(2016-01-08) Manson Your Goals Are Overrated

Mark Manson: Your Goals Are Overrated. Some habits are better than other habits because some habits, once acquired, make other positive habits much easier to acquire as well. For instance, quitting smoking is hard. But some data suggests that taking up some form of exercise such as jogging or biking can make it easier for someone to quit (probably because they’re hacking up a lung the whole time). These are sometimes referred to as “keystone habits.” They are habits that, once adopted, will reverberate into other areas of your life, which makes acquiring other desirable habits more natural and require less effort.

you could say that different habits have higher or lower interest rates,

On the other hand, a habit like lifting weights has an extremely high rate of return. Getting stronger will make you more fit, give you more energy, increase your focus and mental performance, reduce effects of aging, raise your metabolism and help your body process food better, and so on

Pick a habit you want to adopt and then do it every day for 30 days

So screw New Year’s resolutions. I say adopt new month’s resolutions

The Six Fundamental Daily Habits

1. Exercise

exercise is an 80/20 deal — ie., 80% of the benefits result from 20% of the effort. Something as simple as brisk walking 30 minutes per day has been shown to give vast health improvements and trigger weight loss

do some really basic exercises each day

2. Cooking

most of the benefits don’t come from the act of cooking itself, rather they come from the ability to control exactly what and how much you eat.

Eating well, much like exercise, sweeps the board in terms of health and lifestyle benefits: better energy, better cardiovascular health, lower risk of obesity, diabetes, various cancers, heart disease and other bad things that kill you, more energy, more focus, better moods (goodbye sugar highs and crashes), better sleep and sex life

3. Meditation

Even as little as one minute per day can show benefits.

But truth be told, despite what you would think, it’s incredibly hard to sit on a pillow and think about nothing for more than a few seconds

Therefore, I often recommend people find a local group or class.

4. Reading

When developing a reading habit, start with what seems easy and exciting to you, then slowly branch out. Here’s another reading tip: if you aren’t enjoying a book, stop reading it.

5. Writing (Daily Writing)

The point here is to develop a consistent habit of 1) uninhibited self-expression and 2) practice formulating your thoughts in a highly coherent way so that others may understand them. Start with 30 days.

Easiest way here is to start a journal.

6. Socializing

talk to a different friend every single day. Whether it be on Facebook or Skype or in person or on the phone, I’d make a point to chat with someone different every day. Now, I don’t mean just bullshitty Facebook chatter. I mean genuine, “Hey man, what’s been going on with you lately? How have things been?” followed by a couple, “Oh, that’s cool, tell me about that,” and finally finished off with a, “We should get together soon, what are you doing next week?” for good measure. It would take maybe 15-20 minutes at most.