The world is our buffet. In our hyper-connected society, we’re presented with so many opportunities to “do” — to connect online, to keep up with social media, to attend social events, parties, sporting activities, and webinars. We can learn new things, meet new people, network, and do whatever our hearts desire (including things we didn’t even know we wanted to do).…
Let’s be honest: it’s so, so easy to slap a judgment on someone.
You’ve said (or thought) something similar before, and chances are you’ll say or think something similar again (who knows, maybe even later today). You’ve judged and been judged.
And so has everyone else you know.…
The Weekly Habit Practices are mini-challenges intended to help you fine-tune different aspects of your health and wellness. Offered between Challenges, these practices address fitness, nutrition, stress reduction, productivity, and personal connection — because health is about far more than food and the gym (and we could all use a little practice).
Say Thank You Every Day This WeekSimple Instructions:
It all started with dark chocolate.
I’d read about how dark chocolate can reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, and raise HDL, or “good” cholesterol, so I began ending the night with a few squares of 85% cacao dark chocolate.
It was good, but not very sweet, so I usually stopped after a few squares. It’s easy to avoid overdoing chocolate with so little sugar.…
I’m struck by how often people tell me they’re unhappy. We live in one of the most prosperous times in history, yet when I talk to people about what’s missing from their lives, most answers boil down to this: “I want to be happy.”
Which implies people don’t feel happy now.
As a society, we have more possessions, opportunities, and access to more resources than ever before.…
The Weekly Habit Practices are mini-challenges intended to help you fine-tune different aspects of your health and wellness. Offered between Challenges, these practices address fitness, nutrition, stress reduction, productivity, and personal connection — because health is about far more than food and the gym (and we could all use a little practice).
This Week We’re Going to Stop ProcrastinatingSimple Instructions:
Before I had my daughter in 2005, at age 32, I spent my time boxing, surfing, traveling the world as part of my job with a tour operator, and fixing up a dilapidated beach house with my husband. I had lots of fun, but spent very little time doing things for other people.
I made time for my husband, my family, and my friends, but I was mostly able to do what I wanted, when I wanted.…
I was once measured at 3.8% bodyfat in a Bod Pod. The test administrator told me he had only taken one other measurement that was lower than mine — and that person was a professional athlete.
But I wasn’t a professional athlete, just a regular Joe, fitness junkie, and martial artist. I wasn’t a competitive boxer cutting weight for a fight and I wasn’t even trying to be a certain percentage of body fat.…
Steven Pressfield wrote about “the Resistance” in his 2002 book The War of Art. It’s a short (and, for me, transformational) book about overcoming all those thoughts, feelings, ideas and distractions that keep us from doing the things we want to do. You know, things like learning to play guitar, writing the next great American novel, or designing new technology to keep slow drivers from even getting in the left lane to begin with.…
Most people believe that aiming for perfection is a good thing. But it can be a dangerous compulsion.
In our success-driven society, being perfect is the ultimate goal. The traits of perfectionism — constant striving, attention to detail, high standards, commitment to results, direction, hard work, achievement, planning and preparation — are highly praised and admired.
However, ask a perfectionist what his or her life is really like and the response is stark:
Perfectionism, when taken to its extreme, has negative consequences.…
The Eightfold Path in Buddhism is a course of behaviors that can help alleviate the cycle of suffering — which we experience as frustration, pain, and unhappiness. The Eightfold Path was the final piece of the puzzle in the Buddha’s discussions about the reality of our discomfort and how to alleviate it.
To apply these eight behaviors to our strength training, we must be able to look at ourselves with love and compassion to see where we are caught up in ego-driven tendencies.…
September, 2016, somewhere in the frigid southern Utah wilderness. It was raining. My buddy Patrick and I were huddled under a military-style poncho we’d pulled over our heads. Two minutes earlier we had been building our shelter for the night — a fallen log leaning up against a tree to create the A-Frame structure that we’d then stack more fallen branches against.…
