Ask the readers: what book on health do you recommend ?

If you want to live your life to the fullest, there is no doubt that physical health is important. After all, it’s through your body that you think and act. If there is something wrong with it, then you won’t be able to function as well as you should.

To be honest though, I don’t know much about health. That’s why I rarely write about it. But I’d like to learn more about it and I believe you should too. Doing that will only do you good.

So far, my favorite book on health is The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. It talks about energy management, which includes physical health as an important part. But I believe that there are still many other good books out there.

So I’d like to ask you:

What books on health do you recommend and why?

Please share your answer in the comments so that everyone can read it. Thanks!

Photo by epSos.de

A guide to having meaningful work

BY Donald Latumahina |

How do you spend your time? Everyone has a different answer, of course, but I’m sure there is one similarity: work is a big part of it. We spend a big chunk of our time at work. That is why your work plays an important role in your happiness.

I recently read a book titled Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman. I like the book because it talks about happiness based on scientific research and not just opinions. Among others, it also talks about how to derive authentic happiness from your work.

But what is authentic happiness? Put simply, there are two kinds of happiness: momentary happiness and authentic happiness. Momentary happiness is the fleeting feeling you get from having fun. Authentic happiness, on the other hand, is the enduring fulfillment you get from doing things that are true to yourself.

The book says that there are three levels of how we view our work. The higher your level is, the more authentic happiness you will get from your work. Here are the three levels:

1. Job
   This is the lowest level. Here you view your work primarily as a way to make money. Money becomes the primary motivation. If there is no money in it, then you won’t do it.
2. Career
   Here your motivation is the advancement you get. As long as you can move to a higher level, you are motivated. But when the advancement stops, you are no longer motivated to do the work.
3. Calling
   This is the highest level of all. Here your motivation is the inner fulfillment you get from doing the work. External rewards like money or advancement are not your primary motivation. In fact, you will still do the work even if you don’t get any external reward. The work is rewarding by itself.

From the description above, which one do you think applies to you? Do you view your work as a job, a career, or a calling?

Even if you now view your work as a job, that’s fine. After all, we all have needs to meet and families to feed.

However, to live your life to the fullest, you should move beyond that. Your goal should be to make your work a calling. That’s how you can have meaningful work. That’s how you can have work that is fulfilling beyond what external rewards could give.

Here are four tips to make your work a calling and thereby making it meaningful:

1. Be content

You can’t make your work a calling if you constantly worry about making more money. Yes, you need money to meet your needs. But beyond meeting the essential needs, studies show that additional money brings little to no happiness. It’s just not worth fighting for. So you should learn to be content instead. Being content frees your mind to focus on the more meaningful things.

2. Find the intersection between your cause and strengths

To make your work a calling, you should have a cause that’s bigger than yourself. What is it that matters to you? What is it that you want to contribute to?

In addition, you also need to find your strengths. What are the things that you are naturally good at? What are the things that feel enjoyable and effortless to do?

After you find your cause and strengths, you should find the intersection between them. Find ways to use your strengths to contribute to your cause.

3. Exercise your strengths

Now that you have found the intersection, you should constantly exercise your strengths. Try to use them every day. The more you do this, the more gratification you will get. This is where authentic happiness comes from.

If you work for someone else, you may need to talk with your boss about it. Ask him or her to assign you to the area of your strengths. Explain to them that it will benefit the company because you will be able to contribute more. Another solution is to start a side business where you can exercise your strengths.

4. Think in terms of helping people

A calling has a sense of contribution attached to it. So one good way to make your work a calling is to think of it in terms of helping people. How can you help people through your work? How can you make the world a better place through it?

***

I am lucky because my work more or less fits the description of a calling. Take this blog, for example. When I started it back in 2006, I didn’t have any motivation to make money. I simply loved personal growth and writing. As time passed, however, this blog started to earn some income. Eventually I was able to quit my day job.

I would still love to write here even if I didn’t get any income. The nice thing about having that mindset is that, more often than not, the money eventually comes.

It wasn’t always like that though. There were times when I did some work merely for the money. It didn’t feel good. It took extra effort to get through the days. Moreover, most of what I did also failed.

Making a calling out of your work is the better path to take. Yes, I probably won’t be rich, but I will have a meaningful life. That’s something that even wealth can’t buy.

Photo by Paul Bica

How to think and act like a winner: 13 lesson from no easy day

By Donald Latumahina |

I always like military-related things, perhaps because I like the high standard that the military demands. It uses the best technologies and expects excellent performance from its people. Yes, there are many things that could go wrong with the military, but in many cases I find it inspiring.

That was the case when I read No Easy Day, a book about the mission that killed Osama bin Laden. The story itself was interesting, but the important thing for me was that it inspired me to think and act like a winner.

The book talks about the author’s experiences in an elite unit called DEVGRU. DEVGRU is more than an elite unit actually; it’s an elite within an elite. To become a member of DEVGRU, you must already become a member of the Navy SEAL which is an elite unit. But then only the best SEALs can make it to DEVGRU. That’s why I call it an elite within an elite.

From the stories in the book, I learned about how the members of such a unit think and act. I can’t give you the background story of each lesson (since it will take too much space), but I hope I describe the lessons clear enough so that you can apply them in your life.

Here are 13 lessons I learned on how to think and act like a winner:

1. Don’t make excuses

Sometimes you might find yourself in the midst of an unfair situation. In such a situation, it’s easy to make excuses and most people do. But winners are different. They don’t make excuses or blame the situation. Instead, they focus on what they can do to get the most out of it.

2. Be comfortable being uncomfortable

Like it or not, growing in life often means moving out of your comfort zone. Why? Because in order to grow you need to expand your personal capacity and that requires you to take on new challenges. For that reason, you need to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Only then can you do the things that are necessary for your personal growth.

3. Have a strong desire to perform and excel

For the winners, simply meeting the standard is not enough. Their goal is exceptional performance. That’s why they often become their own worst critic. Whatever it is you are doing, strive to become the best that you can be.

4. Focus; one step at a time

To get things done, you need focus. But it’s difficult to do that if you look at the whole thing. So you should instead focus on just the current small step that you are in. In the author’s case, when going through a very difficult training, he simply focused on getting to the next meal. By focusing on doing that, he eventually overcame the big challenge.

5. Don’t dwell on past mistakes

Winners make mistakes just like other people, but what makes them different is their attitude toward mistakes. They don’t dwell on them nor let them hinder their actions. Instead, they learn their lessons, block the negative thoughts, and move on.

6. Know your window of opportunity

Whatever it is you are trying to accomplish, you should be aware of its window of opportunity. Something that looks promising today might become worthless a few months from now. By knowing the window of opportunity, you can use your resources wisely.

7. Adapt

The world is changing and changing fast. So if you want to thrive, you must be able to adapt. Some people insist on doing things the old way, but winners know that they need to change. They are willing to adopt a new way of doing things.

8. Make simple plans

Related to the point before, there is no point in making complicated plans. Why? Because they may become obsolete before you can execute them. So just create simple plans and go from there. This way you can react more quickly to new developments.

9. Be humble

Many people want to take credit for themselves, but winners know that they can’t achieve things by themselves. They also realize that there are others out there who can do what they do. So instead of bragging about their achievements, they stay humble.

10. Master throttle control

Winners know when to wait and when to act. When they need to wait, they wait patiently. When they need to act, they act decisively. They know how to read the situation.

11. Prepare for contingencies

Winners prepare themselves for bad situations. They know that things could go wrong so they prepare themselves beforehand. Do you have a plan B for your career? Have you built an emergency fund? Good preparation helps you recover quickly when things go wrong.

12. Be a team player

Winners know that they work best by being in a solid team, so they become good team players. They work with teammates with whom trust and responsibility are the norm. Working in a solid team will multiply your effectiveness.

13. Stack the odds in your favor

Though they work hard to improve their skills, winners know that luck still plays a role. That’s why they do what they can to stack the odds in their favor. Sometimes it means waiting until the time is right before taking action. Sometimes it means building a support system. Whatever it is, you need to learn how to maximize your chances.

***

Interesting lessons, aren’t they? It will take time to learn to apply them, but I believe we can all think and act like winners.

Photo by The U.S. Army

As Sweet as nothing else....

A boy loved a mute and dumb girl. She too loved him immensely and they decided to marry. But then the girl came to know that her plight of being born as a mute and dumb was a prenatal affliction and that comes from the defect in the genes of her family’s generation and the same thing will also be naturally inherited to her child too. 

After knowing this the girl grew adamant that she didn’t want to marry and give birth to some other with same defect like hers. Though the boy compelled her she expressed him that she had a miserable life until she met him and she didn’t want to see her child suffering miserably. She cried that if her mom had thought so then she would not have cursed with this pitiful life. 

The boy then gave a letter to her which made her to change the mind.
The contents of the letter are,“You expressed that you had a miserable life, until you met me. The same goes with me too. My life was lonely and miserable with none to care, and then I met you. Do you know that my life changed colorful when your hands touched my life? When you started to care me as your own, I got interest to live as my life got someone to care. You swept away the emptiness in me and darkness in my life. If you believe you have chosen the right man then trust me I would be there to take care of you and I would also take care of our child twice better than you. You are an angel in my life and I believe our child would also become angel in someone’s life. Defect was someone that belongs to our heart. No one is perfect in this world, I too have many defects but you wholeheartedly accepted mine. The same way we will accept our child too. Finally the decision is yours but I want you to close your eyes and think for a minute about everything I said.”
Thumbs up for this sweet letter ♥ ♥