“Why quit cigarettes or all those sweets you’ve been eating? Isn’t life short and meant to be enjoyed? Don’t you deserve a treat? Yes, these are the justifications I gave myself too. And they’re a load of bull. Life is short, so why waste it on pure junk? Those things don’t make you happy—if anything, they made me less and less happy about myself. I’ve been happier once I gave up those habits and learned to be healthy and trustworthy to myself. Eating healthy food is a treat. Living smoke-free is pure bliss. But the biggest reason to change is that you love yourself. You don’t need to harm yourself to find happiness and contentment. Taking care of yourself is a form of self-compassion, and the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll feel good about how you’re loving yourself.” ~ Leo Babauta, Essential Zen Habits (Page 148)
“If you plunge into really cold water, you’ll be shocked, and you’ll hate it. But if you go into water that’s only a little colder than room temperature, it won’t seem too bad. After awhile, it’ll feel pretty normal. Then if the water’s temperature drops a little more, it won’t seem too bad, and soon that will become normal. You adjust. When it comes to changing your life, don’t plunge into the freezing water. You’ll soon get out of the water and be afraid of going in again. Instead, take a dip in slightly cool water. Make a very small change. Adapt to that, then make another. Gradually, through a series of small changes, you’ll see amazing progress.” ~ Leo Babauta, Essential Zen Habits (Page 126)
9 Rules for Children from 12 Rules For Life by Jordan Peterson
Excerpt: 9 Rules for Children from Jordan Peterson that can offer you a solid framework to build off of when structuring home life for your kids.
Read More »9 Rules for Children from 12 Rules For Life by Jordan Peterson
Quote on How It’s Easier To Build Up A Child Than Repair An Adult
“It is easier to build up a child than it is to repair an adult.”
Unknown
Beyond the Quote (49/365)
Learning how to properly educate, inspire, and guide our next generation is one of the most important duties we have as adults who have come before. It is up to us to protect our kids from the world and at the same time, prepare them for it. It is our obligation to give them the tools they need to succeed without simultaneously doing the work for them.
Read More »Quote on How It’s Easier To Build Up A Child Than Repair An Adult
Matt Damon Quote on Taking Action Rather Than Sitting Around Thinking You’re “Too Cool”
“It was like, ‘Why are we sitting here? Let’s make our own movie.’ And if people come to see it, they come; and if they don’t, they don’t. Either way it beats sitting here going crazy. When you have so much energy and so much passion and no outlet for it and nobody cares, it’s just the worst feeling… This whole ‘I’m too cool to care’ thing… is so weak and stupid and played out, and it just brings everybody down. You shouldn’t be too cool to care, for Christ’s sake. You should be full of vim and vigor, and trying to do everything you can to make a change.”
Matt Damon
Beyond the Quote (48/365)
Regardless of what gets you there, when the end conclusion is not caring, then all of the life that comes from caring dissolves. Caring is exactly what drives us to listen, to pay attention, to take actions, to go above and beyond, and to think and reflect—essentially, when we don’t care, we’re choosing not to interact with the world (or at least that aspect of it).
Read More »Matt Damon Quote on Taking Action Rather Than Sitting Around Thinking You’re “Too Cool”25 Quotes On The Power of Focus and How Important Focus Is For Success
Excerpt: We are in the midst of a battle against distractions—and many of us are losing. Read our 25 quotes on the power of focus and fight back.
Read More »25 Quotes On The Power of Focus and How Important Focus Is For Success
“All my attempts to control things should be abandoned, and I should just accept the ever changing, ever flowing nature of my life as a river. It turns out that this model can bring me peace no matter where I am, no matter what’s happening. If plans get disrupted, my day gets interrupted by a sudden crisis, information starts coming at me from everywhere, the pace of events starts quickening… I just picture myself as a river, with all of this stuff flowing through me. I don’t try to hold it, control it, freeze it, but I embrace the flow. I smile, I breathe, and I focus on one thing. Then the next. Not holding tightly to any of them, or wanting the river to be any certain way.” ~ Leo Babauta, Essential Zen Habits (Page 120)
“When we procrastinate, it’s because we have an urge to run from the difficult, uncomfortable task. We don’t want to do the hard work, or be in confusion, or fail at something, so we get the urge to run. It stems from the fear of failure, of not being good enough. The urge comes up, and we follow it! But we don’t need to follow it. We can watch the urge to procrastinate, like a cloud, but not act on it. We can just let it float by, and get to work. Let the cloud float away, because it doesn’t control you. The cloud isn’t you. It’s just a passing phenomenon, one that arises and floats away.” ~ Leo Babauta, Essential Zen Habits (Page 87)
Steve Penny Quote on Embracing Unforeseen Detours Rather Than Fighting Them
“Life is full of unforeseen detours. Circumstances happen which seem to completely cut across our plans. Learn to turn your detours into delights. Treat them as special excursions and learning tours. Don’t fight them or you will never learn their purpose. Enjoy the moments and pretty soon you will be back on track again, probably wiser and stronger because of your little detour.”
Steve Penny
Beyond the Quote (46/365)
In his book, Essential Zen Habits, Leo Babauta shares a mental analogy that can help you stay on track towards accomplishing your goals—or better yet, not stay on “track” at all yet continue heading in the direction of your goals in a more flexible, effective manner. You see, for many people, the idea of a plan gets equated to mental “train tracks” that get laid out so that you, the train, can power forward in a smooth, straight line down the track towards your destination.
Read More »Steve Penny Quote on Embracing Unforeseen Detours Rather Than Fighting ThemQuote on Loving People Without Placing Expectations On Them Of Who You Think They Should Be
“In order to make a relationship last, you really have to flow with a person as they change. Give them space. My friend always told me about his grandfather who was with his wife for 60 years before she passed. His grandfather said that through all that time, his wife changed so much it felt like he had been with 8 different people by the end. But he said the secret to making it last was that through all those changes, he never suffocated his wife with his own idea of who he expected her to be. Rather he loved, fully, every new woman she became.”
Unknown
Beyond the Quote (45/365)
Don’t suffocate your loved ones. The more they feel suffocated, the more space they will need to breathe. The more tightly you squeeze them, the more freedom they will need. The more smothered they feel with expectations, the more resistance and disappointment you both will feel. Love should not be suffocating; it should be spacious. Love should not be limiting; it should be enabling. Love should not be expected; it should be given—unconditionally and in full.
Read More »Quote on Loving People Without Placing Expectations On Them Of Who You Think They Should BeQuote on Managing Stress By Controlling What You Can and Letting Go Of What You Can’t
“Remember, most of your stress comes from the way you respond, not the way life is. Adjust your attitude. Change how you see things. Look for the good in all situations. Take the lesson and find new opportunities to grow. Let all the extra stress, worrying and overthinking go.”
Unknown
Beyond the Quote (44/365)
The above quote can be boiled down the following idea: accept what you cannot change, take control of what you can, do what you need to do to figure out which category each situation in your life falls, and act accordingly. If you never make the connection that a given situation is out of your control, then you might drive yourself mad in trying to change it. If you don’t even realize that a situation is within your control (or that at least part of it is) and you act as though it’s not, you might be suffering unnecessarily as a result.
Read More »Quote on Managing Stress By Controlling What You Can and Letting Go Of What You Can’t16 Deep Rupi Kaur Quotes from Milk and Honey and Insights for Love
Excerpt: These Rupi Kaur quotes from Milk and Honey go deep into the journey of love and discuss loneliness, relationships, breakups, healing, and more.
Read More »16 Deep Rupi Kaur Quotes from Milk and Honey and Insights for Love
Anne Lamott Quote on Writing Really Poorly Before You Ever Write Anything Good
“People tend to look at successful writers, writers who are getting books published and maybe even doing well financially, and think that they sit down at their desks every morning feeling like a million dollars, feeling great about who they are and how much talent they have and what a great story they have to tell; that they take a few deep breaths, push back their sleeves, roll their necks a few times to get all the cricks out, and dive in, typing fully formed passages as fast as a court reporter. But this is just fantasy of the uninitiated. I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts… For me and most other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. If fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.”
Anne Lamott
Beyond the Quote (43/365)
For all of you who are intimidated by the dreaded blank page and have insecurities and self-doubts about writing (or creating in general), let me reassure you: we ALL start out with really, really shitty first drafts. Not even the best writers in the world (the ones who you envision typing out those perfect, fully formed passages as fast as a court reporters can type) write their final copy on their first try. It just doesn’t happen. So, drop the expectation that you’ll be able to do that yourself (sorry not sorry)!
Read More »Anne Lamott Quote on Writing Really Poorly Before You Ever Write Anything GoodSteve Jobs Quote on Simplicity and How Simple Can Be Harder Than Complex
“That’s been one of my mantras—focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
Steve Jobs
Beyond the Quote (42/365) Part 2: On Simplicity
Read First: Steve Jobs Quote on Focus and Working Hard To Keep Thinking Clean (Part 1)
Once we become aware of the fact that we’re in the midst of a full-blown battle for attention and that we’re literally being wired to enjoy distractions, we can start taking the proper steps to regain control. If we don’t even know we’re in a battle or that we’re being rewired, after all, how can we know to do anything about it? If we want to produce the best work of our lives then blocking out distractions and focusing our attention on the deep and thoughtful type of work is key.
Read More »Steve Jobs Quote on Simplicity and How Simple Can Be Harder Than ComplexSteve Jobs Quote on Focus and Working Hard To Keep Thinking Clean
“That’s been one of my mantras—focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
Steve Jobs
Beyond the Quote (41/365) Part 1: On Focus
The ability to focus, or more clearly stated, the ability to block out distractions—especially in today’s world—is absolutely critical in producing the best work of your life. Think about it. Distractions are the things that take your attention elsewhere—away from what it should be/ could be doing. And when your attention is over there, it’s certainly not over here—focused on the deep, thoughtful work that requires long chains of uninterrupted time for thought, flow, play, introspection, and execution. And the more that your attention ends up over there in distraction, either deliberately or unexpectedly, the work you could be doing over here gets sidetracked and lost.
Read More »Steve Jobs Quote on Focus and Working Hard To Keep Thinking Clean