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Create daily habits and practices to achieve goals and make your dreams come true.
Feeling determined to change - Zen Habits
The only way you can make something stick is to create a habit through daily practice. So if you want to exercise, set up 10 minutes every day, at the same time of day, when you’re going to do your yoga or pushups or jogging/walking. Put it on the calendar, and make it an unmissable appointment. Quitting a habit is tougher, but perhaps try a “smoking-free zone” when you don’t smoke. (Or a “procrastination-free zone”.) Just an hour a day, then two hours after a few days, then three after a few more, etc. Eventually you’ll learn coping tactics and awareness during your zone that will help you quit completely.
Superman never made any money, savin' the world from Solomon Grundy. And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man like him.
Superman's Song - Crash Test Dummies
Tarzan wasn't a ladies' man
He'd just come along and scoop 'em up under his arm like that
Quick as a cat in the jungle
But Clark Kent now there was a real gent
He would not be caught sittin' around in no junglescape,
Dumb as an ape doing nothing
Superman never made any money
For saving the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man like him
The kids are having none of it. They can't be bought, they can't be taught your hate.
The Kids Are Having None Of It - Frazey Ford
Get out of the way
You've had your day
And it's no longer how we gon' play
The kids are having none of it
The kids are having none of it
They can't be bought, they can't be taught your hate
Always a mistake
To underestimate
Watch them now, they're stepping to the plate
The kids are having none of it
The kids are having none of it
They can't be bought, they can't be taught your hate
Think positively and change your thoughts or mindset to a new way of thinking about something in order to improve your wellbeing and get things done.
8 Ways to radically increase your productivity - The Globe And Mail
You are what you think. You cannot think negatively and have unlimited success. If you think negatively about business and finances [or leisure and relationships, or whatever else you want to change or improve in your life], your subjective experience will be a lack of both, whether or not that is true in reality. Discipline your mind towards the goals of what you want your productivity to look like and start putting the effort in right now to get there. Keep in mind that suffering over your own suffering doesn't work. Know the negative thought patterns you hold which require change and be deliberate in changing them.
I'm always left of center and that's right where I belong. I'm the random minor note you hear in major songs.
I Like That - Janelle Monae
Sometimes a mystery, sometimes I'm free
Depending on my mood or my attitude
Sometimes I wanna roll or stay at home
Walking contradiction, guess I’m factual and fiction
A little crazy, little sexy, little cool
Little rough around the edges but I keep it smooth
I'm always left of center and that's right where I belong
I'm the random minor note you hear in major songs
And I like that
I don't really give a fuck if I was just the only one
Who likes that
I never like to follow, follow all around and chase the sun
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.
Keep a dated list of tasks and projects you have completed, because looking back on your achievements provides a sense of accomplishment and motivation.
Clever uses for plain text files that can increase your productivity - Lifehacker
There's something to be said for seeing how much you've gotten done at the end of the day. You know how satisfying it is to cross out items on your to do list, and then look back at the list to see everything you completed? A "done" list, or "anti-to-do list" as Marc Andreessen calls it, works in a similar fashion: you simply take note of each thing you get done during the day. Start out with the date and just list your "done" items underneath. Not only will this help you review your productivity at the end of each day and make you feel better about what you got done, but it can be really useful to keep around as a work log. You might want to look back in weeks or months to come to see what you were working on or how long a project took to complete.
Are you looking for peace of mind? You won't find it in your status line.
Contact High - Allen Stone
Are you looking for peace of mind?
You won't find it in your status line
What are you trying to prove?
Whose mountain are you trying to move?
I fell for it, too, yeah
Whatever keeps you occupied
Whatever gives you contact high
Whatever keeps you busy, baby
Will never make you satisfied
Are you looking for security
Validation or identity?
You won't find it in things
The more you got, oh, the less you see, yeah
I've been all over the world, yeah
I've dug for diamonds and I've dove for pearls
And the real treasure that we all seek
Is hiding in plain sight of me, oh
You can positively influence other people's lives by telling them you believe in them, you think they are a good person, they possess good qualities, and you expect they will perform well because they have the ability to do so.
Pygmalion effect - Wikipedia
The Pygmalion effect is a psychological phenomenon in which high expectations lead to improved performance in a given area and low expectations lead to worse. It is named after the Greek myth of Pygmalion, the sculptor who fell so much in love with the perfectly beautiful statue he created that the statue came to life. According to the Pygmalion effect, the targets of the expectations internalize their positive labels, and those with positive labels succeed accordingly; a similar process works in the opposite direction in the case of low expectations. The idea behind the Pygmalion effect is that increasing the leader's expectation of the follower's performance will result in better follower performance. Within sociology, the effect is often cited with regard to education and social class.
Get started by doing something for just a minute or two, and then get up to applaud yourself for getting started.
Ways to do what you don’t want to do - Zen Habits
If you have to write something, just write a sentence. Then get up, get some water, stretch. Pat yourself on the back for getting started! Now do a little more: write a few more sentences. Get up, take a mental break (don’t go to another website), do a few pushups. Go back, do a bit more. Pretty soon, you’re in the flow of it.
We used to wait for it, now we're screaming sing the chorus again.
We Used To Wait - Arcade Fire
I used to write
I used to write letters, I used to sign my name
I used to sleep at night
Before the flashing light settled deep in my brain
Now our lives are changing fast
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last
Hope that something pure can last
Now it seems strange
How we used to wait for letters to arrive
But what's stranger still
Is how something so small can keep you alive
We used to wait for it
Now we're screaming sing the chorus again
We used to wait for it
Now we're screaming sing the chorus again
He that is down needs fear no fall. He that is low, no pride.
He That Is Down Needs Fear No Fall - Hymnary
He that is down needs fear no fall;
He that is low, no pride;
He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his guide.
I am content with what I have,
Little be it or much;
And, Lord, contentment still I crave,
Because thou savest such.
Fulness to such a burden is
That go on pilgrimage;
Here little, and hereafter bliss,
Is best from age to age.
Cultivate a positive environment by reading and listening to more positive information and entertainment sources, and choosing to spend time around positive people.
How to stay positive: 11 Smart habits - Positivity Blog
Who you choose to spend your time with and the input you get from further away like the TV, the internet and magazines will have a huge effect on your outlook. To be able to stay positive it is essential to have influences in your life that support you and lift you up instead of dragging you down. So carefully consider what you let into your mind.
People may often do inconsiderate things when they are in groups, and people who strongly affiliate with one group of people may naturally want to harm outsiders who are not in that group.
When good people do bad things - MIT News Office
When people get together in groups, unusual things can happen — both good and bad. Groups create important social institutions that an individual could not achieve alone, but there can be a darker side to such alliances: Belonging to a group makes people more likely to harm others outside the group.
In a study that recently went online in the journal NeuroImage, the researchers measured brain activity in a part of the brain involved in thinking about oneself. They found that in some people, this activity was reduced when the subjects participated in a competition as part of a group, compared with when they competed as individuals. Those people were more likely to harm their competitors than people who did not exhibit this decreased brain activity.
If they ask you to stand, well they just want you to kneel.
Come On Come On - Jet
Now I am a young man I see cracks in the steel
If they ask you to stand, well they just want you to kneel
If you don't know what you want then you just have to take it all
Hey man, you gotta understand
I got the world in my two hands
Hey man, never goin' back, never going back
Come on come on
I don't need anyone
To tell me what to believe
Come on come on
Shout it out everyone
You can't tell me what to believe
Spend some time in solitude to think about and create ideas, make plans or goals, and solve your problems.
Nikola Tesla's Best Productivity Tricks - Lifehacker
Like many inventors and creative types, Nikola Tesla was an advocate for solitude when creating and working. Most famously, he's quoted as saying "The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude. No big laboratory is needed in which to think. Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born." The idea that you need to work in solitude to get things done is by no means new. We've talked before about how it can boost creativity, and how setting aside some alone time is a great way to recharge to boost productivity. In the end, it's all about productive introspection and using your alone time well.
Ask open-ended questions by remembering the acronym WHI and starting with why, what, how, and in what way, in order to become a better listener who encourages longer and more revealing answers from people.
- WHI? - Why? - What? How? In what way? - Yes/Open
- WHO? - Who? - When? Where? Would you? - No/Closed
- Asking open-ended questions allows others to share their thoughts
- Asking open-ended questions allows you to become a better listener
- Why, what, how, and "in what way" encourage long open answers
- Who, when, where, and "would you" encourage short fixed answers
March 25, 2025
"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."
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.
I think formulating an ideology and creating ways of living based solely on practical habits or action instead of theoretical beliefs or dogma may be beneficial and essential to further maintain and improve our overall wellbeing and happiness.
On Beliefs And Dogmas
TLDR - Beliefs, theories, dogmas, and myths can often be harmful as they can be used to promote rituals based upon mere suspicion, and therefore they may not be practically helpful
- I think we should reserve belief only as a tool to believe in ourselves to do something
- Beliefs, theories, and dogmas may be harmful and unhelpful in making life better for all
- It may be worth striving to focus only on knowing things instead of believing in things
- Decoupling beliefs from practices within church and communities may be important
On Practices And Habits
TLDR - Practices, habits, actions, and plans may shape our positive wellbeing and happiness if we proactively create good practices, or our negative suffering and misery if we do not
- As for ideology, I might broaden its definition to include not just beliefs, but practices
- Whatever we call it, I think creating habits and practices to make life better can succeed
- It may be worth focusing not on what is right or true, but what is good or better for all
- Focusing on practices, habits, action, and values may be worthwhile and important
April 17, 2025
