Apparently, we’ve all been reading The Declaration of Independence wrong. In Happy for No Reason, Marci Shimoff explains what “the pursuit of happiness” actually meant: “Back in Jefferson’s day… the common usage of the word ‘pursue’ was not ‘to chase after.’ In 1776, to pursue something meant to practice that activity, to do it regularly, to make a habit of it.”1 So Jefferson meant that we should be free to… Read More »Don’t Chase Happiness, Practice It
The biggest obstacle to habit formation is inconsistency. Remember, creating a habit is like bushwhacking a new trail through the forest: If you don’t retrace your steps frequently, the path will quickly become overgrown and lost. The gold standard for overcoming this obstacle is to do the same thing, at the same time, in the same place, every single day. If you can do that, you’ll have a rock-solid habit.… Read More »The Two Kinds of Daily Habits
It’s New Year’s Day at 9am. The sky is overcast. The air is a crisp 42 degrees. We’re standing at the end of a dock on Lake Washington. We strip down to our swimsuits and jump in. Splash! The water is bitingly cold, almost painful. We stay in as long as we can – which isn’t very long – and dry ourselves off on the dock. It takes a long… Read More »Discomfort is Inevitable
“The pain that’s created by avoiding hard work is actually much worse than any pain created from the actual work itself.” –Russel Simmons1 Procrastinating comes with many costs. One is “the thinking cost” – the taxing mental exercise of thinking about whatever you’re not doing, coming up with excuses to not do it, and then feeling guilty about procrastinating as you choose a more pleasant task. The longer you put… Read More »The Pain of Procrastination