16 things I know are true but haven't quite learned yet There’s a difference between knowing something and living as if it were true. At the end of 2013, these truths are all lingering on that awkward threshold, for me anyway. 1) The sooner you do something, the more of your life you get to spend with that thing done — even though it takes less effort (or at least no more) than it will later. 2) I never regret working out. 3) Whenever I’m playing with my phone I am only shortening my life. 4) Nothing makes me more productive and in-the-moment than a clean house. 5) Minute-for-minute, nothing I do is more rewarding than meditation. 6) Creative work is something that can be done at any time. 7) Acting the way you want to feel usually works. 8) Ninety-five per cent of my happiness comes from having a home, a functioning body and something to eat. 9) Our minds are geared to manage much less than we typically end up managing. 10) The quickest and most reliable path to personal improvement is to do the things on my list that I resist most.
Three Steps to Success for Creative Geniuses Creative people have it tough in this world. Despite having the skills and potential to make a tremendous impact, the odds are stacked against us. Unlike our business minded counterparts, the path to the success is not clearly defined. If you are reading this article, chances are you are what I call a genius type. Entrepreneurs, musicians, film-makers, writers, producers, directors, artists, real estate investors, photographers, inventors, and stock pickers are a few good examples. I paid my way through college with my own businesses. The “Artist’s Dilemma:” In the short-run, the truer you are to your own genius, the less it pays. A person who wants to follow his own creativity and passion, but isn’t independently wealthy faces an uphill battle. For example, consider a painter who really gets excited about post-modern, abstract art that few people understand. Or, consider a person who gets excited talking about her idea for a new bakery. I lasted less than a year in management. Focus
26 Personal Finance Books - Ranked From Best To Worst The Simple Dollar has had an ongoing series of in-depth personal finance book reviews over the last six months as part of an ongoing 52 Personal Finance Books in 52 Weeks project. We now find ourselves at the halfway point and thus now is a great time to reflect on the books that have been read so far in the series. And given that my readers have often wondered to me how the books compare to each other, I thought that a great way to reflect on the series to this point is to rank all 26 of the books from best to worst. How do you rank them when they’re so diverse? Basically, I reflect on the book and ask myself a number of fundamental questions: Did the book make me think while reading it? As I went through the books and thought about these questions, a rough ranking of the books became pretty clear. So, without further ado, here’s a ranking of the first six months worth of the 52 Personal Finance Books in 52 Weeks, with the best book at the top of the list and the worst at the bottom. 1. 2.
10 simple things you can do today that will make you happier, backed by science Happiness is so interesting, because we all have different ideas about what it is and how to get it. It’s also no surprise that it’s the Nr.1 value for Buffer’s culture, if you see our slidedeck about it. So naturally we are obsessed with it. I would love to be happier, as I’m sure most people would, so I thought it would be interesting to find some ways to become a happier person that are actually backed up by science. Here are ten of the best ones I found. 1. You might have seen some talk recently about the scientific 7 minute workout mentioned in The New York Times. Exercise has such a profound effect on our happiness and well-being that it’s actually been proven to be an effective strategy for overcoming depression. The groups were then tested six months later to assess their relapse rate. You don’t have to be depressed to gain benefit from exercise, though. 2. In NutureShock 3, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman explain how sleep affects our positivity: 3. Love this post? 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
How Not to Get Absorbed in Someone Else's Abdomen 0Share Synopsis Anglerfish are metaphors for how creative communities can eat your brain and kill your creativity. Male anglerfish are born with an innate desire to not exist. Or are we? That creative communities are alluring to the aspiring creativity maven is not surprising: we all want friends who understand what we do and appreciate our accomplishments. The source of this shrinkage is something called “adaptation,” or “habituation.” In fact, our heads are teeming with world-shrinking mechanisms that go far beyond our senses, invading the way we think and reason. Mark Changizi is Director of Human Cognition at 2AI Labs, and the author of The Vision Revolution (2009) and his new book, Harnessed: How Language and Music Mimicked Nature and Transformed Ape to Man (2011). Tags: adaptation, anglerfish, creativity, habituation
7 Steps To Playing A Much Bigger Game (With Free Workbook) (This is a long post, but if you’re committed to taking things to the next level in your life or business, I know you’ll read it to the end. Trust me, it’s worth it and you deserve it. ) There’s an old saying that “Nothing works until you do” – and it couldn’t be more true. If you want to shave years off of the time it takes to get to your “stretch” goals you need to do some stretching yourself – you’re going to need to play a much bigger game. Let’s talk about the reasons you aren’t playing as big a game as you could be right now: Fear and Distraction. Fear. Distraction. Once you’ve decided where you’re going to spend your first 30 minutes of thinking time, print out the workbook and bam, you’ve got your plan. We’re going to dig into seven strategies you can start using in the next 30 minutes to start playing a bigger game and getting more out of your life and your business. Ready for the plan that can help you make years of progress in the next 30 days or so? Guess what? Yeah. Yeah.
The Unexpected Antidote to Procrastination by Peter Bregman | 9:00 AM May 10, 2013 A recent early morning hike in Malibu, California, led me to a beach, where I sat on a rock and watched surfers. I marveled at these courageous men and women who woke before dawn, endured freezing water, paddled through barreling waves, and even risked shark attacks, all for the sake of, maybe, catching an epic ride. After about 15 minutes, it was easy to tell the surfers apart by their style of surfing, their handling of the board, their skill, and their playfulness. What really struck me though, was what they had in common. Some had fun with their fall, while others tried desperately to avoid it. But here’s what I found most interesting: The only difference between a failure and a fizzle was the element of surprise. That got me thinking: What if we all lived life like a surfer on a wave? The answer that kept coming to me was that we would take more risks. That proposal (or article, or book, or email) you’ve been putting off? Practice.
Just Knowing These 8 Facts Will Make You Way More Productive Whether trying to conquer Mount Everest or just pick up your laundry, learning these quick facts will make it easier to be super productive -- or at least understand why you're not. And if you're the type of person who is likely procrastinate instead of reading the rest of this article, then you should at least read the first point. 1. Simply starting a task will make it much easier to finish. According to the Zeigarnik Effect, your brain will send signals that effectively nag your conscious mind when you've started, but not finished, an objective. Bluma Zeigarnik was a Soviet psychologist who first developed the theory that humans are naturally driven to finish what they've started, due to a dissonance they feel when tasks are begun and then left incomplete. In 1992, a pair of psychologists proved this theory in a study on task interruption. 2. 3. 4. John Bargh, a social psychologist currently working at Yale, released a study in 2001 that got to the heart of procrastination. 5. 6. 7. 8.
The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Reinventing Yourself Editor’s note: James Altucher is an investor, programmer, author, and several-times entrepreneur. His latest book, is “Choose Yourself!” (foreword by Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter) . Here are the rules: I’ve been at zero a few times, come back a few times, and done it over and over. I’ve had to change careers several times. There are other ways to reinvent yourself, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I’ve seen it work for maybe a few hundred other people. A) Reinvention never stops. Every day you reinvent yourself. B) You start from scratch. Every label you claim you have from before is just vanity. C) You need a mentor. Else, you’ll sink to the bottom. D) Three types of mentors Direct. E) Don’t worry if you don’t have passion for anything. You have passion for your health. F) Time it takes to reinvent yourself: five years. Here’s a description of the five years: Sometimes I get frustrated in years 1-4. G) If you do this faster or slower then you are doing something wrong. Today. Today.