Simple Living Manifesto: 72 Ideas to Simplify Your Life | zen habits “Simplicity is the peak of civilization.” – Jessie Sampter By Leo Babauta A simple life has a different meaning and a different value for every person. For me, it means eliminating all but the essential, eschewing chaos for peace, and spending your time doing what’s important to you. It means getting rid of many of the things you do so you can spend time with people you love and do the things you love. It means getting rid of the clutter so you are left with only that which gives you value. However, getting to simplicity isn’t always a simple process. If you’re interested in simplifying your life, this is a great starter’s guide (if you’re not interested, move on). The Short List For the cynics who say that the list below is too long, there are really only two steps to simplifying: Identify what’s most important to you.Eliminate everything else. Of course, that’s not terribly useful unless you can see how to apply that to different areas of your life, so I present to you the Long List.
7 Lessons From 7 Great Minds Have you ever wished you could go back in time and have a conversation with one of the greatest minds in history? Well, you can’t sorry, they’re dead. Unless of course you’re clairaudient, be my guest. But for the rest of us, we can still refer to the words they left behind. Even though these great teachers have passed on, their words still live, and in them their wisdom. I’ve made a list of seven what I believe are some of the greatest teachings by the world’s greatest minds. 1. “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” - Lawrence J. In order for us to achieve our dreams, we must have a vision of our goals. Action: Visualize a life of your wildest dreams. 2. “It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson The best way to learn something is to dive right in to it. Action: You must define your fears in order to conquer them. 3. “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
Life Advice: I am turning 27, and feel I have w... When I was 27 I had yet to do (or even start) anything or any path that eventually led to future successes. I had not started any companies. I later started over 10. I had not written any published books. I later published 10 and have another 5 this year. I had yet to asked my opinion on anything important. Most importantly, I had yet to massively fail. Here are other examples of people who found great success not only after the age of 27, but after the age of 45: Rodney Dangerfield didn’t succeed in comedy until his 40s. Ray Kroc was a milkshake salesman into his 50s. Henry Miller wrote his first big novel, Tropic of Cancer, at age 40. Raymond Chandler, the most successful noir novelist of all time, wrote his first novel at age 52. One of my favorite writers of all time: Stan Lee, created the entire universe for which he is known for: the Marvel Universe, when he was 44, inventing the characters Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, the Avengers, etc. This is not meant to be inspirational.
the best goal is no goal | zen habits “With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Post written by Leo Babauta. The idea of having concrete, achievable goals seem to be deeply ingrained in our culture. I know I lived with goals for many years, and in fact a big part of my writings here on Zen Habits are about how to set and achieve goals. These days, however, I live without goals, for the most part. It means you stop letting yourself be limited by goals. Consider this common belief: “You’ll never get anywhere unless you know where you’re going.” And there’s the rub: you have to open your mind to going places you never expected to go. Today, I live mostly without goals. The problem with goals In the past, I’d set a goal or three for the year, and then sub-goals for each month. Unfortunately, it never, ever works out this neatly. And so your weekly goals and monthly goals get pushed back or side-tracked, and you get discouraged because you have no discipline. How it works And finally
Men’s Reading List: 33 Books About Being a Man Since starting the Art of Manliness, I’ve read a boatload of books about masculinity, manliness, and simply being a man. There are books out there on every aspect of the male experience from practical skills like carving a turkey and dressing well to sociological studies on what it means to be a man in history and modern society to more poetic examinations of the male experience. If you’re a fan of the Art of Manliness, then you’re probably interested in all of these different elements of being a man, so today I’d like to share a list of books that I’ve found useful and thought-provoking in my own life and journey in trying to understand what it means to be a man. The Inner Man and Improving Relationships Cultural and Sociological Studies of Manliness and Masculinity Style and Etiquette Books for Men Man Skills I plan on adding more books to this list.
Evidence That You Are Well and Always Will Be “On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a playful, joyous energy behind what you do” ~Eckhart Tolle I was recently speaking with a friend about what it feels like to connect with your underlying, always-there state of well-being. The peacefulness. Although my verbal description did almost no justice to the actual feeling, our conversation put her at ease. As we visited that place in our minds, we felt the pressure of our thought-based lives lessen. I’ve never met a person who doesn’t recognize that all is well feeling of peace. Yet, there are always people who will question that that state is who we really are. “How do you know my true nature is well-being? Or, “How do you know well-being isn’t the exception rather than the rule?” They are great questions, aren’t they? I would have bet the farm that there was something just a bit “off” in my nature—my mind was strung a little too tight from birth or my parents did something wrong. 1. 2. 3. 4.
About | zen habits ‘Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves.’ -Thich Nhat Hanh Zen Habits is about finding simplicity and mindfulness in the daily chaos of our lives. My name is Leo Babauta. More info: Contact: I’m not able to personally respond to emails, and I don’t take guest posts, advertising, or requests to promote anything. I’m not taking on new projects or speaking engagements because my plate is full. Otherwise: Problems with ebooks or membership: support@zenhabits.netFeedback or suggestions: submit here
15 Movies from Your Childhood to Rewatch with Your Kids | Live Simply article | Free online articles and how-to's for busy families Watching movies with your kids is a great way to bond, not to mention introduce them to some of your favorite and most beloved films from when you were their age. It’s a win-win: they get the joy of watching something they've never seen before while you can bask in a nice dose of nostalgia. Here are 15 movies we loved when we were younger that we'd eagerly rewatch with our own children. 15. A fun twist on the well-known Peter Pan story, Hook explores what would happen if the boy who never grew up actually did. 14. This movie is a handy little lesson about the importance of looking after your siblings. 13. Your kids will get a kick out of this monster mashup. 12. The original movie starring Gene Wilder is a little on the trippy side, but kids will enjoy seeing the magical wonders of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. 11. Every kid has fantasized about having the house all to himself so he can eat whatever he wants and watch countless hours of television. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.
How to Manufacture the Best Night of Sleep in Your Life | Mark Sisson Ah, sleep: is there anything quite like it? So easily discarded and discounted when nighttime attractions present themselves and yet so dearly missed and pined after the next morning. You've heard me say it enough, so I'll keep it short. So how do you get one? Let's start from the beginning. Early Morning Use a dawn simulator alarm clock. When you wake up, get up. Upon getting up, you expose yourself to bright light. Before "the day" starts, you get some physical activity. Brew your coffee, tea, or legal stimulant-containing beverage now if you're going to have any today. If you eat breakfast, eat a good portion of animal. If you don't typically eat breakfast, you probably don't need to start. Mid-Morning Work hard, be proactive, and stay focused. While you're working, take a minute to install f.lux on your computer. Last call for caffeine. Midday Sometime after lunch, meditate for twenty minutes. When and if you nap, do it closer to midday than to your bedtime. Early Evening Bedtime
Getting Things Done – S’organiser pour reussir | Organiser - Reussir GTD présentation La méthode GTD: Getting Things Done ou s’organiser pour réussir est une méthode d’organisation personnelle proposée par David Allen, consultant en gestion et productivité en entreprise, et dont la particularité réside dans une approche par contexte et projets plutot que par rédaction de todo liste quotidienne. Le best-seller de David Allen est très populaire aux Etats Unis et on trouve de nombreuses ressources sur la méthode GTD et les manières de l’implémenter sur le web sont légion. L’esprit est alors dépourvu de toute distraction et focalisé sur l’accomplissement d’un seul et même objectif. La méthode GTD propose donc l’élaboration et la mise en place d’un système fiable (notion forte) qui doit permettre à l’esprit de se libérer de ses pensées parasites afin de se concentrer exclusivement sur l’action en cours. Recenser toutes les tâches que nous avons à accomplir – maintenant ou plus tard ou un jour – et les intégrer à un système cohérent et fiable.
Fallacy List 1. FAULTY CAUSE: (post hoc ergo propter hoc) mistakes correlation or association for causation, by assuming that because one thing follows another it was caused by the other. example: A black cat crossed Babbs' path yesterday and, sure enough, she was involved in an automobile accident later that same afternoon. example: The introduction of sex education courses at the high school level has resulted in increased promiscuity among teens. A recent study revealed that the number of reported cases of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) was significantly higher for high schools that offered courses in sex education than for high schools that did not. 2. SWEEPING GENERALIZATION: (dicto simpliciter) assumes that what is true of the whole will also be true of the part, or that what is true in most instances will be true in all instances. example: Muffin must be rich or have rich parents, because she belongs to ZXQ, and ZXQ is the richest sorority on campus. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.