The list below was sent to me by friend and wise person Susan X.
1. Read at least one book per month.
2. Write down your goals at the start of each week and each month.
3. And
measure and track those goals throughout the year – actually look each
goal in the face and be honest with yourself about what you did do and
what you could have done better.
4. Dedicate just one day a week to eating no meat.
5. Turn your phone on silent before you share a meal with someone you care about.
6. Talk to someone you trust when you’re in pain, even if it’s what you consider a ‘small pain.’
7. Walk whenever you can and wherever you can.
8. Do everything in your power to be considerate of and aware of other people.
9. Say ‘yes’ to something that scares you, if you know that it will truly be good for you.
10. Write
every day in a notebook, with the understanding that there are no
rules, no one will ever see it, and that it’s simply a tool for you to
get your thoughts out of your head and onto a piece of paper.
11. Become
cognizant of your emotions in a way you never have before – by simply
trying to address them and name them, instead of treating them like a
silent companion that you ignore because you practically don’t even
notice them.
12. Listen more than you talk. And then forgive yourself when you fail at this. And then try again.
13. Look
at anything other than a screen in the minutes before you fall asleep. A
book, the window, your partner, a pet, the ceiling. Anything that is
not going to instantaneously bring you back into a world you are trying
to take a break from for eight hours.
14. Treat sleep as an
absolute necessity and an incredibly important priority, instead of
being proud of how little of it you are getting.
15. Pay
attention to the factors you need in which to do good work. Do you need
music? Do you need silence? Do you need a window? Do you need white
noise? Do you need to turn your phone face-down? Do you need scheduled
breaks every 45 minutes to read a few pages in a book? Do you need to
take a walk first or right in the middle of it all? Pay attention to the
moments in which you’ve done your best work, notice the factors that
were present in that experience, and then do everything in your power to
replicate it every single time.
16. Talk to strangers sometimes.
Talk to your Uber driver when they seem to be in a chatty mood. Talk to
your server about anything other than today’s happy hour specials. Talk
to the person ringing up your dry cleaning and see how their day is
going. Sometimes the interaction will be nice but forgettable. But
sometimes you will still remember it several years from now. People have
the most interesting things to say, when you’re listening.
17. When
you come up with a new goal and you feel that familiar thrill every
time you think about it, tell someone about it. The effect of how much
more real and tangible it becomes when you do this is incredible.
18. Listen to
white noise when you need to study or focus or create, or when you just need your brain to quiet down for a bit.
19. Pay
attention to how many pointless things you do, and how many minutes you
waste, in the moments or hours before you go to bed. When you find
yourself doing these things, like clicking through ridiculous slideshows
or doing a deep dive into someone’s Facebook, stop. Brush your teeth.
And go to sleep. The more you try to catch yourself doing these things,
the less you will do them.
20. When you choose to relax, make
sure you mentally and emotionally commit to it. Don’t half-ass it. Don’t
sit on the couch and ‘rest’ while also checking emails and doing
‘something small’ for work and planning an upcoming trip. Just fully
commit to relaxing. Immerse yourself in that movie or show or book or
walk or yoga class or whatever. Let it be the only thing that you’re
doing.
21. Wear whatever is the best combination of making you
feel comfortable, confident, and like yourself. These outfits exist, you
just have to work a little harder to find them.
22. Open your
mail right away. Answer what needs to be answered, and throw out
anything that is unnecessary. Do this immediately. When you do it for a
while and have success and then four months later you’re back to your
old ways, waste no time scolding yourself. It happens to all of us. Just
start again.
23. Tell people you are proud of them, thankful for
them, inspired by them, grateful to them, here for them, honored to
know them, and comforted by them.
24. Make every decision, ever little choice, based on your desire to be a person of integrity.
25. Think
about where you were a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago. Think
about all the things you are doing now that you wouldn’t have ever
believed you could do back then. Then keep waking up every day striving
to make the future you once again astounded and proud.
--------------------------------------------
See below my comments on each point on the list.
1. Read
at least one book per month.
Holy
God, I read so slow, I would do nothing else in the month!
2. Write
down your goals at the start of each week and each month
And
then all that pressure and dismay when my week is turned up
side down with weather, physical discombobulations, or 3 bad hair
days in a row. No,
once a year for goals writing is fine thank you very much!
3. And
measure and track those goals throughout the year – actually look
each goal in the face and be honest with yourself about what you did
do and what you could have done
better.
There
you go - more of the same from above.
4. Dedicate just
one day a week to eating no meat. Doable
5. Turn
your phone on silent before you share a meal with someone you care
about.
And
why not `turn
your phone on silent every
time it suits YOU´
6. Talk
to someone you trust when you’re in pain, even if it’s what you
consider a ‘small pain.’ Makes
sense.
7. Walk
whenever you can and wherever you can. Makes
sense too.
8. Do
everything in your power to be considerate of and aware of other
people.
I
like this one.
9. Say
‘yes’ to something that scares you, if you know that it will
truly be good for you. Not
sure what to make of this one; are we talking here about a visit to the
dentist? Or bungie jumping? Or what?
10. Write
every day in a notebook, with the understanding that there are no
rules, no one will ever see it, and that it’s simply a tool for you
to get your thoughts out of your head and onto a piece of paper.
Makes
sense, but DOES it have to be EVERY day!
11. Become
cognizant of your emotions in a way you never have before – by
simply trying to address them and name them, instead of treating them
like a silent companion that you ignore because you practically don’t
even notice them.
Deep
this one. And good.
12. Listen
more than you talk. And then forgive yourself when you fail at this.
And then try again. Good
one this. Will work on it.
13. Look
at anything other than a screen in the minutes before you fall
asleep. A book, the window, your partner, a pet, the ceiling.
Anything that is not going to instantaneously bring you back into a
world you are trying to take a break from for eight hours. Makes
sense
14. Treat
sleep as an absolute necessity and an incredibly important priority,
instead of being proud of how little of it you are getting. WHO
is stupid enough not to think sleep is a priority! And God bless the
people who have to deal with those people every day!
15. Pay
attention to the factors you need in which to do good work. Do you
need music? Do you need silence? Do you need a window? Do you need
white noise? Do you need to turn your phone face-down? Do you need
scheduled breaks every 45 minutes to read a few pages in a book? Do
you need to take a walk first or right in the middle of it all? Pay
attention to the moments in which you’ve done your best work,
notice the factors that were present in that experience, and then do
everything in your power to replicate it every single time. OH
I like this one. My favourite so far!
16. Talk
to strangers sometimes. Talk to your Uber driver when they seem to be
in a chatty mood. Talk to your server about anything other than
today’s happy hour specials. Talk to the person ringing up your dry
cleaning and see how their day is going. Sometimes the interaction
will be nice but forgettable. But sometimes you will still remember
it several years from now. People have the most interesting things to
say, when you’re listening. Good
one, but I suspect the server might rather get on with clocking up
more orders.
17. When
you come up with a new goal and you feel that familiar thrill every
time you think about it, tell someone about it. The effect of how
much more real and tangible it becomes when you do this is
incredible. It
works to opposite for me; I rather save the energy to focus on the
goal.
18. Listen
to white
noise when
you need to study or focus or create, or when you just need your
brain to quiet down for a bit. Is
this a bit of a repeat of no. 15?
19. Pay
attention to how many pointless things you do, and how many
minutes you waste, in the moments or hours before you go to bed. When
you find yourself doing these things, like clicking through
ridiculous slideshows or doing a deep dive into someone’s Facebook,
stop. Brush your teeth. And go to sleep. The more you try to catch
yourself doing these things, the less you will do them.
With
this I disagree. If I am tired enough, I will sleep, if I am not
awake but not tired enough to sleep, some of the above will relax me
until I am tired enough to sleep.
20. When
you choose to relax, make sure you mentally and emotionally commit to
it. Don’t half-ass it. Don’t sit on the couch and ‘rest’
while also checking emails and doing ‘something small’ for work
and planning an upcoming trip. Just fully commit to relaxing. Immerse
yourself in that movie or show or book or walk or yoga class or
whatever. Let it be the only thing that you’re doing. Makes
sense
21. Wear
whatever is the best combination of making you feel comfortable,
confident, and like yourself. These outfits exist, you just have to
work a little harder to find them. I
want to look as elegant as Audrey Hepburn every day…. But that
does
not work with
´the
best
combination of making you feel comfortable, confident, and like
yourself´.
And
there is no way I would put the work in to find those outfits….
FASHION POLICE where are you?
22. Open
your mail right away. Answer what needs to be answered, and throw out
anything that is unnecessary. Do this immediately. When you do it for
a while and have success and then four months later you’re back to
your old ways, waste no time scolding yourself. It happens to all of
us. Just start again. Don´t
agree: Responding to mail may need time and consideration – or
money in the checking account, before it can be attended
to.
23. Tell
people you are proud of them, thankful for them, inspired by them,
grateful to them, here for them, honored to know them, and comforted
by them. Only
the most egomaniacal could take all that at one shot!
24. Make
every decision, ever little choice, based on your desire to be a
person of integrity. Small
and big in one shot.
25. Think
about where you were a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago. Think
about all the things you are doing now that you wouldn’t have ever
believed you could do back then. Then keep waking up every day
striving to make the future you once again astounded and proud. . Now Ms. Quindlen had me on her side up to this one. This is all fine for the 2.358% of people reading this who can actually think with delight at where they were five, or ten years ago yada yada yada.....
But what about the remaining 97.642% for whom life happened not quite as planned.... sickness, heart break, lost job, etc etc . The 97.642% of people who may well be struggling to just stand at the same spot they were five or ten years ago....
Ms. Quindlen, this may be a nice flourish to end your article, but I am not with you on point 25.
Thank you all the same, your gave me 24 interesting point to ponder!
Happy Day! Hausfrau R贸is铆n
Along with a glass of what ever you are having yourself! 
