Post written by Leo Babauta.

How much of your stress, frustration, disappointment, anger, irritation, pissed-offedness comes from one little thing?

Almost all of it comes from your expectations, and when things (inevitably) don’t turn out as we expect, from wishing things were different.

We build these expectations in our heads of what other people should do, what our lives should be like, how other drivers should behave … and yet it’s all fantasy. It’s not real.

And when reality doesn’t meet our fantasy, we wish the world were different.

Here’s a simple solution:

Take your expectations, and throw them in the ocean. Read the rest of this entry »

Guest post by Joe Wilner from www.shakeoffthegrind.com.

What if life was an open canvas where you were free to create a stunning vision and express yourself fully?

One of the most empowering ways to view life is as a creation that we are free to mold and shape as we desire.

We all have behaviors, circumstances, and past experiences we want to surmount and would change if we could. However, we don’t have to be restricted by past mistakes or the baggage we have carried in our life.

For some reason we get scared and hesitant about changing our lifestyle, or we believe we don’t deserve or couldn’t handle a more significant life. We have the capability to develop a life that makes an impression and that we’re proud of.

Begin uncovering Read the rest of this entry »

It might be impossible (and even undesirable) to avoid the responsibilities of life, but how we choose to view the world that we live in can mean the difference between a life filled with happiness, optimism and enthusiasm and one that is laden with misery and depression.  When things begin to feel a bit lackluster Read the rest of this entry »

This blog post directly ties to the story I am sharing this week in my eZine.  I am raising money for the Relay for Life of Altadena to benefit the American Cancer Society and the wonderful work they are doing to help cancer survivors and their caregivers.

Why “my story” is important is that it is the reason I have become a huge advocate of helping those with cancer and also funding research to finding a cure in our lifetime.  Read the rest of this entry »

Guest Post written by Leo Babauta.

It was only a couple years ago that I was completely focused on goals … and I accomplished a lot by setting and working on goals.

I ran several marathons, lost a lot of weight, got out of debt, started a fairly successful blog … the list of goals I achieved is long. These days, for more than a year now, I’ve pretty much given up on goals, though I’m still learning how that works.

The question most people have is: how do you achieve anything without goals? Read the rest of this entry »

This past weekend I had the opportunity to hear Kathy Ireland speak at a marketing conference in Chicago.  Just before she was scheduled to be on, I was headed to the restroom and ran into her.  She smiled brightly and said “hello” – like we were old friends just running into each other.  I returned the smile and greeting – not putting it together fast enough that it was Kathy Ireland I was talking to.  Living in Los Angeles, this happens to me often.  I see someone I recognize and then after the moment has passed I realize that they are some sort of celebrity I’d seen in a movie or on TV.  Duh!

Anyway, Kathy Ireland soon took the stage and shared her story.  She talked about how she leveraged her super-model career into a $1.4 billion empire by creating Read the rest of this entry »

‘Men must live and create. Live to the point of tears.’ ~Albert Camus

Post written by Leo Babauta.

It’s amazing how many people I talk to who tell me they want to create a new blog, write a book, start a new business, change careers, make something new.

But they keep putting it off.

Does that sound familiar? Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a photo on the wall in a restaurant near the Grand Canyon. It shows a rubber pontoon raft in the middle of a rapid on the Colorado River in the Canyon. It’s in the process of flipping over, and inside are a bunch of folks about to go for a swim. This is not the photo, but it looks something like this.

I’ve had the opportunity to go on a number of rafting trips down the canyon because one of my best  friends is Brian Hansen, who has been leading river trips down the Canyon for 30 years.

Brian is one of the coolest cats I know. You have to be pretty steady to drive a rubber boat filled with passengers of all ages into a monster rapid such as Lava Falls, one of the biggest rapids on the river. A lot of things can go wrong, not just on the river, but on land as well. Brian recently told me about one of the most severe situations he’s had to deal with down in the Canyon.

It was a calm, placid day in the Canyon, and Brian and his river rafting passengers were camped out on a beach on the river. Suddenly it started to Read the rest of this entry »

When I moved into my current house, four years ago, I was still riding the remodeling high I had been on for 6 months.  My cousin and I had torn up my old home – refinishing the hard wood floors, previously covered by wall-to-wall carpet, remodeling the kitchen, etc.  The living room, dining room and bathroom were freshly decorated, thanks to the show “Designed to Sell.”*   I sold the house within a week of its being listed.  It was awesome to finally have a perfect house, but I only enjoyed it for 2 weeks due to the closing date and business travel.

So, I moved into my “new” house with yet another outdated kitchen and white walls in every room.  I was NOT going to live in a house for another 8 years in these conditions.  I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.  To save money on the kitchen remodel, I did all of the painting and cabinet refinishing.  I painted the living room, dining room, den and bathroom; however, at some point pure exhaustion or a need to just unpack my life Read the rest of this entry »