fail often. I do my best, but I fall short all the time.</li> </ul> <p>This comes down to one thing: my imagining of the expectations others might have of me, and my fear that I won’t meet those expectations.</p> <p>And the honest truth is, I won’t meet those expectations.</p> <p>So here’s what I do.</p> <p>I realize that I can’t meet the fantasies of others.</p> <p>I try to be honest, and not just present a façade. This post is an attempt to do that, as was <a href="http://zenhabits.net/failed/">my failure post</a>. If others have a fantasy of me, perhaps I can make that fantasy more like reality.</p> <p>I try to be myself, which is really the best I can do. If I’m authentic, I can’t be a fraud, because I’m just being who I am. Of course, I’m always trying to figure out who that self is, and the self is constantly changing, so it’s an interesting endeavor.</p> <p>I realize I’m still learning, am never “perfect”, and will always be learning. That’s all I can hope for.</p> <p>I ask myself, “What would happen if the fear came true?” And the truth is, even if I were found to be a fraud by everyone I know and many I don’t, I would be OK. My life would go on. I might need to find another job, but I think I’d be OK sweeping floors or chopping vegetables (both activities I enjoy, btw).</p> <p>I smile, and give thanks that I’ve been given the chance to write, to share, to connect, to help in some small way. That’s an amazing gift, and I won’t let the scared little child in me ruin it with its complaints.</p> <p>So thank you, my friends. I’m happy to be here.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=4Vc29VZ8ISc:1pYlJjtO4Ok:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=4Vc29VZ8ISc:1pYlJjtO4Ok:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=4Vc29VZ8ISc:1pYlJjtO4Ok:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=4Vc29VZ8ISc:1pYlJjtO4Ok:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=4Vc29VZ8ISc:1pYlJjtO4Ok:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-38577586427366510482013-08-05T13:24:00.001-07:002013-08-05T13:24:49.534-07:00zen habits: The Flexible Mind<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Flexible Mind</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/flex/">The Flexible Mind</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 05 Aug 2013 08:06 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>When I reflect back on how much happier I am these days compared to my life about 8 years ago, I realize it’s not all a result of better habits (though that’s a part of it).</p> <p>Here’s what I’ve changed that makes me happier:</p> <ul> <li>Instead of stressing out about meeting goals, deadlines, timelines, I have learned a way of flowing.</li> <li>Instead of getting mad at people not meeting my expectations, I’m looser with what I expect of others.</li> <li>Instead of getting mad at things not turning out how I’d like, I accept that things are unpredictable, and accept what happens.</li> </ul> <p>Most of the time, that is.</p> <p>In other words, I’ve developed a flexible mind.</p> <p>This is one of the best changes I’ve made, because it gives me more peace of mind and happiness. It took some time to develop this mental habit, and I’ll share with you here why and how I did it.</p> <h3>Why Develop Flexible Mind</h3> <p>The root cause of frustration, irritation, anger, sadness is an inflexible mind — one that wants to hold onto the way we wish things were, the ideas we're comfortable with. When things don't go this way, we are then frustrated, angry, sad.</p> <p>So developing a flexible mind is a way to be open to anything, happy with change, prepared for any situation. Think about it: if there's a major disruption in your life, it's only a bad thing because you're holding onto the way you wish things could be, what you're comfortable with. If you let go of that wish, the change isn't bad. It's just different, and in fact it could be good if you embrace it and see the opportunity.</p> <p>It's about developing the ability to cope with change, to be flexible, to simplify.</p> <h3>How: Small Practices</h3> <p>You don’t develop flexible mind overnight — your mind isn’t as easy to change as your outfit. You have to develop mental habits with small changes, consistently over time.</p> <p>Here’s how:</p> <ol> <li>Make a commitment, for one week, to try to let go of what you're holding onto when you get irritated, frustrated, sad, etc.</li> <li>Make a list of the things that trigger these emotions — being interrupted, someone cutting you off in traffic, someone being loud when you're trying to work, people not washing their dishes, etc.</li> <li>Create reminders for when those triggers happen — paper notes, a bead bracelet, something written on your hand, a sign on your car's dashboard, etc.</li> <li>When the trigger happens, pause. Notice the emotion rising. Feel it, but don't act. Breathe.</li> <li>Try to see what you're holding onto — wishing the driver would be more polite, wishing you could do what you were doing without interruptions, wishing other people would be perfect in cleaning up after themselves. These wishes are fantasies — let them go. Be open to the way things are, to changes that have happened. Breathe, open your heart, accept.</li> <li>Now respond appropriately, without wishing things were different, with compassion.</li> </ol> <p>Repeat however many times you like during the week, or a minimum of once a day.</p> <p>Please note that you will not be perfect at this when you start. It's a difficult skill to learn, because we have emotional patterns that have built up over the years. It's good enough to become more aware of it, and to attempt this method once a day. Be flexible in your desire to get this exactly right. Practice it when you remember for the rest of the year.</p> <h3>Retreat: Flexible Mind, Flexible Heart</h3> <p>In September, I’m holding a retreat with S.F. Zen Center president Susan O’Connell called <a href="http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/display.asp?pageid=2989">Flexible Mind, Flexible Heart: How to be Happy at Work</a>.</p> <p>It’ll be held Sept. 6-9, 2013 at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, a lovely retreat area near Santa Cruz, California. Tassajara has a meditation hall, hot springs, a river and hiking trails, very simple accommodations and wonderful vegetarian food.</p> <p>Space is limited, so if you’re interested, <a href="http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/display.asp?pageid=2989">sign up here</a>.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=YhAVipg3kBo:gTdQDs2ldZQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=YhAVipg3kBo:gTdQDs2ldZQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=YhAVipg3kBo:gTdQDs2ldZQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=YhAVipg3kBo:gTdQDs2ldZQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=YhAVipg3kBo:gTdQDs2ldZQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-2264277289229626342013-07-31T13:19:00.001-07:002013-07-31T13:19:08.355-07:00zen habits: Declutter Your Life<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: Declutter Your Life</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/declutter/">Declutter Your Life</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 31 Jul 2013 11:02 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>There was a time, about 8 years ago, when my life was cluttered. I had too much stuff, and it kept coming in all the time. I had too much to do, and didn’t know how to simplify my schedule.</p> <p>I was in need of some decluttering, and I knew it.</p> <p>When I started to change my habits, from smoking to running to being more mindful, simplifying my life was near the top of the list.</p> <p>The question became, how to go about it? How do you start when you’re facing a mountain of clutter, and another mountain of commitments, and piles of files and mail and email and other digital information?</p> <p>The answer became clear, as I got started: start simply. Keep it simple as you go. Simple, each step of the way.</p> <p>That said, I found complications that made things harder at every turn. I’d like to help you with some of those here, briefly, in hopes that you’ll be inspired to start decluttering.</p> <h3>Start Decluttering</h3> <p>How do you get started? As simply as possible:</p> <ul> <li>Take just 10 minutes today to sort though a pile, or declutter a shelf or table or countertop.</li> <li>Put everything into one pile, and start with the first thing you pick up (no putting things back in the pile).</li> <li>Ask yourself: do you really need this? Do you use it regularly? Do you love it? If the answer to any of these is no, then recycle, donate, or give it to someone who might want it. Put it in a box for these purposes.</li> <li>Put things back that you need/use/love, with space between things. This is their “home” and you should always put them back there.</li> <li>Stop after 10 minutes, continue tomorrow for another 10 minutes, and so on, one small spot in your home at a time.</li> <li>If you want to do more than 10 minutes, go ahead, but be careful not to overdo it in the beginning or you’ll think it’s difficult and not want to continue.</li> </ul> <h3>Keep Going</h3> <p>Once you’ve gotten the ball rolling, here’s how to keep going:</p> <ul> <li>Keep decluttering in small bits. Pick an area to focus on each week.</li> <li>Don’t worry about perfection. Just get it simpler. You can always declutter it more later.</li> <li>Put your box of donation/recycling/giving away in your trunk, to get rid of next time you’re out. Email friends/family to ask if they want things — often you can find a good home for perfectly good things you don’t really use (that workout equipment).</li> <li>If you’re on the fence, use a Maybe Box (put things that you think you <em>might</em> need in a box, mark it with today’s date, put a reminder on your calendar 6 months from now to check on the Maybe Box. If you haven’t used it in 6 months, you probably don’t need it and can get rid of it.</li> <li>Get help. Sometimes you just can’t bear to part with yourself, but if you can get an outside person to make the decision (friend or family member), they are usually much more dispassionate and ruthless.</li> <li>Enjoy the space. Once you’ve decluttered an area, really focus on how much you love the simplified space. Once you’re hooked on this simplicity, you’re more likely to keep going.</li> </ul> <h3>Decluttering Your Calendar & Digital Life</h3> <p>Physical decluttering is only one type of decluttering. You can also simplify your day, and your online/computer life as well.</p> <p>A few simple tips:</p> <ul> <li>Decluttering your day is about reducing commitments, and saying no to the non-essential things. So first make a list of your commitments.</li> <li>Make a list of what’s most important to you (4-5 things) and declutter the rest. Say no to people with a phone call or email, and get out of existing commitments.</li> <li>Be very ruthless about saying no to new commitments — and seeing requests as potential commitments. Guard your time.</li> <li>Declutter your digital life one step at a time, just like your physical life. Email newsletters, blogs, social networks, online reading and watching, forums, etc. — are they essential? Can you declutter them?</li> </ul> <h3>Dealing With Others</h3> <p>Having other people in your life (home or workspace) can make simplifying more complicated. I have a wife and six kids, so I know how it is.</p> <p>Some tips:</p> <ul> <li>Talk to them about it early on, when you’re just thinking about it (show them this article). Don’t force a decision on anyone, but involve them in the decision-making process.</li> <li>Focus on the benefits, the why, rather than what they need to do and why what they’re doing is wrong. People don’t like to be wrong, but they do like benefits.</li> <li>Lead by example. Show how you can declutter your space, and how much nicer it is, and how much easier it is to find things, to clean, to be at peace during your day.</li> <li>If there’s resistance, focus on decluttering your space. Don’t get frustrated with them, because that makes it more difficult. Instead, remember that you were a clutter-holic not long ago, so empathize.</li> <li>Don’t shy away from an opportunity to discuss simplifying, and why you’re doing it, in a positive way. Criticizing doesn’t help, nor does acting superior. Inspiring helps tremendously.</li> </ul> <h3>Help With the Decluttering Habit</h3> <p>This is just a start, to show you that there’s a path. Along the way, you’ll learn much more, about clutter and simplicity and yourself.</p> <p>If you’d like help with the decluttering habit, join my <a href="http://seachange.zenhabits.net/">Sea Change Program</a> ($10/month), where we’ll be spending the month of August focused on Decluttering Your Life.</p> <p><a href="http://seachange.zenhabits.net/">Sea Change Program: Declutter Your Life</a></p> <p>Each month, we focus on a new topic, and I provide a plan, articles, a webinar, a forum, and the chance to form accountability teams. Creating a habit with others is a ton of fun.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=cp-1mp9dNac:0VIjBy5t-9U:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=cp-1mp9dNac:0VIjBy5t-9U:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=cp-1mp9dNac:0VIjBy5t-9U:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=cp-1mp9dNac:0VIjBy5t-9U:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=cp-1mp9dNac:0VIjBy5t-9U:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-25541984741290941962013-07-29T13:37:00.001-07:002013-07-29T13:37:11.859-07:00zen habits: A Month Without Coffee<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: A Month Without Coffee</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/no-joe/">A Month Without Coffee</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 29 Jul 2013 10:18 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>For my first month of <a href="http://zenhabits.net/without/">The Year of Living Without</a>, I gave up coffee. That was something I thought would be very difficult, given my love for coffee and miserable past attempts.</p> <p>But I loved it.</p> <p>That was a huge surprise to me. I had absolutely no difficulty in giving up coffee, not the first day, not the first week, not at all.</p> <p>They key was having a great replacement habit that I really enjoyed. Instead of focusing on sacrificing the coffee, I focused on drinking a lovely cup of tea each morning. I was grateful to be able to drink such good tea, and so the coffee wasn’t even a concern.</p> <p>So my first month of Living Without wasn’t that difficult, though I did learn a few things. I’ll share my lessons below, then share my Living Without challenge for August: <em>no sitting for longer than 30 minutes</em>.</p> <h3>Going Without Coffee</h3> <p>Some notes on going without coffee:</p> <ul> <li>I fully expected to have withdrawal symptoms, like grogginess and headaches and such. Perhaps it’s because there’s a bit of caffeine in the tea (not high amounts as I brew lightly), but I experienced <em>zero</em> withdrawal signs. I was alert and focused even in the early morning.</li> <li>I really thought I’d have a harder time watching others drink coffee, but it wasn’t difficult at all.</li> <li>The only time I had urges was from the smell of coffee, which is really an amazingly enticing aroma. There aren’t many other smells like it. So Eva would brew some coffee, and of course it’s really good coffee, and it smells great. But the urge wasn’t too strong.</li> <li>The strongest urge came one day when I was eating something that was a bit fatty (stir-fried in olive oil) and a bit spicy (chili powder), and Eva’s coffee was right in front of me, so I could smell it. Apparently the combo of spice and fat and the strong smell of coffee is a very strong trigger for me. The urge lasted for awhile, but I drank water to rinse my mouth of the spice and fat, and walked away from the coffee smell.</li> <li>Another interesting time was in our visit to Portland, where Eva and my friends Jesse and Josh Jacobs wanted to tour some of the best coffee shops. I drove them, and enjoyed the smells of the good coffee at all the great shops, but didn’t drink any. I thought it would be my greatest challenge, but it wasn’t too bad. The smells were great.</li> <li>Other times we visited Blue Bottle Coffee, for Eva, and I would have liked to have gotten a soy Gibraltar (a lovely creamy drink just a bit bigger than a shot glass, not on the menu). But I didn’t, and I was fine.</li> </ul> <h3>Notes on Living Without</h3> <p>This Year of Living Without is an experiment, to help me learn about myself, about my urges and desires and the resistance to changing things I think I really need.</p> <p>All of us resist things we think we can’t live without, but I believe it’s not the truth, that we can live without more than we think, and in doing so we can change just about anything in our lives.</p> <p>So what have I learned, after only a month? A few things:</p> <ul> <li>I thought I would miss coffee more than I did. Often we anticipate more suffering than there actually will be. This has happened to me numerous times — I thought I wouldn’t be able to give up cheese (it was easy) or a car, or meat, or eating junk food or fast food all the time. But those things were all very easy, and each time it was a surprise.</li> <li>Having a great replacement habit makes it much, much easier. When you focus on the sacrifice, you are mentally suffering all the time. But when you focus on the good thing you’re getting instead, it’s wonderful.</li> <li>The urges are temporary, even at their strongest. Most urges weren’t that bad, and while normally we give into our urges, I had no trouble not giving in. Even the strongest urge was just there for a bit, then went away. I sat through the strongest urge, and felt it, and sat in the discomfort, and found it wasn’t horrible. Sitting in discomfort, allowing yourself to feel it, is a great learning experience.</li> <li>Having pre-set limits is a powerful tool to fight urges. Usually we give in to our urges, because there’s nothing stopping us. Have a piece of pizza or a cookie? Why not? But if you set rules, with limits, you can more easily resist the urges — which is a good thing.</li> <li>Having public accountability is also a powerful thing. Having told everyone (including all of you) that I’m not drinking coffee made it much, much more likely that I wouldn’t.</li> </ul> <h3>My Tea Habit</h3> <p>This was the best thing about the month without coffee (aside from what I learned about urges). My tea habit was consistent (even during travel), and it’s something I hope to continue.</p> <p>Some notes on the tea habit (none of the links are affiliate links):</p> <ul> <li>Tea is nice in the morning (I was previously mostly an afternoon tea drinker), because it’s light, you don’t feel overbuzzed, and it becomes a mindfulness ritual, noticing the flavors and aromas present in the tea as you pay attention and sip.</li> <li>I also feel healthier drinking tea. The health benefits of coffee can be debated (not sure where I stand, as there are pros and cons), but tea is hard to debate. You feel light and strong at the same time.</li> <li>My favorite morning tea has been the <a href="http://shop.samovarlife.com/Bai-Mu-Dan-Organic-White-Tea-p/0101bamu.htm">Bai Mudan white tea</a> from Samovar, brewed lightly. It’s a lovely tea early in the morning. I’ve also enjoyed <a href="http://shop.samovarlife.com/Monkey-Picked-Iron-Goddess-of-Mercy-Oolong-Tea-p/0301mopi.htm">Monkey Picked Iron Goddess of Mercy oolong</a>, and the <a href="http://shop.samovarlife.com/Samovar-Breakfast-Blend-Black-Tea-p/0401brbl.htm">Breakfast Blend Black Tea</a>. But the lighter white tea is perfect on an empty stomach in the morning.</li> <li>For traveling, I used <a href="http://shop.samovarlife.com/Tea-Infusing-Basket-Finum-Tea-Brewing-Basket-p/4004060421.htm">this brewing basket</a>. It was a nice minimalist setup.</li> <li>Jesse Jacobs of Samovar gave me <a href="http://shop.samovarlife.com/Breville-One-Touch-Tea-Maker-p/btm800xl.htm">this fancy automated tea pot</a> as a gift. It’s absolutely fantastic, and though you absolutely don’t need it, if you want to splurge (or delight a friend who loves tea with a great gift), it’s the best tea maker I’ve ever seen.</li> <li>As per Jesse’s recommendation, I like a faster brew with more tea leaves, rather than smaller amounts of tea steeped for a long time (what most people do).</li> <li>Oolong and greens in general are my favorites, though I do love a good white or pu-ehr.</li> </ul> <h3>Will I Continue Without Coffee?</h3> <p>This has been a question for me all month long — do I continue to go without coffee after July 31, or should I bring it back?</p> <p>The honest truth is, I haven’t missed coffee other than an odd occasion where we go somewhere that has amazing coffee. And I’ve really enjoyed the tea in the morning.</p> <p>However, <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/drinking-coffee-may-reduce-risk-of-suicide-in-adults/">this article</a> gives me pause and has me wondering if I should include some coffee, when I feel like it.</p> <p>So here’s what I’ve decided: I’m going to continue to drink tea, not coffee, in the morning. But I’ll allow myself a sip or three (up to half a cup) if there’s really good coffee being brewed at a great coffee shop. I think that’s a good balance.</p> <h3>Next Month: Without Sitting Longer Than 30 Minutes</h3> <p>So for my next challenge in <a href="http://zenhabits.net/without/">The Year of Living Without</a>, I’m going to <strong>go without sitting for longer than 30 minutes</strong>.</p> <p>Here’s what I’ll do:</p> <ul> <li>While awake, I won’t sit for longer than 30 minutes — after 30 minutes, I’ll get up for 15 minutes.</li> <li>During the 15-minute break, I’ll do one of these things: yoga, bodyweight exercises, go for a walk, clean, play with the kids, run, drink tea standing up, read standing up, or do a gym workout. I can do other things, but this is what I’m thinking.</li> </ul> <p>I should note that there are a couple of exceptions to this rule: 1) sleeping for longer than 60 minutes is OK, and 2) on an airplane I will just do my best not to sit for longer than 30 minutes (but won’t always be able to stand up for 15 minutes).</p> <p>Some notes:</p> <ul> <li>Yes, I’ve tried a standing desk. I don’t like standing for more than a few hours a day. I’d rather sit when I write.</li> <li>I’m really looking forward to doing the yoga. I have a friend, Toku, who has started creating a new 10-minute yoga routine for me each week. It’s a great mindfulness practice, while also stretching and getting active.</li> <li>I’m doing this because I think sitting too much is killing us (along with sugar and meat and white flower). Keeping sitting in moderation is probably a good idea.</li> </ul> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=4KHdTTSWbqU:lRUwj3CdmEI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=4KHdTTSWbqU:lRUwj3CdmEI:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=4KHdTTSWbqU:lRUwj3CdmEI:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=4KHdTTSWbqU:lRUwj3CdmEI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=4KHdTTSWbqU:lRUwj3CdmEI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-17326783183355670962013-07-25T13:08:00.001-07:002013-07-25T13:08:05.386-07:00zen habits: The Healthful Vegan Diet<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Healthful Vegan Diet</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/plant-fueled/">The Healthful Vegan Diet</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 25 Jul 2013 07:00 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><blockquote> <p>‘Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food.’ <strong>~Hippocrates</strong></p> </blockquote> <h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>Eat plants. Those two words are the best things I’ve learned about diet, and if you stick to that, you’re likely be pretty healthy.</p> <p>That said, eating a vegan diet (no animal products) doesn’t necessarily equate to a healthy diet, despite what many believe.</p> <p>Yes, vegans on average are healthier and leaner than the average person. But that’s an average — there are unhealthy vegans.</p> <p>How is that possible? You can eat lots of sweets, fried foods, processed foods, foods with white flour (breads, cakes, cookies, pasta), and beer, and still be a vegan. And not super healthy.</p> <p>Since going vegan, I’ve slowly transitioned my diet from the convenient vegan foods (prepared plant “meats”, pizzas, beer, delicious vegan sweets), to something much healthier.</p> <p>I’d like to share that with you today.</p> <h3>Amazing Plant Foods</h3> <p>Here’s what I suggest eating:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Green veggies</strong>: The king of healthy plant food. Kale, broccoli, darker lettuces, chard, collard greens, mustard greens, arugula, green beans. Eat as much of these as you can, every day. Several servings.</li> <li><strong>Other veggies</strong>: Orange and red and yellow veggies like carrots and red bell peppers and squash and tomatoes and pumpkin and sweet potatoes, along with all kinds of mushrooms, onions and garlic, cauliflower. Pile these on, throw them in stir-fries, put them in soups!</li> <li><strong>Plant proteins</strong>: Despite what many people believe, protein is easy to get on a vegan diet. Beans of all kinds (black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, white beans, pinto beans), lentils, soy beans (edamame, tempeh and tofu). Raw nuts like almonds and walnuts. Seeds like flaxseeds, hemp, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds. I eat all these.</li> <li><strong>Fruits</strong>: Yum. These guys are my saviors, because I don’t eat many sweets anymore. Berries and pomegranates are the king of this category, but apples, oranges, grapes, mangoes, kiwi fruit, bananas, peaches, apricots, papayas, pears and so forth are all amazing. Don’t be afraid of fruits.</li> <li><strong>Good fats</strong>: Don’t be afraid of fats, but just go for the good ones and minimize trans and saturated fats. If you eat saturated fats, get them from plants (coconuts). My favorite fats: nuts of all kinds, avocados, ground flaxseeds, olive and canola oil. I also take a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Deva-Nutrition-Vegan-DHA-EPA-Count/dp/B005R5CARY">vegan EPA-DHA supplement</a> (like fish oil, but from algae instead) for extra health — brain, joint, heart health, among other good benefits.</li> <li><strong>Whole grains</strong>: Many people these days who try to be healthy are afraid of grains. I have not seen any good scientific evidence that they’re bad for you, but lots that they’re good. However, avoid white flour, and in fact most flour should be minimized altogether. If you’re going to eat bread, try flourless sprouted grain breads. Other good choices: quinoa (actually a seed, not a grain), brown rice, amaranth, millet, steel-cut oats. If you’re allergic or intolerant to gluten, of course avoid gluten, but most people can eat gluten just fine.</li> <li><strong>Others</strong>: I drink a glass or two of red wine every day, along with at least a couple glasses of tea. And lots of water. Some good spices to add to your dishes: cinnamon, tumeric, cayenne.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Special notes for full vegans</strong>: If you’re on an all-vegan diet for long, you’ll want to ensure that you’re getting Vitamin B12, either from a vegan supplement or through fortified foods like soymilk or fortified nutritional yeast. Iron, calcium and Vitamin D are other things to look out for, but it’s not hard to figure out. I highly recommend <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Life-Everything-Healthy-Plant-Based/dp/0738214930">Vegan For Life</a> for more on these nutritional requirements, and the blogs by the two authors of that book: nutritionists <a href="http://www.theveganrd.com/">Ginny Messina</a> and <a href="http://jacknorrisrd.com/">Jack Norris</a>.</p> <h3>Stuff to Eat Less Of</h3> <p>I don’t like to “villainize” any foods, because we shouldn’t be afraid of foods or develop some kind of complex. So all foods are fine in small bits, but unfortunately most people eat them all the time.</p> <p>Here’s what you should keep to a minimum:</p> <ul> <li>Animal products (for health but mostly ethical reasons) – meat, poultry, eggs, dairy</li> <li>Fried foods</li> <li>White flour, white rice, white potatoes</li> <li>Trans fats of any kind</li> <li>Sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, other sweeteners, especially artificial sweeteners</li> <li>Chemicals and weird ingredients that aren’t really food</li> </ul> <h3>What a Healthy Vegan Diet Looks Like</h3> <p>So how do you put this all together into an everyday eating plan? Well, there are countless variations, but I’ll share some things I like to eat:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Breakfast</strong>: My go-to breakfast at the moment is Ezekiel Flax Sprouted Whole Grain Cereal, with soymilk, raw almonds and walnuts, berries and ground flaxseeds. Other breakfasts I like: <a href="http://7dayvegan.com/scrambled-tofu/">scrambled tofu</a> and <a href="http://7dayvegan.com/chock-full-oatmeal/">chock-full oatmeal</a>.</li> <li><strong>Lunch & dinner</strong>: Lately I’ve been eating either cubed tempeh or black beans, cooked with garlic/onions, olive oil, diced carrots, diced tomatoes, mushrooms, and any kind of greens I can get, all stir-fried together with salt, pepper and sometimes chili powder or other spices. Other good choices: <a href="http://7dayvegan.com/chili/">three-bean chili</a>, lentil curry with veggies, or just a big salad with greens, nuts, fruits, seeds and a balsamic vinaigrette. The above-mentioned scrambled tofu also works. When in doubt, follow this formula: beans (including lentils, tempeh, tofu), whole grain (e.g. brown rice or quinoa or sprouted grains bread) and veggies (greens and others), along with a good fat like olive or canola oil or nuts or avocados.</li> <li><strong>Other</strong>: I snack on nuts and fruits, or veggies with hummus. As mentioned, I also drink unsweetened tea, red wine and water.</li> </ul> <p>That’s how my diet normally looks, though I will make conscious exceptions on occasion. Lately I’ve been making fewer exceptions and feeling healthier than ever!</p> <h3>The Incredible Benefits</h3> <p>Since turning vegetarian then vegan, I’ve been unbelievably healthy — I feel strong and alive, and I almost never get sick. Neither do my wife and kids, and in fact my daughter’s strong asthma-related attacks are now gone. If you do it right, a plant diet can do wonders for your health.</p> <p>The benefits of a healthful vegan diet are too many to name in one post, but they are many and they’re powerful. I’ll point you to a few resources here — please do check them out:</p> <p>I highly recommend the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0062080636">Super Immunity by Dr. Joel Fuhrman</a> — it spells out the science behind the micronutrients in plant food, and how they can help prevent important diseases from flu to heart disease to cancers of all kinds. It’s amazing.</p> <p>I also recommend two videos: <a href="http://www.forksoverknives.com/">Forks Over Knives</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyyHsb6WGgY">More Than an Apple a Day: Preventing Our Most Common Diseases</a>. Both are highly informative.</p> <h3>How to Do It</h3> <p>What if your diet includes a lot of the “Stuff to Eat Less Of” right now, and you think you just can’t give it up? Try going a week without one of these. It’s not as hard as you think. Do one at a time, and if the first week isn’t bad, try two or three weeks, or a month. After a month or so, you’ll find you won’t miss it at all. Then try another.</p> <p>You’d be amazed at how your taste buds can change for the better pretty quickly. The voice that says, “I could never give up …” isn’t really true.</p> <p>If you’d like to try a healthful vegan diet for a week, check out my collaborative site, the <a href="http://7dayvegan.com/">7-Day Vegan Challenge</a>.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=GS41Fl-z644:qMe3OS2OobE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=GS41Fl-z644:qMe3OS2OobE:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=GS41Fl-z644:qMe3OS2OobE:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=GS41Fl-z644:qMe3OS2OobE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=GS41Fl-z644:qMe3OS2OobE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-49164746768624620762013-07-22T13:26:00.001-07:002013-07-22T13:26:40.388-07:00zen habits: Living the Quiet Life<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: Living the Quiet Life</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/quiet/">Living the Quiet Life</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 22 Jul 2013 06:35 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>When I first started simplifying my life, about 8 years ago, I remember my life being much busier.</p> <p>I would say yes to everything, and go to lots of social stuff, and drive everywhere doing a crazy amount of things, rushing wherever I went. By crazy I mean it can drive you a bit insane.</p> <p>These days I know a lot of people who do an amazing amount of socializing online instead of in person — chatting and sending messages and tumbling and posting pictures and status updates. While I understand the need for social connection, I also recognize the addictiveness of it all, to the point where we have no quiet.</p> <p>Quiet space is incredibly important to me these days. I like my quiet mornings where I can drink a nice tea, meditate, write, as the day grows light and the kids are sleeping. I like quiet on my runs and long walks, so that I can process my ideas, give my thoughts some space, reflect on my life.</p> <p>The quiet space I allow myself has made possible my writing, but also all the improvements I’ve made to my life: healthier eating, the exercise habit, meditation, decluttering, procrastinating less, etc. Because the quiet space allows me to be more conscious about my actions, and gives me the time to consider whether what I’m doing is how I want to live my life.</p> <p>And so, while I still socialize, I live a quieter life now. I have my quiet mornings of meditation, tea and writing, but also my nice runs, some time drinking tea or working out with a friend, alone time with my wife, reading with my kids, and some time alone with a good novel.</p> <p>Is every minute one of quiet? No, the kids make sure I have some noise in my life, and I’m grateful for that, but the quiet is also in how I respond to the noise. A quiet response is one that absorbs the force of noise, with compassion, and doesn’t throw it back with equal force.</p> <p>Today I wish the quiet life upon you.</p> <p>Some ideas:</p> <ul> <li>Create a little quiet space in the morning.</li> <li>Meditate for 2 minutes a day (to start with). Just sit and put your attention on your breath, returning when your thoughts distract you.</li> <li>When you feel the urge to socialize online, pause. Give yourself a little quiet instead.</li> <li>When you feel the automatic urge to say Yes to an invitation, consider saying No instead, unless it’s something that will truly enrich your life.</li> <li>Don’t take music on a run or walk. Instead, give yourself space with your thoughts.</li> <li>When someone talks to you, instead of jumping in with something about yourself, just listen. Absorb. Reflect their thoughts back to them. Appreciate their beauty.</li> <li>Make time for the people closest to you. One-on-one time is best. Really pay attention to them.</li> <li>Make time for creating, with no distractions.</li> <li>Spend some time decluttering, and creating peaceful space.</li> <li>Create space between your automatic reaction, and your actions (or words). Even one second is enough. In that space, consider whether your reaction is appropriate.</li> <li>Instead of rushing, take a breath, and slow down.</li> <li>Pay attention to sensations of whatever you’re eating, drinking, doing.</li> <li>Have a daily time for reflection.</li> </ul> <p>You don’t have to do all of these, and certainly not all at once. A slow, happy progression is best.</p> <p>In the quiet space that you create, in this world of noise and rushing and distraction, is a new world of reflection, peacefulness, and beauty. It’s a world of your own, and it’s worth living in.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=21AQLVEMBKs:HpsvDa2g0Pw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=21AQLVEMBKs:HpsvDa2g0Pw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=21AQLVEMBKs:HpsvDa2g0Pw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=21AQLVEMBKs:HpsvDa2g0Pw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=21AQLVEMBKs:HpsvDa2g0Pw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-83123618057998172512013-07-16T13:21:00.001-07:002013-07-16T13:21:41.681-07:00zen habits: The Art of Tasting Chocolate Mindfully<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Art of Tasting Chocolate Mindfully</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/chocolate/">The Art of Tasting Chocolate Mindfully</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 16 Jul 2013 07:00 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6><strong>Editor’s note</strong>: This is a guest post from Todd Masonis of <a href="http://http://www.dandelionchocolate.com/">Dandelion Chocolate</a>, one of Leo’s favorite chocolate shops in the world</a>.</h6> <p><strong>Leo</strong>: <em>I attended a Chocolate 101 class with Eva at <a href="http://www.dandelionchocolate.com/">Dandelion Chocolate’s</a> beautiful little chocolate factory/shop on Valencia Street in San Francisco about a month ago, and absolutely loved it. I asked Todd, co-founder of Dandelion, to share some tips on tasting chocolate … mindfully.</p> <p>Without further ado, here’s Todd Masonis of Dandelion Chocolate, on the Art of Tasting Chocolate Mindfully:</em></p> <p>We’re often asked if there’s a right way or a wrong way to taste chocolate. I don’t like to overthink it — if tastes good to you, then it’s right. However, there are a few tips on how to taste chocolate mindfully.</p> <p>The first step is to slow down. Before you rip apart the packaging and dig in, take a moment to read about the bar. Chocolate makers think through countless decisions and this is our opportunity to share our perspective. Even the physicality of our packaging should draw you into the chocolate experience. In our case, the handmade cotton paper should feel soft. Like our bars, the slightly imperfect screenprinting should reinforce the touch-of-the-hand craftsmanship that goes into each of our bars. And our typeface is intentionally small so that you are encouraged to grasp the bar and experience it close-up. Many labels will tell you about the beans, the farmers, or terroir. Take a moment to note what you can about the bar, so you start learning the differences in the various origins and chocolate makers.</p> <p>After that, gently unwrap the bar and take a look at it. Flip it over, look at the sides. Does it have a nice shine? What about its color? Is the back smooth or rumpled? Do you see any wavy patterns which might indicate that the bar didn’t release properly from the mold?</p> <p>Next, break off a small piece and note the snap. Does it crumble or pop? Is the break clean or ragged? The snap indicates the temper — the alignment of the crystal structure in the cocoa butter –and a poor snap can often mean a mistake or improper storage, or even a different style choice.</p> <p>Now place the small piece in your mouth. Take a tiny bite to break it into a few pieces. Let it start to gently melt on your tongue. Now move the chocolate around your mouth and coat your tongue, but avoid chewing. If you eat it quickly, you’ll miss the tasting experience that makes each bar origin unique.</p> <p>Within a second or two, the chocolate will melt more and you will begin to taste flavor notes beyond just the bitter, cocoa rush you tasted at the first moment it hit your tongue. Look for various notes and see if you can identify them. Do they come in all at once, or do they evolve as the chocolate melts? Where do you taste the chocolate — near the front or back of your mouth? Are the notes like a single, clean instrument or more like a symphony? Or worse, like a cacophony of flavors that don’t mesh?</p> <p>Once you’ve listened for these flavors, swallow and wait a few seconds. Notice what tastes linger — how does it finish? Is it pleasant or harsh? Does it leave you wanting more or wishing you had some water to wash away the aftertaste?</p> <p>And that’s it — it’s best not to overthink it, just taste slowly and mindfully. Chocolate makes people happy and if it’s too cerebral, you may be missing the experience. And once you’ve tried some chocolate you like, try other origins, chocolate makers, and percentages. Many makers, especially the new, small American ones, have their own distinct styles, techniques and point of view. And if you don’t find interesting flavor notes, the first time, don’t fret and try a different maker. Most industrial chocolate has been made to have one plain, monotone cocoa note, so make sure you try a bunch of different companies and different types.</p> <p><strong>Visit the <a href="http://www.dandelionchocolate.com/">Dandelion Chocolate shop</a> in San Francisco, or find their bars at <a href="http://www.dandelionchocolate.com/locations/">some of the best stores nationwide</a>. You can also read more from Todd on the <a href="http://www.dandelionchocolate.com/">Dandelion Chocolate blog</a>.</strong></p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=aUa9PMt6zUI:u7DW4Oouzvc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=aUa9PMt6zUI:u7DW4Oouzvc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=aUa9PMt6zUI:u7DW4Oouzvc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=aUa9PMt6zUI:u7DW4Oouzvc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=aUa9PMt6zUI:u7DW4Oouzvc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-57430750036963523202013-07-12T13:14:00.001-07:002013-07-12T13:14:10.557-07:00zen habits: Why Fear of Discomfort Might Be Ruining Your Life<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: Why Fear of Discomfort Might Be Ruining Your Life</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/discomfort-ruin/">Why Fear of Discomfort Might Be Ruining Your Life</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 12 Jul 2013 07:20 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>Think about the major problems in your life — from anxiety to lack of regular exercise to a bad diet to procrastination and more.</p> <p>Pretty much every one of these problems is caused by a fear of discomfort.</p> <p>Discomfort isn’t intense pain, but just the feeling you get when you’re out of your comfort zone. Eating vegetables for many people, for example, brings discomfort. So does sitting in meditation, or sitting with a hard task in front of you, or saying No to people, or exercising. (Of course, different people are uncomfortable with different things, but you get the idea.)</p> <p>And most people don’t like discomfort. They run from it. It’s not fun, so why do it?</p> <p>The problem is that when you run from discomfort all the time, you are restricted to a small zone of comfort, and so you miss out on most of life. On most of the best things in life, in fact. And you become unhealthy, because if eating healthy food and exercising is uncomfortable, then you go to comfort foods and not moving much. Being unhealthy, unfortunately, is also uncomfortable, so then you seek distractions from this (and the fact that you have debt and too much clutter, etc.) in food and entertainment and shopping (as if spending will solve our problems!) and this in turn makes things worse.</p> <p>Amazingly, the simple act of being OK with discomfort can solve all these problems.</p> <p>This is a discovery I made a few years back, when I was trying to change my life.</p> <p>I started by trying to quit smoking, but I hated the feeling of having an urge to smoke and not actually smoking. It was uncomfortable to resist that strong urge. My mind resisted, tried to make up all kinds of rationalizations for smoking. My mind tried to run from this discomfort, tried to seek distractions.</p> <p>I learned to sit and watch the discomfort. And when I did, incredibly, it wasn’t too bad. My world didn’t end, nor did my mind implode. I was just uncomfortable for a bit, and then life moved on.</p> <p>Then I watched this same process happen with running. I didn’t want to run because it was too hard. My mind made up rationalizations, etc. I found ways to avoid the running. Then I gave in to the discomfort, and it wasn’t hard. I ran, and learned to love it.</p> <p>I repeated this process for changing my diet (many times, actually, because my diet gradually got healthier over time), for getting out of debt and not spending so much, for beating procrastination, for meditation, and so on.</p> <p>Becoming OK with discomfort was one of the single biggest discoveries of my newly changed life.</p> <h3>How to Become Good at Discomfort</h3> <p>If you can learn to become good at discomfort, your life will have almost no limits. There’s no better skill to learn.</p> <p>Here are some tips I’ve learned:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Try it in small doses</strong>. Sit for 30 seconds in discomfort. If you’re averse to vegetables, try one green veggie. Put it in your mouth, leave it there for 30 seconds. You probably won’t like it much, but that’s OK. You don’t have to have a mouthgasm with every bite. I’ve learned to love veggies.</li> <li><strong>Immerse yourself in discomfort</strong>. Are you sad, or angry, or stressed, or frustrated? Instead of avoiding those emotions, immerse yourself in them. Dive into them, accept them, be in them. Same with procrastination — sit with the task you’re running from, and don’t switch to something else. Just be there with that uncomfortable feeling. How does it feel? Are you in deep pain? Are you OK?</li> <li><strong>Seek discomfort</strong>. Challenge yourself daily. Find uncomfortable things and do them. Introduce yourself to strangers. Hug a friend. Confess your feelings. Confront someone (with a smile). Say No to people. Go for a run. Try a new healthy dish.</li> <li><strong>Watch yourself run from things</strong>. What have you been avoiding because of discomfort? What feelings have you been rejecting? What problems do you have that stem from discomfort? What have you allowed your mind to rationalize? Become aware of this process, and see if you can stop avoiding things, one by one.</li> <li><strong>Learn that discomfort is your friend</strong>. It’s not an enemy to fear. It’s actually a good thing — when you’re uncomfortable, you are trying something new, you’re learning, you’re expanding, you’re becoming more than you were before. Discomfort is a sign that you’re growing.</li> </ol> <p>Discomfort is the reason I decided to undergo my <a href="http://zenhabits.net/without/">Year of Living Without</a> — I’m facing the things that make me uncomfortable (and so far, finding that it’s not hard at all).</p> <p>While others stay in their comfort zone, I explore the unknown. And I treasure the experience.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=YRjTkiX5eEs:ZjeFebH7Ozs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=YRjTkiX5eEs:ZjeFebH7Ozs:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=YRjTkiX5eEs:ZjeFebH7Ozs:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=YRjTkiX5eEs:ZjeFebH7Ozs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=YRjTkiX5eEs:ZjeFebH7Ozs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-41520302095203251082013-07-09T13:30:00.001-07:002013-07-09T13:30:13.747-07:00zen habits: The Habits of Happiness<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Habits of Happiness</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/brighten/">The Habits of Happiness</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 09 Jul 2013 06:02 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><blockquote> <p>‘Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.’ <strong>~Dalai Lama</strong></p> </blockquote> <h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>I’m not one who believes you can be happy all the time, but I have learned you can be happy much of the time.</p> <p>And that’s not something that depends on how your day is going or how others treat you — it depends on what you do on a regular basis.</p> <p>I remember being unhappy most days, at one point in my life. It wasn’t because I hated the people in my life — I had a lovely wife, great kids, other wonderful family members and friends. It was because I was unhappy with myself, and that caused growing debt problems, unhappiness with my job, health problems and more. I felt like I couldn’t change any of that.</p> <p>Then one day I sat down and made a list.</p> <p>I make a lot of lists — it’s one of my favorite habits — but this list seemed to have a magical power. It was a list of the things I was grateful for. Amazingly, there were a lot of things on the list, from things about my wife, kids, relatives, and friends, to things about my job, about nature around me, about my life.</p> <p>This list was magical because I went from feeling a bit depressed about everything, and hopeless and helpless, to much happier. My mindset shifted from the things I didn’t like or didn’t have, to the things I was really happy I had. And I was in control.</p> <p>Since then I’ve experimented with a number of habits and have found a couple things to be true:</p> <ol> <li>A handful of activities can actually make you happy.</li> <li>If you incorporate them into your life on a regular basis (make them into habits), you’ll be happier regularly.</li> </ol> <p>And those might seem to be small realizations, but actually they’re huge.</p> <h3>The Habits That Make You Happy</h3> <p>So what habits make you happy? Try doing these on a daily basis, and see if you get the same results:</p> <ol> <li><strong>List 3 Good Things</strong>. Eva & I started a daily evening ritual, at about 7pm each day, where we take a moment to tell each other three good things about our day. We didn’t invent this, but it serves as at least one time in your day when you focus on what you’re grateful for. This can create a mental habit of gratitude that you can use other times in your day, when you’re focused on the things you don’t like or have — when you feel this, think about something you do have, that you love. Find a way to be grateful, and you’re happier.</li> <li><strong>Help Someone</strong>. When we focus on ourselves, and the woeful state of our lives, we are self-centered. This shrinks the world to one little place with one little unhappy person. But what if we can expand that worldview, and expand our heart to include at least one other person? Maybe even a few others? Then we see that others are suffering too, even if that just means they’re stressed out. Then we can reach out, and do something to reduce their stress, put a smile on their face, make their lives easier. Help at least one person each day, and you’ll find your entire perspective shifted.</li> <li><strong>Meditate</strong>. I’ve called this the <a href="http://zenhabits.net/fundameditate/">Fundamental Habit</a>, because it affects everything else. Meditate for just 2 minutes a day, and you’ll create a habit that will allow you to notice your thoughts throughout the rest of the day, that will help you to be more present (unhappiness comes from not being present), that will help you notice the source of anxiety and distraction. That’s a lot that can be accomplished in 2 minutes! Sit every morning when you wake, and just notice your body, and then your breath. Notice when your mind wanders, and gently return to your breath. You become the watcher of your mind, and you’ll learn some useful things, I promise.</li> <li><strong>Exercise</strong>. Everyone knows you should exercise, so I’m not going to belabor this point. But it really does make you happier, both in the moment of exercise (I’m exerting myself, I’m alive!) and throughout the rest of the day. Exercise lightly, if you’re not in the habit yet, and just for a few minutes a day to start out. Who doesn’t have a few minutes a day? If you don’t, you need to loosen up your schedule a bit.</li> </ol> <p>There are a number of other habits that also help: mindful eating, drinking tea, doing yoga, socializing with others. But these incorporate meditation (they’re more active forms of meditation), and exercise and helping others and gratitude (if you’re doing it right). So I wanted to list the most basic habits, and then you can expand to other areas.</p> <p>How do you form these habits? One at a time, starting as small as possible, with some social accountability.</p> <p>Set these habits in motion. You’ll notice yourself becoming more present, more grateful, more other-focused. The shift that results is nothing short of a miracle.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=NUVTI8IwoPU:v4uslneF2fs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=NUVTI8IwoPU:v4uslneF2fs:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=NUVTI8IwoPU:v4uslneF2fs:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=NUVTI8IwoPU:v4uslneF2fs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=NUVTI8IwoPU:v4uslneF2fs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-12011837504216635332013-07-04T13:21:00.001-07:002013-07-04T13:21:41.706-07:00zen habits: How to Keep Habits Going During Travel<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: How to Keep Habits Going During Travel</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/travel-habit/">How to Keep Habits Going During Travel</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 04 Jul 2013 08:00 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>Keeping up with habits can be difficult when you’re traveling, because all of your normal triggers are gone.</p> <p>I’m in the middle of a long stretch of travel (2 trips, traveling 19 out of 23 days) and I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with habits while traveling.</p> <p>Let’s take two quick examples:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Exercise</strong>. Let’s say you normally go for a run or do a workout after you drink coffee, process email, brush your teeth, and eat breakfast … if you’re traveling and in a hotel room, you might wake up later than normal (after an exhausting flight or day of sightseeing) and go out for coffee and check your email in the coffee shop (for example). Now when will you run or work out? You usually do it after a certain sequence of events, with your breakfast being your main trigger for the habit. Without the trigger, the habit doesn’t happen automatically.</li> <li><strong>Healthy eating</strong>. Let’s say you tend to eat a healthy breakfast of steel-cut oats, nuts & fruit at home, right after taking a shower … but when you travel, you don’t have the same meal in your hotel room after you shower, and maybe you’re in a hurry, so you grab something quick & easy (and less healthy). You’re walking around all day and grab a pizza for lunch (rather than the healthy lunch you normally pack for yourself). The change in your routine has changed your healthy eating habits.</li> </ol> <p>Yikes. And this happens with every habit you have, if it’s tied to something in your routine at home or your office (and pretty much every habit is).</p> <h3>A Better Way</h3> <p>So what can you do?</p> <p>Here are some things I’ve learned as I travel, from numerous mistakes:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Think ahead</strong>. It’s no good to say, “I’m going to stick to my exercise habit on this trip” and then hope you do. That’s like a New Year’s resolution — those guys never come true. Instead, figure out an actual trigger for your habit. Set up a reminder. Prepare your stuff the night before. Have an accountability buddy.</li> <li><strong>Hold loosely to your expectations</strong>. Habits like exercise depend more than you might think on how much energy you have. If you are exhausted from walking and sightseeing, you might not be able to exercise like you do at home. This takes a flexible mind.</li> <li><strong>Try to do the minimum</strong>. Keeping with your flexible mind: if you normally exercise for 30 minutes, try 5-10 if you’re pressed for time or low on energy. If you normally meditate for 20 minutes, try 2 or 5 minutes. It’s better to keep it going with the minimum, than to only do it if you have the time/energy for the full session.</li> <li><strong>Know your keystone habits</strong>. If you have 5-7 habits you try to do every day, what are your most important ones you should try to do when traveling, and which ones can you put on hold? For me, I kept meditation, flossing and running, but let go of the rest.</li> <li><strong>Pick it up when you finish traveling</strong>. If you don’t have the time or energy, just put the habits on hold, and take extra care to start as soon as you get back. You might even get some accountability buddies to help make sure you get started asap. The longer you put it on hold, the harder it will be to get started again. Also: when you start after your trip, start small.</li> </ol> <p>I hope this helps! Happy travels, my friends.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=7HuQ1X9kBlo:l3dvqGIGqPM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=7HuQ1X9kBlo:l3dvqGIGqPM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=7HuQ1X9kBlo:l3dvqGIGqPM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=7HuQ1X9kBlo:l3dvqGIGqPM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=7HuQ1X9kBlo:l3dvqGIGqPM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-49663605583864079992013-07-01T13:21:00.001-07:002013-07-01T13:21:01.687-07:00zen habits: A Year of Living Without<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: A Year of Living Without</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/without/">A Year of Living Without</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 01 Jul 2013 06:05 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h3 class="subtitle">Or, How I Made Room for Life</h3> <h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>For the next 12 months, I’ll be conducting a personal experiment that I’m calling <strong>A Year of Living Without</strong>.</p> <p>It’s my way of finding out what’s truly necessary, of simplifying my life, of making room for other things.</p> <p>I’m testing the boundaries of my needs. It’s good to test your personal boundaries now and then (or, if you’re me, all the time).</p> <p>So what’s the Year of Living Without?</p> <p>Each month, I’ll go the whole month without one thing I do every day. Something that I tend to not want to give up, for various reasons.</p> <p>I’ll give up something for a month, then evaluate whether it was something I enjoyed giving up, whether it’s worth leaving it out of my life, or if I want to put it back in after the month’s over. The next month, I’ll try giving up something else (see the list below).</p> <h3>The 12 Things I’ll Live Without</h3> <p>Each month, I’ll try a different experiment:</p> <ol> <li><strong>July: Coffee</strong>. I drink about 1-2 cups each morning, and it’s the first thing I do each morning after I meditate. I’ve quit coffee a couple times in the past, as experiments, but haven’t found it to be useful or enjoyable. I’m going to give it another try. Starting today. <em>Replacement habit</em>: tea.</li> <li><strong>August: Sitting for longer than 30 mins at a time</strong>. I work online. I also read a lot online. And do research, pay bills, watch some videos, etc. You get the picture — a typical life in the Western world, probably. I’m going to ban myself from sitting for too long — after 30 minutes, I have to get up for 15 minutes and do something else. Sitting too long is killing us. <em>Replacement habit</em>: yoga (at least for a few of the breaks).</li> <li><strong>September: Video entertainment</strong>. While I gave up cable TV years ago, Eva & I still watch shows on iTunes/Netflix for about an hour or so at night (without commercials). I also watch stuff on YouTube once in awhile, though not much. I’ll cut all of this out. <em>Replacement habit</em>: read books.</li> <li><strong>October: Sugar</strong>. I love vegan desserts. I don’t eat them much anymore, but for this month, I’ll eat them not at all. <em>Replacement habit</em>: veggies, fruit.</li> <li><strong>November: Computer/Internet in morning (except to write)</strong>. I use the computer for email, to read longer articles and blog posts, to pay bills, to manage my tasks, etc. I won’t be able to do any of that before noon. Only write, or do non-computer stuff. <em>Replacement habit</em>: write a novel.</li> <li><strong>December: Refined carbs</strong>. Honestly, I don’t do many refined carbs anymore, but I do “cheat” with the kids now and then. For this month, I’m going to ban them completely. Should be fun to do during the holidays! <em>Replacement habit</em>: veggies.</li> <li><strong>January: Using Internet all day</strong> (except to post writing). Similar to November, except it will be all day long (including evenings). This means no email in January either, probably, though I might need to find a system to keep my Sea Change membership going during the month. <em>Replacement habit</em>: write book.</li> <li><strong>February: Alcohol</strong>. I drink 1-2 glasses of red wine a night, usually with Eva. On rare occasions I’ll have a beer. Not this month. <em>Replacement habit</em>: tea.</li> <li><strong>March: Cell phone</strong>. For a long time, I had no iPhone, only a dumb phone. It was completely good enough for my needs. Then Eva bought me an iPhone, and I use it fairly regularly (not addicted). But I’m going to go a month without using my iPhone (or any other cell phone). Note that we don’t have a landline. <em>Replacement habit</em>: drawing.</li> <li><strong>April: Buying new things</strong>. When I was in debt, I was really frugal. I haven’t been as much of a tightwad now that I’m completely debt-free because it’s not as necessary. This month, I’ll buy nothing new. <em>Replacement habit</em>:creating, borrowing, sharing.</li> <li><strong>May: Restaurants</strong>. I don’t go out to restaurants much, except on dates with Eva, to socialize with friends, or to treat the kids. This month, no restaurants! <em>Replacement habit</em>: nature, cooking meals for people.</li> <li><strong>June: Computer</strong>. No computer at all this month. I’ll write with pen & paper, and maybe ask someone to post things for me on Zen Habits. Yikes. <em>Replacement habit</em>: meditating, stretching, writing, drawing.</li> </ol> <p>This list might change as the year progresses and I find other things I’d rather give up, but this is what I’m planning for now. I’ll do at least one post each month about what I’ve learned.</p> <p>At the end of each month, I’ll decide whether I want to keep doing without that month’s Living Without item. It will really depend on how the experiment went.</p> <p>Some things I’ve already given up:</p> <ul> <li>Owning a car</li> <li>Meat</li> <li>Dairy & Eggs</li> <li>Cable TV</li> <li>Having a lot of stuff</li> <li>Fast food</li> <li>Facebook</li> <li>Packing a lot of stuff when I travel</li> </ul> <p>I’ve enjoyed giving all these things up. They’re not sacrifices, but a joy.</p> <h3>Why Am I Doing This?</h3> <p>If you ever thought something like, “Oh, I could never give up cheese!” (or coffee, or sugar, or your car, or TV, or Facebook, or the Internet), then you know what I’m faced with. I’m faced with a year of this reaction, inside myself.</p> <p>And I’m faced with a year of learning that, perhaps, none of it is true. We can give up that which we hold dearly to. We can push those boundaries, and feel them push back, and be OK with the push.</p> <p>I’m doing this for myself, to learn about myself, but also to show others that our initial reaction is false. We can give it up.</p> <p>And in the process, make room for something that just might be better. You’ll never know until you try.</p> <h3>Q&As</h3> <p>Some questions you might have:</p> <p><strong>Q</strong>: How can you give up the Internet when you work online?<br /> <strong>A</strong>: Well, I plan to still write, but do little else. I’ll figure out a system where I can write but not do anything else online. I haven’t worked out the details yet.</p> <p><strong>Q</strong>: Isn’t this a bit extreme?<br /> <strong>A</strong>: Possibly, depending on context. Honestly, I don’t think some of this will be incredibly difficult, but the computer-related ones will be hard (and alcohol seems like it’ll be missed as well). And I’m not afraid of a little extremes — when we push ourselves a bit, we learn about ourselves.</p> <p><strong>Q</strong>: I’ve already been going without these things for years!<br /> <strong>A</strong>: Awesome! I don’t claim to be the first to do these things. This is simply a series of personal experiments, to see what I can learn. I would love to learn from you — share your story with me on Twitter or Google+, give me some tips.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=yI4XjPRyTzs:QNhMc47CI_k:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=yI4XjPRyTzs:QNhMc47CI_k:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=yI4XjPRyTzs:QNhMc47CI_k:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=yI4XjPRyTzs:QNhMc47CI_k:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=yI4XjPRyTzs:QNhMc47CI_k:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-26899465848714431572013-06-28T13:13:00.001-07:002013-06-28T13:13:14.720-07:00zen habits: The Key Habits of Organization<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Key Habits of Organization</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/putaway/">The Key Habits of Organization</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 28 Jun 2013 04:00 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>A trusted organization system that you actually use regularly can turn your day from one of chaos to one of focus, effectiveness and calm.</p> <p>This is something I’ve learned through repeated failures, actually: when I become loose with my organized habits, my day becomes worse. It gets stressful and crazy, and I can’t focus on anything. Everything is on my head all the time, and I’m always worried that I’m missing something, that I should be doing something else.</p> <p>But when I get my system down, and the habits are on track, things are smooth, I feel good about what I’m doing, and I’m much better able to let everything else go and focus on what’s in front of me, confident that everything else is in its place.</p> <p>I’ll show you my system in a minute, but first let’s talk about what a good organizational system does and how it works.</p> <h3>Why Form the Habits of Organization</h3> <p>Several important reasons:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Stress</strong>: An excess of stress very negatively affects your health. If you have good habits in place to deal with all the stuff in your life, you stress out about everything less. You feel less worry that things are slipping through the cracks. You feel trust that you are OK working on what’s in front of you.</li> <li><strong>Effectiveness</strong>: If you are able to externalize all the things you’re worried about into a trusted system, you can better focus on the task in front of you. You can single-task, and be more effective at each task, because it’s getting your full focus.</li> <li><strong>Relationships</strong>: I’ve found relationships to be about the most important thing in my life, personal but also business. And the best way to build relationships is to be trustworthy. And the best way to be trustworthy is to keep your commitments. If you’re organized, you are more likely to keep your commitments. Organizaton is largely about managing your commitments.</li> </ol> <h3>Building a Trusted System</h3> <p>So what does a trusted system look like? Honestly, there are a million tools and combinations of tools you might use, but there are a few things that are important in building a trusted system:</p> <ul> <li>You find a place for everything — todos, passwords, appointments, repeating tasks, incoming info and requests, other info you need to store, documents, receipts.</li> <li>You actually use the system and put things where they belong, as soon as you can (see next section, for the habits).</li> <li>You recognize when things are sitting in your inbox or open browser tabs or computer desktop, and find a place for them.</li> </ul> <p>With that said, here’s my current system (it changes over time) … just note that you don’t need to use my system, and there are lots of great tools for each type of item:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Incoming</strong>: Most of my incoming requests, tasks, info, and appointments come in through Gmail. Sometimes through other channels, but 90% of the time through Gmail. When I check Gmail, I try to take each thing out of Gmail and put it where it belongs — in one of the tools below.</li> <li><strong>Todos</strong>: Lately I’ve been using <a href="http://trello.com/">Trello</a>. I stole this system from <a href="http://ryancarson.com/post/25580650719/7-dos-and-donts-for-founders">Ryan Carson of Treehouse</a>: Create a tasks board in Trello, with lists for Most Important (my family, writing, reading, fitness, mindfulness), Today (includes appointments and tasks), Incoming (for things I haven’t placed yet), This Week (move tasks from here to Today each day), Later (move tasks from here to This Week as needed), Done (move things I finish here), and Waiting On (for things I’ve requested but haven’t received yet). Each morning I review this for 20 minutes, moving things as needed to the right places, so I know everything is in its place.</li> <li><strong>Other Work & Personal Info</strong>: I’ve been using <a href="http://workflowy.com">Workflowy</a>, which is a cool web app (with an iPhone app too) that allows you to store just about all the info in your life in one place. I used to put everything in Google Docs, but now I just dump it in Workflowy and it’s all together and searchable.</li> <li><strong>Passwords & secure info</strong>: I use <a href="https://agilebits.com/onepassword">1Password</a>, which not only stores (and generates) passwords, but bank info, credit cards, passport info, airline frequent flier numbers, and pretty much everything else I might need to remember.</li> <li><strong>Timed or repeating items</strong>: Google Calendar. Whenever I need to do something regularly, I create a recurring appointment in GCal. Reviewing my idea list (stored in Workflowy) twice a month, for example.</li> <li><strong>Receipts, financial docs, drafts, tickets</strong>: I’ve set up folders in Dropbox for these things — files which don’t fit into the other buckets.</li> <li><strong>Things to read later</strong>: If I have a tab open to read later, I put it into <a href="http://www.instapaper.com">Instapaper</a>, and open Instapaper when I have time to read.</li> </ol> <p>That’s pretty much everything. What’s important is that everything has a place, and I know exactly where that place is.</p> <h3>Building the Organized Habits</h3> <p>Of course, it won’t be a trusted system unless you actually use it — there’s the rub. We often forget to use our system because we have old habits that don’t die easily.</p> <p>Luckily, we can replace the old habits with better ones, with practice. It takes about a week of very conscious effort to do this, and after that it gets more and more automatic.</p> <p>Here are the habits:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Create a place for everything</strong>. I showed how you might do that above, but find whatever tools work for you. The habit, though, is noticing when something is sitting in your inbox or in an open browser tab or somewhere else, not in its place. And then finding a place for it — sometimes that means consciously designating a new bucket just for that type of thing.</li> <li><strong>Don’t procrastinate — put it away immediately</strong>: The old habit is to put it off (procrastinate) to be put away later. No. That procrastination is what leads to the system falling apart. For one week, make a very conscious effort to not put this off, but instead to take a few seconds to put information, tasks, appointments and other such things right where they belong, right now. It doesn’t take long, but you have to be very conscious about it at first.</li> <li><strong>Don’t live in the inbox</strong>: We have a tendency to keep the inbox open, or to open it often. That means you’re constantly responding, instead of focusing. Instead, open the inbox, and one by one, put incoming items where they belong, and archive them in your inbox. You might not get to the bottom of the list, but you save yourself from having to contstantly look through the same things in your inbox over and over.</li> <li><strong>Review the system every morning</strong>: Make it a habit to review your task list and calendar every morning for 20 minutes (set a timer), so you know things are in their place. Move things from the Today list to Done, from This Week to Today, from Later to This Week, from Incoming to the appropriate list, and so on. Put calendar items on the Today list. Know where everything is. Then get out and start doing.</li> </ol> <p>With these four habits, and a trusted system, you can now relax, and focus.</p> <h3>The Sea Change Get Organized Module</h3> <p>If you’d like help forming the habits of organization, in July we’ll be doing a new module in my <a href="http://zenhabits.net/membership-signup/">Sea Change Program</a> called Get Organized.</p> <p><a href="http://zenhabits.net/membership-signup/">Sign up today to join us</a>, and get a simple plan and some accountability.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=2mIOkfA0wqo:Vm0x6CvFpWo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=2mIOkfA0wqo:Vm0x6CvFpWo:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=2mIOkfA0wqo:Vm0x6CvFpWo:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=2mIOkfA0wqo:Vm0x6CvFpWo:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=2mIOkfA0wqo:Vm0x6CvFpWo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-34938057440172220112013-06-26T13:21:00.001-07:002013-06-26T13:21:53.150-07:00zen habits: I Failed<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: I Failed</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/failed/">I Failed</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 26 Jun 2013 06:37 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>It’s a feeling deep within your heart, one you try to ignore, of heaviness. Of dread and discouragement. Of sadness and guilt and collapse.</p> <p>I feel this heaviness in my chest when I fail.</p> <p>It can make me feel like crying. I feel lonely and I want to give up. I want to fall on a bed and shut out the world. But that doesn’t work, because the feeling follows me into bed, and actually intensifies until finally I have to get out of bed to try to escape it.</p> <p>Failure can hurt.</p> <p>People get this idea about me, that I am successful and disciplined and gurulike. I’m successful at life, but not in the way people imagine. I’m not disciplined. I’m certainly no guru. I fail, all the time, and the heaviness can come in small doses or big waves, unpredictably.</p> <p>What do I fail at? Let me count the ways:</p> <ul> <li>My diet — I eat healthy most of the time, but I overeat when there’s an abundance of yummy food in front of me. I mostly remove that food from my life, but I can’t avoid social situations where the food is right there. When I overeat, I feel fat and bloated and bad about myself.</li> <li>Procrastination — I’m actually much better at beating procrastination than I used to be, but sometimes I put off things I don’t feel like doing, for days. I’ve figured out this is because the task has a lot of barriers to actually starting, like needing certain conditions or information that I don’t immediately have.</li> <li>Mindful parenting — I’ve made a lot of progress in being a more patient, compassionate father, but there are times when I snap and lose my temper. It’s not horrible, just not great. I always feel bad when I get mad at the kids.</li> <li>Expectations — while I’m much better at holding loosely to my expectations, I still have them, and still feel frustrated/disappointed when people or situations don’t meet them.</li> <li>Simplicity — I’m not as minimalist as I once was. I still have far, far less than most people, but I allow myself to buy things more than before. Also, I now have an iPhone — it was a Father’s Day gift from Eva. I resisted getting one for 6 years, and now am one of the masses.</li> <li>Internet — I use the Internet for work, play, reading, learning, etc. I’m on it more than I should be, and sit too much (though I’m pretty active compared to the average person).</li> <li>Learning — I dropped learning languages and programming and other things like this, mostly because I’ve found I just don’t have enough time to seriously learn stuff and still do the other things that are important to me.</li> <li>Yoga — I really need some flexibility, and love yoga because it’s meditation and flexibility and a workout all rolled into one. I have not consistently done yoga despite being challenged by <a href="http://samovarlife.com">my friend Jesse</a>.</li> </ul> <p>I failed at all these things and more.</p> <h3>What Can Be Done</h3> <p>What can you do when you have the heavy feeling of failure in your heart? It’s not always so easy.</p> <p>The answer, of course, is action. That’s not always easy because when you have the heavy feeling, you don’t feel like taking action.</p> <p>You take the action anyway. You take it because you know if you don’t, you feel worse, and eventually your life degrades to the point where you don’t respect yourself anymore. You take the action anyway.</p> <p>Here’s what I do:</p> <ul> <li><strong>I take a breath</strong>. It’s not the end of the world to fail. I just need some space, some distance. I need to see the problem in perspective. When I do, I realize that the failure is pretty minor in the grand scheme of my life, in the grand scheme of the world of lives around me.</li> <li><strong>I reframe the failure</strong>. Someone once said there isn’t failure, only feedback. That means the failure is just a point of information, a part of the learning process. I like to say, it’s not a failure of me as a person, just a failure of my method. Which means I need to change my method.</li> <li><strong>I change the method</strong>. If the way I was doing it didn’t work, I need to find a new way. What can I do differently? In some of the cases above, I added some accountability, asked people for help, or looked for inspiration. In some of the other cases, I haven’t changed the method yet, to be honest.</li> <li><strong>I take the first step</strong>. The problem can be overwhelming, because quite frankly we can’t solve any of this stuff overnight, or even in a few days. We can, however, take one step, right now. One tiny step. And that’s all that matters.</li> </ul> <p>Take one step. Any step.</p> <p>It lightens the heart. It shows you that things aren’t insurmountable or impossible. It starts to dissolve the discouragement and sadness and pain.</p> <p>The single step you take today is the antidote to the soul-tearing effects of failure. It helps me, every day.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=LAucfdLhCqw:aQve0VHCKWo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=LAucfdLhCqw:aQve0VHCKWo:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=LAucfdLhCqw:aQve0VHCKWo:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=LAucfdLhCqw:aQve0VHCKWo:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=LAucfdLhCqw:aQve0VHCKWo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-63850770503327213012013-06-20T13:14:00.001-07:002013-06-20T13:14:25.350-07:00zen habits: Vegan Guide to San Francisco<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: Vegan Guide to San Francisco</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/vegan-sf/">Vegan Guide to San Francisco</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 20 Jun 2013 07:00 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>San Francisco is my favorite city in the world, and living here has helped me become fully vegan (Eva too, as of last year!).</p> <p>I thought I’d share a (non-comprehensive) list of places to try for fellow vegans visiting the city. It’s the result of my exploration of many places, good and great, which has been admittedly a lot of fun.</p> <p>You won’t get to all of these, so I’ve marked my favorites.</p> <h3>All-Vegan Spots</h3> <p>Restaurants with only vegan food:</p> <ol> <li><a href="http://www.millenniumrestaurant.com/">Millenium</a>: An absolute favorite, and a must-try for any vegan new to San Francisco. It’s gourmet vegan food, imaginative combinations of flavors and textures. A bit dressier than most of the places on this list, it’s a date-night type joint. In addition to an amazing food menu, they have excellent wines and cocktails. [<strong>fave</strong>]</li> <li><a href="http://gracias-madre.com/">Gracias Madre</a>: My other favorite vegan place in the city (along with Millenium), it’s Eva’s top spot. It’s organic vegan Mexican, but different than any other Mexican food you’ve probably tried. Healthy, delicious, unique, everything is sustainably farmed (often on their own farm). Save some room for the dessert — I recommend the Mexican chocolate cake & toasted coconut ice cream (unless it’s the holiday season, in which case they’ll likely have the pumpkin spice cake — get that!). [<strong>fave</strong>]</li> <li><a href="http://www.herbivorerestaurant.com/">Herbivore</a>: With three locations (Valencia, Divisadero, and Berkeley), this is a go-to spot for vegan families (there’s something on the menu for everyone), vegan brunch, and a quick and tasty bite. There are some good healthy options here (salads, green juice), and some tasty but less-healthy options (try the grilled seitan deluxe schwarma), and everything in between. </li> <li><a href="http://cha-ya.blogspot.com/">Cha-Ya Japanese</a>: If you’re craving some vegan Japanese, look no further. It’s inexpensive, cooked in the Zen tradition, and pretty tasty.</li> <li>Pepple’s Donuts: These guys are actually located in Oakland, but they have a stand at the Ferry Building (which is great for foodies and has a great farmer’s market on Tues, Thurs and Sat). Delicious with lots of great flavors. Also available in a bunch of grocery stores around the city.</li> <li><a href="http://lovinghut.us/">Loving Hut</a>: With locations near Powell Station (in the <a href="http://lovinghut.us/sf_westfield/">Westfield food court</a>), <a href="http://lovinghut.us/sanfrancisco/">Chinatown</a> and <a href="http://lovinghut.us/sanfrancisco_03/">Sunset neighborhood</a>, this is pretty yummy vegan fast food. You might know them already as they’re all over the world, and if you’ve been to a couple of them, you’ll know that they won’t knock your socks off, but they’re a great choice for a quick vegan lunch as you’re out sightseeing.</li> </ol> <h3>All-Vegetarian Spots</h3> <p>These restaurants serve no meat and are great places for vegans:</p> <ol> <li><a href="http://www.greensrestaurant.com/">Greens</a>: Come here for dinner at sunset and enjoy the view of the water. Gourmet vegetarian — one of the first in the country, and owned by San Francisco Zen Center. Lots of vegan options, tell them you’re vegan and they’ll treat you right. So yummy. [<strong>fave</strong>]</li> <li><a href="http://www.rainbow.coop/">Rainbow Grocery</a>: [<strong>fave</strong>]</li> <li><a href="http://www.source-sf.com/">Source</a>: An amazing variety of vegetarian food (almost all is vegan) — it’s like a new-Age diner, with Philly Cheese Moos (moos are their beef replacement, clucks are duck replacement, bow-wows are vegan hot dogs, etc.) and pizza and even vegan Twinkies. Go here ready to oink out.</li> <li><a href="http://www.thaiideaveggie.com/">Thai Idea Vegetarian</a>: Who doesn’t love Thai food? Now you can love it and not be worried about animal products. Pretty much everything on the menu is vegan, and it’s delicious. Nuff said.</li> <li><a href="http://www.udupipalaceca.com/">Udupi Palace</a>: We went here and ordered way too much food, because it’s all so good. It’s South Indian food, all vegetarian (dairy in some dishes, so ask if you want vegan-only), spicy and yummy. Get the dosas.</li> <li><a href="http://www.anandafuara.com/">Ananda Fuara</a>: This is a funky, cult-like place, but it’s downtown where there aren’t many vegan places, and actually the food is pretty decent. I really like the chocolate cake.</li> <li>Vegetarian Chinese: There are three places with vegetarian Chinese food if you’re in the mood for some General Tso veg chicken or crispy spring rolls — <a href="http://goldenerasf.com/">Golden Era Vegetarian Restaurant</a>, <a href="http://www.enjoyveggie.com/">Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant</a> (with three locations), <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/lucky-creation-vegetarian-restaurant-san-francisco">Lucky Creation Vegetarian Restaurant</a>. My kids love this stuff.</li> <li><a href="http://www.donnastamales.com/">Donna’s Tamales</a>: Vegetarian and vegan tomales, found at the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market and various grocery stores (<a href="http://www.donnastamales.com/">see their site</a> for more info).</li> </ol> <h3>Vegan-Friendly</h3> <p>You’ll find a ton of places in San Francisco that are vegan friendly (almost every place but steakhouses), but here are some that I like:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.samovarlife.com/">Samovar Tea Lounge</a>: Highly recommended for the artisan tea, you’ll be very happy with the vegan food options. My favorite is the Tempeh Maki Bowl, but also try the TLT sandwich or the lentil curry. Three locations, downtown, Hayes Valley and Mission/Castro. [<strong>fave</strong>]</li> <li><a href="http://www.theplantcafe.com/">Plant Cafe</a>: Many veg options, I like the tempeh and the Wasabi Plant Burger. Mmmm. A great option if you’re in the Fisherman’s Wharf/Embarcadero area. [<strong>fave</strong>]</li> <li><a href="http://underdogorganic.com/">Underdog</a>: Hiking around Golden Gate Park and feel like a veggie dog with organic sauerkraut? Of course! Go to Underdog, a tiny spot where they have beef but also veggie dogs and some other tasty vegan options.</li> <li><a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/minako-organic-japanese-restaurant-san-francisco">Minako Organic Japanese</a>: Small but good Japanese restaurant in the middle of the hip Mission District, with lots of vegan options. Just ask!</li> <li><a href="http://www.papalote-sf.com/">Papalote Mexican Grill</a>: One of many taquerias in the Mission, this one probably has the most vegan options — soyrizo or tofu or grilled veggie burritos, for example.</li> <li><a href="http://thelittlechihuahua.com/">Little Chihuahua</a>: Get the fried plantain & black bean burrito. With three locations.</li> <li><a href="http://www.patxispizza.com/">Paxti’s</a>: Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, with some good vegan options. With a bunch of locations in the Bay Area. </li> <li><a href="http://berettasf.com/">Berretta</a>: Go here if you like artisan cocktails — some of the best in the city. And if you’re hungry, there’s Neapolitan pizza with vegan cheese.</li> <li><a href="http://missionpie.com/">Mission Pie</a>: Wonderful pies, down-to-earth cafe in the middle of the Mission. One vegan pie option every day.</li> <li><a href="http://ilikeikesplace.com/">Ike’s Place</a>: Insanely popular sandwich spot, with some great vegetarian and vegan options (and omnivore). Takeout only, order ahead for pickup so you can skip some of the crazy lines.</li> <li><a href="http://roamburgers.com/">Roam Artisan Burger</a>: Super high-quality burger spot, including great house-made veggie burgers. Also get the sweet potato fries, milkshakes, and beer.</li> </ul> <h3>East Bay Vegan Spots</h3> <p>Some great places in Berkeley and Oakland (not a complete list):</p> <ol> <li><a href="http://www.cinnaholic.com/">Cinnaholic</a>: Insane vegan cinnamon rolls with great toppings! Must-try if you have a sweet tooth and are near Berkeley. My kids adore this place. [<strong>fave</strong>]</li> <li><a href="http://www.encuentrooakland.com/">Encuentro Cafe & Wine Bar</a>: Great vegetarian/vegan food, and wine — need I say more? Great for a date night near the Jack London Square area of Oakland. [<strong>fave</strong>]</li> <li><a href="http://cafegratitude.com/">Cafe Gratitude</a>: I was sad when the SF location of Gratitude closed, but you can still hit them up in Berkeley. Hippy feel, half raw and half cooked vegan menu. Try the Gratitude Bowl, among others. [<strong>fave</strong>]</li> <li><a href="http://www.flacos.com/">Flacos</a>: Tiny little vegan taco shop in Berkeley, my mouth waters thinking about their food.</li> <li><a href="http://timelesscoffeeroasters.com/">Timeless Coffee</a>: Hip coffee shop in Oakland, all their coffee & great pastries are vegan!</li> </ol> <h3>A Vegan Sightseeing Tour of SF</h3> <p>OK, let’s put my faves together with my favorite spots in San Francisco into a 2-day highlights tour. Warning: It’s not necessarily the healthiest of tours, but you’ll burn it off exploring the city! Map out this stuff before you come to SF.</p> <h4>Day 1</h4> <ul> <li><strong>Breakfast</strong>: Go to the East Bay and have vegan cinnamon rolls at Cinnaholic in Berkeley.</li> <li><strong>Twin Peaks</strong>: Then drive into SF up to Twin Peaks. Enjoy the amazing view. Don’t just go to the lookout, but actually go on top of at least one of the peaks (2 of the highest peaks in SF).</li> <li><strong>Walk the Mission & Castro</strong>: Drive down & park somewhere near 18th Street & Valencia, and start walking around. Valencia Street and Mission Street are great places to soak in the feel of the best neighborhood in SF. The colorful Castro neighborhood is nearby, which you can check out after lunch.</li> <li><strong>Lunch</strong>: Gracias Madre at 18th & Mission. Take your time, enjoy the menu. Get dessert to go for your next stop.</li> <li><strong>Hang out in Dolores Park</strong>: Walk down 18th Street to Dolores Park (18th & Dolores). If it’s a sunny day, enjoy some relaxation time in Dolores Park, one of the coolest parks in the city. On a sunny afternoon, the scene here is pretty interesting. The view from the corner near 20th & Church is awesome (right near my old house).</li> <li><strong>Dinner</strong>: Millenium, my favorite vegan spot in the city, not in the nicest of neighborhoods but you’ll get a feel for the Tenderloin here. Make sure to make reservations, preferably a week in advance (not always necessary but it’s better to be safe). Bring an empty stomach. Be sure to order dessert.</li> <li><strong>Nighttime strolling</strong>: If you still have energy, walk around the Embarcadero and enjoy the lights on the Bay Bridge.</li> </ul> <h4>Day 2</h4> <ul> <li><strong>Breakfast</strong>: Go to the Ferry Building at Embarcadero, get a couple tasty donuts from Pepple’s, and enjoy with soy Gibraltar at Blue Bottle (it’s off the menu). Also explore the other interesting foodie places in the Ferry Building, and if you plan well, you can <a href="http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/farmers_market.php">catch the farmer’s market</a> outside (Tues, Thurs, and Sat).</li> <li><strong>Fun with science</strong>: Check out the <a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/">Exploratorium</a> for an hour.</li> <li><strong>Hike & views</strong>: If you’re adventurous, hike to the top of Telegraph Hill via the <a href="http://www.sisterbetty.org/stairways/greenwichstreet.htm">Greenwich Street stairs</a> or the <a href="http://www.sisterbetty.org/stairways/filbertsteps.htm">Filbert Street stairs</a> (or go up one and down the other!). Otherwise, drive up and enjoy the view.</li> <li><strong>Lunch</strong>: Samovar Tea Lounge. Have the Nishi Sencha and the Tumeric Spice teas, and the Tempeh Maki Bowl. Slow down, be present, enjoy the relaxing atmosphere.</li> <li><strong>Golden Gate Park</strong>: Drive to somewhere near 9th & Irving, and walk into the lovely Golden Gate Park. Check out the Japanese Tea Garden (feel the serenity), and then stroll around Stow Lake. If you have kids, the California Academy of Sciences is a must.</li> <li><strong>Dinner</strong>: Greens Restaurant on the waterfront. Make reservations ahead of time. Alternatives: the Plant Cafe or Source.</li> </ul> <h4>If You Have More Time</h4> <p>Other good ideas: Encuentro in Oakland, Rainbow Grocery if you want to buy some food to cook yourself, the Golden Gate Bridge and trails along the coast in Presidio, Land’s End trails, a house-made veggie burger and sweet potato fries at Roam Artisan Burger, Flacos or Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=9wjC8yZzX7c:-MXmQWZ2IUc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=9wjC8yZzX7c:-MXmQWZ2IUc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=9wjC8yZzX7c:-MXmQWZ2IUc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=9wjC8yZzX7c:-MXmQWZ2IUc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=9wjC8yZzX7c:-MXmQWZ2IUc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-26727699261003249002013-06-17T13:23:00.001-07:002013-06-17T13:23:12.571-07:00zen habits: The Futility of Comparing Yourself to Others<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Futility of Comparing Yourself to Others</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/comparing/">The Futility of Comparing Yourself to Others</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 17 Jun 2013 07:00 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>One of the biggest reasons <a href="http://zenhabits.net/little-book/">we’re not content with ourselves and our lives</a> is that we compare ourselves to other people.</p> <p>Picture it: you see photos of what someone else is doing on Facebook and think your life isn’t exciting enough. You see someone else who has a cool job and think you’re not doing that great in your career. You see someone with a hotter body, and feel bad about yours. You see someone who has created an awesome business, and think you’re not doing enough. You read about people who are traveling the world, learning languages, going to exotic resorts and restaurants, and wonder why you’re not.</p> <p>Of course, you’re comparing your reality to an ideal, a fantasy.</p> <p>It’s not a comparison that makes sense. You can’t compare apples to apples when you compare yourself to anyone else. Which means it’s a dumb comparison — why would you compare how tangy an orange is compared to a beach? They’re not similar things.</p> <p>Let’s take an example: I’m out running in the park, and I see someone running past me. Obviously he’s a faster runner, and better than me! Oh, that makes me feel horrible about myself as a runner!</p> <p>Except I can’t compare myself to that faster runner, because I don’t have all the information. I don’t know:</p> <ul> <li>how far they’re running (I might be running 12 miles and they’re running 2)</li> <li>where they are in their training plan (I might be starting out on my plan, while they’re in week 20)</li> <li>where they are in their particular run (I might be warming up, while they’re at the hardest part of their workout)</li> <li>how many years they’ve been running (maybe I’ve only started, and they’ve been running for 15 years)</li> <li>their injury status (maybe I recently injured an ankle while they’re not injured)</li> <li>what event they’re training for (maybe they are training for a mile race, or a bike race, and I’m training for a 50-mile race)</li> <li>what else is going on in their lives (maybe they have nothing else going on, while I’ve been working hard, socializing, and moving to a new house and getting little sleep)</li> <li>what motivates them (maybe I just like the peace of running mindfully, while they want to beat everyone else on the path)</li> </ul> <p>Given these and a bunch of other factors I don’t know anything about, why would I compare my speed at this moment with the speed of another runner? They’re irrelevant to each other. We just happen to be both running on the same path at the same time, but that’s coincidence, and nothing else is the same.</p> <p>And even if everything else were exactly the same (would never happen), how would the comparison be useful? It would be meaningless even then.</p> <p>The only thing I should focus on, as a runner, is myself. Enjoy the run. Learn about myself as I run. Keep going, and in doing so, I’ll get better — compared to myself.</p> <p>And that’s the only thing we should focus on in life — enjoy the walk, learn about ourselves, keep taking steps and drop the comparisons. You’ll love the journey even more.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=vQ1OMWuZykg:36uN6fVINzQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=vQ1OMWuZykg:36uN6fVINzQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=vQ1OMWuZykg:36uN6fVINzQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=vQ1OMWuZykg:36uN6fVINzQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=vQ1OMWuZykg:36uN6fVINzQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-63848677331339188722013-06-16T13:18:00.001-07:002013-06-16T13:18:13.518-07:00zen habits: A Secret to Dad Greatness<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: A Secret to Dad Greatness</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/dad/">A Secret to Dad Greatness</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 16 Jun 2013 06:00 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>I have six kids, ages ranging at the moment from 7 to 20. And while I’m not perfect as a father, I have learned a thing or two from my 20 years of service.</p> <p>I’ve learned to pay attention, to give them space, to accept them for who they are, to be a guide and not a director, to help them through teachable moments, to love reading a book with them, to walk and talk when we have problems, to give hugs when they are in pain and hugs when they experience a triumph, to set limits and then remove the limits when they’re excited about something.</p> <p>It’s a lot to learn, a lot to tackle at once.</p> <p>And so I’ve boiled all of this down to one daily practice.</p> <p>One thing to help you be a great dad.</p> <p><strong>Appreciate your child’s love for you</strong>.</p> <p>Do this every day, whenever you see your child, and even when they’re not around. This love for you is a gift, and it manifests itself in so many ways: in the way they want your attention, your affection, your approval, your pride in what they do. In wanting to spend time with you. In watching you to see how to live life. In learning from you whenever you talk to them.</p> <p>This daily practice, of appreciating their love for you, will make your life better. It will help you be the role model they need, because someone who appreciates the love of others is a beacon of gratitude and humility and mindfulness.</p> <p>And when you appreciate their love for you, you realize that you have a boundless source of happiness in every moment. And you are a boundless source of happiness for them.</p> <p>No matter what happens, from tantrums to heartbreaks to injuries to rejections, this love is there for you.</p> <p>I am incredibly grateful for the love of my kids (some of whom aren’t even kids anymore).</p> <p>They look up to me, and I in turn learn from them. They are funny, and excited, and curious, and affectionate, and fun. I’m lucky to have them in my life, and I wouldn’t be the man I am today without them.</p> <p>Thank you, my loves.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=BrOvw7C7CsY:9jv_gAJyq-8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=BrOvw7C7CsY:9jv_gAJyq-8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=BrOvw7C7CsY:9jv_gAJyq-8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=BrOvw7C7CsY:9jv_gAJyq-8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=BrOvw7C7CsY:9jv_gAJyq-8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-29254680064367436412013-06-13T13:17:00.001-07:002013-06-13T13:17:14.176-07:00zen habits: Habits: A Simple Change in Mindset Changes Everything<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: Habits: A Simple Change in Mindset Changes Everything</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/allowed/">Habits: A Simple Change in Mindset Changes Everything</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 13 Jun 2013 07:00 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>One of the best tricks I’ve learned to improve my likelihood of sticking to a habit is so simple it’s sinful.</p> <p><strong>Stop thinking of a new habit as something you have to do, but as something you are <em>allowed</em> to do</strong>.</p> <p>Let’s say you’re starting a workout. Many people think, “OK, I gotta do this. It’s good for me, I’m way too lazy, I need to burn off my fat, if I do this I’ll feel better about myself.” This is wrong, because then the workout is a chore you have to get through to get the benefits, and so you struggle through this boring, hard, sucky thing in order to get to the goal.</p> <p>Instead, you can simply think, “I’m allowing myself to do this. It’s a treat.”</p> <p>And it is. A workout can be a lovely thing, where you feel your body moving, you push against the forces of gravity, you triumph despite the difficulty, you get fresh air and gorgeous nature and you are treating your body and being good to it. This is a rare treat.</p> <p>Once you shift from “have to” to “allowed to”, you now feel good about the activity. It’s not a chore, but a treat. It’s not something you struggle through to get the benefit — it <em>is</em> the benefit.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=CrEMknWG2Gs:fjbj322JUws:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=CrEMknWG2Gs:fjbj322JUws:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=CrEMknWG2Gs:fjbj322JUws:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=CrEMknWG2Gs:fjbj322JUws:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=CrEMknWG2Gs:fjbj322JUws:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-33914148757957792202013-06-10T13:12:00.001-07:002013-06-10T13:12:07.602-07:00zen habits: The Worry That You’re Doing the Wrong Thing Right Now<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Worry That You’re Doing the Wrong Thing Right Now</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/the-worry/">The Worry That You’re Doing the Wrong Thing Right Now</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 10 Jun 2013 07:48 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>It’s first thing in your workday, and you open up your email. There’s a host of messages, old and new, asking for your attention. You also open up other inboxes in social media and the like. You quickly go through them and get a picture of what you need to get done right now.</p> <p>But where do you start?</p> <p>You begin one task from an email, but then quickly have the urge to see if there’s something else more important you should be doing. And this problem repeats itself — every time you sit down with one thing, the dozens of others on your mind (and the many potential urgent items that might be coming in as you sit there) are grasping for your attention.</p> <p>Is there ever any certainty that you’re doing the right thing right now?</p> <p>Does the worry that you’re doing the wrong thing ever go away?</p> <p>This is something I’ve grappled with myself for years — I sit down to write (this post, for example), and the nagging feeling from the back of my mind pesters me, asks me to check email or my financial accounts or the calendar or various social media. Quieting this feeling isn’t always easy.</p> <p>But still I get the important things done (usually). This comes from a small set of steps I take that help keep the forces of worry at bay.</p> <p>I’ll lay out those steps in a moment — for now, let’s talk about where this worry comes from.</p> <h3>The Source of the Worry</h3> <p>Why does this worry come about in the first place? Why can’t we just be confident that this is the exact thing we need to be doing right now? That would be nice.</p> <p>When we were kids, most of us had someone to tell us what to do. A parent or a teacher, who would give us a chore or assignment, and we knew this was what we should be doing. Of course, it wasn’t always what we wanted to be doing, so there was that. But there wasn’t doubt about what we <em>should</em> be doing, because it was laid out by an authority.</p> <p>Then came adulthood, where things became not-so-clear. We became the boss of ourselves — even if theoretically we have a boss, in reality we have the ability to choose between a bunch of tasks and projects and communication tools, not to mention having to do personal stuff like laundry and cooking the healthy meals that we’re all obviously cooking for ourselves and picking up the kids. We are making choices all day long, with no one to tell us that these choices are correct.</p> <p>We see other people pounding out the productivity, and imagine them to be rock solid in their choices, always sure they are doing the right task.</p> <p>I’m here to tell you that this is an illusion. <em>No one</em> is sure, no one is free from the worry.</p> <p>The worry comes because we want to be doing the perfect thing, and we also want not to mess up. This would be nice: no messing up a project, or our jobs, or that pesky little thing called life.</p> <p>So we have the desire: not-to-mess-up or do-the-perfect-thing, and we have the fear (worry) that it won’t happen. This dynamic is present in every moment, in everything we do, unsaid and unnoticed most of the time, present only as background noise but also by nagging worry and urges to run to something else.</p> <p>We can beat it by shining the light of our awareness on it, and digging in our heels against it, and being OK with it being there in the first place.</p> <h3>Steps to Deal with the Worry</h3> <p>OK, Leo, you say to your computer as you read this (I imagine you staring at the screen of a Macintosh Performa 5200) … just tell me what to do to defeat the forces of worry!</p> <p>Right on:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Shine the brilliant light of awareness</strong>: Notice the worry as you sit down to do a task, or to contemplate what task to do. It’s there in the background. Turn your attention to it, and just notice it. Don’t fear it, don’t hate it, don’t worry about it. Just notice.</li> <li><strong>Accept it as a friend</strong>: It’s always there, and will always be there with you. This worry will go through life with you, much as your consciousness of your own existence does, for as long as your heart shall beat. Don’t fear it, don’t try to kill it. Instead, give it a hug. Embrace it. Accept it. Get used to it. You’re together for the long haul.</li> <li><strong>Welcome it along on an important task</strong>: Pick one task to do now. It can be anything, but choose something that feels important to your life and work. Something that you know will help others and yourself. There might be a bunch of them, so just choose quickly on gut instinct. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be the “perfect task”. Notice the worry coming along with you. That’s OK. Put your arm around its shoulder, and go along the path together, happy in your newfound friendship.</li> <li><strong>Set an intention to stick with the task</strong>: Before you actually start the task, make an agreement with your friend worry. You’re going to stick with this task, at least for 5 minutes, without switching or following the urge to check other things. For these glorious 5 minutes, you will be sure of one thing: you will do this task, no matter if it’s the perfect task or not. Because actually, my friends, the perfect task doesn’t exist, and the search for it is but a grailquest. Instead, focus on this one task, and be sure you’re going to stick with it.</li> <li><strong>Stick with the task</strong>: You probably saw this coming from the last step. The worry will come up — notice it, smile, embrace it like that friend you have who’s always doing crazy things, and then … stick with the task. You’ll be fine. It’ll be great, in fact. Triumphant and exultant.</li> </ol> <p>And if you do these steps, you’ll get your task done, and then breathe. And smile. Because you came a long way, and you might have a long way to go, but you’re here. You’ve arrived. And it’s a lovely place to be.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=7Ed8b1NdarY:gBFj9gKb2yo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=7Ed8b1NdarY:gBFj9gKb2yo:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=7Ed8b1NdarY:gBFj9gKb2yo:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=7Ed8b1NdarY:gBFj9gKb2yo:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=7Ed8b1NdarY:gBFj9gKb2yo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-3287979358537187442013-06-07T13:10:00.001-07:002013-06-07T13:10:29.728-07:00zen habits: 6 Steps To Being More Creative<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: 6 Steps To Being More Creative</a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/mindful-creativity/">6 Steps To Being More Creative</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 07 Jun 2013 08:00 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6><strong>Editor’s note</strong>: This is a guest post from Marc Lesser, CEO of <a href="http://www.siyli.org">SIYLI</a>, Zen priest, and author of <a href="http://www.knowyourselfforgetyourself.com">Know Yourself, Forget Yourself</a>.</h6> <p>For most of my life I did not think of myself as creative at all. Then, many years ago, I started a greeting card company, despite that I had rarely purchased or sent greetings cards. My motivation was combining business with taking care of the environment, by making products from recycled paper. I found myself in a role where I needed to be very creative – in developing new products as well as how to distribute products. I also found that the act of leadership – my perspective about my role and the company's strategy required tremendous creativity.</p> <p>Creativity is important for many reasons. It is a path and process for not getting stuck in old habits and ineffective ways of seeing yourself and the world. Creativity can help with problem solving, with creating healthier relationships, and with having a healthier and happier life.</p> <p>What I learned is that creativity isn't something that you have or don't have. It is something that you can nurture and develop. Most importantly, creativity can be a practice. This is especially true for me in my current role (as the CEO of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute) of helping business leaders to be both more effective and happy.</p> <p>Here are the 6 steps that I began using, and find I'm using every day, not only in my work but especially in my relationships and my life outside of work These practices can be used to support the changing of habits and creating new habits. I'd suggest making the practice of creativity a habit that can support other habits. Here are some guidelines:</p> <ol> <li>Believe in your creativity – This is the first practice and probably most important. You might begin by thinking about or writing down three creative things you've done – something you have written or said or completed. Notice an area in which you feel creative; perhaps cooking, drawing, fixing things, gardening. Creativity can show itself in lots of small ways, such as the gifts we give, or the clothes we wear, or how we set the table. Just begin noticing and recognizing your own creativity.</li> <li>Know your voice of judgment – Everyone I've ever known has an inner judge. It can be difficult to accept that having an inner critic is part of the human condition. The good news is that this inner voice just wants to protect us and keep us safe, and that you don't need to be stuck with or thrown by these inner voices. Knowing this, try relaxing your inner judge. Give it a name. Be playful. Experiment. Despite your judgments, you have the ability to be creative.</li> <li>Pay attention to details – By entering into the practice of creativity, you can begin to notice more of the details of everyday life. By paying more attention to details, you can become more present; your world can become more alive. It is in this presence and aliveness that creativity takes place. When you put your shoes on, which shoe do you put on first? What's the color of your front door? How many emails do you receive and send each day? Or play with giving things different names. Look at a paper clip or a strawberry, as though seeing them for the first time. What might you call them? These types of details and experiments can open doors to seeing the world differently.</li> <li>Ask dumb questions – Our desire to look good and smart can get in the way of creativity. Instead, ask questions, especially those that may seem obvious, or even dumb. Risk looking awkward. Be curious about your feelings and your motivations. Let yourself wonder how things work and why you and others talk and act the way you do. Let go of the need to look good, and allow yourself to be curious and at times awkward. This is another door to creativity. There are no dumb questions.</li> <li>Practice Mindfulness – Mindfulness is a fancy word for paying attention and for being in the present moment – not ruminating about the past, nor worrying about the future. Mindfulness is a simple and powerful practice. Of course, reviewing the past and preparing for the future are important. And, being creative, happens in this moment. The practice of mindfulness is to over and over notice when your mind is wandering and to bring your attention back to the present. In this way we build our capacity for presence, and for creativity. Mindfulness can also mean to allow your attention to open, to consciously not focus on any one thing. This space, of intentionally expanding your attention can be a creative process.</li> <li>Embrace Paradox – It seems that nearly everything about being a human being is a paradox. In my own life, I'm an introvert and I enjoy speaking in front of groups; I can be indecisive and make decisions quickly; I'm confident and vulnerable. What are some of your paradoxes? Instead of ignoring or pushing these contradictions away, try acknowledging them, and embracing them. An example of a paradox I find myself embracing and practicing with is – fight for change and accept what is. These appear to be completely opposed, yet, the starting point for changing habits is to notice the habits that we actually have. </li> </ol> <p>Being more creative is a practice, a habit, and a process. A good way to begin is to notice how creative babies and young children are. Just the act of crawling, walking, and exploring can be enormously creative. Creativity is easy – just let yourself be more childlike, curious, open, and start by exploring any of the six practices I've outlined.</p> <p><strong><em>Marc Lesser is author of <a href="http://www.knowyourselfforgetyourself.com">Know Yourself, Forget Yourself: Five Truths To Transform Your Work, Relationships, and Everyday Life</a>. He is the CEO of the <a href="http://www.siyli.org">Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI)</a> and leads a <a href="http://www.millvalleyzen.com">weekly meditation group in Mill Valley</a>.</em></strong></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=BHMDzFSSw_g:NYKmV_J2O8I:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=BHMDzFSSw_g:NYKmV_J2O8I:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=BHMDzFSSw_g:NYKmV_J2O8I:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=BHMDzFSSw_g:NYKmV_J2O8I:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=BHMDzFSSw_g:NYKmV_J2O8I:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-57556516830168130712013-06-05T13:14:00.001-07:002013-06-05T13:14:05.492-07:00zen habits: How I Finally Faced My Weight & Debt Problems<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: How I Finally Faced My Weight & Debt Problems</a> <br /> <a href="http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/zenhabits"> <img style="padding-top:6px" alt="" border="0" src="http://gmodules.com/ig/images/plus_google.gif" /> </a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/ohno/">How I Finally Faced My Weight & Debt Problems</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 05 Jun 2013 08:20 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>There was a time when I was overweight, but didn’t want to admit it to myself. I didn’t feel in control of my health, because I couldn’t quit smoking or eat healthier for longer than a few days, nor exercise regularly.</p> <p>Thinking about my weight made me feel horrible, so I didn’t want to even think about it.</p> <p>Of course, not thinking about it meant I never did anything about it. Not facing my problems made it worse, which just made me feel worse. It was a downward spiral, and really hard to stop.</p> <p>I had the same downward spiral when I was in debt (at the same time in my life, about 8 years ago). I couldn’t pay all my bills, so I would stuff them in a drawer so I didn’t have to see them. I had creditors calling me but I didn’t answer their calls (I knew their numbers on the caller ID). I didn’t know how much debt I was in because I never wanted to open the envelopes, much less add it all up on paper. I’d borrow money to pay bills, then owe more. And I’d skip paying lots of bills, and accrue interest.</p> <p>It wasn’t a smart way to manage my finances, but I couldn’t stand the thought of facing all of it. I felt bad even thinking about my finances, so I’d avoid them, and think about other things. Of course, this led to me seeking distraction in food and entertainment and shopping, which led to worse debt.</p> <p>Not facing my debt made it worse.</p> <p>How did I overcome all of this? I’ll share it here, in hopes that it will help others facing the same problem — or not facing it.</p> <p>It’s also important to note that if you know someone in bad health (or bad financial shape), they are probably also in denial. They don’t want to even talk about it. How do you help them? I’ll share that below too.</p> <h3>How I Finally Faced Things</h3> <p>So how do you face a problem, so you can work on it, when you don’t want to face it?</p> <p>There has to be a point when you say, “This isn’t good. I need to do something about it.”</p> <p>In truth, there usually isn’t just one point — there are many. It’s a building problem, where you get many data points over time — you see yourself in a picture and don’t like how heavy you look, you get a comment from someone that’s less than flattering, your pants don’t fit anymore, you breathe heavy when you try to run for a couple of minutes.</p> <p>But then there has to be a point where you decide that enough is enough. You start to feel some resolve. You decide you can do something — it’s not insurmountable.</p> <p>How exactly I got to that point, I can’t fully remember. But I do know that there were several things that helped me:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Inspiration</strong>: Seeing other people with similar situations who overcame the problem — in blogs and magazines, mainly.</li> <li><strong>Do-ability</strong>: I didn’t think I could lose all the weight or overcome my huge mountain of debt in a day or a week … but having a small step I could actually do was mentally empowering. If I could do something in a day or two, that was doable. It felt like I could take control again.</li> <li><strong>Motivation</strong>: When I saw that my health problems were going to be an example for my kids, I knew I had to make a change. When I saw that my financial problems were hurting my family, I knew I had to make a change. In both cases, my motivation for change was bigger than myself — I was doing it to help people I cared about.</li> <li><strong>Commitment</strong>: When I was inspired by others to make a change, I took an easy step that’s actually a very big step — I made a commitment. Making a commitment is actually very easy — you can tell a friend, a child, a spouse, or the world (via social media or email) that you’re going to make a change. Commit not just to “losing weight” or “getting out of debt” but to something specific: “run 3x a week and cut out sweets” is better. So is “make a list of all my debts, then make a payment to the first one”. Those are first steps … you can always “add more veggies” or “make a meal plan” after you get started. But making a commitment is an easy (if a bit scary) first step that will lock you in to further steps.</li> </ul> <p>I have to admit that it wasn’t as simple as making a decision to change, and then continually making progress with no discouragements. Not at all. I would try to make a change, slip up, feel bad, then start again. And again. And make adjustments each time, learning about myself in the process, and over time getting good at the <em>skill of change</em>.</p> <p>But the first step — facing the problem — was made possible by inspiration, do-ability, motivation and finally commitment.</p> <h3>How to Get Others to Face Their Problems</h3> <p>I firmly believe that you can’t force anyone to change. You can only inspire them to change, if you’re lucky. That’s not an easy task.</p> <p>If you have a friend or family member who is struggling with health issues, or financial problems, or something similar where they don’t want to face the problem … it’s tough. They probably don’t want to hear it from you.</p> <p>However, that’s not to say you should throw your hands up and forget about it. You can still help. Just don’t try to force it.</p> <p>Here’s what I would suggest:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Never attack — empathize</strong>. Never tell the person they’re doing something wrong, or imply they’re a bad or undisciplined or lazy person. Assume that they have the best of intentions, that they would change if they could, but they feel bad about it. Assume that you would feel the same if you were in their position — and try to remember a time when you felt that way. Don’t be patronizing, nor “sympathize”. That’s condescending.</li> <li><strong>Inspire</strong>. Set an example, and share what’s working for you. Share stories of other people who have overcome problems.</li> <li><strong>Suggest something do-able</strong>. And do it with them. If you want them to tackle health issues, suggest the two of you go walking after work every day. Just for 15 minutes (at first). It’s a nice way to socialize and bond, but also get active. This is a small step that can be built upon — later you can walk further, or faster, and maybe add some jogging intervals to the walking after a few weeks or months (health permitting). You can also later do some diet challenges. But the key is to make the steps do-able, easy, and social.</li> <li><strong>Offer to be an accountability buddy</strong>. If the other person admits to not being motivated, suggest that they commit to you, and be accountable to you (email you every day or every week to share progress or lack thereof). Suggest that they set a fun consequence (something embarrassing) if they don’t live up to their commitment to you. Or do a challenge, where the two of you are doing something fun at the same time — a pushup challenge, a thousand-steps challenge, an eat-more-vegetables challenge.</li> </ol> <p>Despite your best efforts, this might not work. You can’t force change on someone. They have to want it themselves. And if they don’t, you can make them want it. In that case, you’ll have to back off, though showing concern and wanting to help is always something you can do.</p> <p>Change is possible. Facing problems is totally possible. You just might need a little inspiration to do it.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=JZEvbkToiLc:1hpUJ8W01MM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=JZEvbkToiLc:1hpUJ8W01MM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=JZEvbkToiLc:1hpUJ8W01MM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=JZEvbkToiLc:1hpUJ8W01MM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=JZEvbkToiLc:1hpUJ8W01MM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-16293626669073752412013-06-03T13:33:00.000-07:002013-06-03T13:34:00.536-07:00zen habits: Working with the Obstacles in Your Path<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: Working with the Obstacles in Your Path</a> <br /> <a href="http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/zenhabits"> <img style="padding-top:6px" alt="" border="0" src="http://gmodules.com/ig/images/plus_google.gif" /> </a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/obstacle-work/">Working with the Obstacles in Your Path</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 03 Jun 2013 07:28 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>Let’s say you are sitting at your desk, with something to write, and you notice some anxiety, and an urge to go instead to one of your favorite distractions.</p> <p>And let’s also say you decided to adopt my approach, <a href="http://zenhabits.net/obstacle/">the Obstacle is the Path</a>.</p> <p>So the anxiety, and the distraction, are your obstacle … but how do you “work with them” as I advised?</p> <p><strong>First, you don’t run from the obstacle</strong>. So instead of seeing the anxiety as something to be avoided (with distraction and procrastination), see it as the place you go to. Same with the fear of failure, the worry that things will go wrong, the cold fear that comes when you think of quitting your job and starting something new. Anxiety isn’t the worst thing in the world, and is nothing to be feared. It’s just a feeling, and we can survive it. So sit with it.</p> <p><strong>Second, you accept the feeling</strong>. If it’s anxiety, say, “Cool, I’m feeling some anxiety.” Not, “No! I don’t want to be anxious!” The first actually calms the situation down, and allows you to look at it like an observer. The second makes the situation worse, and makes you see the situation as a scared child.</p> <p><strong>Third, you look at the cause</strong>. What is causing your anxiety? Is the writing really such a bad thing? No, actually, it’s not that hard. It’s simply taking the time to think through some thoughts, and then putting them down in writing, and maybe editing that so that it’s clear and makes a bit of sense. The writing itself isn’t giving you the anxiety — it’s the fantasy you have of wanting to write something excellent that people will think is good and so they will judge you as competent and smart. And the anxiety comes from the worry that you will fail at this and people will instead judge you as dumb. This fantasy, which isn’t real, is the source of your anxiety.</p> <p><strong>Fourth, you see that it’s hurting you</strong>. You can’t let go of this fantasy, because you want it so much. But take a moment to see its effects — it is hurting you. It is causing you suffering. It’s causing you to not do the things you want to do. Be honest about its effects — the fantasy isn’t helping, and is definitely hurting.</p> <p><strong>Fifth, let it go out of compassion</strong>. If you’re hurting yourself, and not helping, with this fantasy — why hold onto it? What’s so great about it? It’s not real. It’s totally manufactured in your mind. Instead, <em>be compassionate with yourself</em>, and let go of the fantasy. When you let go of this thing you’ve been holding onto, you can feel a sense of relief.</p> <p><strong>Sixth, then go through the obstacle and be mindful</strong>. The obstacle was anxiety. It lessens once you let go of the fantasy. You can now get to writing, and once you do, without fantasies, you can see that it’s not that bad. In fact, if you are mindful in your activity, you can see that it’s kinda alright. Better than that perhaps — kinda great. And you almost missed out on it because of your obstacle.</p> <p>If you go through this six little steps, which aren’t that difficult each step along the way, you’ll not only be able to do the writing (or quit your job or start a new project or have a difficult conversation) … you’ll be better at dealing with similar obstacles in the future. You’ll be stronger, smarter, less afraid.</p> <p>This is why you should work with the obstacles instead of avoiding them — you learn from them.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=xFNTD-4wo7g:wIIwHthg8bY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=xFNTD-4wo7g:wIIwHthg8bY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=xFNTD-4wo7g:wIIwHthg8bY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=xFNTD-4wo7g:wIIwHthg8bY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=xFNTD-4wo7g:wIIwHthg8bY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-61191231779699661942013-05-31T13:07:00.001-07:002013-05-31T13:07:46.642-07:00zen habits: The Simplify Your Day Challenge in June<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Simplify Your Day Challenge in June</a> <br /> <a href="http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/zenhabits"> <img style="padding-top:6px" alt="" border="0" src="http://gmodules.com/ig/images/plus_google.gif" /> </a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/simplify-challenge/">The Simplify Your Day Challenge in June</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 31 May 2013 07:02 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>Are you up for a 30-day challenge that will <a href="http://zenhabits.net/simple-day/">make your days simpler</a>, more focused, less stressful?</p> <p>Starting tomorrow (June 1), my <a href="http://zenhabits.net/membership-signup/">Sea Change Program</a> members are tackling the <strong>Simplify Your Day Challenge</strong>, and I’m inviting you to join us.</p> <p>The challenge will be tracked through with <a href="http://lift.do">Lift</a>, the excellent habit-tracking app on the iPhone … and Lift is now offering early access to the new web version of the app, for Sea Change members.</p> <p>The Simplify Your Day Challenge is to <strong>say “No” to one thing per day</strong>.</p> <p>What kinds of things should you say “No” to? Well, not to the important stuff!</p> <p>Instead, say “No” to:</p> <ul> <li>Commitments you can let go</li> <li>Appointments that aren’t absolutely essential</li> <li>Non-essential to-do items</li> <li>Multi-tasking</li> <li>Distractions</li> <li>Moving quickly</li> <li>Doing smaller tasks instead of important tasks</li> </ul> <p>You don’t have to say “No” to <em>all</em> of those every day. In fact, during the challenge, I’ll ask you to focus on a different area each week.</p> <p>You should do this habit first thing each day, as you start your work day. For some of you, that’s almost immediately after waking (when you open your computer to check email). For others, that’s when you arrive at the office. Whenever you start, make this habit your first action, every day.</p> <p>If you get good at saying “No” to these things, at least once per day, your day will become simpler. Why? Because you’ll have time for the important things — your most important work, creative work, time for exercise and eating healthy and meditating, time for loved ones and for yourself.</p> <h3>The Plan</h3> <p>So what’s the plan for the challenge?</p> <ol> <li><a href="http://zenhabits.net/membership-signup/">Sign up for the Sea Change program</a> to have access to the plan, a live webinar next week, articles and a forum. You’ll also join <a href="http://lift.do">Lift</a>, which is free, to track the habit.</li> <li>Have a trigger for your habit — something you already do every day. Examples: waking up, drinking your first cup of coffee, eating breakfast, brushing your teeth, taking a shower, leaving for work, arriving at work, etc. For this challenge, I suggest whatever trigger happens when you first start work — opening your laptop or arriving at the office, for example.</li> <li>Have reminders based on this trigger. The best ones are in the physical place that the trigger happens — if it’s your laptop, put a sign on your laptop to remind you. Calendar reminders are good too, but as backups to the physical reminders.</li> <li>Do the habit when your trigger (and reminder) happens. Every day. It only needs to take a minute or two. The plan I’m providing in the Sea Change program will tell you what habit to do each week.</li> <li>Report your success on Lift — check-in for that habit, so it’s logged and others can see it. Also encourage others in the challenge with props and encouraging comments.</li> </ol> <p>It’s simple, but you have to commit to the full month if you really want to see it work. I think it’ll be an amazing challenge, and I hope you’ll join us.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=0r7MRDiLfg4:H5yywX3Q7WQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=0r7MRDiLfg4:H5yywX3Q7WQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=0r7MRDiLfg4:H5yywX3Q7WQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=0r7MRDiLfg4:H5yywX3Q7WQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=0r7MRDiLfg4:H5yywX3Q7WQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-3181787797431513872013-05-29T13:07:00.001-07:002013-05-29T13:07:33.065-07:00zen habits: 9 Rules for a Simpler Day<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: 9 Rules for a Simpler Day</a> <br /> <a href="http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/zenhabits"> <img style="padding-top:6px" alt="" border="0" src="http://gmodules.com/ig/images/plus_google.gif" /> </a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/simple-day/">9 Rules for a Simpler Day</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 29 May 2013 12:20 PM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>Our days fill up so fast, and are so rushed and filled with distractions, that they seem to be bursting.</p> <p>It’s a huge source of stress for most people, and stress is perhaps the most important factor determining whether we’re healthy or sick.</p> <p>So how can we simplify our days? It’s not incredibly hard, but I’ve found it’s best done in steps.</p> <p>These are the steps I followed, though of course calling them “rules” means we should test them and break them as needed. No rules should be followed blindly. I’ve found these to work really well, though.</p> <p>See below for my June Challenge to help you implement a simpler day.</p> <h3>9 Rules for a Simpler Day</h3> <p>These are the rules I suggest:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Know What’s Important</strong>. The simple version of simplifying is “Identify what’s important, and eliminate the rest.” So take time to identify the most important things in your life (4-5 things), and then see what activities, tasks, projects, meeting and commitments fit in with that list. Also take time each day to identify 1-3 Most Important Tasks (MITs), at the beginning of your day. Or the night before, for the next day.</li> <li><strong>Visualize Your Perfect Day</strong>. This is not so much because this “perfect day” will come true, as it is to understand what a simple day means to you. It’s different for each person — for me, it might mean some meditation and writing and spending time with my wife and kids. For others, it’s yoga and painting and a hot bath. For others, it’s time to focus on the important work, but still get other things done later in the day. Take a minute to visualize what it means to you.</li> <li><strong>Say No to Extra Commitments</strong>. Now that you’ve identified what’s important, along with the “perfect day”, you need to start saying “No” to things that aren’t on your important list, and that are standing in the way of the perfect day. The biggest thing you can say No to is a commitment — membership on a committee, involvement in a project, coaching or participating in a team, going to an event, being a partner in a business, etc. List and evaluate your commitments (professional, civic and personal), and say No to at least one. It just takes a call or email.</li> <li><strong>Limit Tasks</strong>. Each morning, list your 1-3 most important tasks. List other tasks you’d like to do. Say no to some of them. See if you can limit your list to 5-7 tasks per day (not counting little things, which you’ll batch). Limiting your tasks helps you focus, and acknowledges you’re not going to get everything done in one day.</li> <li><strong>Carve Out Un-distraction Time</strong>. When are you going to do your most important work? Schedule it with a block of time (1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, whatever works for you). Make this your most sacred appointment. Become incommunicado. Close the Internet, all notifications, hold all calls. Just do the most important task, then the next one if you have time.</li> <li><strong>Slow Down</strong>. We rush through our days, almost in a single frenetic anxiety-filled non-stop movement. Instead, slow down. Life won’t collapse if you aren’t rushing from task to task, email to email. You can pause, take a moment to reflect, smile, enjoy the current task before moving on.</li> <li><strong>Mindfully Single-task</strong>. Stop multi-tasking. One task at a time, with full focus on that task. Practice mindfulness as you do the task — it’s a form of meditation. Watch your thoughts wander to what you need to do later, but then return to the task at hand. Your day will be much simpler, and much more enjoyable, when you practice being present with your current task.</li> <li><strong>Batch Smaller Tasks, Then Let go</strong>. Email, paperwork, little things at the bottom of your task list (create a “small tasks” section at the bottom), minor phone calls, etc. … these shouldn’t get in the way of your important tasks. But they still need to be done sometime (unless you can let them go, which is best whenever possible). If you need to do them, batch them and do them in one go. It’s best to do these later in the day, when your energy is lower and you’ve done the important tasks for the day. Don’t let the small tasks get in the way of the big ones. When you’ve done a batch of small tasks (including processing email), let them go, and get out. You don’t want to do this all day, or even half a day.</li> <li><strong>Create Space Between</strong>. We cram our tasks and meetings together, and leave no spaces between them. The space between things is just as important as the things themselves. Leave a little space between meetings, even tasks. Take a break to stretch, walk around, get a glass of water, perhaps do some simple breathing meditation for a minute or two. Enjoy the space.</li> </ol> <h3>Sea Change Simplify Your Day Challenge</h3> <p>I invite you to join my June Challenge to Simplify Your Day, by s<a href="http://zenhabits.net/membership-signup/">igning up for my Sea Change Program</a>.</p> <p>How does the challenge work? We’ll have a “Say No” habit for you to do every day, but it will have a different focus each week (commitments, tasks, single-tasking, etc.).</p> <p>You’ll also be able to use the forums and accountability teams in the <a href="http://zenhabits.net/membership-signup/">Sea Change Program</a>, and I’ll hold a live webinar and share 2-4 articles on the topic.</p> <h3>Track Your Challenge Habit on Lift</h3> <p>Finally, we’re adding a new tool to this challenge: a Sea Change group on <a href="http://www.lift.do/">Lift</a>, which is a great habit app for the iPhone (and now with a web app version in beta). You’ll use Lift to log your habit each day, and we’ll all be able to see each other’s progress and encourage each other. Fun!</p> <p>To join the group on Lift, please <a href="http://zenhabits.net/membership-signup/">sign up for Sea Change</a>, and I’ll be notifying the Sea Change members of how to join the Lift group and challenge.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=q6JvcQi2tT4:5PUi8kn98oA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=q6JvcQi2tT4:5PUi8kn98oA:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=q6JvcQi2tT4:5PUi8kn98oA:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=q6JvcQi2tT4:5PUi8kn98oA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=q6JvcQi2tT4:5PUi8kn98oA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-44160850737166427192013-05-23T13:24:00.001-07:002013-05-23T13:24:57.407-07:00zen habits: The Little Book of Contentment<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Little Book of Contentment</a> <br /> <a href="http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/zenhabits"> <img style="padding-top:6px" alt="" border="0" src="http://gmodules.com/ig/images/plus_google.gif" /> </a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/little-book/">The Little Book of Contentment</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 23 May 2013 08:30 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><blockquote> <p>'He who is contented is rich.' <strong>~Lao Tzu</strong></p> </blockquote> <h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>One of the most important things I’ve learned in the last 7 years has been how to find contentment.</p> <p>It’s been a long journey, but I’ve enjoyed it. I struggled with feeling bad about my body, feeling insecure about myself, doubting my abilities to make it without an employer, doubting myself as a writer, not believing I had discipline or the ability to change my habits.</p> <p>And all this led to other problems: I sought happiness and pleasure in food, beer, shopping, distraction, TV. I procrastinated, I let my health get bad, I smoked, I was deeply in debt, unhappy with my work, never exercised, and ate lots of junk food.</p> <p>Not a pretty picture. But if I’d never been in that place, I wouldn’t understand how to get out of it. And so I’m grateful I was there. I’ve learned a lot, about myself and about how to find happiness in who I am, what I have, who I’m with, what I do, and all that’s around me.</p> <p>And now, I’d like to share that with you.</p> <p>I’ve written a free book called <strong>The Little Book of Contentment</strong>: <em>A guide to becoming happy with life & who you are, while getting things done</em>. I share it with you today, in hopes that it will help a few of you, or maybe many, who struggle with being happy with yourselves and your lives. It’s a more common problem than you might imagine, and if I can help just a little, that would be amazing.</p> <p>I hope you like the book.</p> <h3>Table of Contents</h3> <ol> <li>The Agreement</li> <li>The Root of the Problem</li> <li>The What & Why of Contentment</li> <li>The Path of Contentment</li> <li>Contentment Isn't Doing Nothing</li> <li>Comparing to What You Don't Have</li> <li>Watch Your Ideals & Expectations</li> <li>Advertising & Fantasies</li> <li>Build Trust</li> <li>Love Yourself</li> <li>Trying to Find Happiness in External Sources</li> <li>Where Happiness Comes From</li> <li>Finding Happiness Within</li> <li>Our Reactions to the Actions of Others</li> <li>Don't Tie Your Self-Worth to Others' Actions</li> <li>Become Whole In a Relationship</li> <li>Self-Happiness & Meeting Others</li> <li>Jealousy of Others</li> <li>Techniques for Self-Acceptance</li> <li>FAQ</li> <li>Conclusion</li> <li>Summary of Action Steps</li> </ol> <p>The book is <a href="http://zenhabits.net/uncopyright/">uncopyrighted</a>.</p> <h3>Download the Book</h3> <p>You can download the book for free in several formats:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://zenhabits.s3.amazonaws.com/Little%20Book%20of%20Contentment.pdf"><strong>PDF version</strong></a> (406K) – right-click and select “Save As” to downoload to your computer</li> <li><a href="http://zenhabits.s3.amazonaws.com/Little%20Book%20of%20Contentment.epub"><strong>Epub version</strong></a> (for the iPhone/iPad and other ebook readers) (84K)</li> <li><strong>Kindle version</strong> (coming soon)</li> </ul> <p>Please note that you shouldn’t download this book unless you plan to:</p> <ol> <li>Set aside an hour to read this book. Not put aside, but actually read it. Close everything else on your computer and give yourself an hour of undistracted time to read this book.</li> <li>Put the method into action. Immediately.</li> <li>Practice the skills daily, just a few minutes a day. In a short time, you should have some basic skills that help you to be content, less angry, less stressed out.</li> </ol> <h3>Questions & Answers</h3> <p><strong>Q: How much does the book cost?</strong><br /> A: It’s free.</p> <p><strong>Q: Can I read it on my iPad or iPhone?</strong><br /> A: Yes. Download the epub version, then drag into iTunes on your computer. Then sync the iPad or iPhone with iTunes on your computer, and the book should now appear in the iBooks app on your iPad/iPhone. <a href="http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=8920">Detailed instructions</a>.</p> <p><strong>Q: When can I get it on my Kindle?</strong><br /> A: Soon.</p> <p><strong>Q: What if I don’t want to commit to an hour of undistracted reading time, or putting it into action?</strong><br /> A: You shouldn’t download it. I’ve written this book for people who actually want to read it and use it.</p> <p><strong>Q: Who designed the book? It’s brilliant!</strong><br /> A: I know, right? I did, and I will admit my design skills are best described as “humble”.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=5NNCufQDXX0:PdvYNWeU7qM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=5NNCufQDXX0:PdvYNWeU7qM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=5NNCufQDXX0:PdvYNWeU7qM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=5NNCufQDXX0:PdvYNWeU7qM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=5NNCufQDXX0:PdvYNWeU7qM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7305133154008198609.post-41184488725856667602013-05-21T13:08:00.001-07:002013-05-21T13:08:29.264-07:00zen habits: The Obstacle is the Path<style type="text/css"> h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:1em; } table#itemcontentlist tr td a:link, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:visited, table#itemcontentlist tr td a:active, ul#summarylist li a { color:#000099; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} </style> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" id="emailbody" style="margin:0 2em;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"> <table style="border:0;padding:0;margin:0;width:100%"> <tr> <td style="vertical-align:top" width="99%"> <h1 style="margin:0;padding-bottom:6px;"> <a style="color:#888;font-size:22px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" href="http://zenhabits.net" title="(http://zenhabits.net)">zen habits: The Obstacle is the Path</a> <br /> <a href="http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/zenhabits"> <img style="padding-top:6px" alt="" border="0" src="http://gmodules.com/ig/images/plus_google.gif" /> </a> </h1> </td> <td width="1%" /> </tr> </table> <hr style="border:1px solid #ccc;padding:0;margin:0" /> <table id="itemcontentlist"> <tr xmlns=""> <td style="margin-bottom:0;line-height:1.4em;"> <p style="margin:1em 0 3px 0;"> <a name="1" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:18px;" href="http://zenhabits.net/obstacle/">The Obstacle is the Path</a> </p> <p style="font-size:13px;color:#555;margin:9px 0 3px 0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;"> <span>Posted:</span> 21 May 2013 08:53 AM PDT</p> <div style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;line-height:140%;font-size:13px;color:#000000;"><h6>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h6> <p>Often we’re discouraged because of some tough challenge or obstacle in our way. But a shift in mindset from a Zen proverb can change everything: “The obstacle is the path.”</p> <p>The obstacle isn’t something standing in our way. It’s the way itself.</p> <p>That might seem strange, so let’s look at a few examples:</p> <ul> <li><strong>You are struggling with writing, and procrastinate</strong>. Procrastination is the symptom, but it also illuminates the path you should take: you are dreading something about the writing, you are shying away from discomfort, you are afraid of the writing or what will happen when you publish the writing. So work with that dread, the discomfort, and the fear. You’ll be stronger for having done that.</li> <li><strong>You are shy and can’t meet people</strong>. This can be seen as an obstacle to social happiness, or as a path for something to work with. Many people will avoid this obstacle of shyness, and instead stay home and not socialize. Instead, go towards this shyness, explore it, find out what you’re afraid of, work with that fear. You’ll get better at handling the fear, even let go of it, and it will no longer stand in your way.</li> <li><strong>You are stressed out and overwhelmed at work</strong>. You can complain about this problem (and it will then continue for the rest of your life), or you can immerse yourself it, let it lead you to self-exploration, and deal with the source of that stress and overwhelm. You’ll learn that you have unrealistic expectations and ideals, learn to let go of them, and the stress will go away. You’ll now have a tool for dealing with stress for the rest of your life.</li> <li><strong>People criticize you for doing things different, and don’t understand what you’re doing</strong>. You can get mad at them, rage against the unfairness of the world, or avoid them. Or, instead, you could embrace this concern, thank them for caring about you, and engage them in a conversation about what you’re going through, why you decided to do it, and how you could use their support. They might not completely understand, but they also might understand you better, which is great. And you’ll now be better at dealing with this forevermore.</li> <li><strong>You are jealous, angry, weak, impatient, grieving</strong>. You can deal with any of these issues, if you are willing to go into them, and be OK with experiencing these discomforts.</li> </ul> <p>The examples can go on forever, but the principle becomes clear: when there’s an obstacle, don’t go around it. Don’t run from it. Go into it. Work with it. Explore it. Learn how to be with it and deal with it, and you’ll have a skill for life.</p> <p>And what’s more: you will no longer be limited by obstacles in your path.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=KY7D8d6woBU:3GfKGUd93IU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=KY7D8d6woBU:3GfKGUd93IU:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=KY7D8d6woBU:3GfKGUd93IU:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?a=KY7D8d6woBU:3GfKGUd93IU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/zenhabits?i=KY7D8d6woBU:3GfKGUd93IU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> </div></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table style="border-top:1px solid #999;padding-top:4px;margin-top:1.5em;width:100%" id="footer"> <tr> <td style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://zenhabits.net">zenhabits</a> <br />To stop receiving these emails, you may <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=6nn7Az3ucXnZzvwrfukWYkKckDs">unsubscribe now</a>.</td> <td style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;text-align:right;vertical-align:top">Email delivery powered by Google</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-size:11px;margin:0 6px 1.2em 0;color:#333;">Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610</td> </tr> </table> </div> PREACH Mediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10430856039232015335noreply@blogger.com0