Finding Time To Meditate
Meditated twice this week.
Each session lasted for 10-minutes (before going to work).
Did I feel any different? No.
Minimum dosage is 10 consecutive days. But two is better than zero so I would still consider last week a ‘progress’.
Exercise for 2-Minutes
I was able to do this almost every day (except Friday and Saturday).
Why? I think I caught the flu everyone’s getting. No fever so far, just a little sore throat. But my throat is sore for almost a week now. All I’m saying is I’m not at my 100%. I feel lazy but I try (hard) not to use my sore throat as an excuse to avoid doing my quick-wake-up workout.
Next week, I’m going to change the ‘set’ to do a total of 70-jumping jacks, 20-reps push-ups, and 20-air squats.
Why I Buy Books
I just finished reading a book about the subtle art of not giving a f*ck (read blog version here). It was a good read. But just like what the book’s subtitle says, the ideas were ‘counter-intuitive’.
There were a lot of things the author wrote that I disagree with. But despite that disagreement, I kept reading. I wanna be open to the author’s views and not dismiss everything. But this also doesn’t mean I didn’t learn a thing or two.
Most of the time, I agreed with what the author said. But ‘agreement’ doesn’t give me anything other than confirmation of things I already learned (from other authors) and from personal experience.
I read books to learn something new. Seeking agreement makes me feel like I’m trying to prove to myself or to others I’m right. And It feels f*ckin great to be right -to slap to everyone’s faces they were wrong. But that also makes me feel egotistical. And so I try to avoid seeking other people’s approval as much as I can.
Going back to the book, I wouldn’t consider it to be ‘good’ because I didn’t learn anything new (well, not much). But that doesn’t mean the book is bad either. It was OK (for me). For others who are going through some existential crisis, this is an excellent book! But I found better books on dealing with the existential crisis: Tuesdays With Morrie and Man’s Search for Meaning (more on that on a future blog).
Books are like mirrors that show our current values, principles, and belief in life. That said, books we read in the past show a history of the phases we’ve already gone through in life. It shows us how we’re growing as an individual. I chose “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” because I cared about “other people’s” view of me (as an employee). And when I say ‘other people’, I’m talking about people who can influence the course my career. I’m currently going through a career transition and I needed fresh perspectives to support my career decisions.
Everything is good (for now).
I bought a new book: Principles by Ray Dalio, to upgrade my current mindset/principles/values before I take on my new (career) journey.
If there was a book that totally changed or challenged your existing values/beliefs/principles, which is it?