Cool Tools has a series called “What’s in my…” and the current list is by yours truly. Regular readers of the blog will find much of it familiar. It begins with a brief bio:
My “bag” contains things I wish I had known when I was younger.
Early is important. Tom Gilb’s one-word rule has consistently proved invaluable.
Set and achieve goals. Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People helped me through a bad case of burnout when I applied the book’s ideas. I also once found John Crystal’s Where Do I Go From Here With My Life? helpful.
Make tasks enjoyable. When a task is enjoyable, you don’t have to push yourself to do it. Spend some thought, effort, and even money to make necessary tasks enjoyable, particularly tasks done repeatedly, like exercise or cooking. To make walking enjoyable I tried distraction (audiobooks, music) but then decided to make the walk enjoyable in itself. For me, that solution was Nordic walking.
Shaving was once a boring, tedious, hateful chore, so for decades I had a beard. Then I decided to make shaving enjoyable, a great way to start each day, and nowadays I am clean-shaven. My guide explains how I did it; the basics are in this post.
Find pleasure in learning new skills. Learning is a common task, particularly learning new skills. Early stages can . . .