Table of Contents hide Three Choices Daily Pushing Myself New Habits Psychological Fitness Conclusions About a year ago, I was on vacation in Hawaii with my family. While walking to the beach, I passed a lifeguard who was organizing some gear outside of the lifeguard shack. He was shirtless and in extremely good shape. Moments… Read More »1000 Little Choices| Becoming Better
These days, I live in a lush, thriving forest. But it’s not a forest of trees; it’s a forest of habits. Sobriety. Meditation. Eating salad. Exercise. Reading. Deep work. This is the ecosystem in which I live. Over the years, I’ve been planting seeds and tending to them. They sprout, turning into saplings. They start… Read More »Growing a Habit Forest The post Growing a Habit Forest appeared first on Becoming Better.| Becoming Better
We just moved, so all of our art is in a pile on the living room floor. On top is something I made myself: Staring at it from the couch, I find myself thinking, Dang, I love this piece! I didn’t make it to be on display for other people. I certainly didn’t make it… Read More »Make the Art You Wish Existed| Becoming Better
Table of Contents hide Smartphones Make You Dumber Smartphones Make You Lazier The Good Without the Bad Distance is Key 1. Turn Off Most Notifications 2. Make Addictive Apps Harder to Access 3. Spend Most of Your Time in Do-Not-Disturb Mode 4. Spend More Time in Airplane Mode 5. Spend More Time Away from Your… Read More »Don’t Let Your Phone Make You Dumb and Lazy| Becoming Better
Many clients first come to me because they want to improve their productivity. Often this is because they want to advance their career by becoming more effective and more efficient at work. Or they want to become better at doing the work or self-improvement: They want to find more motivation to take care of themselves… Read More »Productivity| Becoming Better
The modern world makes it hard to feel a sense of community, so we have to work extra hard to find and create community in our lives.| Becoming Better
Flow is the peak human experience. It's when we're at our best, and it's how we become better. Here's how you get into the flow state.| Becoming Better
The world offers no shortage of things to be angry about: The car that just cut you off. That inconsiderate thing your partner said. The mess your kids left in the kitchen. Your knee pain. The latest political scandal. But anger has never served you. It doesn’t lead to wise decisions, and it doesn’t lead… Read More »Anger is Optional| Becoming Better
Being injured sucks, and a lot of it is outside of your control. But there's always something you can control, so focus on that.| Becoming Better
What does creativity have to do with becoming better? How can it help with productivity, behavioral change, or happiness? And isn’t creativity just a luxury for those who have both the talent and the time to make art? One of the assumptions underlying these doubts is that “creativity” only refers to art, music, dance, poetry, and writing… Read More »Creativity| Becoming Better
The ikigai diagram will help you have a more fullfilling life. But ikigai isn't something you discover; it's something you earn. Here's how.| Becoming Better
I would like to call upon the becoming better community to embrace growth. This is not quite the same as having a “growth mindset,” though it is related, and I do also recommend developing a growth mindset. To embrace growth is to embrace the natural way that change happens. To embrace growth is to embrace… Read More »Growth| Becoming Better
Learn how to use acute stress to your advantage, how to recover from chronic stress, and other stress-management techniques that really work.| Becoming Better
Why is some work tedious and exhausting, while other work leads to passionate engagement and flow? It's about the meaning you give it.| Becoming Better
A common saying about happiness is that happiness is not having what you want but wanting what you have. I’d like to add to that the following: Happiness is not doing whatever you want but wanting to do whatever you have to do. James Clear advises reframing things that you “have” to do as things… Read More »Wanting To Do What You Have To Do| Becoming Better
A few weeks ago, I wrote about gratitude journaling – the practice of writing down things you’re grateful for each night. Today, I’d like to offer an additional practice you can combine with gratitude journaling: pride journaling. Pride journaling is, you guessed it, writing down things you’re proud of yourself for. I typically record one… Read More »Pride Journaling| Becoming Better
The 20 Second Rule is a powerful habit-hack that will make it far easier to do what's best for you without needing extra willpower.| Becoming Better
Deep work is an essential skill for success in the modern world. Read this comprehensive guide on how to get better at deep work.| Becoming Better
Table of Contents hide Opportunities to Move Opportunities to Meditate Opportunities to Microbreak Everything Counts In her book, No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness, Michelle Segar encourages us to find “opportunities to move,” or OTMs for short. Finding OTMs means finding ways to do some additional… Read More »OTMs| Becoming Better
Your brain is like a bunch of clay. You can shape it and mold it through deliberate effort. You can do this because of neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to rewire in response to learning new ideas and engaging in new activities. Any change in your knowledge, abilities, or behavior produces physical changes in the… Read More »The Clay Never Dries| Becoming Better
Table of Contents hide Objections Self-Care is Self-Love My Routine Out of Airplane Mode The Choice Every morning, I get up way earlier than I need to and practice a self-care routine. I’m going to describe each piece of my morning routine and explain why I do it, but there are some things you should… Read More »Self-Care Morning Routine: The Real Breakfast of Champions| Becoming Better
September 29th, 2014 I’m grateful for waffles and peanut butter. I’m grateful for my bike ride with Nate in Discovery Park and the fall colors that are out. I’m grateful for Fleet Foxes. I’m grateful that I’m in a position to help kids. I’m grateful that I’m getting better at arguing with my own… Read More »Gratitude Journaling| Becoming Better
Isaac Newton’s first law of motion states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion, and an object at rest tends to stay at rest. A similar law exists for human productivity and behavioral change: A person who is moving in the right direction tends to keep moving in the right direction, and… Read More »You Can Build Momentum| Becoming Better
Don't just rely on brute-force willpower to do what you need to do. Learn how willpower really works and start using smart strategies today.| Becoming Better
The most important mindset you can adopt in life is to be proactive. Being proactive will make you more successful at everything you do.| Becoming Better
Table of Contents hide 1. Pick One 2. Start Small 3. Go All In 4. Make a Clear Plan of Action 5. Use Reminders 6. Track Your Effort 7. Only Tell Others Strategically 8. Envision a Better Future 9. Use a Coach Happy New Year! The holiday parties are over, the cookies have been eaten,… Read More »9 Ways to Actually Stick to Your New Year’s Resolution| Becoming Better
The most important skill you can develop is the ability to make good choices. To do that, you must first embrace the power of choice.| Becoming Better
When it comes to changing your emotions, actions speak louder than thoughts. The fastest way to feel better is to change what you do.| Becoming Better
Pride can be good or bad, depending on what type of pride you have. So cultivating the right kind of pride is very important.| Becoming Better
Living with integrity is critical for your mental health, self-esteem, confidence, and relationships - both with others and with yourself.| Becoming Better
Table of Contents hide So what is mindfulness? Presence Curiosity Acceptance Non-Attachment The Deeper Benefits of Mindfulness as a Whole Cultivating Mindfulness Today, I’m tackling a big topic: mindfulness. But wait! Before you run away, let me convince you that it’s worth reading and quash a bit of your skepticism. Perhaps for you, the very… Read More »What is “Mindfulness” and Why Should You Care?| Becoming Better
Table of Contents hide Focus on your breath. Now you try. Struggling is the whole point. Mental Training Gentleness Tips for Beginners Patience Meditation is a collection of paradoxes. It is simultaneously the simplest thing to do and the hardest thing to do. It involves sitting and doing nothing, but it requires great effort. It… Read More »Meditation Made Simple| Becoming Better
Loving-kindness meditation is a practice that anyone can use to become happier and more compassionate. Learn how here.| Becoming Better
At the age of 35, Og Mandino hit rock bottom. A WWII veteran turned insurance salesman, Og had recently been left by his wife because he was an alcoholic who he couldn’t hold a job. Living out of his car with less than $50 to his name, Og was considering spending his last dollars on… Read More »Change| Becoming Better
You can change your life, develop healthy habits, and become extraordinary. You can become better. Start your journey along the path today.| Becoming Better
You can get more done, stick with good habits, and become extraordinary using the simple technique of effort-tracking. Learn how here.| Becoming Better
“The highest form of leverage is reputation.” –Shane Parrish1 The Temptation of Status Your social status is your standing relative to other people. Your rank. Your prestige. It’s tempting to pursue status because it feels good to rise within the social hierarchy. Status usually comes with power. You seem to have more influence. You get… Read More »Reputation vs. Status| Becoming Better
I often think about self-development, chores, and saving money in terms of doing my “future self” a favor. My future self is me, after all. Procrastinating might feel right for my present self, but my future self will regret it; I will regret it. This calculation has been working pretty well. In fact, the payoffs… Read More »Your Future Selves| Becoming Better
Two years ago, as a personal experiment, I printed a calendar: one page with three months on it. This was to be my “calendar chain” for meditation. And since September 4th, 2015, I have missed just seven days of meditation, and I have spent over 10,000 minutes meditating.* The weird thing is, I thought the… Read More »Calendar Chain| Becoming Better
Self-improvement takes patience and commitment. This is because of two phenomena: The Lag and The Dip. The Lag “Just because results are not visible doesn’t mean they are not accumulating.” –Shane Parrish1 In 1979, Bill Walsh took over the San Francisco 49ers. They were, at that time, the worst team in football. Walsh took pains… Read More »The Lag and The Dip| Becoming Better
Don’t keep your eyes on the prize. Yes, you should have a goal. And it should be significant enough to energize and motivate you. But if you rely on feeling energized and motivated by your goal, you’ll never get there. And yes, you should know what direction you’re heading. But if you just focus on… Read More »Keep Your Eyes On The Process| Becoming Better
“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.” –Albert Einstein1 We live in a culture that prizes fame and fortune over contribution and service, so it’s understandable that many people are driven to achieve conventional success. I too am driven, in part, by the desire for money and status.… Read More »Doing Work That Matters| Becoming Better
What I want most for you is freedom. I don’t mean freedom from oppression and persecution, although political freedom is normally a prerequisite for the sort of freedom I’m speaking of. What I want for you is the freedom to choose the life you want: the freedom to design your own life, the freedom to… Read More »How to Achieve Real Personal Freedom| Becoming Better
In my original willpower article, I described how certain willpower-using behaviors provide a return on investment greater than the initial input. In other words, there are things you can do that cost willpower but which give you back more willpower than you put in. Today, I want to dig deeper into that topic and explain… Read More »Willpower Virtuous Cycles| Becoming Better
Earlier in the week, I posted about my personal experiment with using a calendar chain to establish a meditation habit. I didn’t like the idea of the calendar chain tool, and I didn’t think it would work. But it didn’t cost me much to try it out, so I went for it. And it paid… Read More »Little Experiments| Becoming Better
True confidence comes from self-efficacy: your belief in your ability to handle life's challenges. It can't be faked, but it can be learned.| Becoming Better
When life gets tough, see it as an opportunity to get tougher. Don't run away from struggle. Embrace it because struggle makes you stronger.| Becoming Better
The best strategy for beating procrastination is knowing how to make your own motivation. Read this to learn how.| Becoming Better
With habit coaching, you can quit bad habits, start healthy habits, and become extraordinary. You can change, and I can help.| Becoming Better
Realistic optimism is a powerful mindset that will make you more successful and more resilient. Learn how today.| Becoming Better
Your emotions, thoughts, and actions are connected in a feedback loop. Master this loop, and take control of your life.| Becoming Better
