10 More Simple Habits for Enlightened Living

I hope you all have been enjoying this holiday season and getting some quality downtime with your family and friends. As another year draws to a close, I find myself feeling a ton of gratitude for all of you. While it’s common practice in the creator world to write a post celebrating all your wins—things like engagement, podcast downloads, new subscribers…etc.—I’m just going to say this: Thank you! I’m honored to have your attention week in, week out. In this increasingly noisy world, it’s not like you all don’t have other options! I am determined to honor the trust that you all have given me by making this newsletter and podcast an unequivocal force for good in the world, a place where we can examine the issues of the day, with clear, calm, and sophisticated intelligence and celebrate the courageous people trying to make the world a better place. My mission here is to promote freedom, prosperity, and community and help people see how they can improve their lives immeasurably by joining in the cause. Thanks for being here!  

Back in October, I published an article called “10 Simple Practices for Enlightened Living” and it turned out to be one the most popular of the year. So, I thought it would be fitting to end the year with 10 more ideas! 

1. Awareness is the answer to all your problems.  As strange as this sounds, it’s crucial in life to establish a kind of internal dialogue with yourself. Whether you know it or not, you are constantly talking to yourself anyway. It’s best to bring your full consciousness to these exchanges. A trick I use to keep myself as aware as possible is to habitually ask myself questions like: “Hey Nick, do you have a good reason to be doing what you’re doing right now?” Of course, if the answer is “no,” I’ll stop. But the real value here is that the question has a way of keeping the best of yourself—i.e. your fully conscious self—at the table. 

2. Try to be genuinely interested in connecting with the random people you encounter in day-to-day living. It’s far better to assume these interactions are meaningful than to go through life distracted and disengaged. It’s a great moral mistake to treat someone as less than they are. Plus, you never know what you might discover or learn. 

3. Stop forecasting how you are going to feel about something. If you pay close enough attention, you’ll realize how bad you are at it! We waste so much energy worrying about the future. Far better to stay with what is and just give each moment the best you can possibly give.

4. Make a habit of regularly reviewing your accounts. Money asks a lot of us as it is in modern life—maybe too much so—but it’s something we cannot ignore. The best way to deal with money is to give it an appropriate amount of attention. I’ve found that the simple practice of logging into my various bank, credit, and investment accounts a few times a month is a great discipline. I’ll glance through the transactions, make sure there are no red flags, and do a little health check. How are the inflows looking compared to the outflows? How much in reserves do I have? How are my investments doing? The idea is to just bring an extra level of consciousness to your money situation and ensure you aren’t going down the wrong path or hiding from the truth. 

5. Establish the 5 Daily Habits for a peaceful life. In my view, these are the non-negotiables of life, so much so, that your entire day should be architected so that you have the space for these. And even on those days when you are busy beyond belief or not feeling good, finding just a few minutes for each of these can make a huge difference in your subjective experience. 
   
   a. Meditate/Pray
   b. Journal
   c. Read
   d. Stretch
   e. Exercise

6. Whenever you feel stagnant in life or depressed, just try to learn something new. I’ve found this to be the ultimate psychological life hack.  So often in life we get caught up in false (self-imposed) chains that hold us back and cloud our view and the simple act of learning something new is enough to break the spell. It reminds us that we are not fixed entities, that growth is always possible, and that life is change. Even something as simple as learning one new word or trying a new exercise, can break you out of your funk.

7. Practice the art of possibility. It’s so easy to think of life in terms of scarcity and competition but there’s a whole other world, one of generative abundance and creativity, that is always available to you. The more time you spend with the mindset of possibility, the better off you will be. 

8. Learn how to be a courageous friend. As you grow older, friendship becomes about more than just shared experiences and interests. Your role takes on a new and much more serious dimension, for you are not there to just witness but to help your friend along the path of destiny. This takes courage—the courage to challenge when necessary, the courage to put yourself and your own concerns aside to support those of your friend, and the courage to say what needs to be said or do what needs to be done. Being a friend is no longer just about having fun, although you should still do that, but also about taking a kind of healthy personal responsibility for the well-being of another person. 

9. Never let someone, especially a friend, walk around with something amiss (e.g. stuff stuck in their teeth, face or hair). They will absolutely not be mad at you for pointing it out! In fact, they will be nothing but thankful and you’ll have done a great service to the group, who are all secretly hoping someone else will step up and say something. 

10. Don’t forget to nourish your soul. Often in life, all you need is a little Nature, art, or music to turn things around, remind you what you actually care about, and completely re-energize your being.  

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