Reevaluate Your Life In 10 Minutes | Mindzette - Life Hacking I’m 24, which means that most of my friends are asking themselves some version of — What’s next? For me, journalism was out. That career dream died the day I actually imagined myself holed up in a news room, busting out click bait. I thought about advertising, PR, doing biz-dev for a web video outfit that did story-based branding (would you like another buzzword with that?), even joining a tech startup. It was at a very boring cocktail party that I was struck with a novel thought (to me). But when I spoke to people I wanted to work with, we always focused on skills. We identify our careers more with the industries we work in than with the skills we bring to them. This is silly. So why do we still talk about our futures as siloed in a single sector? It’s more useful to start thinking of our futures in terms of the skills we want to develop. I put my insight into action the day after the party by sitting down and making a list of everything I liked to do. That threw me for a loop.
how to be "perfect" Wednesday May 30, 2012 Listen Download E-mail Share Excerpts from "How to be Perfect" by Ron Padgett Get some sleep. Excerpts from "How to be Perfect" by Ron Padgett, from How to be Perfect. © Coffee House Press, 2007. It was on this day in 1849 that Henry David Thoreau (books by this author) self-published A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, his first book. Thoreau had always been the introverted and studious one, while John was gregarious and fun-loving. Thoreau said: "To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. And, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." It's the birthday of Harlem poet Countee Cullen (books by this author) , mostly likely born in New York City or Lexington, Kentucky, in 1903. Cullen was popular in the late '20s, and married the daughter of W.E.B.
30 Challenges for 30 Days Did you know that it takes 30 days to form a new habit? The first few days are similar as to how you would imagine the birth of a new river. Full of enthusiasm it gushes forth, only to be met by strong obstacles. The path is not clear yet, and your surroundings don’t agree. Old habits urge you to stay the same. So, take a moment to reflect on the question ‘Who do I want to be in 5 years?’ Check out this short TED talk first to get inspired: Now pick one or more challenges and stick with them! However, be cautioned, picking too many challenges at the same time can easily result in a failure of all of them. #1 Write a I-Like-This-About-You note/text/email each day for someone (Easy) This is the perfect way to let someone else know you care. #2 Talk to one stranger each day (Hard) This is a great one to cure approaching anxiety. #3 Take one picture each day (Hard) This one gets harder nearing the end of the challenge because at one point you will run out of the easy shots. We recommend:
23 Psychological Life Hacks to get an Advantage | Mindzette - Life Hacking Have you always wondered about the subtle things you can do to totally improve the outcome of a situation? It is something that I have constantly been thinking about. After spending some time searching up on the subject I came across some incredible bits of advice from a reddit discussion. 23 psychological Life Hacks to get a Situational advantage. When you first meet people try to notice their eye color while also smiling at them. 3 Books to Pick up more Psychological Life Hacks Check out these articles! Share these great tips with your friends! every day rituals It’s Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. Two San Francisco entrepreneurs are pitching their ventures to potential investors today. They’d both agree that this is one of the most important days of their lives. This is the story of Jane and Joe... Jane was up until 4 a.m. putting the final touches on her deck. In fact, she spent the entire weekend fixed in her apartment, preparing the presentation. Joe, on the other hand, went to sleep last night at 11 p.m., as he does most nights of the week. Which entrepreneur would you bet on? And, which entrepreneur most closely resembles you? Jane and Joe are fictional characters but having been immersed in the world of startups in both New York and San Francisco, I see a lot of Janes. This past weekend I had the opportunity to speak with my friend Mike Del Ponte, who resembles the character of Joe. "Every day I need physical energy, mental clarity, and emotional balance to tackle everything that comes my way," Mike said. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Alternative Sleep Cycles: You Don’t Really Need 6-8 Hours! Most people only think that there is one way to sleep: Go to sleep at night for 6-8 hours, wake up in the morning, stay awake for 16-18 hours and then repeat. Actually, that is called a monophasic sleep cycle, which is only 1 of 5 major sleep cycles that have been used successfully throughout history. The other 4 are considered polyphasic sleep cycles due to the multiple number of naps they require each day. How is this possible? Well the most important of every sleep cycle is the Stage 4 REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which has been shown to provide the benefits of sleep to the brain above all other stages of sleep. This way, you still get the benefits of 8 hours of sleep without wasting all of the time it takes to get to REM cycles, resulting in a much more efficient sleep cycle. Uberman Cycle: 20 to 30 minute naps every 4 hours, resulting in 6 naps each day. Everyman Cycle: One longer “core” nap that is supplemented with several 20-30 minute naps. Dymaxion Cycle: Biphasic/Siesta Cycle:
365 Thought Provoking Questions to Ask Yourself This Year “Asking the right questions is the answer.” That’s the tagline at the top of our sister site Thought Questions. The site thrives on the philosophy that a question that makes you think is worth asking. So we’ve made a ritual of asking one new thought provoking question every day for our visitors to ponder and answer. Over the past year we have received countless requests to compile all the questions and place them on a single page that can be easily printed and reviewed. When was the last time you tried something new? Also, we’d love it if you visited Thought Questions and shared some of your answers with us. Photo by: Jacob Botter Related 25 Questions that Provoke Thought If the question makes you think, it’s worth asking. January 4, 2010 In "Hacks" 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind These questions have no right or wrong answers. July 13, 2009 7 Questions You Are Too Scared to Ask It’s not about finding the right answers; it’s about asking the right questions.
more every day rituals “Smile, breathe and go slowly.” - Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhist monk Post written by Leo Babauta. Are you simply moving through your day, without fully living? I did this for many years. It was as if life were just passing by, and I was waiting for something to happen. But today isn’t preparation for tomorrow. Fully live today by being mindful. You don’t need to do all of these, but give a few of them a try to see if they make your day better. Mindfulness Rituals Ritual isn’t about doing a routine mindlessly. Here are a few of my favorites: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. These rituals aren’t the only time you should be mindful, but they’re great reminders.
» 12 Practical Steps for Learning to Go With the Flow “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” - Lao-Tzu Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. No matter how much structure we create in our lives, no matter how many good habits we build, there will always be things that we cannot control — and if we let them, these things can be a huge source of anger, frustration and stress. The simple solution: learn to go with the flow. “Smile, breathe and go slowly.” - Thich Nhat Hanh For example, let’s say you’ve created the perfect peaceful morning routine. You get angry. Not the best way to handle things, is it? Go with the flow. What is going with the flow? “Flow with whatever is happening and let your mind be free. A reader recently asked me to write more about going with the flow, so this is my attempt to share some of the things that work for me. Realize that you can’t control everything.