Category: Life Tips

Be careful of what you do, 'cause the lie becomes the truth. - Michael Jackson

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. - Thomas Edison

Consider using simple text files to help you get things done and keep track of your tasks, todo lists, projects, and goals, instead of using a complicated tasks app.

Amazing Mac apps for getting things done (plus a custom-rigged setup) - Zen Habits

While I love the apps mentioned above, I personally look for super simple. So I’ve settled on a setup taken from Gina and Adam’s articles on Lifehacker (read the tutorials: Geek to Live and Hack Attack). Text files: Basically, I organize my tasks in a series of text files. That’s because they’re super simple, easy to manipulate, and small. My four files:

• @today: my three MITs for today, along with calls, batch tasks, and an inbox for new things added to the list.
• @ideas: any ideas for projects, posts, or anything really.
• @errands: includes regular errands and my shopping list.
• @todo: my list of 3 projects I’m working on and any other todo items I’m not going to do today.

A drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall. - Abraham Lincoln

Everyone is emotional and people are all going through the ups and downs of life, so try not to take it personally when people get angry, and try to comfort or support others when they are in a bad mood.

The critical 7 rules to understand people - Scott H. Young

Perhaps this is an exaggeration. But the core of the message is that people tend to have stronger feelings about something than they let on. People who regularly have outbursts of anger, depression or flamboyant enthusiasm are generally frowned upon in most cultures. This especially applies to men (for women trying to figure us out). The application of this rule is to not assume everything is fine just because someone isn’t having a nervous breakdown. We all have our individual problems, angst and upsets that are normally contained.

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve. - Napolean Hill

Exercise every day because it improves your body, your mind, and makes you happier and more productive on the day in which you exercise.

What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier - Buffer

A recent study from Penn State university shed some light on the matter and the results are more than surprising. They found that to be more productive and happier on a given work day, it doesn’t matter so much, if you work-out regularly, if you haven’t worked out on that particular day. Think about starting small and then start even smaller: Here is a little secret. When I first started exercising, I did it with 5 minutes per day, 3 times a week. Can you imagine that? 5 minutes of timed exercise, 3 times a week? That’s nothing you might be thinking. And you are right, because the task is so easy and anyone can succeed with it, you can really start to make a habit out of it. Try no more than 5 or 10 minutes if you are getting started.

Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. - Greg Anderson

Turn your problems into challenges or goals that you can overcome or accomplish in order to be happier and improve your life.

15 Powerful things happy people do differently - Purpose Fairy

Happy people will see problems as challenges, as opportunities to explore new ways of doing things, expressing their gratitude for them, understanding that underneath them all lay many opportunities that will allow them to expand and to grow.

Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain. But you can't have a rainbow, without a little rain. - Anonymous

You can influence your mind positively and change your life for the better by using the principle of autosuggestion.

Think And Grow Rich - Goodreads

Through the dominating thoughts which one permits to remain in the conscious mind, whether these thoughts be negative or positive is immaterial, the principle of autosuggestion voluntarily reaches the subconscious mind and influences it with these thoughts. Recall what has been said about the subconscious mind resembling a fertile garden spot, in which weeds will grow in abundance, if the seeds of more desirable crops are not sown therein. Autosuggestion is the agency of control through which an individual may voluntarily feed his subconscious mind on thoughts of a creative nature, or, by neglect, permit thoughts of a destructive nature to find their way into this rich garden of the mind.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. - Lao Tzu

Begin with the end of your task, goal, project, or dream in your mind by mentally envisioning it and creating a written description or picture of exactly what you want the end result to look like when the project or vision is completed.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Goodreads

To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction. "Begin with the end in mind" is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There's a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things. Take the construction of a home, for example. You create it in every detail before you ever hammer the first nail into place. You try to get a very clear sense of what kind of house you want.

Choose to be happy with your current situation and life, as research has shown happiness may come down to your attitude and perception, not our faulty estimation of what we think we want, even big changes like getting a dream job, goal, partner, or money.

The surprising science of happiness - Dan Gilbert - YouTube

Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that we'll be miserable if we don't get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things don't go as planned.

"Don't criticize, condemn, or complain." - Dale Carnegie

How To Win Friends And Influence People - Goodreads

Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person's precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment...Instead of condemning people, let's try to understand them. Let's try to figure out why they do what they do. That's a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness. "To know all is to forgive all."

80% of the results will often come from 20% of the causes, so focus on finding the vital few inputs or actions that will provide the most benefit or effect.

Pareto Principle - Wikipedia

The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes (the "vital few"). Other names for this principle are the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few, or the principle of factor sparsity. Management consultant Joseph M. Juran developed the concept in the context of quality control and improvement after reading the works of Italian sociologist and economist Vilfredo Pareto, who wrote about the 80/20 connection while teaching at the University of Lausanne. In his first work, Cours d'économie politique, Pareto showed that approximately 80% of the land in the Kingdom of Italy was owned by 20% of the population.

Live your life by being true to yourself and following your own dreams and desires.

Top 5 regrets of the dying - Huffington Post

I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

Have a growth mindset by believing that you can grow, learn new things, improve your skills and knowledge, and realizing that temporary and recurring failure are a necessary part of learning and growing.

Believe you can change - Aaron Swartz

Dweck, like many adults, had learned to hide her frustration and anger, to politely say "I'm not sure I want to play this anymore" instead of knocking over the board. She figured the successful kids would be the same - they’d have tactics for coping with failure instead of getting beaten down by it. But what she found was radically different. The successful kids didn’t just live with failure, they loved it! When the going got tough, they didn’t start blaming themselves; they licked their lips and said "I love a challenge." They’d say stuff like "The harder it gets the harder I need to try."

Give people sincere praise about something they have done well or that you appreciate about them before giving them negative feedback or an idea for something they could change or do differently.

How to Give and Receive Feedback at Work: The Psychology of Criticism - Buffer

"Sandwich every bit of criticism between two heavy layers of praise." One well known strategy for feedback is the “criticism sandwich,” popularized by the above quote from cosmetics maven Mary Kay Ash. In the sandwich, you begin with praise, address the problem, and follow up with more praise. In fact, the more of the conversation you can frame positively, the more likely your recipient is to be in the right frame of mind to make the change you’re looking for.

Your beliefs and thoughts influence your mind and your life, so any expectations you have about your self, your character, your abilities, your goals, and your dreams can and often will come true if you believe they will.

Self-fulfilling prophecy - Wikipedia

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's belief or expectation that said prediction would come true. In the phenomena, people tend to act the way they have been expected to making the expectations come true. Self-fulfilling prophecies are an example of the more general phenomenon of positive feedback loops. A self-fulfilling prophecy can have either negative or positive outcomes. Merely applying a label to someone or something can affect the perception of the person/thing and create a self-fulfilling prophecy.