I’ve come to realize that smart people are very good at creating super persuasive arguments for why the shouldn’t do the thing they’re fearing doing. This past week, I’ve worked with half a dozen intelligent people who have convinced themselves to give in to their resistance, over and over. They’re persuasive, convincing people, and when … Continue reading How to Not Believe Your Ultra-Persuasive Rationalizations
The Pause Upon Which All Else Relies
Originally posted in ZenHabits.Netby Leo Baubata There is one little habit I’ve learned that has changed everything else in my life. The pause. When we fail, it’s because we act on urges without thinking, without realizing it. We have the urge to eat junk, and we do it. We have the urge to check email … Continue reading The Pause Upon Which All Else Relies
The 5 Principles of a Profound Day
Originally posted in ZenHabits.Netby Leo Baubata ‘Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.’ ~Laozi Let us toss out all we know for a moment. Toss notions of productivity, time management, efficiency, and the bottom line. Empty our workdays of all we’ve packed them with, and sit still with an empty room. What should we … Continue reading The 5 Principles of a Profound Day
How to Become Open to Life
Originally posted in ZenHabits.Netby Leo Baubata "Keep your hands open, and all the sands of the desert can pass through them. Close them, and all you can feel is a bit of grit." ~Taisen Deshimaru In many ways, I close myself off to life in all its fullness. I close myself off to others, as … Continue reading How to Become Open to Life
Life as a Conscious Practice
Originally posted in ZenHabits.Netby Leo Baubata ‘Everything is practice.’ Pele When we learn a martial art, or ballet, or gymnastics, or soccer … we consciously practice movements in a deliberate way, repeatedly. By conscious, repeated practice, we become good at those movements. Our entire lives are like this, but we’re often less conscious of the … Continue reading Life as a Conscious Practice
#356: Empty Handed, Full Hearted
Originally posted in ZenHabits.Netby Leo Baubata We often load ourselves up when we travel, because we want to be prepared for various situations. This burden of being prepared leaves us with our arms full, unable to receive whatever is there when we arrive. It leaves us tired from carrying so that we are not happy … Continue reading #356: Empty Handed, Full Hearted
#49: Savor the Little Things
Do you eat while reading? If so, you might have noticed the phenomenon I’ve noticed: sometimes you can eat an entire meal without even really tasting the food. This applies to a lot of things in our lives: we can spend an hour with our family without really talking to them. We can go to a park or the beach, and not really notice the things around us.
In Praise of Limits
We live in a world of abundance, often to the point of excess: we can buy anything anytime, consume as much of the Internet as we want, eat anything all the time, work as much as our bodies will allow. With so much available, it can become overwhelming, unhealthy, unbalanced. I’d like to propose a … Continue reading In Praise of Limits
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