Posts by Leo Babauta
I Tried to Quit But It’s Too Hard!
You might have uttered these defeated words before, “I tried to quit but it’s too hard!” I did many times when I tried to quit smoking. And when I tried giving up meat, cheese, sugar, and more. Quitting something can seem – and is – often incredibly hard, so much so that we don’t even…
Read MoreThe Worry That You’re Doing the Wrong Thing Right Now
It’s first thing in your workday, and you open up your email. There’s a host of messages, old and new, asking for your attention. You also open up other inboxes in social media and the like. You quickly go through them and get a picture of what you need to get done right now. But…
Read MoreHabit Mastery: Creating the New Normal
Changing habits, at its core, is simply a process of changing what’s normal for you. This is something I’ve done myself many times over the last decade. Here’s just a sample of the new normal I’ve achieved in my life: Not smoking became my new normal (lots of pain for a month or so) Running…
Read MoreWhy You Should Write Daily
One of the most instrumental changes in my life has been writing every single day. For many years I was a writer who didn’t write that regularly. It was always on the back of my mind to write, but I didn’t find the time. Then I started my blog in January 2007, and have written…
Read MoreHow to Change Your Life: A User’s Guide
Let’s start with a simple statement: what do you want to be? Are you hoping to someday be a writer, a musician, a designer, a programmer, a polyglot, a carpenter, a manga artist, an entrepreneur, or an expert at anything? How do you get there? Do you write your intention on a piece of paper,…
Read MoreGetting Others to Accept Your Changes
It is a curious phenomena that when we try to change our habits — simplify our clutter, eat healthier, start exercising — the other people in our life don’t instantly want to be changed in the same way. It’s as if they had their own minds! Horrible as that might sound, it’s the reality we…
Read MoreHow to Fix Work Stress
It’s simple, but takes practice.
Read MoreA Powerful Habit
The biggest reason people fail at creating and sticking to new habits is that they don’t keep doing it. That seems obvious: if you don’t keep doing a habit, it won’t really become a habit. So what’s the solution to this obvious problem? Find a way to keep doing it. When you look at it…
Read MoreWhy You Already Have Enough
Have you said thank you to someone to show how grateful you are for them today? It’s such a small thing, but it can have a huge impact on your life, and the life of that person. Find little ways to incorporate gratitude in your life, and you’ll be much happier … and you’ll make…
Read MoreTime Saving Secrets for Busy People
Your lives are always busy, I’m sure, but the holidays always seem to add even more craziness to everyone’s schedule. Christmas parties with family, friends and co-workers, gift shopping, decorating, Christmas pageants, caroling, bell-ringing, snow shoveling (unless you live on Guam like I do), making cookies, baking turkeys, and all the rest. It’s enough to…
Read MoreHow to Change Your Life with Thanksgiving
It’s amazing how one simple, easy, positive action can change so much in a person’s life. One of the things that has had the biggest effect on my life is the realization of the power of gratitude. Simply giving thanks. It has affected everything. It has made me a more positive person. A more productive…
Read More5 Principles of a Profound Workday
Let us toss out all we know for a moment. Toss notions of productivity, time management, efficiency, and the bottom line. Empty our workdays of all we’ve packed them with, and sit still with an empty room. What should we put in this room? Do we want to spend our limited space on busy-ness, on…
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