Tag: Steven Ray Marks

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Sleep, Focus, And Time – Five Boosts 8/30/20

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Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 8/30/20

The Power of Bright-Line Rules

(Rakaelle Price | Medium | 1,050 words)

A bright-line rule is a commitment you make with no wiggle-room.

While gradual improvement might seem easier, in many cases giving yourself a strict rule actually helps you out.

For example, you may decide to spend less time on social media. But that’s vague. How much is “less time?” It creates a lot of decisions, with the potential for rationalization and guilt.

But if you set a rule saying “No social media after 6:00,” you know the right thing to do.

I found this in Nir Eyal’s Nir and Far newsletter.

15 Incredibly Easy Ways to Improve Your Sleep

(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 1,650 words)
  1. Don’t cut back on sleep to get more done
  2. Wear orange glasses before bed
  3. Get blackout curtains
  4. Wear an eye mask
  5. Spend between $800 and $1,500 on a mattress
  6. Buy the right pillow
  7. Take your own pillow on trips
  8. Don’t take long naps
  9. Take short naps
  10. Don’t use a snooze alarm – ever
  11. Sleep in the right position
  12. Avoid caffeine in the afternoon/evening
  13. Make your bed when you first get up
  14. Don’t weekend-jetlag yourself
  15. Learn your individual chronotype

8 Really Bad Habits (We All Do) That Drain Our Focus)

(Nicolas Cole | The Ladders | 1,450 words)

You’ll be a lot more focused and productive if you stop doing these things:

  1. Constantly checking your phone
  2. Not really listening
  3. Multitasking
  4. Working with the TV on
  5. Working in unproductive environments
  6. Working with unproductive people
  7. Lack of preparation
  8. Using notifications

Why Time Management Won’t Solve Your Time Problem (And Nine Things That Will)

(Becky Kane | Ambition & Balance by Doist | 2,200 words)

Ways to feel less busy:

  1. Identify the values you’re sacrificing to busyness
  2. Accept that you can’t do everything
  3. Do one thing at a time
  4. Invest in aimless acts of creativity
  5. Read a book
  6. Spend time with friends
  7. Give your time away
  8. Spend 15 minutes outdoors
  9. Make space for stillness and solitude

How to Deal With Disappointment: 12 Helpful Steps

(Henrik Edberg | Positivity Blog | 1,950 words | Subscribe)

Sometimes disappointments happen in life. To move forward afterward:

  1. Accept how you feel
  2. Remember you’re not a disappointment
  3. Learn from it
  4. Remember disappointment happens when you leave your comfort zone
  5. Refocus on what you’ve got
  6. Talk it over with someone close
  7. Adjust your expectations
  8. Take a break
  9. Get outside your own head
  10. Find energy and motivation with help from others
  11. Find a small step to start moving forward
  12. Improve your self-esteem

Bonus Boost

Everything You’ve Heard About Dieting is Wrong

(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 1,050 words)

Diets don’t work because they’re too hard, and you can’t maintain them for life. At best, you’ll temporarily lose weight, but gain it back as soon as you stop the diet.

The right way to lose weight is to use the right strategies to build habits that are easy enough to keep for life.

The most important habit is to think before you eat, make, or buy food, make a rational decision about what and how much to eat, and then celebrate and take pride in your good decisions.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

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Toxic People And A Second Brain – Five Boosts 8/23/20

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 8/23/20

Build Your Second Brain

(Dean Yeong | deanyeong.com | 225 words | Subscribe)

Keep a file on your favorite note-taking app called “Quick Capture,” so you can jot down any thoughts as they come to you, and don’t have to worry about remembering them.

Then schedule time at the end of the day or week to review these so you can act on them, add them to your to-do list, or do whatever’s appropriate.

I like this because it’s so much simpler than most personal information management systems I’ve seen. My general belief is that self-help advice needs to make improvement easier, not harder.

11 Incredibly Easy Things to Stop Doing to Be Happier

(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 2025 words)

Common ways people sabotage their own happiness that would be easy to stop, including:

  • Arguing on the internet
  • Doomscrolling and catastrophism
  • Expecting people to be mind-readers
  • Wishing things were better and dreaming up solutions to problems they have no control over
  • Spending time around toxic people
  • Taking it personally when someone’s a jerk

How to Deal With Difficult People

(John Hernandez | Addicted2Success | 900 words)

Sometimes there are difficult people in life that you can’t avoid. The best way to handle these are:

  1. Listen, then wait.
  2. Reinforce your relationship.
  3. Understand the person.
  4. Make progress.

As someone who’s generally able to get along with difficult people, I’d add that you shouldn’t argue with them. If they say something awful or stupid, just inwardly roll your eyes and move on. Challenging them will only make it worse.

Note: I recommend reading the last two articles in order. They connect well together, with both discussing ways to handle toxic people.

10 Unusual Problem Solving Methods

(Nelville Medhora | KopywritingKourse.com | Infographic | Subscribe)

If you’re stuck on a problem, here are some offbeat ways to reframe it that might help you find a solution. Suggestions include:

  • Write out many solutions, then rank them by effectiveness and difficulty
  • Thank the problem
  • Think of a hilarious solution

Quiet Your Inner Critic – 5 Powerful Strategies

(Shane Walker | The Self Improvement Blog | 1000 words)

Ways to fight the negative voices in your head that prevent growth.

  1. Use counter-affirmations
  2. Write down your critical thoughts
  3. Challenge your inner critic
  4. Quiet your inner critic by disassociation
  5. Know your value

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

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Comfort, Happiness, And Energy – Five Boosts 8/16/20

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Photo by Lidya Nada on Unsplash

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 8/16/20

The Four States of Distress: How to Comfort Someone When Something Bad Happens to Them

(Kat Woods and Spencer Greenberg | Clearer Thinking | 1200 words )

When a friend or loved one suffers a trauma, it’s difficult to know how to comfort them.

The most helpful response will depend on both the individual person and what phase of distress they’re in. The four phases are:

  1. Shocked or confused
  2. Feeling bad and not ready to feel better
  3. Feeling bad but wants to feel better
  4. Feeling better and wants solutions

The article suggests the best ways to comfort people for each of these phases.

I found this article in the Recomendo newsletter.

10 Incredibly Easy Ways to Be Happier

(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 1600 words)

Ways to be happier that take no effort or willpower, and minimal to no time commitment. They are:

  1. Be kind and respectful to people, whether or not they “deserve it.”
  2. Make out with your romantic partner daily.
  3. Smile more.
  4. Curate your social media.
  5. When feeling overwhelmed by an intractable problem, improve the world in some tangible way. (Even if it’s unrelated.)
  6. Keep a gratitude journal.
  7. Make reminders to be more positive and less negative.
  8. Keep a “Done” list.
  9. Spend money on experiences, not on objects.
  10. Use visual pattern-matching games to fight anxiety or anger.

An Easy Way to Read More Non-Fiction Books

(Mark Manson | Mindf*ck Monday | 1550 words | Subscribe)

Manson suggests a strategy that seems obvious, but I’ve never seen before or thought of myself:

When when you come across a section in a non-fiction book that says something you already know or is uninteresting to you, skip past it.

If you pick up later in the book and discover things are confusing because you missed something, you can always go back. But most of the time, you’ll still be able to follow it.

You can also look at the table of contents, and only read the chapters that are interesting/new to you. There’s no “book police” forcing you to read the entire book in order.

You can get through books in half the time, which means you can read twice as many books.

I Tried 7 Popular Strategies to Boost My Energy: Here’s What Works

(Rachael Kable | Medium/BetterHumans | 2000 words)

The author tested energy-boosting strategies on herself. She found that the ones that worked for her were:

  • Early morning sunshine
  • Mindful breaks
  • Vigorous workout
  • A fun activity and laughing out loud

And what didn’t work was:

  • Cold shower
  • A brisk walk with a friend
  • Breath of fire (short powerful exhales)

Though an important caveat, which the author notes, is that every person is different. What works for her may not work for you.

You should experiment with strategies yourself, rather than copying her specific results.

I found this article in Greg Roth’s The Idea Enthusiast

11 Habits to Be Less Absent Minded and Start to Be More Attentive

(Dr. Carol Morgan | Relationship Development & Transformation | 1100 words)

Some easy, pragmatic, actionable ways to overcome your absent-mindedness.

Even if you aren’t absent-minded, this is some good general advice for being more productive and effective. Examples include:

  • Put everything back in the same place
  • Set timers
  • Delegate responsibilities
  • Have an accountability buddy
  • Stop talking and start doing

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

Enjoy Five Boosts By Self Helping Yourself? Be sure to Subscribe and check out the Self Helping Yourself site.

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Hedonism, Civility, And Useless Days: Five Boosts 8/9/20

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Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 8/9/20

15 Things to Do When You Have No Idea What to Do

(Barrie Davenport | Live Bold and Bloom | 1900 words | Subscribe )

What to do when you just can’t seem to kick your brain into gear. Suggestions include:

  • Do mindless tasks
  • Try meditation
  • Help someone else
  • Take the logical first step
  • Do nothing and take the day off

Related: Disembarking From the Failboat

In Defense of Hedonism

(Kyle Shnitzer | The Ladders | 350 words)

Hedonism gets a bad rap.

But a big part of happiness is the ability to take time to just enjoy yourself, without being distracted by worries over long-term goals.

Obviously focusing on long-term goals and enjoying yourself are also important. But you should have a balance.

10 Incredibly Easy Ways to Improve Your Health

(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 2050 words)

Ten ways to lose weight and be healthier that take no effort or willpower, and minimal to no time. Including:

  • Switch to diet soda.
  • Use smaller plates.
  • Look up how many calories are in your favorite dishes at restaurants.
  • Buy your own exercise equipment instead of going to the gym.
  • Use chopsticks when eating chips.

Turning Violent Disagreements Into Civil Discourse

(Michael Hyatt | Michael Hyatt & Co. | 575 words)

We live in polarized times, where screaming and hate have replaced civil discourse.

Here are some excellent suggestions on how to better communicate with people that disagree with you:

  • Begin where you agree.
  • Keep an open mind.
  • Get your facts straight.
  • Be willing to state your view but with humility.

I especially like that this article gives no indications of the author’s own political views. That’s how it should be, since this advice applies to people of all beliefs.

If you like this piece, I suggest you check out the organization Braver Angels, which is dedicated to political tolerance and depolarization.

Related: How to Win Allies

7 Small Habits That Will Steal Your Happiness

(Henrik Edberg | Positivity Blog | 1625 words | Subscribe)

To be happier, stop doing these things:

  1. Immersing yourself in negative voices.
  2. Waiting for just the right time.
  3. Letting criticism get under your skin.
  4. Focusing on envy, powerlessness, and the wrong people.
  5. Not allowing yourself peace and rest.
  6. Never trying anything new.
  7. Taking things too seriously.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

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Fear, Investing, And Impostors – Five Boosts 8/2/20

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Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 8/2/20

The Incredibly Simple, One Sentence Guide to Investing

(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 1700 words)

The one sentence is:

“Once you’ve paid off all your credit card debt, invest as much as you can in your 401k, and park your money in an index fund without paying any attention to the market.”

That’s all you need to know about investing.

Anything more complicated will give you worse results.

The article gives more detail on why this is the case, what an index fund is, and how to pick which index fund, so it’s definitely worth reading. (If I do say so myself. 😉)

21 Ways to Overcome Impostor Syndrome

(Kyle Eschenroeder | Startup Bros. | 3100 Words)

Impostor Syndrome is the feeling that you’re not qualified to be doing your job, and that everyone will realize you’re a fraud. It’s shockingly common, even among elites and experts.

It’s hard to summarize this lengthy article, because each of the 21 diverse suggestions will resonate with different people.

But if this is something you ever suffer from, or you ever haven’t pursued something you wanted because you thought you weren’t qualified, I highly recommend reading this.

I found this article in For the Interested, which gives advice mainly directed toward online creators, but is useful for everyone.

Optimism 2020: A Manifesto

(Trevor McKendrick | How It Actually Works | 450 Words | Subscribe)

Fifteen suggestions on being more optimistic, including:

  • Focus on things you can influence.
  • Do something today instead of daydreaming about tomorrow.
  • Move fast. Most decisions can be reversed later.
  • Recognize the pie is not fixed and life is not zero sum.
  • Believe we can solve any problem.

6 Strategies to Overcome Fear

(Henrik Edberg | Positivity Blog | 1400 Words | Subscribe)

  1. Ask what’s the worst that can happen.
  2. Write out the fear.
  3. Change your perspective.
  4. Question your fears and what they’re based on.
  5. Breathe and take a moment to accept the fear.
  6. Take small steps forward.

How to Change Your Personality For the Better

(Olga Khazan | Next Big Idea Club | 600 Words | Subscribe)

Most people assume that their personality is fixed.

But you actually can change your personality if you want.

All you have to do is act the way you want your personality to be, and eventually your personality will change to follow your actions.

I found this in Nir Eyal’s Nir and Far newsletter.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

Enjoy Five Boosts By Self Helping Yourself? Be sure to Subscribe and check out the Self Helping Yourself site.

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Giraffe Punching, Apologies, and Goals – Five Boosts 7/26/20

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Giraffe Punching

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 7/26/20

Stop Giraffe Punching to Be More Tolerant, Less Stressed, Have a Better Outlook, and Be Happier Overall

(Self Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks)

Giraffe Punching is repeatedly lecturing an audience that already agrees with you, or telling them to stop doing something none of them are doing, in a condescending and insulting way.

The term comes from it being pointless to yell at people to stop punching giraffes.

This is something that everyone does, when they get frustrated by bad behavior in the world and then take it out on the wrong people.

But making a conscious effort to stop will make you happier, improve your relationships, and improve your perspective on the world.

How to Talk to People Who Disagree With You and Still Be Kind

(Tanya Basu | MIT Technology Review)

I changed the headline of this article.

It’s actually about talking to conspiracy theorists, but it’s excellent advice for talking to anyone who disagrees with you.

Speak respectfully, privately, and test the waters first.

Find an element you agree on.

Use a “truth sandwich” or Socratic method.

Be careful with loved ones, remember that some people don’t want to change, and if it gets bad, stop.

And remember that even if you don’t change someone’s mind, every pleasant interaction you have makes people more open to your view. (Though unpleasant interactions make them even more skeptical of your view.)

See also: How to Win Allies and How to Stop Making Enemies.

How Good Apologies Enhance Our Well-Being

(Molly Howes, Ph.D. | Mind Body Green)

Being more willing to genuinely apologize after wronging someone will lead to better relationships and increased self-respect.

It also provides a good example for children, helping them develop a sense of empathy.

A good apology involves understanding the other person’s injury, articulating sincere regret, making reparations, and making a plan so it doesn’t happen again.

25 Ways to Dramatically Increase Your Chances of Reaching Your Goals

(Ayodeji Awosika | Medium)

Some suggestions include:

Write your goals down. Get quick wins. Don’t brag about things you haven’t yet done. Focus on one thing at a time. And align goals with positivity.

I agree with most of the 25 items on this list, but not all of them. I suspect Awosika would be totally fine with that, since one of the items is “Don’t be a self-help robot.”

So pick and choose the suggestions that you think will work well for you.

5 Habits to Take Action Every Day

Henrik Edberg | Positivity Blog | Subscribe)

Change requires consistent daily action. But it can be hard to maintain motivation to keep that action going.

To fight this:

1. Focus on the process rather than results.

2. Remember why you are taking action.

3. Remember quitting or laziness will make you feel bad about yourself.

4. Take smaller steps on days when big ones seem too daunting.

5. Celebrate what you did each day.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

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Memory, Perfectionism, and Gratitude – Five Boosts 7/19/20

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Splotchy Brain

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 7/19/20

Accepting Your Memory is Unreliable Will Make You Happier
(Self Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks)
Humans have unreliable memories. Since you’re a human, that means you shouldn’t have confidence in your own memories. But realizing this can make you much happier, by increasing your willingness to compromise, forgive, and grow as a person.

Take Back Five Minutes of Your Day With the 5-Minute Challenge
(joshspector.com | Josh Spector | Subscribe)
Pick one thing to do for five minutes a day. Set a timer, and don’t allow any distractions, and don’t stop early. You’ll be amazed how much you get done in those five minutes, and how many ideas you come up with for whatever it is you’re doing.

I’m a huge fan of Josh Spector, and I highly recommend his For The Interested newsletter.

How to Overcome Perfectionism: 6 Powerful Habits
(Positivity Blog | Henrik Edberg | Subscribe)
Perfectionism holds you back, by preventing you from ever completing things. To stop it:
1. Go for “good enough.”
2. Realize you hurt yourself and those around you by buying into myths of perfection.
3. Accept you’re human, like everyone else.
4. Compare yourself to yourself.
5. Do what you think is the right thing.
6. Shape an environment of human standards.

Related: Perfectionism Paralysis Can Be Beaten By Half-Assing It

The Surprising Benefits of Unconditional Positive Regard
(Nir and Far | Nir Eyal | Subscribe)
Unconditional Positive Regard is when you offer someone support, empathy, and compassion, and refrain from judgment, even when they’ve done something wrong. It still acknowledges any sort of bad behavior, but makes clear that we care about the person even if we don’t approve of the behavior. You might say something like “You must feel awful,” or “We all make mistakes.”

Adopting this attitude toward those you’re trying to train, those you care about, and yourself will result in more happiness and better performance.

67 Mood Enhancing Gratitude Affirmations
(Live Bold Bloom | Barrie Davenport | Subscribe)
Practicing gratitude, especially through a gratitude journal, is one of the easiest ways to increase your happiness. But many people who are unhappy or depressed struggle finding things to be grateful for. Here are 67 suggestions to help you.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Being kind and polite to people, whether or not they “deserve it,” will only make you happier and your life better.

It will make the world a little bit better as well.

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

Enjoy Five Boosts By Self Helping Yourself? Be sure to Subscribe and check out the Self Helping Yourself site.

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Be Happier and More Productive – Five Boosts 7/12/20

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Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 7/12/20

Sometimes Good Advice Isn’t Good For You
(Self Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks)
There’s a lot of great advice you can find in the world. But every individual is different. Sometimes strategies that work for most people just aren’t right for you. You should still be open to trying advice, but you need to use self-observation to understand how it’s working for you in particular.

Volunteering Can Improve Your Mental Health
(Elizabeth Hopper | Greater Good Magazine)
Volunteering is a great way to make yourself happier. It gives you a warm glow directly. And it also has indirect effects to make your life better. It can give you a sense of community. And it can help build your professional and leadership skills. And many charities are offering ways to volunteer online during the COVID crisis.

Avoid “Bikeshedding” to Increase Your Productivity
(Melina Parker | Inc.)
“Bikeshedding” is when you spend way too long worrying about a minor detail, which keeps you from moving forward on your larger project. It’s something we all do, and keeps us from being as productive as we could be. To avoid it, ask yourself: 1. Will this decision matter five months from now? 2. What is the consequence if I choose “wrong.” 3. Is this problem helping me reach my big goal or distracting from it?

Get Your Career (And Life) Back on Track After a Disruption
(May Busch | maybusch.com)
When your life is disrupted – which let’s face it, describes most of us right now – it can be hard to get back on track. A good way to start is: 1. Take stock. 2. Go for small wins. 3. Focus where it matters.

Related: Disembarking from the Failboat

Five Ways Your Pessimism is Destroying Your Happiness, Career, and Relationships
(Holly Riordan | Thought Catalog | Scroll to end of article to subscribe)
1. You assume you won’t succeed so you don’t try. 2. You focus on negatives in others. 3. You stress out over things that haven’t happened. 4. You come across as a downer. 5. You psych yourself out and dread events that should be exciting. A personal note on this: While I’m generally optimistic, I often struggle with #3. I’ve developed a mantra, “Don’t get upset about imaginary things.”

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

There will always be people better off than you, and there will always be people who have it worse than you.

Comparisons to others shouldn’t stop you from taking the steps you need to live your best life.

And you certainly shouldn’t let comparisons shame you for your feelings.

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

Enjoy Five Boosts By Self Helping Yourself? Be sure to Subscribe and check out the Self Helping Yourself site.

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Joy, Anger, Risk, and Change – Five Boosts 7/5/20

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Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 7/5/20

Try Jovial July to Improve Your Mood
(Self Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks)
A month-long social-media-negativity cleanse can do wonders for your happiness. For the month of July, refrain from posting any complaints, criticisms, insults, or negativity on social media, and see how it makes you feel.

Eight Things to Consider When Evaluating Risks
(Self Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks)
When contemplating a major risk in life, such as starting a side hustle or leaving your job, you should think about: 1. How do you define success? 2. What’s the payoff for success? 3. What’s your path to success? 4. What are the average chances of success? 5. Is there anything that makes you special compared to the average person? 6. What are the consequences of failure? 7. What are the consequences of not taking the risk. 8. What do the people who care about you think?

Change Isn’t As Hard As You Think
(Further | Brian Clark | Subscribe)
We think of change as hard, because we think of our future self as a different person. To make change easier, shift your mindset to focus on the purpose behind the change. You’re much more likely to maintain motivation on purpose-driven actions. You can also think of yourself as a story, and as change being the means of creating the story you want.

9 Powerful Tips to Turn a Bad Day Around
(Positivity Blog | Henrik Edberg | Subscribe)
1. Breathe. 2. Do a power pose. 3. Work out. 4. Hug. 5. Pet an animal. 6. Find a new viewpoint. 7. Go out into nature. 8. Accept what it is. 9. Remember that sometimes a bad day will just be a bad day.

Joy and Anger: How to Hold on to Joy Amid Strong Emotions
(Aesthetics of Joy | Ingred Fetell Lee | Subscribe)
Anger can be a big barrier to happiness, especially when it’s anger over an intractable problem. If you don’t constructively deal with your anger, it can lead to a feeling of Learned Helplessness, where you see the world as hopeless and despair that all action is futile. Lee suggests you: 1. Separate feelings from identity. 2. Make a list of actions you can take. 3. Channel each fresh wave. 4. Resist the temptation to wallow in guilt. 5. If you truly can’t change it, release it.

Related: Feeling Overwhelmed? Try Tangibly Improving the World

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Your thoughts don’t directly change reality.

But they control your feelings, actions, and how you view the world.

See the world through a lens of optimism and positivity, and it will make you happier.

Act to improve things, and reality will be better.

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

Enjoy Five Boosts By Self Helping Yourself? Be sure to Subscribe and check out the Self Helping Yourself site.

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Help People, Be Productive, and Avoid Outrage – Five Boosts 6/28/20

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Feeling Overwhelmed Tangibly Improve the World

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 6/28/20

Feeling Overwhelmed? Try Tangibly Improving The World
(Self Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks)
There’s a lot about the world that can feel overwhelming, and a lot of problems that we as individuals can’t effectively solve. Instead of being frustrated and depressed about this, the best way to respond is to improve a specific individual’s life in a tangible way you can see. This will make you feel better, and will make the world better as well.

My Most Productive Days are a Result of These Five Choices
(For the Interested | Josh Spector | Subscribe)
1. Do the most important thing first. 2. Say no to one unimportant thing every day. 3. Keep a running list of questions you’re curious about, so you know what to ask when you meet experts. 4. Make a specific schedule of how much time to work each day. 5. End your day with something on your to-do list that you’ve been avoiding.

For The Interested is probably my favorite weekly newsletter, especially if you’re any sort of creator, and I highly recommend subscribing.

Taking a Daily Walk Will Make You Much Happier
(Ladders | Kyle Schnitzer)
Diversity of experiences is a big factor in our happiness. With the recent COVID resurgence, it seems like we’ll be stuck at home for a while longer. An easy way to shake things up and get off the couch is to simply take a daily walk around your neighborhood. Try to take a different path and observe new things each time you do. It will make you a lot happier than staring at the walls of your house.

The Danger of Outrage Narratives
(How It Actually Works | Trevor McKendrick | Subscribe)
Whenever you see something outrage-inducing on the internet, you’re almost certainly not getting the full story. You’re seeing a highly skewed narrative from one side. There’s missing context. You aren’t in the heads of the people involved, and you don’t know their thought process. Nobody wakes up in the morning saying, “Muhaha, I’m going to be evil today!” If you were to take the time to fully research the situation, you’d find that everyone involved was acting a lot more reasonably than it seemed at first glance. But of course, you don’t have the time and energy to spend hours researching every angry tweet you ever see. So you’re better off simply ignoring them.

I’m always a fan of ways to reduce your hate and anger, and ways to be happier by not doing something instead of doing something, so I love this advice.

Hate Exercise? Try This Zero Minute Workout Instead
(Considerable | Stephanie Thurrott)
Exercise is important for health. But if you’re older and haven’t built the habit of taking time out of your day to exercise by now, you probably aren’t going to. An alternative is to incorporate exercise into activities you’re already doing, so it doesn’t cost you any time. Do things like carrying groceries, playing with your kids/grandkids/pets, walking up stairs, or cleaning in a way that is physically active and raises your heart rate.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Impostor syndrome can sap our mental health. If your bosses/clients are praising your work, that’s all the proof you need that you *are* good at it, and you deserve your success. Remind yourself of this, and tell your inner critic and doubts to take a hike.

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