“I decided that if someone wasn’t helping me get to where I needed to be, then that person most likely was getting in my way. I didn’t make any proclamations or write anybody a Dear John letter, thus liberating myself from their harmful clutches. I didn’t say a thing to anybody; I just stopped engaging with people who I felt were standing in my way rather than helping me and I began to focus more on myself.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 16)
The Minimalists’ Quote on Changing The People Around You
“You can’t change the people around you, but you can change the people around you.”
The Minimalists, Everything That Remains
Beyond the Quote (34/365)
Sure we might influence or inspire the people around us to change, but we certainly can’t force them to change. Change is an inside-out job. It’s something that a person has to want themselves and something they have to manifest from within. The outside-in approach simply doesn’t work. You can yell and scream and shout and argue with a person until the veins in your neck pop out—a person won’t change until they decide they’re ready, willing, and capable of change.
Read More »The Minimalists’ Quote on Changing The People Around YouJonas Mekas Quote on Choosing Art and Beauty Against Ugliness and Horrors
“I choose art and beauty, vague as those terms are, against ugliness and horrors in which we live today. For somebody to look at a flower or listen to music does something to one, has a positive effect, and being surrounded by ugliness and horror does something negative. So I feel my duty not to betray those poets, scientists, saints, singers, troubadours of the past centuries who did everything that humanity would become more beautiful.”
Jonas Mekas, via Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 45)
Beyond the Quote (20/365)
If it bleeds it leads. If you haven’t heard this expression before, it’s sort of the unannounced, unofficial but predominantly popular strategy for many media outlets that represents the idea of using fear and despondency to keep viewers tuned in, listening, and coming back to them for more. It’s popular because it works and because it works it helps media companies sell more advertisements and improve their bottom-line.
Read More »Jonas Mekas Quote on Choosing Art and Beauty Against Ugliness and Horrors
“True happiness is always available to us, but first we have to create the environment for it to flourish.” ~ Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 6)
“Bad relationships may be more harmful than good relationships are beneficial.” ~ Laura Carstensen, via Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 68)
“We become what our environment encourages us to be.” ~ Laura L. Carstensen, Stanford Center on Longevity, via Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 35)
“Not everyone who is failing is a victim, and not everyone at the bottom wishes to rise, although many do, and many manage it.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 76)
“Even if you’re surrounded by positive people, they will have ideas about who you are, what you’re good at, and how you should focus your energy. That sh*t is just human nature, and if you try to break out of their box you’ll get some unsolicited advice that has a way of smothering your aspirations if you let it. Often our people don’t mean any harm. Nobody who cares about us actually wants us to get hurt. They want us to be safe, comfortable, and happy, and not to have to stare at the floor in a dungeon sifting through shards of our broken dreams. Too bad. There’s a lot of potential in those moments of pain. And if you figure out how to piece that picture back together, you’ll find a hell of a lot of power there too!” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me
“Most wars are won or lost in our own heads, and when we’re in a foxhole we usually aren’t alone, and we need to be confident in the quality of the heart, mind, and dialogue of the person hunkered down with us. Because at some point we will need some empowering words to keep us focused and deadly.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me