12 Essential Rules to Live More Like a Zen Monk | zen habits “We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.” - Thich Nhat Hanh By Leo Babauta I’m not a Zen monk, nor will I ever become one. However, I find great inspiration in the way they try to live their lives: the simplicity of their lives, the concentration and mindfulness of every activity, the calm and peace they find in their days. You probably don’t want to become a Zen monk either, but you can live your life in a more Zen-like manner by following a few simple rules. Why live more like a Zen monk? One of my favorite Zen monks, Thich Nhat Hanh, simplified the rules in just a few words: “Smile, breathe and go slowly.” However, for those who would like a little more detail, I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve discovered to work very well in my experiments with Zen-like living. “Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.” - Shunryu Suzuki Do one thing at a time. “Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water.
How to Use Your Subconscious to Change Your Life “Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.” – Thomas Edison Your subconscious loves to do work while your body performs other tasks that are easy. I can prove this very easily by asking you how many good ideas you have had while driving or in the shower. When you are relaxed yet slightly distracted, your mind is often at its best. Using subconscious requests will… Improve your motivation.Help you become happier.Increase your emotional intelligence. You’ll see improvement in less than a month. My last request was… “Please give me more patience when commuting to work and allow me to even enjoy my time in the car.” Within a month I was enjoying my ride to work. My latest request is… “Let’s find creative ways to grow my blog.” I took this approach because it’s going to take a request to my subconscious and action in my waking life to make this happen. Mindset My mindset is changing by setting my subconscious on a certain issue. The 3 step request only takes five minutes:
Live What You Love: 50 Questions to Ask Yourself | Living Legacy Blog School of Fish: Atlantis Resort Nassau Bahamas I am finished with the , by Bob & Melinda Blanchard. I just bought it yesterday and I basically tore through it, deeply taking in each sentence. I don’t know why this book is classified in the Self-Improvement section of Barnes & Noble. It’s not self-help, though; at least, not in the typical sleepy style of most of the “unhelpful” self-improvement books out there. I suppose it could be categorized as self-improvement, but I really consider it inspiration. There are several wonderful “Remember” pages full of and and I felt like I was etching each one on my heart as I read them. It’s that second one – the one about asking questions, that brings me to this post today. Probing into myself isn’t easy. How do you really feel about what you are doing right now at this exact moment? What is your fondest childhood memory? How comfortable are you in your home? How comfortable are you in your town/city? What kind of weather do you like?
How To… Embed This Infographic <a href= "><img src=" title="10 How Tos" alt="How To Infographic" border="0" class="nopin" /></a><br />Source: <a href=' title='Interesting Facts'><a href=' title='Interesting Facts'>Today I Found Out</a></a> 1) How to drastically increase the life of your shaving razor Before or after you shave (I prefer before so that the blades are dry), place your jeans on a hard flat surface; then run the razor up the pant legs about 10-15 times quickly; then repeat running it down the pant legs 10-15 times quickly. No need to press that hard, but a little pressure is necessary. necessary. The threads on the jeans then will very effectively both fix any tiny bends in the blades that inevitably happen and will also sharpen the blades on your shaver cartidge.
Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity | zen habits By Leo Babauta This is something I’ve been wanting to write for some time — a Handbook for Life. Now, is there any handbook that can be a guide to every single person? Of course not. It’ll also become apparent from the links in this handbook that I’ve written about this stuff before. How to use this handbook This handbook is not meant to be a step-by-step guide, nor should you adopt all the tips below. Pick and choose the tips that will be most useful to you. 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity Try rising early. Overcoming Serious Indecisiveness Opportunity or Problem Recognition: A person discovers that a new opportunity exists or a problem needs resolution. Thirty-five years ago an entrepreneurial leader, Robert Cowan, recognized a new opportunity and asked, "Why do business meetings have to be conducted in person? Why can't they connect through television images?" Immersion: The individual concentrates on the problem and becomes immersed in it. Incubation: The person keeps the assembled information in mind for: a while. Insight: The problem-conquering solution flashes into the person's mind at an unexpected time, such as on the verge of sleep, during a shower, or while running. Verification and Application: The individual sets out to prove that the creative solution has merit. Overcoming traditional sequential thinking is so important to creative thinking that the process has been characterized in several different ways. A basic principle of learning is that practice is necessary to develop and improve skills.
21 Habits of Happy People Contributed by Cindy Holbrook “Happiness is a habit – cultivate it.” ~ Elbert Hubbar Happiness is one aspiration all people share. No one wants to be sad and depressed. We’ve all seen people who are always happy – even amidst agonizing life trials. I’m not saying happy people don’t feel grief, sorrow or sadness; they just don’t let it overtake their life. 1. Be thankful that you woke up alive each morning. 2. Surround yourself with happy, positive people who share your values and goals. 3. Accept others for who they are as well as where they are in life. 4. Keep up to date with the latest news regarding your career and hobbies. 5. Don’t wallow in self-pity. 6. Some statistics show that 80% of people dislike their jobs! 7. Take the time to see the beauty around you. 8. Don’t take yourself – or life to seriously. 9. Holding a grudge will hurt no one but you. 10. Develop an attitude of gratitude. 11. Always make sure your loved ones know you love them even in times of conflict. 12. 13. 14.
71 Things You Can Do by Scott Hughes Most people aren't Warriors, and I'm fine with it. Most people do things that don't make sense, and I'm fine with it. I've learned to accept the non-sense that fills this world. (Part of being a Warrior is accepting that most other people are not Warriors, and accepting them.) Still, the point is that people do things that don't make sense. For example, lazy people often whine that they don't make more money. Granted, sometimes when something bad happens to a person it's purely bad luck. However, usually when you don't like what's happening in your life, it's your own damn fault. In the following, I list 71 things that you can do to be more successful. Stop watching television. Extras: Don't be camera shy. Suggestions from visitors: Say "I love you" often to the people you feel this way about.Always turning off lights when leaving a room, unless of course there are others are in the room. Know any more things you want added to this list? Member Selected Amazon Books
20 Ways to Overcome Shyness Can you remember the last time you stepped into a room full of strangers and felt that self-conscious and awkward feeling rush over you? Or that heart thumping moment when you wanted to ask someone on a date, but were too shy to do so? Or wanting to approach someone for business, but was too hesitant to actually do it? That anxiety in the pit of your stomach in social situations? Does it always feel like something is holding you back? Regardless of whether you are introverted or extraverted, we can all relate to that feeling of shyness at some point in our lives. This article is the result of collaboration between Amanda Linehan, an introvert, and Tina Su, an extravert. The Three Components of Shyness According to Dr. Can you relate? Why Do We Experience Shyness? We all experience shyness differently and on varying degrees. 1. This is especially true to our experiences in high school. 2. Amanda: Coupled with a weak self image,I didn’t thinkIwas doing anything right! 3. Photo by Lauren 1.
How to Become an Early Riser – Part II Last Monday’s post How to Become an Early Riser obviously struck a chord with many people. That post has generated more links than I can count, sending more new traffic to this site than any other post or article I’ve written. And the traffic logs indicate that the surge was decentralized (not attributable to a mention in any one major source). You can get an idea of what that post did for StevePavlina.com’s traffic at Alexa (note the big spike at the end of May 2005). Alexa isn’t very accurate, but it’s good enough for noting general trends. Last Monday I did a Google search on “how to become an early riser” (in quotes). OK, so this was an instalanche. Since this appears to be a topic of interest, even though I don’t fully understand why, I figured I’d do a follow up post to add some more detail. First, on the subject of going to bed when you’re sleepy… to do this correctly requires a mixture of awareness and common sense. But this isn’t what I meant by noticing when you’re sleepy.