On July 20th, 2017, Chester Bennington died by suicide. He was 41 years old. You may not know who Chester is, but you might recognize this picture:
It’s a bit old, here’s a more recent one with his friend Mike:
He was my friend too. Chester wasn’t the kind of friend you could call on a Thursday and grab a coffee with. No, he wasn’t like that.
But whenever you needed him, Chester would sing for you.
Read MoreNone of these cost much. Most of them don’t cost anything at all.
That’s what morning rituals are for. Forget productivity. It’s about looking forward to the dawn of a new day. Have your coffee. Do your yoga. Read. Whatever makes you excited for your feet to touch the ground when you wake up.
Love your mornings, love your life.
People always ask about the smartest person in the room, but what we never talk about is: What room for Pete’s sake?
How you find out who’s the smartest highly depends on the kind of room you’re in.
If it’s this kind of room…
…well, you’ll know pretty soon. Same goes for this room:
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My sister has one of those wall art stickers in her room at our parents’ house. It’s a quote from Kurt Tucholsky:
“The advantage of wisdom is that you can play dumb. The opposite is more difficult.” — Kurt Tucholsky
If you’re reading this, I can tell that you’re smart already. Dumb people don’t read. At best, they read TMZ. But not blogs like this one.
This gift, however — the ability to play dumb — I think we’re not using often enough. And not quite the right way. Here’s an example where feinting stupidity really helps. Not to get out of an unpleasant situation. But to be a better person.
When you meet someone new and they start talking about a topic you know everything about, let them finish.
One of my favorite quotes is this:
“If you want to be an anomaly, you have to act like one.” — Gary Vaynerchuk
I get it. If you want to live a 1% life, you’ll have to be a 1% person. And that means wherever you go, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb in one way or another.
But recently, I’m trying to argue the opposite side, especially for some of my favorite things. I think for this quote, it means that while the end result is being an anomaly, the way to get there might not be as unconventional as we think.
Read MoreOnce a day, just once, let go of whatever you’re doing, both mentally and physically.
Step back or lean back in your chair, take a deep breath and then…
Look up.
You’ve just died. You only have one chance at resurrection if you can beat God at a game of your choice. What game would you choose?
Me? Well…
*Le me walks in the door*
Me: “Wooooooooow, nice office dude! The rent for this place must be insane.”
God: “It is – 18 infinities each month. Ha!”
Me: “Well played Sir!” *makes hats off gesture*
God: “So Nik, as you might’ve noticed from glancing at that massive hourglass in the corner – which cost another 12 infinities, btw – your time on earth is up. Sorry!”
Me: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
God: “However, you get ONE shot at resurrection. All you have to do is beat me in a game of your choosing. You can pick whatever game you want. You can even make up your o…”
Me: “Chess.”
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I’m a very positive guy. I never lose hope. I’m optimistic all the time.
So when I get a question like…
I’m driving myself to insanity with over-thinking, self-analysis, self-doubt, self-loathing, internal misery and zero action. What the heck can I do to completely change my brain and actually enjoy my life?
…it’s hard for me to come up with a good answer based on experience.
However, I believe hard questions force us to come up with better answers, so I kicked empathy into high gear and gave this one a go.
Read MoreOn January 21st, 2016, my uncle Martin did something that changed me forever. At 7 AM, he woke up, walked to the bathroom, went to the toilet and then back to sleep.
He never woke up again. At 52 years old, he died peacefully in his sleep. No pain, no heart problems detected. He had lost 60 lbs the year before and was in better shape than ever.
Seneca said that “life is long, if you know how to use it.” But sometimes life truly is short. Not everyone gets the time they may deserve.
Since I didn’t know how to deal with his death, I did what I always do to process things: I wrote.
One of the saddest things in life is that often, it takes a tragedy to pierce our clouded vision. In his case, I could only now see stark and clear two powerful lessons from how he lived his life:
Read MoreUnderrated things are, by definition, hard to see. So I think the best thing you can do to become more grateful is to get better at noticing. As a writer, I notice things for a living.
Here are some I found. I usually try to include as many pictures as possible, but in this case, I think it’s better if you take a second to imagine each one in your own life and see how it makes you feel.
The beauty of finding joy and gratitude in such simple things is that you don’t have to go to great lengths to find them elsewhere.
Where others need a house, you need a room. Where others need champagne, you need water. Where others need more, you need less.
And needing less is underrated.
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.” — Albert Einstein