right, you’ve probably read a zillion articles about happiness online and you’re not a zillion times happier. What gives? Reading ain't the same as doing. You wouldn't expect to read some martial arts books and then go kick ass like Bruce Lee, would you? All behavior, all changes, must be trained. The ancient Stoics knew this. They didn't write stuff just to be read. They created rituals -- exercises -- to be performed to train your mind to respond properly…
, not lust. Calm down. This is not that kind of website. I'm talking about pride. When you think about the deadly sins, pride's actually kinda confusing. Few ethical people are running around advocating greed. Wrath isn’t going to make you a lot of friends. And, as the saying goes, envy is the one deadly sin that's no fun at all. But we all think it's okay to be proud of your family, proud of your country, proud of your…
the first day of his class on ancient Chinese philosophy, professor Michael Puett makes a promise to all the students: If you take the ideas in these texts seriously, they will change your life. Big words. But he may not be crazy -- his class is currently the third most popular one at Harvard. Luckily, you don't have to brave a winter in Cambridge to hear what he has to say... Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh are the authors of The Path:…
it. Resilience. Mental toughness. We hear a lot about them these days. But maybe we shouldn't. Why? Because there have been good solutions to the underlying problem for about, oh, 2000 years. The ancient Stoic philosophers really knew what they were doing when it came to building mental toughness. In fact... What's the most effective psychological tool we have today? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. What's it based on? Stoicism. From Stoicism and the Art of Happiness - Ancient Tips For Modern Challenges: Stoicism provides…
at habits, tactics and routines do the most successful people use to achieve their earth-shaking accomplishments? One guy wanted to know. So he talked to over 200 world-class achievers to learn from them. Now I happen to enjoy interviewing experts to get insights -- but if somebody wants to do all the heavy lifting for me, well, I'm not gonna say no. So I figured I should give that guy a call... Tim Ferriss is the bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek. His new…
ery now and then, life punches below the belt. How can you be resilient when times get tough and you feel bad? There are all kinds of strategies for feeling happier and showing grit. But most of them are very conscious and deliberate. And the truth is, most of what we do every day isn't all that conscious and deliberate. Ever since Freud, we've known that a lot of our behavior is unconscious. If that's the case, shouldn't you leverage your…
ch of being an adult is about controlling your emotions -- or even dampening them. But in the end, you want all these adult-y things you do to lead to positive emotions, right? "The good life" is all about how you feel. Yet feelings aren't very welcome in the workplace and they're not taught much in schools. So as adults we get plenty of practice in controlling emotions but little info when it comes to boosting them. How do we learn about feeling good and…
ur mind races. Your palms sweat. The words don't come out of your mouth right, if they come at all. We've all been there at one time or another. And some of us get it worse than others, and more frequently. Social anxiety. Nobody wants to look stupid or be embarrassed. But since it's not like your life is on the line, why is social fear so bad? There's an answer... While it's hard to remember what a broken arm feels like, it's…
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