Tiger Woods’s story shows that the relentless pursuit of anything isn’t worth it if we damage our souls in the process.

Got Everything And Lost The Soul

Cage’s most famous creation, titled 4’33, is a composition with a twist: it’s a four-minute, thirty-three-second-long stretch of uninterrupted silence.Silence, doesn’t really exist;  what we think of as silence isn’t actually silent, because it’s full of accidental sounds. By giving people silence, Cage was helping them to start actually hearing.

What Is Silence?

Try picking up a pen and paper, be sure to face up to any tough questions that arise: <ul><li>Why did I get so worked up about this today? </li><li>Why do I care about impressing my coworkers?</li><li>How did today’s problems reveal my character?</li></ul>Honestly and thoughtfully facing up to these questions will make sure that you’re getting the most out of journaling.

Questions To Ask While Writing An Effective Journal

The Greek philosopher Epicurus had a good test for himself. Any time he felt himself being tugged by a new desire, he asked himself -“How will I feel afterward if I actually get what I want?”

Fight Desires By Asking 1 Question.

The writers Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller once attended a party at the palatial home of a billionaire. Vonnegut asked his friend how it felt to know that their host had probably earned more that same day than Heller’s book, Catch-22, had earned in its whole history. Heller replied that he had something the billionaire never would: the knowledge that he had enough.

When Enough Is Not Enough.

Writing can be a way to watch yourself as if you are a stranger, giving you a fresh perspective on your actions.

Why Write About Your Day?

There is a concept in Japan called shinrin yoku, or “forest bathing.” It’s a kind of therapy that uses nature to heal spiritual woes.

Bathing With Beauty

Holiday, author of The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy draws on timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy to show why slowing down is the secret weapon for those charging ahead.

mindfulness

Mindfulness

health

Health

books

Books

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller & Wall Street Journal Bestseller In The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, bestselling author Ryan Holiday made ancient wisdom wildly popular with a new generation of leaders in sports, politics, and technology. In his new book, Stillness Is the Key, Holiday draws on timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy to show why slowing down is the secret weapon for those charging ahead. All great leaders, thinkers, artists, athletes, and visionaries share one indelible quality. It enables them to conquer their tempers. To avoid distraction and discover great insights. To achieve happiness and do the right thing. Ryan Holiday calls it stillness--to be steady while the world spins around you. In this book, he outlines a path for achieving this ancient, but urgently necessary way of living. Drawing on a wide range of history's greatest thinkers, from Confucius to Seneca, Marcus Aurelius to Thich Nhat Hanh, John Stuart Mill to Nietzsche, he argues that stillness is not mere inactivity, but the doorway to self-mastery, discipline, and focus. Holiday also examines figures who exemplified the power of stillness: baseball player Sadaharu Oh, whose study of Zen made him the greatest home run hitter of all time; Winston Churchill, who in balancing his busy public life with time spent laying bricks and painting at his Chartwell estate managed to save the world from annihilation in the process; Fred Rogers, who taught generations of children to see what was invisible to the eye; Anne Frank, whose journaling and love of nature guided her through unimaginable adversity. More than ever, people are overwhelmed. They face obstacles and egos and competition. Stillness Is the Key offers a simple but inspiring antidote to the stress of 24/7 news and social media. The stillness that we all seek is the path to meaning, contentment, and excellence in a world that needs more of it than ever.

Ryan Holiday is media strategist for notorious clients like Tucker Max and Dov Charney. After dropping out of college at 19 to apprentice under the strategist Robert Greene, he went on to advise many bestselling authors and multi-platinum musicians. He is the Director of Marketing at American Apparel, where his work in advertising was internationally known. His strategies are used as case studies by Twitter, YouTube, and Google, and have been written about in AdAge, the New York Times, Gawker, and Fast Company. He is the author is *Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator*, which is due out in July. He currently lives in New Orleans, with his rebellious puppy, Hanno.

Ryan Holiday

Stillness Is the Key

Batch tasks into 45 - 90 minutes depending on the complexity and how much you want to get done.
After your work window is over, take a short 15-minute break to drink water, check your phone, get a snack, or just move around. Then get back to a completely different task that uses another skill set for the next work window.

Redefine leisure and breaks

"In the history of ideas, it’s repeatedly happened that an idea, developed in one area for one purpose, finds an unexpected application elsewhere. Concepts developed purely for philosophy of mathematics turned out to be just what you needed to build a computer. Statistical formulae for understanding genetic change in biology are now applied in both economics and in programming."

It can be challenging to have multiple interests - you may be critisised for following too many pursuits. Another issue is feeling guilty for giving up an interest half way. Quitting is not giving up. It is choosing to focus your attention on something more important.
Points to help you manage the guilt:
<ul>
<li>Consume social media content with caution.</li>
<li>Limit your time with people who speak negatively about your passions.</li>
<li>Journal. To give clarity, write down your thoughts and the reasons for them.</li>
<li>Forgive yourself when you choose something not true to yourself because of external pressure. You'll get there. Forgive others too, as they don't know better.</li>
</ul>

Manage the guilt

Creating a system allows you to allocate a set time to each pursuit as well as other important tasks.
A system helps to batch tasks, consider what needs to be done on priority and what can be done at leisure.

A system for each of your pursuits

Spread out your interests/passions over seven days instead of 24-hours. Assuming you are awake for 16 hours a day, you now have around 112 hours to tend to everything.
We box our decision making into a 24-hour window. We feel like we have to accomplish all our tasks within the 24 hour day - such as our jobs, interests, and leisure time. But if you had over 100 hours to do all of these tasks, how much would you be able to accomplish?

Change your definition of time

With the right mindset and approach, it is possible to follow several passions and do them successfully.
Leonardo Da Vinci was more than just a famous artist - he was also a mathematician, scientist, and philosopher. Da Vinci was a polymath - a person with multiple interests or passions. Other well-known polymaths were Newton, Aristotle, Galileo, Faraday, Leibniz, and more. Most successful entrepreneurs of current times, such as Elon Mush, Warren Buffet, and Jeff Bezos, are polymaths too.

Multipotentiality is a strength

Your phone should provide as little distraction as possible. A few systems to help you stop a phone addiction:
<ul>
<li>Don't look at your screen immediately after waking up. Use an analog alarm and keep your phone on the other side of the room.</li>
<li>Turn off notifications for all social media apps</li>
<li>Delete unnecessary apps that you are not using.</li>
<li>Stop keeping your phone next to you while sleeping, eating, showering, or working.</li>
<li>Use a habit tracker on your desktop to stay on track with all these steps.</li>
</ul>

Your phone should provide as little distraction as possible

There will be times where your schedule will not work for you. That's when a morning routine will pull you through. A morning routine works because it gives you a small period of solitude and focus. 
How you wake up affects your levels of success in every single area of your life. Focused, productive, and successful mornings create a focused, productive, and successful days.

Morning routines: moments of solitude and focus

When you have multiple interests, reading becomes essential. Focus on reading more about polymaths by polymaths.
There are times you will feel stuck or may need a motivational push. That's when this practice will be useful.

Read when you feel stuck

When you're doing many things, there will be times when you feel burnt out or overwhelmed. 
Simply switch off when this happens. You don't have to keep on going if your body and mind won't allow it. Ways of rejuvenating include travelling and binge-watching films. Consider slotting in a day where you're doing nothing.

Addressing burnout

Growing up, one person I was completely fascinated with was Leonardo Da Vinci. I was 13 when I found out that being one of the world’s most famous artists was just one of his many attributes. He was…

Stillness Is the Key

How to Manage Multiple Interests without Going Insane

It's time to
Read like a Pro.

CURATED BY

Stillness Is the Key

How to Manage Multiple Interests without Going Insane

It's time to Read like a Pro.

CURATED BY

It's time to
Read like a Pro.