AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Zen leo babauta11/21/2023 ![]() It’s how I’m doing all my projects now, actually. This is how I did my last book, The Effortless Life, and it was one of the most fun I’ve ever had on a project. Imagine a project that is started with a spontaneous idea, and then changes course as you do it, embraces the ideas of strangers, ends up in a fantastic new place you could not have possibly foreseen when you started. Work based on fun, play, and spontaneity is more interesting. While the idea of having peaceful order to our workday is a nice one, it’s an illusion. Some random thoughts based on my experiments with letting go: Let unpredictability rule, let randomness be the force of our life, let spontaneity be the rule. Learn to let go of control, and surf the ever-changing wave. ![]() What can we do instead of trying to predict what will happen, instead of planning? Learn to embrace uncertainty, and be open to change. We can try to plan, but those plans are not based on real knowledge and probably won’t happen, so planning is a waste of time. So we don’t know what will happen, nor should we want to. Foreknowledge means a crazy lack of freedom. Having foreknowledge of the future means we know what will happen each day, which means not only will our days be ridiculously boring, but we’re stuck on one unshakable path. Knowing what will happen this year? What a crock!Īnd consider: what if we could know? What if we could accurately predict every single day, and plan each day exactly? Would this be a great thing? I submit that it would suck infinitely more than not knowing. We do not know what will happen today, much less the rest of the week or month. We cannot predict the future with any kind of certainty, and the idea that we can plan based on these shaky predictions is a nice fiction, but a fiction nonetheless. Now consider this: we have absolutely no idea if any of this is true. ![]() This is my idea of what this day will hold. If I get these things done, life will be good. We are saying: this is what I’m going to do today. The Case for ChaosĬonsider what we’re doing when we plan our day, our week, our year: we are trying to exert control over life, and predict with our plans the course our lives will take today, this week, this year. ![]() Let go of productivity and be open to new ideas, new opportunities, spontaneous creativity. Let go of planning and embrace not know what will happen. Let go of control and allow yourself to be swept away by the powerful currents of life. It will yield some unpredictable results, but if you approach it the right way, it could bring some of the most amazing work of your life, along with freedom, joy, exhilaration. I’m going to share a productivity, planning and organizational hack that will change your life. Just announced: Dealing with Your Struggles video course.‘You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.’ ~Friedrich Nietzsche Post written by Leo Babauta. And soon you’ll be kicking butt, happy you’re moving in a good direction, smiling with gratitude with every good thing you’re doing for yourself. You’ll trust yourself more and more, and eventually you’ll be able to add another small habit, then another the month after. When you finish that step, take the next one. With every single step, you’ll feel better. Stay with the urge to run away but don’t let yourself run. When you see yourself want to put it off, pause. With that step, you’re building trust in yourself. When you take that step, do it mindfully and with gratitude and joy. Every day, you just need to take one step. Reminders in your email, calendar, phone. Put a huge sign somewhere you won’t miss it. Do a journal of just 5 sentences each day. Tell your friend you’re going to do something every day - but something super easy. Promise to do something ridiculously easy. ![]() Make it something powerful, so you definitely won’t allow yourself to fail. Ask them to keep you accountable - if you don’t do what you promise every day for a month, you owe them something big (or embarrassing). Tell them you’ve been slumping, but you’re going to stick to one change. Not all of these, just pick one! Focus on it for the next month. But trust me, one change is enough for now: go for a short walk, do a few pushups, eat a fruit for breakfast, do a 5-sentence journal every morning. People who want to change their lives usually want to change everything at once. Here’s how to get started, in just a few easy steps. It’s hard to get going again, to get started when all the forces of inertia are against you. It’s hard to get out of a slump like that. I know a lot of people who fall into a slump, losing the habit of exercise, procrastinating with work, slipping into a bad diet, and generally not feeling motivated. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |