MindSnack Ep. 21

How To Stay Miserable, Don't be a jerk to yourself.

October 18, 2024

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Snack Shelf

💡 Why Happiness Isn’t the Best Indicator of Well-Being 💡

Happiness is fleeting and subjective, making it an unreliable measure of well-being. Instead, true fulfillment comes from achieving values, growth, and pursuing goals that matter in life. 📈 Wealth and material progress can provide comfort, but the real satisfaction comes from meaningful relationships, personal achievements, and self-actualization. 🧠 The key takeaway: well-being is not about feeling good all the time but about living a life filled with purpose and value. Being happy all the time is impossible but when you have a goal worth looking at every day, happiness comes more frequently.

😟 The Guide to Being Miserable 😟 by Mark Manson

Want to master the art of misery? Here’s a sarcastic guide on how to stay unhappy:

  1. Focus on What Sucks – No matter how good life gets, always find the negative.

  2. Be a Victim – Never take responsibility. Blame everything and everyone.

  3. Nobody Understands You – Believe you’re the only one going through hardship.

  4. Argue About Everything – Make sure to explain how everyone else is wrong.

  5. Be Spiteful – Generalize people and stay angry, without ever doing anything about it.

Misery keeps you in a comfortable bubble where you never have to change, take responsibility, or face your fears. 🌀—- If you have any of these traits, start by changing them.

Read the full piece here: The Guide to Being Miserable

🚀 How to Autoregulate Your Habits by Leo Babauta 🚀

Starting a new habit? Most people make the mistake of going too hard, too soon, setting themselves up for burnout. Instead, try Autoregulation—a flexible, self-adjusting method for long-term success.

Here’s how to autoregulate your habits:

  1. Start Small: Begin with a manageable version of your habit (e.g., 15 minutes of exercise or waking 5 minutes earlier).

  2. Increase Gradually: Add a little more each day if successful.

  3. Adjust if Needed: If you miss a day, scale back slightly, but don’t see it as failure.

  4. Rest as Needed: Take breaks when you're stressed or tired, and return with a smaller goal.

This method helps you adapt based on your daily energy and capacity, increasing or decreasing the habit as needed for long-term sustainability.

🌱 Slow, steady growth = lasting change.

Read more about it here: How to Autoregulate Your Habits

💡 Be Kind to Yourself! 💡

Dan Harris talks about the surprising power of self-compassion! 🧘‍♂️ Instead of being overly self-critical, treat yourself with kindness to reduce stress, boost productivity, and improve well-being. It’s all about being your own best friend! 😊

Wisdom Bite

This graphic is a reminder that in life, there are only two things you can truly control: your attitude and your actions. Everything else, like external circumstances, people's opinions, or random events, are outside of your control. When you focus on managing your mindset and how you respond to situations, you'll have more power over your well-being. Let go of trying to control things you can’t, and instead, direct your energy toward what’s within your grasp.

Quote Of The Day

"Focus on what you can control—your attitude and actions. Everything else is just noise."