There are no shortcuts to success.
There are no shortcuts to happiness.
There are no shortcuts to friendship.
There are no shortcuts to being fit & healthy.
There are no shortcuts to true love.
There are no shortcuts to mindfulness.
There are no shortcuts to compassion.
What seems like sudden, overnight successes are most often the result of years of practice, hard work, and patience.
There isn't even a shortcut to contentment. If you aren't content, it will take time to learn to be content. Or it will take you time to improve your situation and then learn to be content where are.
"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." — Beverly Sills
Reading Recommendations
How To Handle The Fear of Not Doing Enough
“Do you worry that there's always more you could or should be doing in life? Here’s what to do when you have the fear of not doing enough.”
Happiness = reality - expectations by Tim Urban
“It’s pretty straightforward—when the reality of someone’s life is better than they had expected, they’re happy. When reality turns out to be worse than the expectations, they’re unhappy.”
The essence of "Clean Code" [PDF]
“A heavily paraphrased summary of the book Robert C. Martin: Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship, Prentice Hall 2008, 431 pages”
Weekly Mindfulness Practice
A short, 10-breath exercise to reconnect with your body. Do it when you sit down at your desk, or when you want to gather your focus for a new task:
Take one deep breath. Close your eyes.
Focus on your body for three breaths. How does it feel?
Then do a body-scan for five breaths. Start at the top of your head and gently scan down towards your feet. Don't try to change anything. Simply note how it feels.
Finally, open your eyes and smile. Take one deep breath before returning to your activity.
End Note
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Have a great week
Simon
PS: If you found an article you think others might like, and that fits this newsletter, I’d love it if you write me an email. Just reply!
PPS: This week's newsletter was a little different than usual. You'll get a “normal” idea next week again, promise!