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3 IDEAS FROM ME

I.

“Modeling a behavior is stronger than telling someone to act differently.

Kids imitate the habits of their parents. Teammates match the competitive energy of one another. Employees learn to manage like their supervisor.

Be the standard and others will raise their standards.”



II.

“The most important conversation is the conversation you have with yourself each day.”



III.

“Your favorite athlete’s first workout was just as bad as yours.

Your favorite chef’s first meal was just as bad as yours.

Your favorite artist’s first work was just as bad as yours.

Keep going.”

2 QUOTES FROM OTHERS

I.

Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, on the value of time:

“You can do so much in ten minutes’ time. Ten minutes, once gone, are gone for good. Divide your life into 10-minute units and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activity.”

Source: Men’s Health (October 2017, page 41)



II.

The author Cheryl Strayed on trusting your gut:

“Don’t do what you know on a gut level to be the wrong thing to do. Don’t stay when you know you should go or go when you know you should stay. Don’t fight when you should hold steady or hold steady when you should fight. Don’t focus on the short-term fun instead of the long-term fall out. Don’t surrender all your joy for an idea you used to have about yourself that isn’t true anymore. Don’t seek joy at all costs.

I know it’s hard to know what to do when you have a conflicting set of emotions and desires, but it’s not as hard as we pretend it is. Saying it’s hard is ultimately a justification to do whatever seems like the easiest thing to do—have the affair, stay at that horrible job, end a friendship over a slight, keep loving someone who treats you terribly. I don’t think there’s a single dumbass thing I’ve done in my adult life that I didn’t know was a dumbass thing to do while I was doing it. Even when I justified it to myself—as I did every damn time—the truest part of me knew I was doing the wrong thing. Always.

As the years pass, I’m learning how to better trust my gut and not do the wrong thing, but every so often I get a harsh reminder that I’ve still got work to do.”

Source: Tiny Beautiful Things

1 QUESTION FOR YOU

What is best in the short-term? What is best in the long-term?

Until next week,

James Clear
Author of the million-copy bestseller, Atomic Habits
Creator of the Habit Journal

p.s. Play it cool.

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