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Something I’ve noticed… No matter how “life changing” something is supposed to be, the best case scenario is that it makes a small, marginal difference in the right direction.
I think when we hype things up, we tend to be disappointed when it didn’t completely change things. But I think we can shift our perspective and notice how the small changes add up over time.
There are so many things I've learned over the past couple of years, particularly from playing chess, reading LOTR, going to an Alpha course, listening to more health podcasts, and spending time in deep discussions with mentors and close friends.
Maybe at some point I'll go into detail about each of those, but for now, here are some simple mentalities and practices that have made marginal differences for me.
  • Be known as someone who’s willing to learn, not someone who is smart or right
  • Go slow, don’t rush
    • In music, “stay behind the beat” - rushing is the first sign of musical immaturity
    • In chess and strategy, “make slow, developing moves” - this is often better than trying to play a counter gambit, and it’s better for your own learning in the long term.
    • Don’t ever let yourself be in a hurry
      • There’s a time and a place for everything, but try to reserve hurry for truly urgent situations
  • Spend 20 minutes in the sun at the beginning of the day
  • Stop “holding on for the next Rivendell” and find meaning in the dark part of the journey
  • Ruthlessly search for points of agreement when you’re arguing or debating with someone
  • Love only feels genuine when you are known. LISTEN.
  • Think of your mental or emotional struggle like it's a fictional story, write the metaphorical solution, and transpose it back to a logical solution IRL
  • TODO: take a 20-60 minute nap at least 3 times a week
  • TODO: spend the first 20 minutes of your day in the sun
  • TODO: spend 5 minutes per day with your bare feet in the grass
this territory is moderated
It is very true what you say, those little things, moments and people that, although insignificant for many, make a difference in a day, a week, a year and to which we must give value every day.
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Great post. This is something I have been working on. For me, the incremental changes have been the sustainable ones.
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ooooo, that's a really great way to think about it
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a big part of micro-economics is marginal benefit/cost
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Hi frostdragon - I am fairly new here, and don't spend a lot of time here, but that may change... I just wanted to say that I like this post and find some of your thoughts resonating with me...and I often find myself thinking back to the concept of the Uncarved Block which I first came across when I was supposed to read and write something about the book "The Tao of Pooh." Well I didn't write anything about it but I did read and have often felt this concept of simply being what one is, natural and whole, is really quite a difficult state of mind to grasp let alone to project - and yet it has always struck me as a worthwhile state of being to be in as much as possible....
Your comments on slowing down, developing moves, finding meaning in the dark parts of the journey....these feel like closely related flows...
Anyway - just thought I would say HI and thank you for your post - it helped me remember the littlest things often have large effects that we never notice.
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Welcome! Glad to have provoked some good thoughts. I also don’t spend a ton of time here, really only when I feel like I have something to say that I think might be useful, so I’m glad it was! I’ll have to add that book to the queue.
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Glad you're back!
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This article is very nice... I think that in life we ​​can identify moments in which you should give yourself the full enjoyment of your thoughts... and it can be at the beginning of the day while you drink your coffee... personally I love coffee. And it is also very important to organize your day with a blackboard. It is great, it helps you personally and if you apply it at the family group level, it is very good... more than putting your feet on the grass, I would like to put your feet on the sand. beaches of my native Venezuela.. that and the smell of the sea give me incredible tranquility and fulfillment.. 😎
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Frost dragon, you are back. I agree with you on everything, slow progress makes lots of progress if you keep at it.
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @BTCFC 13 Jun
Awesome post!
If I may add alternatives to your to do's based off what I've been doing and have benefitted from,
  • I have found yoga nidra to be an extremely powerful alternative to naps.
  • If you live in a place where you don't get as much sun regularly, consider buying a lightbox and getting light exposure first thing in the morning.
  • I'm assuming the bare feet in grass is for grounding, but if you also want to keep the bare foot feel but in shoes, Xero shoes are a great brand of shoes that gives you the barefoot feel with a variety of shoes.
Be known as someone who’s willing to learn, not someone who is smart or right
Great insight!
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I love this line of thought. Where I am from, and where I am - people are very hustle and bustle. You look at all of their lives and you start to realize they are no better off. Maybe they have more amenities, but in the end the hustle and bustle can't always be better with finding your roots.
I guess there is the farm, the suburbs and the city for a reason. We all like our own flavor in life. Getting to our roots will make a marginal difference.
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Just followed you on Nostr. 🙏🙏
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Noice. I should post there more often haha
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It’s all about the margins
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I totally agree with yours thoughts. Some suggestions are very good. People should follow those. Like
Spend 20 minutes in the sun at the beginning of the day
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You're right. Life is all about 'marginal differences'. There are things that we ignore and just by a margin we become sad and desperate. If we think iron them a lite margin can evade the morbidity of life successfully.
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Great insights. I especially like the part about writing a metaphorical solution. Dissociate n detach oneself from the emotional struggle n focus on problem solving.
I read somewhere about how we will be 37x better if we just improve by 1% every day n wrote about it here
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So I would say it's actually less "detaching" and more "going deeper".
Also, nice post!
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It's true and good thoughts about life . I like your thoughts on it.