“The ultimate definition of success is you could lose everything you have and be truly okay with it, because your happiness isn’t based on external factors.”
– Tony Hsieh
Category: blog
The day passes
When I don’t do the things I say I want to do, the day passes.
When I do the things I say I want to do, the day passes.
Either way the day passes.
So I might as well do the things I say I want to do.
explosions in the sky
Discovered Explosions in the Sky from watching Friday Night Lights, maybe one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen… and my heart is exploding.
Keep creating.
BS detector
“I have my students learn, whenever they read anything, listen to a TED talk, a debate, a conversation – they should ask a number of specific questions. For example, is the speaker being specific? People who know what they’re talking about usually are very specific. They can say who, what, where, when. How many, how often. Now people who are BS artists – they will not be specific because specificity entails responsibility.”
– Roberto Guzman
learning and teaching
This talk really ignited something in me. Deserves repeated viewings – for people interested in learning and teaching, and especially for those who believe in the expansion of the human spirit and mind through learning and teaching.
the elegant joy of black and white photography, part 3
new education
Watching Outlier with intense interest. Might even take one or two of their courses and earn some college credits in the process. Just for fun!
habit stacking
… really works.
Right after lunch every day, I study French.
French-studying is the habit I want to maintain, and lunch is the habit that I’m stacking French-studying on.
I’ll never forget to study French, since I’ll never forget to eat lunch.
Read more about habit stacking in James Clear’s words.
ten recent thoughts
1. Passive reading is not learning.
2. Resist the mind’s default of wanting to do easy things. (Easy is often greasy + unhealthy.)
3. Constraints create the conditions for freedom.
4. “Be grateful 1,000 times a day”. – Wahe Takeda
5. Peace of mind… is the true cure. And the holy grail.
6. Circumstances > thoughts > emotions > actions > our life. To change our life, we change our thoughts about our circumstances (since we often can’t change our circumstances).
7. Fill your life with the things that make you happy.
8. Be kind about the things you say about yourself to yourself.
9. To know yourself, keep failing.
10. We’re more than good enough – we are enough. =)
I like today.
It’s wonderful. This table I’m sitting at. This laptop I’m typing on. This view of the trees outside my apartment. My two cats sleeping on the couch. The fan whirling above my head. My fingers moving across this keyboard. The slightly overcast sky today. I’m happy to be where I am, and a little more.
Tomorrow might never come, and yesterday is over. Today is all I have. All the cliches in the world are true.
It’s wonderful to be here today.