Life is Great When It’s Ending; The Philosophy of Seneca

Getting older? Awesome!

What Cats Teach Us about Happiness

“Most of us would agree that cats and humans are vastly different. We tend to think of ourselves as more developed, as a higher species, not just because of our superior intelligence but also because we gave ourselves the gift of morality and ethics. Unlike cats, weknow about what’s good and evil, right and wrong, and we aspire to transcend our animalistic tendencies to improve morally and make the world a better place. Cats, on the other hand, don’t care about morals. They don’t have ambitions to improve the world either, nor themselves.

Continue reading “What Cats Teach Us about Happiness”

We Worry About Problems We Don’t Even Have

Two people attend a house party, where they socialize with the same guests, drink from the same beer tap, and are exposed to the same music and atmosphere. They decide to share a taxi and drive home when the party is over as they live closely together. “That party really sucked,” one person says. “The beer was terrible, the DJ was really bad, and the guests were insufferable.” Then the other person says smiling joyfully: “Really? I just had the best party in years. It was awesome.”

Continue reading “We Worry About Problems We Don’t Even Have”

Einzelgänger; one of my favorite YouTube channels

Just an exploration of ideas and topics, which hopefully inspires, resonates and entertains. Einzelgänger provides analyses, reflections, and elaborations with a dose of “as I see it.” The purpose of the material provided by Einzelgänger is to entertain, inspire, resonate and share the love of ideas with others. This isn’t a clinical/medical service or replacement of mental health professionals, nor an academic resource. Source: Einzelgänger

Optimize yourself

One of the world’s best resources for optimizing your thinking and your life is now FREE! It’s all here

Continue reading “Optimize yourself”

How to Make the Baggage of Your Past Easier to Carry

Rewriting the stories you tell about yourself can make for a better future. Source: How to Make the Baggage of Your Past Easier to Carry

5-Minute University

In the last millennium, there was a character on SNL called Father Guido Sarducci and one of his favorite thoughts was the 5-Minute University. Watch here…

While humorous, there’s great truth in that concept. In a similar fashion, Brian Johnson has applied this concept to some of the world’s great books. He calls them philosopher’s notes and they are available at no cost on his site http://optimize.me — you only need to create a free account to access them. Here’s an example:

Here’s an audio commentary on Marcus Aurelius’ meditations as an example. There’s a video, audio and text version (see below) of every Philosopher’s Note and Brian always delivers on his tagline: more wisdom in less time.

How to Be Happy at Work

Einstein wasn’t trying to “crush it” at work. You shouldn’t either. Source: How to Be Happy at Work

The real secret of life

“This is the real secret to life—to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”

Alan Watts

Bonus…

The Treasures of Late Life

The inner work of age brings a surprising gift. Source: The Treasures of Late Life

This Is Water

Yet another commencement speech worth listening to:

h/t the Noble Savage…

Needless Angers: Can They Be Eliminated?

Anger poisons relationships, yet anger can easily become a too-frequent habit. Learn more here: Needless Angers: Can They Be Eliminated?

Setting Goals for a Life Worth Living

Why—and how—to set meaningful goals outside work: Setting Goals for a Life Worth Living

5 Ways to Manage Disappointment

Disappointment can lead to a downward spiral. Read this to ‘check yo’self before you wreck yo’self’! Go to the source: 5 Ways to Manage Disappointment

Here’s another post I did on the topic 10 years ago and there’s more reading here

Want to Build a New Habit? Do Them With Friends With HabitShare

Gary Keller, author of ‘The ONE Thing’ says “Success is actually a short race—a sprint fueled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and take over. When you discipline yourself, you’re essentially training yourself to act in a specific way. Stay with this long enough and it becomes routine—in other words, a habit.’ I know this is true for me because I’ve seen it happen in my life over an over again. Now, there’s an app that can help you form the habits you need to succeed: Want to Build a New Habit? Do Them With Friends With HabitShare

btw, if you haven’t read The ONE Thing, I highly recommend it…

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda: How to Better Manage Feelings of Regret

J. Kim Penberthy writes “A friend of mine – we will call him “Jay” – was working for IBM in New York City in the early ‘90s. He was a computer programmer and made a good salary. Occasionally, competitors and startups approached Jay to join their companies. He had an offer from an interesting but small organization in Seattle, but the salary was paltry and most of the offer package was in company shares. After consulting with friends and his parents, Jay declined the offer and stayed with IBM. He has regretted it ever since. That small company was Microsoft.” Source: Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda: How to Better Manage Feelings of Regret

How to Make the Most of Your 24 Hours via @zenhabits

Leo Babauta writes ‘so many of us feel a scarcity of time: we feel rushed, like there’s not enough time to do everything, always behind, never feeling like we’re doing enough. This problem is called “time scarcity,” and it’s one of the most common stresses in our society. So how do we deal with this?’ Continue reading: How to Make the Most of Your 24 Hours – zen habits

5 Symptoms of Repressed Anger

What repressed anger looks like. Source: 5 Symptoms of Repressed Anger

Why You Need Instant Gratification, According to Science

We spend about 43 per cent of our day doing things without thinking about them. For many of these habitual behaviours, we don’t recognise them as such. However, these learned behaviours are necessary for living our life.

Wendy Wood

I’m a huge fan of the book The ONE Thing. In it, the author Gary Keller talks about the idea that you really don’t need to be as disciplined as you think. Why? Because you only need enough discipline to start a habit and the habit then takes over. Go to the source: Why You Need Instant Gratification, According to Science

Resolutions for a Life Worth Living: Attainable Aspirations Inspired by Great Humans of the Past

Life-tested wisdom on how to live from James Baldwin, Ursula K. Le Guin, Leo Tolstoy, Seneca, Toni Morrison, Walt Whitman, Viktor Frankl, Rachel Carson, and Hannah Arendt. Source: Resolutions for a Life Worth Living: Attainable Aspirations Inspired by Great Humans of the Past

Committing to Joy via @TaraBrach

What makes joy rare? How do we awaken this beautiful capacity to embrace life? In this talk Tara explores the obstacles to joy and the attitude and practices that free us to “love what is.”

Start a Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑