By Leo Babauta One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of our personal progress is discouragement. Whether you’re trying to form a new habit (reading, meditation, exercise, waking early) or taking on a meaningful project, or just getting your life in order … discouragement is one of the biggest reasons you’ll get stopped. […] The post A Short Guide to Dealing with Discouragement appeared first on zen habits.

By Leo Babauta Today I’m feeling sore and tired from hard strength workouts, playing lots of basketball, and doing a hill sprint session yesterday with my son. I’ve been working out hard, and I’m really feeling it! So I’m going to take some rest and recovery time. Anyone who is into fitness knows the hidden […] The post The Surprising Value of Rest appeared first on zen habits.

By Leo Babauta When most people try to start a new habit — like exercise, meditation, waking early, journaling — they tend to try to go as hard as they can. And in doing so, they set themselves up for failure. I have a friend who wanted to start running, for example. Every time they […] The post How to Autoregulate Your Habits appeared first on zen habits.

By Leo Babauta People often think, when they’re tired or don’t feel like doing a task (or a habit), that there are really only two choices: And while there isn’t anything wrong with either of these choices, I’m here to remind you that they are choices. And they’re not the only choices. What else can […] The post Forcing Yourself to Do a Task vs. Letting Yourself Off the Hook appeared first on zen habits.

By Leo Babauta Every day, there are things we’re resisting, avoiding, feeling some fear about. We don’t often recognize that, but what we most often do is turn away from these things. This turning away leads to a couple of impactful things: This isn’t wrong — it’s just how things tend to go. It’s all […] The post The Magic Daily Practice of Facing Your Fears appeared first on zen habits.

By Leo Babauta How much of your day is spent either 1) trying to make yourself do something you really don’t want to do, or 2) avoiding doing that thing you don’t want to force yourself to do (and feeling guilty about it)? In truth, this is most of the day for many people. Trying […] The post The Powerful Effect of Bringing Play Into Your Life appeared first on zen habits.

By Leo Babauta Recently I had a reader write in to me about not being good at finishing things. A few examples of things they haven’t finished: I can relate! It can be hard to finish things — we get excited about something at the start, but when we get busy or things get hard […] The post Get Good at Finishing Things appeared first on zen habits.

By Leo Babauta Most of us are operating on mistaken ideas about what gives us happiness — and these errors are costly. Think about how you normally spend your days — and then think about whether that’s making you happy. Now think about the cost to your health and long-term happiness. Let’s give a few […] The post Our Mistaken Ideas About What Makes Us Happy appeared first on zen habits.

I find that almost all problems are a breakdown in trusting ourselves. If we could trust ourselves fully, so many things become effortless. Let me give some examples of where we don’t trust ourselves: Obviously, this isn’t a comprehensive list of problems you might have, but I’m hoping you can start to see where self-trust […] The post Building Trust in Yourself appeared first on zen habits.

Lately I’ve been waking up early (5:30am), because I traveled to London for a couple of weeks to lead a retreat, and my sleep schedule shifted. I really enjoy it! Someone asked me recently what my morning routine is like, and I told them: It changes regularly, depending on what I need. That said, I […] The post My Morning Routine appeared first on zen habits.