Words to Live By

I enjoy Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project blog so much.  It's a treasure trove of practical, effective ways to be a better/happier person.  One of my favorite suggestions of hers is to write out your own  "Secrets of Adulthood".   I started a list a while back, forgot about it, returned to it and am amazed at how effective my list is when I keep it fresh in my mind. (I also read about how mantras like these can help make long-lasting behavioral changes in How to Want What You Have).  I made my own list,opting to keep the sayings short, hoping I would recall them more easily and frequently (a few of them are from Rubin's list, although she stated that she got many of hers from other sources). 

1.  Be decisive, even if it means making a mistake.
2.  If you are dying to vent it to someone, wait. 
3.  Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.*
4.  What you do EVERY DAY matters more than what you do every once in a while.
5.  By doing a little bit each day, you can get a lot accomplished.
6.  Get outside and move.
7.  You don't HAVE to freak out.
8.  Fake it til you make it.
9.  Try a ten minute jumpstart if you are putting something off.
10.  Listen more and steer less.
11.  Everybody has a hungry heart. 
12.  Assume the Best.
13.  If you think you probably shouldn't say it, don't.
14.  Say what you want instead of what you don't (or closely related in Rubin's own list:  Identify the Problem).
15. If you want to feel good, do good.
16.   It ISN'T all about you.
17.  Part of it/ (Grandpa Kenneth quote.  I used to be annoyed by it, viewing it as overly pessimistic, now I see it as really buddhist of him.  :))
18.  If you can't get out of it, get into it.
19.  "Should have" makes the problem worse.
20.  Most of the time, go to bed early and get up early.
21.  Show lots of affection.
22.  Take 15 minutes the night before preparing for the next day.
23.  You have Today.


Runner-up:  Words Matter.
*To go along with number 3, I love Michael J. Fox's quote:
“My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.”

I just found this list (Eric Zorn's 50 Things I've Learned in 50 Years) and it is great.  My favorites:

*The most valuable thing to have is a good reputation, and it’s neither hard nor expensive to acquire one: Be fair. Be honest. Be trustworthy. Be generous. Respect others.

* Don’t waste your breath proclaiming what’s really important to you. How you spend your time says it all.

* Fear of failure is a ticket to mediocrity. If you’re not failing from time to time, you’re not pushing yourself. And if you’re not pushing yourself, you’re coasting.

* If you’re in a conversation and you’re not asking questions, then it’s not a conversation, it’s a monologue.

* Two cheap, easy self-improvement projects: Develop a strong handshake and start smiling when you answer the phone

* Exercise does not take time. Exercise creates time.

* Almost no one stretches, flosses or gives compliments often enough.

* Whatever your passion, pursue it as though your days were numbered. Because they are.

* The Golden Rule is the greatest moral truth. If you don’t believe in it, at least try to fake it.