"When you see someone doing something that doesn’t make sense to you, ask yourself what the world would have to look like for those actions to make sense."
— A Tiny Thought in the @farnamstreet newsletter https://t.co/2CzjJMqkG2
The hallmark of an open mind is not letting your ideas become your identity.
If you define yourself by your opinions, questioning them is a threat to your integrity.
If you see yourself as a curious person or a lifelong learner, changing your mind is a moment of growth.
The first rule of leadership: put your mission above your ego.
The second rule of leadership: if you don't care about your people, they won't care about your mission.
The third rule of leadership: if someone has to tell you the first two rules, you're not ready to lead yet.
8 daily habits for a better life:
1. Journal—prepare for the hours ahead
2. Go for a walk
3. Do some deep work
4. Do a kindness
5. Read. Read. Read.
6. Get some strenuous exercise
7. Connect with friends and family
8. Meditate on your mortality (Memento Mori)
Do you know what the source of conflict in most relationships are? Having opinions about things that you just don’t need to have opinions about.
Think about it. Whether it’s with your spouse, your parents, your kids… how many fights have come from having an opinion about something that doesn’t affect you at all?
Did you need to have an opinion on the way they do their hair? And so what if they like music that sounds weird to you? Their friends are their friends…what does it matter what you think of them?
Marcus Aurelius talked about this. “Things are not asking to be judged by you,” he writes in his Meditations. “Remember, you always have the power to have no opinion.”
Most things in life are better off without your judgment hovering over them. If you want to improve the relationships in your life, there’s one simple thing you can do: try having fewer opinions.
When you're in a good position, almost all options are positive.
When you're in a bad position, almost all are negative.
Good positioning lets you control your circumstances. Poor positioning forces your circumstances to control you.
There is always something you can do to improve your position.
You can’t predict what will happen, but you can improve your position by sleeping well and exercising.
You can’t predict what will happen in your job, but you can improve your position by saving money.
Last summer, I was on a walk with my newborn son when an old man approached me.
He said:
“I remember standing here with my newborn. An old man came up to me and said ‘It goes by fast, cherish it.’ Well, my daughter is 45 now. It goes by fast, cherish it.”
It hit me hard.
Lying in bed with my son this morning, looking at the photos from Father’s Day one year ago, I had a profound sensation that the old man was right.
So now I pass along the message to all of you:
Slow down, cherish it—it goes by fast.
THE SCIENCE OF SELF-COMPASSION
Life can be tough.
What’s more, the human mind is tricky.
We cause, maintain, or make worse many of our own issues.
Here's how self-compassion can help you get unstuck and suffer less.
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If you don't curate the people in your life, those who influence you are there by chance and not a choice.
If you aren't intentional about the information you consume, noise tricks you into thinking it's a signal.
Raise the bar. Change the result.