Every time I read How I Earned x Dollars in One Month, I think:
A) Oh, you Lady Macbeth. You’ll never satisfy your greed.
B) Poor soul. You’ll burn out.
I was the second option. I wanted to settle my life so badly that I struggled and persevered until I got depressed. Grind, hustle, productivity, time management, hurry, stick up for yourself… With more money than ever I felt as if my brain was rotting out of stress. It took me years to recover. This period of nice clothes and business trips was the saddest part of my life.
The…
“Throw away the bad experience, but save the lesson.”
When I first read those words by Frank Sonnenberg, I thought they were brilliant. So simple, and who wouldn’t approach life this way? When I eat an orange, I toss the skin before I enjoy the fruit.
Why can’t life be as simple as fruit? Why can’t we toss the losses, but keep the lessons we have learned?
(Hint: We’re not machines, and as organic beings, we have feelings and brains — and both are hard-wired to hang onto those experiences.)
What constitutes “a good life?” What would need to happen for you to believe that your life was worthwhile?
Some of the world’s greatest thinkers have been grappling with this question for years:
Naturally, most of us think that happiness defines a good life. For those that commit to certain versions of Utilitarianism, happiness is the only intrinsic good — and anything else is only worthwhile in so far as it leads to it.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — no one will ever care as much about your career as you will. Not your boss, not your partner, not even your parents. As such, we must own both the circumstances we find ourselves in and the impact that changing those circumstances may have on our careers.
Too often, when we’re unhappy about something that didn’t go according to plan or disappointed with how something turned out, we’re quick to point the finger at others.
My boss never told me I needed to improve at this.
He only got the…
Dear Big Selfer,
The more things change, the more they remain the same. This cliche wrapped in a paradox has never felt more true than the past year for me. It’s amazing how much whizzes past in our 24-hour news feeds, and yet for the millions of us still isolated in our socially-distanced safety nets, every day has an incredible sameness.
Many of us are struggling with the malaise of burnout. We’ve fallen into ruts and routines that are surprisingly hard to climb out of. How many levels of resistance can we experience one solid year into this pandemic?
Plenty.
Trevor Noah has a major point about what we project so much paralyzing fear and attention on: rejection. Failure and rejection give us feedback. They can’t say yes if you don’t ask. They can’t say yes if you’re afraid of a few no’s. Maybe a lot of no’s. Each time you get a no, you can reassess your approach, your delivery, your content, and/or try again, start over. What you really should fear is the regret you’re going to have when you chose not to try things, not to put yourself out there.
If you’re in a rut, there are often just two ways out: The carrot or the stick. You don’t want the stick. I’ve had it, and it’s horrible. But there’s a less painful way out, if only we’ll take it. The carrot.
This article is about being in a lifestyle rut, not in a period of depression. If you think you may have depression, please consult a professional for help.
I’m going to introduce you to an old housemate of mine called Ryan. He was in the very epitome of a rut.
Ryan’s diet is the perfect demonstration of his…
Your colleagues simply don’t get it. No matter how accurate your explanations, their responses remain the same: confused smiles and hesitant nods. Then, the meeting ends, and once again, no progress has been made.
I’ve seen it happen over and over again in my previous life as a Project Management Consultant. Experts like you would show up excited only to leave disappointed and misunderstood. The good news is: you can change that overnight.
What follows is why your communication isn’t optimal and a real-life example that illustrates a solution.
It’s a cognitive bias. What’s that? Something (bad) your mind automatically…
I know how it feels. Doubtful, disapproving comments coming from “well-meaning” family members or friends can feel like a punch in the gut.
You’re already doubting yourself, beating yourself up, and feeling anxious about your plans being too outlandish. You fear that you’re not good enough. The last thing you need is more negativity.
Deep down, you know that your loved ones only have your best interest at heart. You understand that their behavior is nothing more than an expression of their own fear of the unknown. …
No matter how old or how young we are there is at least one time in our lives we had the epiphany that our time is limited. This realization may have resulted after a loss of a loved person which we experienced or may have come as a sequence of an open-minding anniversary that we celebrated.
Another realization came to the surface when I was reflecting that the earth was formed around 4.54 billion years ago, whereas a human’s life in the best case scenario reaches 90 years. It’s evident we are so insignificant. …
Good mental health unlocks your purpose.