» How I Changed My Life, In Four Lines ‘What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.’ ~C. S. Lewis By Leo Babauta Changing your life can seem an incredibly tough and complicated thing, especially if you’ve failed a great number of times (like I did), found it too hard, and resigned yourself to not changing. But I found a way to change. And I’m not any better than anyone else, not more disciplined, not more motivated. I’ve written about them many times, but realized they’re spread out all over the site. Here is how I changed my life, in a nutshell. tl;dr The four lines you’re looking for are at the bottom. How I Started Running In 2005 I was sedentary, and couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to make exercise a regular habit. How did I do it? I got healthier, fitter, slimmer, happier. How I Started Eating Healthier In 2005 I was overweight, and addicted to junk food. How did I change? I felt better about myself, trimmed down, and feel great every single day. How I Got Out of Debt How did I do it? And On and On 1.
SCHOPENHAUERS 38 STRATAGEMS, OR 38 WAYS TO WIN AN ARGUMENT - StumbleUpon Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), was a brilliant German philosopher. These 38 Stratagems are excerpts from "The Art of Controversy", first translated into English and published in 1896. Carry your opponent's proposition beyond its natural limits; exaggerate it. The more general your opponent's statement becomes, the more objections you can find against it. The more restricted and narrow his or her propositions remain, the easier they are to defend by him or her. Use different meanings of your opponent's words to refute his or her argument. (abstracted from the book:Numerical Lists You Never Knew or Once Knew and Probably Forget, by: John Boswell and Dan Starer)
» The Essential Zen Habits of 2010 Post written by Leo Babauta. I am overjoyed. Zen Habits has just finished its 4th year of existence and every year has been better than the last. How great a year has it been? But the joy has gone beyond numbers — for me both professionally and personally: I finished and self-published my new book focus and it has done exceedingly well.I moved my family from Guam to San Francisco and have been loving it here in this beautiful city.We gave up our automobile completely for the first time and truly love the car-free life.I lost more weight at the beginning of the year and am fitter slimmer and healthier than ever. The Essential Posts of 2010 Each year I choose the top posts from Zen Habits for the year but this year I decided to let you guys do the choosing. Here are the Top 20 posts as chosen by all of you: A few other posts I’d recommend: And more For more best of Zen Habits:
Memory Improvement Techniques - Improve Your Memory with MindTools.com - StumbleUpon © VeerPRZEMYSLAW PRZYBYLSKI Use these techniques to improve your memory. The tools in this section help you to improve your memory. They help you both to remember facts accurately and to remember the structure of information. The tools are split into two sections. As with other mind tools, the more practice you give yourself with these techniques, the more effectively you will use them. Mnemonics 'Mnemonic' is another word for memory tool. The idea behind using mnemonics is to encode difficult-to-remember information in a way that is much easier to remember. Our brains evolved to code and interpret complex stimuli such as images, colors, structures, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, positions, emotions and language. Unfortunately, a lot of the information we have to remember in modern life is presented differently – as words printed on a page. This section of Mind Tools shows you how to use all the memory resources available to you to remember information in a highly efficient way.
» Start Here By Leo Babauta I know a lot of people who fall into a slump, losing the habit of exercise, procrastinating with work, slipping into a bad diet, and generally not feeling motivated. It’s hard to get out of a slump like that. It’s hard to get going again, to get started when all the forces of inertia are against you. Here’s how to get started, in just a few easy steps. Pick one thing. With every single step, you’ll feel better. Just announced: Dealing with Your Struggles video course.
8 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Concentrating - StumbleUpon “Music helps me concentrate,” Mike said to me glancing briefly over his shoulder. Mike was in his room writing a paper for his U.S. History class. On his desk next to his computer sat crunched Red Bulls, empty Gatorade bottles, some extra pocket change and scattered pieces of paper. In the pocket of his sweat pants rested a blaring iPod with a chord that dangled near the floor, almost touching against his Adidas sandals. On his computer sat even more stray objects than his surrounding environment. Mike made a shift about every thirty seconds between all of the above. Do you know a person like this? The Science Behind Concentration In the above account, Mike’s obviously stuck in a routine that many of us may have found ourselves in, yet in the moment we feel it’s almost an impossible routine to get out of. When we constantly multitask to get things done, we’re not multitasking, we’re rapidly shifting our attention. Phase 1: Blood Rush Alert Phase 2: Find and Execute Phase 3: Disengagement
» The Essential Zen Habits of 2009 Post written by Leo Babauta. At the end of every year here at Zen Habits (this is the third year), I write that I’ve had the best year of my life. This year has been no exception. I’d like to take a moment to reflect on this year, and to share the best posts of 2009. Zen Habits has continued its amazing growth, going from 80,000 subscribers last year to about 150,000 this year. At the same time, my book The Power of Less came out at the very end of 2008 (Dec. 30), and in 2009 became an international best-seller, helping me to reach readers in all corners of the globe. But I did more than that: Created a new blog, mnmlist. It’s been a great year. The 30 Best Posts of 2009 And so, without further ado, here are the best Zen Habits posts of 2009: Breathe. For more best of Zen Habits:
12 Critical Things You Should Never Tolerate | PickTheBrain | Motivation and... - StumbleUpon There is so much in life that we just tolerate. Some of it we have to deal with (taxes, bad weather, traffic). But there’s a good portion of stuff that we tolerate even when we don’t have to. Sometimes just recognizing the things we are tolerating in life gives us a renewed sense of hope and energy. However, when you address some of your bigger tolerations, you can completely change the course of your life and open doors to a world of happiness and inner peace that you didn’t know existed. Think about the poorest of the poor, living in squalor and despair without the hope of a better future. In the same way, we must search for these portals that will allow us to move to the next level of powerful living. Do you want to walk through the portal to a happier life? 1. You spend nearly half of your life at your job. 2. A long commute to work by car or public transportation is stressful and empty. 3. Are you overweight? 4. 5. How you live is a reflection of who you are. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.