To my future child,
Over the years I have collected a lot of advices and kept the ones that are quite useful. Here are some simple rules so you can navigate the boring stuff of life and enjoy the less boring parts of it.
I hope that they will help you and that you may add some more to them, pass them along so people you care about will enjoy life with you, because a life in solitary and with no one to share what you know with, is a life not well lived.
Start to practice NVC (Non violent communication). The NVC process consists of 4 items 1. Observe 2. Feel 3. Identify needs 4. Make a request
Always keep in mind that when you are trying to help there is a possibility that you are causing more harm.
Start running or biking or swimming or any other form of exercise where your heart rate is in the aerobic zone. Consider investing time into the Maffetone Method .
When you talk to someone, be precise in how you articulate yourself. Observe the actions of what you want to say. For instance Peter is sitting in the chair, is an observation. Peter is lazy cause he is sitting in the chair is an evaluation. We are criticizing instead of just observing.
Usually a swan is white, but once in a while a black swan comes along . This holds true for the animal but also for our society. A black swan event is a major event that changes society and the way we think about the world.
Meditation is a lot of things. The simplest of all is to just focus on breathing and listen to it.
Limit the notifications on your computer or phone to the ones you need. Plan chunks of time where do not disturb is enabled.
If you want to create something that will last for a long time, target something that will work today and would have worked also 30 years ago.
Find your mission and stick to it. That might be creating a family or any other cause. Pick one and make it your main focus. There are also other things that you will encounter around your mission, evaluate them but don't go down the rabbit hole.
When you struggle to be creative or come up with a new concept try this: Don't be afraid of failure, it can happen, it is natural to happen a lot of times but don’t let it paralyze you. Every once in a while try something new. Go on this new hiking route, take a different route with the bus, add some randomness to your routine. Lastly get off the path of the least resistance. Our brain is very energy efficient, it will try to connect the dots on things we already know. True creativity lies when we do stuff that are initially hard and then get easier with time. All things you can do now once were difficult.