Some Excellent Sentences* Puzzles Not Problems* 2-Minute Rule* Change Your Environment

 

Some Excellent Sentences:

I've begun to collect sentences that I marked and liked in the past:  Here's my google doc with them numbered. 

Puzzles not problems*

Eric quotes me talking about one of my favorite themes: reframing problems as puzzles. Here’s what I said:

“The word ‘problem’ is very intimidating and very negative,” [I] explained. “It implies that maybe there is no solution. Whereas a puzzle is very inviting. It’s like, I’m gonna roll up my sleeves, and I’m going to solve this puzzle…I try to say, ‘I’m having a conflict with my wife. All right, this is a puzzle. Let’s see if I can make this marriage work better. That’s the puzzle. If I’m struggling to figure out what my book is, it’s not a problem. It’s a puzzle. Let’s solve this puzzle.”

2-minute rule* 

Choose something you’ve been putting off and commit to doing it for exactly two minutes. Set a timer: When it goes off, you can stop – no guilt, no pushing through. You’re not changing your life overnight – you’re just proving that beginning doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

Eric gives this advice in his exceedingly helpful new book, How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life.

Also.. change your environment. 

One other big theme of Eric’s book: The limits of our willpower and the importance of structuring our environment to help us accomplish what we want. To change our behavior, we need to change out surroundings.