You will never, ever get to the bottom of all the items of your to do list. Ever. It doesn’t matter how efficient or perfect or hard-working you are. It just won’t happen. As a result, making peace with that fact should be item number one on your to do list.
The thing you are most afraid of happening may very well happen. You will survive anyway.
The best way to earn more money, oddly, is to care less about what other people think of your career and to simply ask for more of it.
The way to fix your skin is not by buying expensive, more sophisticated skincare products, it’s by adjusting your diet. This is boring but unfortunately very true.
Being on Twitter is a net loss. Log off.
The podcasts that your peers deem problematic and cancellable really aren’t as bad as you might think. If you spend time listening to them, you might just regain the ability to disagree with a person’s opinion without condemning their entire personhood.
You may be surprised to learn that maintaining a healthy compost pile may just give you more satisfaction than any of your professional achievements.
When you’re full of despair and can’t accept what’s happening, there’s a mantra for that: This is how it is right now.
If you’re in a creative line of work, you should choose to take on work because it pays you well, or because it brings you joy or creative fulfillment. (Occasionally, it might do both, but that’s rare.) Don’t choose to do work solely because it promises some recognition or praise; working for prestige is a bad bargain.
Saying no to things (trips, invitations, commitments) so you can have two obligation-free weekends per month will, paradoxically, make your life feel far richer.
Enhancing your ability to tolerate uncertainty, to not get too attached to your future plans, and to accept that life is inherently changeable will reduce much of your angst— especially during a years-long pandemic.
Be very careful about loudly swearing off romanticism and all the annoying platitudes like “when you meet the right person, it’s just different.” You might just meet the right person.
In the forced absence of going to expensive restaurants, you may just find that you never really liked going to expensive restaurants. This is useful information.
Not not all adult responsibilities are a bottomless energy drain you should avoid if you’re trying to optimize your life. Some responsibilities, like adopting a black cat with two white toes, can give you far more back in return.
Spending more time with people who are not hyper-functioning ambitious super-achievers is a good reminder that you don’t really have to be that way, either.
The more time you spend offline, the more you will cultivate the ability to think for yourself. This is your most important work.
Spend time around natural systems — a garden, for example, or the daily routine of a cat—and you’ll notice something: They all move in cycles. Remember that you, too are a natural system. Learning to tune into and honor your own cycles will help you resist the 24/7 assault of modern life.
Remember that the most successful people you know are very often rewarded for their hard work with … ever increasing amounts of hard work. If you’re climbing a ladder, make sure you actually want what’s at the top.
A call that has two participants does not need to happen on Zoom. It can happen on the phone.
You’re not striving for a successful, impressive, luxurious, or happy life. You’re striving for a meaningful one. There’s a big difference.
