3 IDEAS FROM ME
I.
“For those who expect everything, there are many curses.
For those who appreciate everything, there are many blessings.”
II.
“Money is not the only way to improve life. Instead of widening your margin of profit, widen your margin of leisure. Instead of optimizing for money, optimize for time. Instead of seeking efficiency, seek recovery.”
III.
“Many good opportunities are ruined for the dream of slightly better ones.
Would you have a more successful career if you had taken that other job or moved cities? Possibly. But your actual career will definitely suffer if you don’t commit to doing it to the best of your ability.
Would you be 10% happier in a different relationship? Maybe. Maybe not. But you’ll definitely be unhappy in the one you have if you spend all day thinking about what else is out there.
The surefire way to end up worse off is to agonize over unchosen options and fail to make the most of the one you selected. Every minute spent yearning for your unlived lives is a moment you can’t invest in the one you actually have.
Choices matter, but so does your level of commitment.”
2 QUOTES FROM OTHERS
I.
Author Cheryl Strayed on the trap of self-pity:
“You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. I don’t say this as a condemnation—I need regular reminders to stop feeling sorry for myself too. I’m going to address you bluntly, but it’s a directness that rises from my compassion for you, not my judgement of you. Nobody’s going to do your life for you. You have to do it yourself, whether you’re rich or poor, out of money or raking it in, the beneficiary of ridiculous fortune or terrible injustice. And you have to do it no matter what is true. No matter what is hard. No matter what unjust, sad, sucky things have befallen you. Self-pity is a dead-end road. You make the choice to drive down it. It’s up to you to decide to stay parked there or to turn around and drive out.”
Source: Tiny Beautiful Things
II.
Biologist and Nobel Prize winner Sydney Brenner on innovative thinking:
“I strongly believe that the only way to encourage innovation is to give it to the young. The young have a great advantage in that they are ignorant. Because I think ignorance in science is very important. If you’re like me and you know too much you can’t try new things. I always work in fields of which I’m totally ignorant.”
Source: A Conversation with Sydney Brenner
1 QUESTION FOR YOU
When was the last time you felt a sense of wonder and awe? What can that experience teach you about how to spend your time?
Until next week,
James Clear
Author of the #1 worldwide bestseller, Atomic Habits
Creator of the Habit Journal