Self-improvement

What’s wrong with the world? →

Published October 26, 2018  ·  All posts on Oct 26  ·  ,

This type of view of the world — and like I said, I think it’s the prevailing view — stems from an ideal that many people have in their heads of what the world should be like. They might not realize they have that ideal, but it’s there. And the world will never reach this Platonic ideal, because it’s just this image of perfection that does not match reality. Reality and this ideal are incompatible.

~ Leo Babauta from, «http://zenhabits.net/2008/08/whats-wrong-with-the-world-not-a-damn-thing/»

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This ties in with yesterday’s comments about the Beatles’ Let It Be. There’s certainly a peculier passion associated with youth. But there’s a much nicer circumspection of age. When things are going badly, relax for they will not last. Whent things are going well, relax for they will not last. The error is in not relaxing, not in the circumstances being observed.

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How to Make Money Buy Happiness →

Published October 24, 2018  ·  All posts on Oct 24  ·  

So let’s solve it. If we are really just buying feelings, who has the best ones on sale at the lowest price? Different people approach this problem with different levels of sophistication.

~ Peter Adeney from, How to Make Money Buy Happiness

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I remember when this sort of thinking seemed so alien. I remember when I truly believed the bill of goods I had been sold about the rat race, chasing success, consumerism, etc. Now I very explicitly use money to buy happiness. And then, having accomplished that, I move on to the important things in life.

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Does Your Story Have This Common Weakness? →

Published October 21, 2018  ·  All posts on Oct 21  ·  

Another common curse: the belief that happiness cannot coexist with an imperfect world. For you to be okay with your story, do you require any of the following to occur? A crime-free city. A drug-free America. The day corrupt officials see the error of their ways. The end of suffering on earth. World peace. The day everyone starts using their turn signals, and stops mixing up “there” and “their.”

These are tall orders. Certainly worth aiming at, but never worth waiting for.

~ David Cain from, Does Your Story Have This Common Weakness?

I’ll nitpick and say the following about his opening Indiana Jones story: The fact that Indy closed his eyes and did not look at the contents of the Ark shows that he changed. Instead of his literally ceaseless quest for artifacts, he chose to let this artifact remain unknown to him. That’s why the demons in the Ark spared him.

I digress.

I love that he’s writing about Indy.

…and the rest of this article is even better: So, does your story rely on the “deus ex machina” trope? …since this is reality, how has that bee working out for you so far? I can tell you it didn’t work out for me, so I rewrote the script of my life.

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The only resource more precious than time →

Published October 8, 2018  ·  All posts on Oct 8  ·  

Unlike money, everyone is ultimately on a level playing field when it comes to time. We all get the same allowance of twenty-four hours a day. Just as there are ineffective ways of investing your money, there are ineffective ways of investing your time.

If we all have the same amount of this essential resource, why do some people achieve so much, and others so little? Where we start from — in terms of economic class, skills and education — certainly has something to do with it, but there are just as many riches-to-rags stories as there are rags-to-riches stories, so obviously there is another factor at play here.

~ David Cain from, The Only Resource More Precious than Time

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I found the realization that it’s really my attention that is my limiiting resource to be both liberating and scary. Liberating because it means that all I need to do is focus my attention and long-term success is within my grasp. Applying my attention, even in short stretches, inevitably leads to progress on my favorite projects. And scary because every time I’m tired, run-down, don’t want to do something– every time, food or the Movie-monster call my name, entertainment or distraction– there are so many opportunities for me to turn my attention away from the things I find valuable.

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Your quality of life →

Published October 1, 2018  ·  All posts on Oct 1  ·  

When you’re trying to stay focused on the actions, thoughts will come up and attempt to occupy your attention again.  Most thoughts are not useful in the moment; they’re just conditioned mental reflexes, and there are triggers all over the place.  To keep your attention on what you’re doing, make a general policy of dumping a train of thought unless the thought determines the next action you take. Nineteen times out of twenty, it doesn’t, and you’re better off ditching it.

~ David Cain from, How to Improve Your Quality of Life by up to 90 Percent

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There’s a serious down-side to this once you’re good at it: The rest of the sheeple don’t think this way, so interacting with them requires a bit more effort.

But it’s also a chance to be a positive influence on the world, so there’s that. I suppose it’s a question of whom do I place first, myself or everyone else. Care to guess my answer? (Hint: In case of sudden loss of cabin pressure, whose oxygen mask are you advised to put on first?)

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We are all stupid →

Published September 30, 2018  ·  All posts on Sep 30  ·  

Meanwhile, privately, we all know that much of life consists of trying to hide the extent of our own stupid-aspect, while accentuating the smart stuff so that others might think we’re made of it through and through.

~ David Cain from, The Problem Is That We Are All Stupid

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Hey now! …if you’re going to call it like it is, that’s just not fair.

If only there was some way that I could… you know, apply self-awareness and self-assessment to work on my stupid-aspect. How cool would that be?

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Small changes →

Published September 28, 2018  ·  All posts on Sep 28  ·  

Watching TV, for example, or playing massively multiplayer online games, can feel relaxing and even stimulating at times. But those hours spent relaxing and stimulating yourself can really add up, and when you tally the eventual sum of the life benefits, it ends up awfully close to zero. Many other leisure pursuits (complaining, ATV riding, shopping) often end up the same way.

~ Peter Adeney from, The Surprising Effect of Small Efforts over Time

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I try not to get all preachy about how I think everyone should live their lives. After all, I’ve still plenty of room for improvement.

But just in case you are still wasting your life doing any of the above . . .

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What are the odds? →

Published September 26, 2018  ·  All posts on Sep 26  ·  

What does such a statistic have to do with your personal chance of success? Nothing at all.

~ Steve Pavlina from, What Are the Odds of Becoming a Black Belt? – Steve Pavlina

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This has nothing to do with martial arts.

If you—you reading this right now—are NOT making mistakes, you are not learning.

Put another way: If you are always certain—or if you can’t take action until you are certain—then you are not doing the work you need to be doing.

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Triage →

Published September 25, 2018  ·  All posts on Sep 25  ·  

The practice of triage is a challenge of consciousness. It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture when you’re staring at a project screaming for your attention. But you still need to muster the awareness to ask, “Is this the most important thing that must be done by me right now?” Whenever you fail to ask this question, you can bet there’s a more important project being stalked by the Grim Reaper.

~ Steve Pavlina from, Triage – Steve Pavlina

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There are many variations of this. My favorite is currently a large note above my desk which reads…

2018: “HELL YES!” or “no”

Regardless, Covey’s quadrants are an excellent way to triage things.

I’m adamant however, that one’s goal should be to do nothing in Covey’s quadrants 3 and 4—things which are “not important”, wether they are urgent or non-urgent. See also, Time management.

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Constant optimization →

Published September 21, 2018  ·  All posts on Sep 21  ·  

An unexpected benefit of all this self-imposed change is that it helps protect you from forming bad habits, which are hard to change once you get them. In fact, change itself becomes the habit, which is a good one to carry with you through your life. The willingness to experience change brings opportunity, wealth, learning, and happiness for most of us who embrace it.

~ Peter Adeney from, The Principle of Constant Optimization

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Wait. Is he saying there are people who don’t optimize?

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