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Showing 120 tag results for “happiness”

All(120) +1s(27) PhilosophersNotes(5) Authors(5) Quotes(83)

+1s (27)

Musterbation
#354

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+ Shoulding on Yourself

In our last +1, we talked about a word Aristotle coined to capture that Life Force within each of us (and everything) that pushes us (and everything else) from potentiality to actualization. He called it “entelechy.” Today, we’re going to talk about another word coined by a more ...

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+1 inspired by Note: Your Erroneous Zones

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Conquering Perfectionism & Conquering Procrastination

action Compassion Happiness self-awareness

#354

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Expecto Patronum!
#315

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How to Deal with the Dementors in Your Life

Continuing our Harry Potter theme, let’s explore how to deal with dementors in your life. Recall that dementors are big, ugly, wraith-like creatures that feed on and suck all the happiness out of you. And, if they’re feeling really feisty, they’ll give you a kiss that sucks your ...

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+1 inspired by Note: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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Confidence & Conquering Depression

focus Happiness Hope optimism soul Spirit tool

#315

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The 2nd Arrow
#310

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Quit Shooting Yourself with It

In No Mud, No Lotus, Thich Nhat Hanh tells us that suffering is a part of life. You can’t create a beautiful lotus flower without some stinky mud. As he says, lotuses don’t grow in marble. And… You can’t create a happy, flourishing life without some suffering. That’s just how...

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+1 inspired by Note: No Mud, No Lotus

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Conquering Depression & Conquering Perfectionism

Buddhism Compassion Happiness self-awareness soul Spirit

#310

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A Drop of WD-40 for Your Mind
#302

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Sanskrit Says: Dukkha vs. Sukha

In our last +1, we talked about adding “Just a drop” more energy to a part of our lives that could use some attention. Again, we don’t need to go manic nuts on it here. Just a drop. And, as we discussed, the Buddha said the same thing — reminding us that Optimizing our lives is l...

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+1 inspired by Note: Big Mind Big Heart

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Conquering Depression & Conquering Perfectionism

Buddhism Compassion Happiness Mind Philosophy self-awareness

#302

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The Happiness Archetype
#292

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vs. Rat Racer + Hedonist + Nihilist

Tal Ben-Shahar tells us that there are four different archetypes. The Rat Racer. The Hedonist. The Nihilist. And The Happy Person. The Rat Racer is always chasing after a goal in the future and never happy in the moment. The Hedonist is always in the moment but never moving forward. The ...

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+1 inspired by Note: Happier

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Conquering Perfectionism & Positive Psychology

baby steps conquering-perfectionism euthymia Gratitude Happiness positive-psychology soul Spirit

#292

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Teflon vs. Velcro
#279

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We’re Wired to Hold On to Negative Stuff

Rick Hanson is a leading neuroscientist and mindfulness teacher who wrote a couple great books: Buddha’s Brain and Hardwired for Happiness. In Buddha’s Brain he tells us that our brains evolved to focus on the negative. He says that our brains are basically like V...

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+1 inspired by Note: Happy for No Reason

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Mindfulness & Neuroscience

conquering-depression Gratitude Happiness Mind neuroscience optimism science self-awareness

#279

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De Minimis Non Curat Optimizers
#257

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Let’s Not Concern Ourselves with Trifles

As I’ve shared before, I dropped out of law school before finishing my first semester of contract law (go Boalt Hall class of 2000!). Although I’m thrilled I didn’t pursue law as my profession, I love some of the Big Ideas we can mine from the domain. We’ve talked about the fact that go...

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+1 inspired by Note: The Checklist Manifesto

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Antifragility & Conquering Perfectionism

antifragility conquering-perfectionism Discipline Happiness Mind self-awareness

#257

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Thanks! Thanks! And Thanks!
#232

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Three Ways to Give Thanks Today

For everyone in the US celebrating today: Happy Thanksgiving!! For everyone else: Happy Day of Thanks!! 😃 Let’s celebrate by recapping three great ways to boost your gratitude today. First, we have our standard Gratitude Practice. Remember:

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+1 inspired by Note: Thanks!

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Connection & Positive Psychology

Compassion connection Family Gratitude Happiness Heart positive-psychology Spirit tool

#232

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Carpe Diem
#226

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Seize the Day! (Or Is It “Pluck the Day”?!)

Carpe Diem!! … Seize the day!! I don’t know about you, but I get fired up just saying that. (Hah.) Today we’ll have fun looking at the ancient Latin roots of the phrase and see how we can apply that wisdom to Optimizing our lives. So… The Latin phr...

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+1 inspired by Note: The Philosophy of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

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Conquering Procrastination & Mindfulness

Ancient Wisdom euthymia Happiness mindfulness Philosophy soul Spirit Wisdom

#226

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Memento Mori
#209

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Want to Live? Remember Death

As you probably know by this point, I’m a big fan of Stoicism in general and of my favorite living Stoic philosopher Ryan Holiday in particular. If you haven’t checked out The Daily Stoic, The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, get on that. As much a...

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+1 inspired by Note: Noble Purpose

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Mindfulness & Stoicism

conquering-perfectionism courage Eudaimonia Happiness Mind purpose self-awareness soul Spirit

#209

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Visions of a Lifetime
#198

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Marcus Aurelius on the Present Moment

Marcus Aurelius once wrote to himself, “Never confuse yourself with visions of an entire lifetime at once.” As a guy who often wants to have it all perfectly figured out right now and forever, I remember being awe struck by that line when I first read it. “Never confuse...

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+1 inspired by Note: Meditations

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Conquering Perfectionism & Conquering Procrastination

Areté baby steps Conquering Procrastination conquering-perfectionism Happiness soul Spirit Vision

#198

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Wings and Lottery Balls
#182

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How to Bounce Your Way to Winning the Game of Life

Rumi tells us that God turns us from one feeling to another so that we have two wings to fly and not one. I love to keep that in mind when I find myself kinda going back and forth on a decision. Two wings!! I also like to think of lottery balls. (Hah!) You know how sometime...

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+1 inspired by Note: Rumi Daylight

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Conquering Anxiety & Conquering Perfectionism

Ancient Wisdom conquering-perfectionism Grit Happiness Mastery mental training optimism soul Spirit

#182

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Higher Highs and Higher Lows
#173

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Embracing the Tides of Our Lives

In our last +1, we talked about Rebound Days and the fact that you’re not going to be on every (!) single (!!) day (!!!). We need to consistently remind ourselves that we’re never going to create a PERFECT life where nothing ever goes wrong and we’re

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+1 inspired by Note: The Silva Mind Control Method of Mental Dynamics

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Antifragility & Conquering Perfectionism

compound Fundamentals Growth Happiness Heart Spirit tool

#173

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Hedonic Adaptation
#150

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Stepping Off the Treadmill to Count Our Blessings

In our last +1 we hopped on a treadmill with Will Smith and Smokeybot. Today, let’s hop on a treadmill with well-being researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky. Sonja is one of the world’s leading experts on the science of what is called “hedonic adaptation.” Basically, hedonic adapta...

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+1 inspired by Note: The Myths of Happiness

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Conquering Perfectionism & Positive Psychology

Gratitude Happiness soul Spirit

#150

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Metaphysical Gluttony
#148

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How to Stop OptiBinging and Have More Fun Optimizing

In a prior +1 we talked about the risk of overwhelming ourselves as we go ALL IN on Optimizing. One of the ways to deal with that tendency is to practice the science of self-compassion. Super-quick recap there:

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+1 inspired by Note: Ken Wilber

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Habits & Self-Care

baby steps Growth Happiness Heart self-awareness Spirit

#148

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PhilosophersNotes (5)

No Mud, No Lotus

The Art of Transforming Suffering

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the world’s leading Buddhist monks. He is a true master and it’s a joy to connect with his powerful wisdom. I picked this book off the shelf after fires nearly burned down our town. It felt like a good time to remind myself of the fact that the good life is not—and cannot be—exclusively “good” times. Want a beautiful lotus flower? Embrace the mud. No mud, no lotus. Want a wonderful, flourishing life? Embrace the challenges. No challenges, no flourishing. Big Ideas we explore include: suffering goes with happiness, lotus flowers don’t grow in marble, feed the good stuff, the first thing to do when suffering strikes (breathe!), billions of funerals/b-days every day, the two arrows, and why the Buddha meditated after becoming the Buddha.

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Buddhism Happiness mindfulness Suffering

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The Happiness Track

How to Apply the Science of Happiness to Accelerate Your Success

by Emma Seppälä

Emma Seppälä is the science director of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. She also has a popular blog called Fulfillment Daily. In this great little book, she walks us through the latest scientific research on everything from resilience, willpower and compassion to positive stress, creativity, and mindfulness. Big Ideas we explore include how to find fulfillment (hint: it’s in this moment—right now!), how to skillfully surf stress waves, the most powerful lever to optimize your mind (hint: your breath), how to succeed in failure Jack Ma style, and the science of compassion.

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Breathing & Positive Psychology

Breathing Compassion connection creativity Female Author Happiness positive-psychology

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The Happiness Trap

How to Stop Struggling and Start Living

by Dr. Russ Harris

ACT. That’s where it’s at. This is our second Note on Russ Harris and his great introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. (Check out the Notes on The Confidence Gap as well.) In this book, Russ walks us through how we get caught in the happiness trap and, more importantly, how to free ourselves. We’ll take a quick look at the myths of happiness, the six principles of ACT, how to deal with emotional quicksand, how NOT to visualize (and what to do instead), and writing down your values (<— science says that’s wise).

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Take Your Time

The Wisdom of Slowing Down

by Eknath Easwaran

This book was written in 1994—WAY before we blew up our brains with the Internet. Yet, the need to slow down and cultivate a calm, unhurried mind has been discussed by all the great teachers for 2,500+ years. We need the wisdom now more than ever. Big Ideas we explore include how use a red pencil, changing the channels of your mind, a quick quiz on whether meditation is right for you, and how to drive your mind safely (no tailgating thoughts!).

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20th Century Classic Happiness soul Spirit Spirituality

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The Happiness Equation

Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything

by Neil Pasricha

Neil Pasricha is a fascinating guy. A Harvard MBA and director of leadership development for Walmart who gave one of the most popular TED talks ever and published The Book of Awesome which sold 1m+ copies. This book is a fun, quick-read packed with great Ideas. We cover: The Big 7 ways science says we can boost our happiness, waking up with an Icky Guy (the good kind), how to add an hour to your day, a great question to tap into your purpose and wisdom from the greatest physicist ever (hint: create momentum).

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