Leo Babauta: 38 life lessons that I have learned in 38 years

In that wisdom comes with time, no doubt. And what we learn is still predominantly from their mistakes, and not on others - too. Still, there is always a little hope to refute all these ancient folk wisdom and prove that we still can do something right - for example, to learn from others in its wisdom not age. Err sometimes useful, especially when the correction of these errors the most positive experience brings a new and opens your eyes to a few things.

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On Lifehacker.ru has not once appeared a brief translation of some posts Leo Babauta - blog author Zenhabits and books on correcting our imperfect life :).

April 30, Leo turned 38 years old and he decided to take a quick and quite an interesting result - a lesson for one year. Literal translation and a little shortened, so do not judge strictly.

Lesson №1. Always try to get over your pride and apologize. You blundered and apologize prevents your pride - and this affects relationships and people.

Lesson №2. Property (things, jewelry, appliances, etc.) not only makes life difficult, and sometimes makes it unbearable.

It adds no real value to us in life, but it cost us a lot. We spend it not only money but also time and more money spent while shopping. We are worried about him, care, fix it, etc.

Lesson №3. Do not hurry. Haste is not always good. Better to enjoy a leisurely life.

Lesson №4. Goals - not the most important thing in life. Try to work without a clear goal and a week... nothing bad will happen. You might even discover something new and interesting for yourself. Do not limit yourself to the narrow limits, allow yourself to run in different directions.

Lesson №5. Live here and now. Past and future do not exist - it is in our minds and distracting from the most important moment - NOW. Focus on what you are doing at that particular moment. Thus, any activity can become a meditation.

Lesson №6. When your children ask for your attention, do not deny them. Give them your full attention and be thankful that they are close to you and love you rather than get angry at the fact that they distract you.

Lesson №7. Do not go into debt. This applies to all types of credit. We think that they are vital and without them can not do. In fact, they add more worries and headaches, destroy lives and give much less than we pay for them. Live capability, but for himself into credit slavery without extreme need.

Lesson №8. I'm not cool, and I'm not worried because of this. Being young, I spent a lot of time and effort in order to be or to appear cool. Much nicer to forget about it and be yourself.

Lesson №9. The only type of marketing that you need - this is an amazing product. If your product really is unique, people will talk about it around the world.

Lesson №10. Never send by e-mail or in a purely personal message. In our digital age you never know what might slip into the public eye.

Lesson №11. You can not motivate people. The best thing you can hope for - is to inspire them by their actions. People who think they can control the behavior of people with the help of special methods of management and other "behavioral" sciences have spent little time "on the other side."

Lesson №12. If you realize that swim in the pool together with other fish, find another way. They also do not know where to go.

Lesson №13. You missed a lot, but it's nothing to worry about. We're trying so hard to have time to try everything, go everywhere, do not miss... that we forget the simple fact - we do not have time to try everything. And this physical reality - we will miss very much. The whole secret is that life is much better when we do not try to do everything. Learn to enjoy those pieces of life that you have, and it will be fine.

Lesson №14. Error - the best way to learn. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. Just try not to repeat some of them too often.

Lesson №15. Failures - is a step towards success. Without failure, we could not succeed. It is better to do and be wrong, than to be afraid to make mistakes and as a result of doing nothing.

Lesson №16. Rest is much more important than you think. People work too much and forget about the normal rest. As a result, they begin to hate their job. The brain, like muscles, need rest. After him, we become even stronger.

Lesson №17. There are few pleasures that combine a good book, a good walk, good arms and good friend - they are all free.

Lesson №18. Improving physical forms does not occur at the same instant. All this is a long process, during which you will learn about your body a lot.

Lesson №19. Purpose - it is only a tiny segment of life. We are all so excited about our goals, our future that miss all interesting in their way. If you have to worry only about achieving a certain goal, then you do not get pleasure from her accomplishments. Because then you immediately start thinking about the next goal and the means to achieve it.

Lesson №20. A good walk cures most problems. Want to lose weight and get fit? Walk. Do you want to enjoy life while spending as little as possible? Walk. Do you want to meditate and enjoy the moment, "here and now"? Walk. Problems in life or at work? Walk and your mind clears.

Lesson №21. Let go of expectations. Take life as it is and try to enjoy it. Not fit into its framework and expectations of things and people.

Lesson №22. Giving is much more pleasant than to receive. we often donate something or do, expecting something in return. Release it and learn how to give simple - it's much nicer.

Lesson №23. Competition is rarely helpful as well as cooperation. In our society we decided to tear each other's throats for the prize. In fact, much more productive cooperation. Only through the cooperation of humanity survived and made so many discoveries.

Lesson №24. Thanks - one of the best ways to get satisfaction. Very often we are dissatisfied with our lives and want more, it is not appreciating what we have. Be grateful every day for what you have, and learn to appreciate it.

Lesson №25. Compassion for other living beings is much more important than pleasure. Vegetarians will understand this point. Those who are hard to give up meat, can safely ignore it.

Lesson №26. Taste preferences vary. I thought that I could never give up meat, sweets and other food is not very useful. Today, I would prefer the meat sweet berries or nuts. It's amazing, but our taste preferences are very change over time.

Lesson №27. Create. The world is quite a lot of fun, but the most important of them - this creation.

Lesson №28. Look forward slightly. When we lose our perspective, we are upset or worried. In the larger picture, this problem is negligible. Release it and move on.

Lesson №29. Do not sit too much - it will kill you. Move, play, dance, run.

Lesson №30. Use the magic of compound interest. Invest in creating something new, spend little, not vlazte in loans, save all you can and invest.

Lesson №31. Everything we were taught in school, and all that we see in the media - all this world, to which we must conform to that imposed on us by means of advertising, shows, etc. Look for your way.

Lesson №32. Learn the art of empathy. Life will be much better if you learn to understand people and not judge them superficially.

Lesson №33. Do less. Most people are trying to get done as much as possible, make lists, etc. Highlight the most important and focus on its implementation. Do it with love.

Lesson №34. Nobody knows better what they are doing than their parents. Try not to impose their point of view of children. Guide them, advise them, but not impose. Show them your support and love.

Lesson №35. Love has many flavors. I love my children, I love so much, never before and could not imagine such a thing. I love each of his, and I know that each of them is perfect... also on the.

Lesson №36. Life is very short. You may feel that there is still a lot of time, but it will fly past you at breakneck speed. You do not have time to look back, as your children grow and they will have their own life. Appreciate every moment, every moment.

Lesson №37. Do not let fear stop you. Doubts will try to stop you. You do not do something great, skip the fascinating journey, not create beautiful things. And all this because of fear and doubt. Be aware of your fears, fight with them and live in full force.

Lesson №38. I have many things that need to learn. If I learned, so I did not learn anything. There is still a lot of interesting life lessons, and I'm waiting for them to look!

I want to remind you that it is one man's opinion, he put in these words his vision of life and you can be a thousand times disagree with him. But I think that everyone will find something close and important... or at least to transform some of the items and take note.