Ever heard of the 5 a.m. club by Robin Sharma? Or seen viral videos of people waking up at 4 a.m. and sharing their routine? I have, and I got a little obsessed with trying it out. But through a lot of trial and error with my morning routine, I learned some important lessons: Evening…
This phrase changed the way I think about habits. It comes from James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits (I recommend his book!). He said this in a talk he gave (click here to watch). The principle is this: For any habit, every rep you do is a vote for the person you want to…
Retention of lessons from a motivational talk, a YouTube video, or a book is hard to do. Why? Because YouTube encourages watching one video after another with its autoplay feature. It also had a sidebar with endless enticing videos. That doesn’t promote a good attention span or focus. And books we read are usually shelved…
“What makes you happy or unhappy is not the world and the people around you, but the thinking in your head. As well search for an eagle’s nest on the bed of an ocean, as search for happiness in the world outside of you.” – Anthony De Mello (The Way to Love, Page 6) Imagine…
In my quest to develop habits, I realized this very important lesson. If I read a good book every day, time is my friend because my knowledge builds in a positive direction. Time passing becomes a good thing. If I decide not to exercise consistently, time works against me, and my progress from the gym…
Be wary of weaponized services. The things that are out to grab you by the leg and pull you under the water for a very long time—the algorithms (a.k.a. computer code that learns what you like or presents you with highly enticing clickbait). YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, and more. Be careful of these things because…
In the wee hours of the early morning darkness, I sat in my chair to focus on my breath. I felt pretty good when the timer went off after 15 minutes. But when I stood up, I glanced to my left and noticed something out of the ordinary. There was a giant praying mantis on…
This is a continuation of the first part of my review for the book Stolen Focus. 5. The Standard 40-hour Work Week Doesn’t Promote Focus In Stolen Focus, Johann provides an excellent example of a New Zealand company, Perpetual Guardian. This company trialed a four-day work week while upholding the same five-day paycheck. The employees…
Stolen Focus is a book about reclaiming our ability to pay attention. After all, isn’t life the sum of what we give our attention to? While it seems to be a small statement, I believe it’s profound. The author Johann Hari breaks down our ability to focus into many causes, some of which I highlight…
In my experience, weekends with too much screen time are not satisfying. If I lock away my phone and internet, I feel like I’m resting my brain. Watching YouTube doesn’t rest my brain. I’ve spent 10 hours watching YouTube on a Saturday before and felt awful afterward. I think I totally fried my brain. On the…