The basics is what complexity is built on. Paying close attention to the basics is likely to get us out of sticky situations and even help us make better decisions in our day to day lives. We learn the alphabet before we build words, then we learn grammar and punctuation to construct sentences. Sentences added together can embody a paragraph's idea. And on joining the different ideas in our paragraphs a story is built. STORIES change and shape our world.Therefore putting attention to good spelling, grammar and the length of paragraphs contributes to the eventual production of a great story.

Never Forget The Basics

Building a career, finding a work-life balance, being creative; these things are hard. Showing up early, having good manners, following up; these are much easier and basic in comparison.  Though the basics alone are not enough to succeed - that is why they are basic - but without them, there is no starting point, no baseline. GET THE EASY STUFF RIGHT.

Get The Easy Stuff Right

Very articulate and interesting lesson on getting the easy commitments right. 

Getting the Easy Stuff Right | No Mercy / No Malice

The main difference between habits and routines is how much aware and intentional you are. A habit usually manifests itself as an automatic urge to do something, often triggered by a particular cue. The stronger the connection between the trigger and the habit, the more ingrained the habit. Both habits and routines are regular and repeated actions, but habits happen with little or no conscious thought, whereas routines require a higher degree of intention and effort.

What is the difference between habits and routines?

The difference between a routine and a ritual is the attitude behind the action. While routines can be actions that just need to be done—such as making your bed or taking a shower—rituals are viewed as more meaningful practices which have a real sense of purpose.

From routine to ritual

Applying mindfulness to daily routines is a great way to create rituals for yourself. <ul><li>Showering can become an opportunity to become mindful of your body and its connection to your mind. F</li><li><a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2013/02/25/ajcn.112.045245.abstract">Research</a> shows that mindful eating can indeed improve the flavour of your food, making you feel more satisfied.</li><li>Even cleaning the house can be used as a way to become more aware of your body movements and sensations in your muscles and joints.</li></ul>

How to create rituals

In the end, it boils down to the classic habit loop. <ol><li>Cue: choose a trigger to tell your brain to start the routine you want to turn into a habit.</li><li>Routine: execute the routine, ideally starting with a small, actionable chunk. Don’t go for an overly ambitious new routine from the get go.</li><li>Reward: do something enjoyable, which will tell your brain that this particular habit loop is worth remembering for the future.</li></ol>

Turning habits into routines

As much as we wish for each day to be different, the cycle of repeating the same actions day after day is pretty common. Habits and routines are an important part of our lives. Making your bed in the morning, that first cup of coffee, grabbing a croissant on your way to work, listening to your favourite podcast on the train.And while we tend to use the words “habit” and “routine” interchangeably, they both mean two distinct things. Understanding their definitions can help you design good routines and build good habits.

Both habits and routines are repeated actions, but habits happen with little or no conscious thought, whereas routines require a higher degree of effort.

The difference between habits, routines and rituals

<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">There are three things that give life meaning: a project, a significant relationship and a redemptive view of suffering.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">If we want true satisfaction in life, we have to rise above the pettiness of our own desires and do what is required of us.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Clarity comes with action.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Discovering your calling is not a destination. It’s more about the trip, the adventure. About the trains, you choose to jump in or not.</li></ul>

Key Takeaways From The Book

We are tempted to blame ourselves for not knowing exactly what we were “programmed” to do in life for a living. It seems that we pass through all the key moments, decisive ones, without paying enough attention to where we fit best.To which field we belong. And we wake up one day asking ourselves:“What do I like the most doing in this life?”At first sight, this question may seem simple. Easy. But the answer is a long-term key to our future’s door.

The Art Of Work: The Premise

We are blaming ourselves for not having already born with a clear calling in our minds.Is the calling just a natural fact that appears suddenly?You don’t ‘just know’ what your calling is. You must listen for clues along the way, discovering what your life can tell you. Awareness comes with practice.

Preparation Of Your Journey

Opportunities to learn and grow are available, if we’re willing to look in the right places and humbly accept what we find.Discovering your calling is not an epiphany but a series of intentional decisions.

Action

To find out which is your calling it takes time. Usually the entire time of your life.Your calling is not a job. It is your entire life.  We look at seven stages to finding your life’s work that serves as a model to us.

The Calling: 7 Stages

Awareness is a sense that something more is possible. Our job is to realize that life is more than what beats the eye and there are clear hints along the path of discovering our true self.It is not an easy road, we have to be willing to step out of the box and see the bigger picture and start acting.

Stage 1: Awareness

In the past, apprenticeship meant working with a mentor for several years and learning the skills from a mentor. Nowadays that situation is completely different and the individual is left by himself to find his calling.Accidental apprenticeships are everywhere you look. You may find it in different stages from your life, and they can help you find your calling, simply by serving as a model, or by giving you an advice at the right place and at the right moment.

Stage 2: Apprenticeship

Practice is significant in our journey because it can teach you what you are and are not meant to do.By practicing you will find what you want to do in life. If you failed at something, it means that you were not meant for that type of activity.

Stage 3: Practice

The journey continues with discovery.“Any great discovery especially that of your life’s work is never a single moment. In fact, epiphany is an evolutionary process; it happens in stages.”In order to discover our vocation, we need to keep in mind that it may take longer than we first assumed. But that does not mean that it will not happen. So be sure to take the hints that life presents and seize every opportunity as if you will not come across it twice.

Stage 4: Discovery

A profession is seen as the result of different tries that we achieve after a long and strenuous practice. It can be considered a form of mastery.True mastery is about greatness, about doing something that pushes the limitations of what others think is possible or even sensible.

Stage 5: Profession

True mastery means greatness and breaking the limitations boundaries of what others think is possible or even sensible.It is relatively easier to attain mastery in something you like doing.

Stage 7: Mastery

What lies at the end of the road is a prize that money can’t buy and a legacy the world won’t forget.These views on work and life itself are quite practical in our daily lives.You have found your own calling if it’s something really familiar to you, you are very good at it, and other people recognize this in you.

Stage 6: Legacy

It's easy to practice when the activity brings joy to us.

A calling is what you have when you look back at your life and make sense of what it’s been trying to teach you all along.

The basic idea of a portfolio life is that instead of thinking of your work as a monolithic activity, what if you chose to see it as the complex group of interests, passions, and activities it is?

A deep dive into what work is and what is should be.

On his thirtieth birthday, Jeff Goins quit his job and began his pursuit of becoming a full-time writer. While certainly that was a milestone day, it was still less significant than the ones that lead to that memorable moment. The journey he took leading up to that daring decision involved twists, turns, and surprises he never expected. In the end, he found his life’s purpose, his calling; and in The Art of Work, he wants to share his journey with you and help you, too, discover your life’s work, along with the invaluable treasure that comes with doing so.As writer, keynote speaker, and award-winning blogger Jeff Goins explains, our search for discovering the task we were born to do begins with passion but does not end there. Only when our interests connect with the needs of the world do we begin living for a larger purpose. Those who experience this intersection experience something exceptional and enviable. Though it is rare, as Jeff discovered along the journey he shares in this one-of-a-kind book, such a life is attainable by anyone brave enough to try. Through personal experience, compelling case studies, and current research on the mysteries of motivation and talent, Jeff shows readers how to find the vocation they were meant for and what to expect during the long, arduous journey to discovering and pursuing it.

Stashed ideas

The Art of Work

Watts stands out among other 20th-century philosophers for several reasons. Namely because he managed to do three unique things:<ul><li>Have very differentiated points of view from contemporary Western viewpoints.</li><li>Articulate them extremely well.</li><li>Do it all in a time when you could record your own lectures—which he did, in abundance.</li></ul>

The Philosopher From The Future

Alan Watts wasn’t an expert in what he taught. Despite writing extensively about Eastern philosophies like Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Zen, he wasn’t ordained as any kind of monk or didn’t strictly follow any one system.What he was, like the ideas he dedicated his life to studying and teaching, isn’t easy to define. He was a lover of life.He was a remarkable teacher during the 50s and 60s who self-coined himself as a spiritual entertainer.He was a prolific writer, publishing over 25 books, most of which were, and continue to be, hugely successful.

A Spiritual Entertainer

Alan Watts didn’t take life, or himself, too seriously. He enjoyed a good drink or six. He left the Church partly due to an extramarital affair. He didn’t pretend he wasn’t human and wasn’t ashamed of his vices—whether they be sex, alcohol, acid, partying on his houseboat, or all the above.The main reason why Alan Watts is and will be the leading philosopher of the 21st century is that he clearly embodied everything he taught, and in doing so, wholeheartedly engaged in and enjoyed life.

Don't Be So Serious

To know that you can do nothing is the beginning. Lesson One is: “I Give Up”… What happens now? You find yourself in what is perhaps a rather unfamiliar state of mind.” Just watching. Not trying to get anything. Not expecting anything. Not seeking. Just trying to relax. Just watching, without purpose.

Lesson #1: On The Meaning of Life

Get rid of knowledge; eject wisdom, and the people will be benefited a hundred-fold

How can you understand the universe when you are a part of it? How can you discover the meaning of life through intellect alone? How can you bite your own teeth or eat your own mouth? Although seemingly obvious and even foolish, Watt’s believed such questions were key to really realizing how much we don’t know.Overlooking such points when trying to understand life leads to an endless cycle of questioning, figuring out, problem-solving, and, ultimately, the only logical conclusion there is: that the universe is meaningless.

The Paradox Of Life

If the universe is meaningless, so is the statement that it is so. If this world is a vicious trap, so is its accuser, and the pot is calling the kettle black.

You can’t make sense of the universe through problem-solving. You can’t find the meaning of life through thought alone. Problem-solving is a function of the universe. Your thoughts are one small expression of life.From the beginning, the question was flawed. But more than that, trying to discover an answer or reason for existence, life, the universe, etc., as if you, the questioner, were separate from existence, life, the universe, will only serve to get you further away from finding what you’re looking for.

Thinking Isn't Everything

One can only attempt a rational, descriptive philosophy of the universe on the assumption that one is totally separate from it. But if you and your thoughts are part of this universe, you cannot stand outside them to describe them. This is why all philosophical and theological systems must ultimately fall apart. To “know” reality you cannot stand outside it and define it; you must enter into it, be it, and feel it

You Are Part Of The Whole

To be secure means to isolate and fortify the “I”, but it is just the feeling of being an isolated “I” which makes me feel lonely and afraid. In other words, the more security I can get, the more I shall want”.The desire for security and the feeling of insecurity are the same thing. To hold your breath is to lose your breath.

Lesson #2: On Uncertainty & Insecurity

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.

Religions are divisive and quarrelsome. They are a form of one-upmanship because they depend upon separating the “saved” from the “damned,” the true believers from the heretics, the in-group from the out-group. . . . All belief is fervent hope, and thus a cover-up for doubt and uncertainty.The problem that besets any doctrine or set of ideas that supposedly holds “The Truth” is that it is based on believing that something is true, as opposed to knowing something is true for yourself.

Lesson #3: On Religion & Faith

Believing in some other entity that has divine power or will to save you from your sins can also cause you to close off from life and avoid its harsh truths — uncertainty, impermanence, death, change.Paradoxically, embracing such realities is essential for freedom and the basis of understanding any religion.

The Harsh Truth Of Life

In the West, “nature” is something that’s equated with the countryside or the mountains — a place that is wild and out there.Nature is thus something you enjoy from the safety of your couch via a David Attenborough documentary or when you finally get out of the city on the weekend.This divide between our daily life and the natural world has grown so much that most of us don’t know where the food we eat every day comes from and feel out of place in the silence and vastness of open, cementless spaces.

Lesson #4: On Taoism & Nature

In Chinese, the word for nature is ziran, which means “self so”, or “so of itself”. Ziran doesn’t mean green pastures over yonder. There is no word to distinguish between “us” and “nature” in Chinese. It means a spontaneous process that happens in and of itself.This notion of ziran — the natural, spontaneous process of life — is the basis of the principle of “Tao”. The Chinese philosophy based around living in accordance with the Tao, and that is attributed to the person (or likely persons) Lao Tzu, is called Toaism.

Ziran: Nature Defined In Chinese

The past and the present are real illusions, that they exist only in the present, which is what there is and all that there is. From one point of view, the present is shorter than a microsecond. From another, it embraces all eternity. But there isn’t anywhere, or anywhen, else to be.<ul><li>To understand music, you must listen to it. But so long as you are thinking, “I am listening to this music,” you are not listening. </li><li>To understand joy or fear, you must be wholly and undividedly aware of it. So long as you are saying, “I am happy,” or “I am afraid,” you are not being aware of it.</li></ul>

Lesson #5: On the Present Moment

Lessons on life, belief, religion and nature.

The lessons of Alan Watts are key to addressing the greatest challenges of our age, from understanding the meaning of life to finding the present moment.

Alan Watts on The 5 Most Important Lessons of The 21st Century

The thing that stops you from doing things rationally and productively is FEAR i.e holding back your good actions due to its negative sides

By Conquering FEAR 

<ul><li>Knowing possibilty of actions you re going to do is good i.e.knowing pros and cons.</li><li>But problem starts when people start acknowledging bad effects more rather than good side.</li><li>People fear from downside or negative effects of their action that MAY happen.</li><li>Even if it have a very less possibility to occur.</li></ul>This stops them from indulging in the to-do work right now .So STOP fearing and take ACTION

What People Fear

<ul><li>By remembering bad memories or overthinking about something can stress out the brain and you will not be able to focus on the present task completely. </li><li>Just focus on what to do next after completing a part of task you are assigned to.</li></ul>Stop OVERTHINKING.

Get Rid Of Your PAST Thoughts

<ul><li>Some people plan things but don't follow and some follow to extent & start slacking off and there are few that properly follows(having strict routine & full mind and body control).</li><li>Due to majority of people not able to plan ,they don't know that planning can help them reach their aim fast comparing those without plans.</li><li>If you're those having problem in making plans-</li></ul><ol><li>Start by making a ROUGH plan having your AIM.</li><li>Simple but effective STEPS like-reducing addiction that wastes most of your time.</li><li>SCHEDULE your work.</li></ol>You can modify,add in above as per your need.PLAN tasks and follow

Not Having Even A ROUGH Plan 

<ul><li>You can't do your work productively when frustrated or having confusing thoughts.</li><li>Sometimes you're just physically exhausted , so to overcome this take a break by-</li></ul>Taking a WALK in open surrounding , eating your FAVOURITE FOOD refreshing, TALKING TO A FRIEND can ease your tension very much.

Take A Walk, Eat Favourite Food, And Talk With A Friend

"FOCUS ON BEING PRODUCTIVE INSTEAD OF BEING BUSY"

"PRODUCTIVITY" can be achieved. By following these anyone will be able to be productive ANYTIME they want.

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

#meaning

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IDEAS ABOUT #meaning

Getting the Easy Stuff Right | No Mercy / No Malice

The difference between habits, routines and rituals

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

The Art of Work

Alan Watts on The 5 Most Important Lessons of The 21st Century

How can be "PRODUCTIVE" anytime?

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

#meaning

TOP STASHERS

IDEAS ABOUT #meaning

Getting the Easy Stuff Right | No Mercy / No Malice

The difference between habits, routines and rituals

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

The Art of Work

Alan Watts on The 5 Most Important Lessons of The 21st Century

How can be "PRODUCTIVE" anytime?

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career