2 Actionable Habits to Grow Wiser
Become a better version of yourself
If you are one of those people who really wants to know who you are, why are you here, what makes you happy, and how does our world work, then you and I are in the same boat. I make a daily effort to become the best version of myself, and maximize my happiness and fulfillment. In the past few years, I have received some of the best advice of my life. Sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly. The concepts below may appear simple on the surface, but they go a long way. Adopting these habits can make you a better, wiser, and more accomplished person.
Listen more, talk less
As the saying goes, “we have two ears and one mouth for a reason.” Our nature as social animals bears an inherent need to have our voice heard. Most of us talk more than listen. Some of us think we have the world figured out from a young age (I may be guilty as charged). Some of us have the urge to avoid awkward silences, sometimes interrupting, filling-in words impulsively when someone else is talking to us. I know I used to do more talking than listening, and only recently I learned how to shut up for longer periods of time.
There are multiple benefits to listening more:
- Learn something new — when you listen more, you increase the chances of someone else talking more, which increases the chances of learning something new.
- Make people happy ☺ — people like to talk about themselves, things they do and know about, things they are interested in. It makes us happy talking about things related to ourselves.
- Strengthen your friendships/connections with people — get to understand people better by learning more about them. This will usually lead to creating a better friend/acquaintance.
Actionable example: this week when you are talking to people at work, school, wherever, try to actively practice listening. Ask questions and make eye contact to show interest. Remind yourself during conversations and catch yourself when you are talking more than you intended to.
Bear in mind some people avoid talking out of shyness/humbleness. If you get them to open up, you are more likely to learn something new and make them happier than you would with someone who is already doing a fair amount of talking.
Consume information like it’s your job
Believe it or not, your chances of becoming the best version of yourself are higher than ever. People have been living, learning and keeping records of their findings and understandings of human nature and our world for thousands of years. While knowledge used to be the domain of power institutions and the privileged, with the democratization of information, and the proliferation of the internet, there is no longer excuse for ignorance and incompetence. A lot of information that wasn’t previously attainable is now available. People are creating and distributing knowledge at a faster rate than ever. Some of it amazing, interesting and beneficial knowledge. Some of it contemporary, some of it timeless.
These guidelines will help you expand your horizons and get a much better perspective on life:
- Seek cool stuff — ask people what newsletters they subscribe to, check what they are reading and watching on social networks (and what they have already read or watched). A lot of great authors post favorite books/blogs lists on their personal websites. Try to find those gems. Browse ‘Top Charts’ in the Podcasts app. Look through interesting documentaries on Netflix.
- Set up daily/weekly/monthly goals and track your progress — make an effort to consume as much knowledge as you can. Keep switching between sources to stay on top of the game while keeping it fun.
- Take baby steps — start small by setting up achievable goals you can conquer quite easily. I recommend starting with short articles, blogs and videos. They are the easiest to complete, require less effort, and can produce high value for little time spent. Leave longer books, podcasts or documentaries for when you are passionate about the subject and have more down time to focus, since they require more attention and dedication.
Actionable Example: podcasts are great sources to discover interesting people discussing cool topics. Once you find an awesome station, listen to it consistently and you will discover interesting people and cool things. Set a goal to listen to one podcast a week and track it on your phone with a dedicated app.
When reading a long book, I used to take the easy way out of it by searching for a short summary, but grew to understand how ideas presented from different angles with multiple examples explain and clarify both little and big concepts. If you really want to maximize the benefits of reading a long form book, set up time in your schedule, avoid interruptions, and take notes of the materials you are studying. (If you are really ambitious keep a commonplace book — @ryanholiday wrote a really great post about it).
Useful resources:
- Goodreads — good place to see what your friends are reading (or have already read), track your progress and take pride in your readings.
- TED — awesome platform of powerful talks (3-20 minutes long) from science to business to global issues.
- Daily Tracker — really cool app I’ve been using over the past 3 months to track goals.
- How And Why To Keep A “Commonplace Book”
- 20 Great Documentaries to Watch on Netflix Instant
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