Kasper's Serenity

Work Simpler and Saner : zen habits

For many people, the holiday season is the busiest, most complicated, most stressful time of year.

If you had to make a list of all the habits you'd like to change or create, how many changes would be on the list?

It's not uncommon to be stuck in a rut. We've all been there. We all know how it feels to get up, get dressed, go to work, come home and go to bed only to do it all over again the next day. And the next day. And the next day.

Many times the reasons we don’t start something have nothing to do with lack of skills, materials, or facilities. The real blockers are self-criticism and excuses. In the excellent book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, the author, Betty Edwards, discusses how we all draw as kids but around adolescence, many of us stop developing that ability.

When you learn a new skill, feedback is important: if you fall off a bike, you need to make an adjustment so you don't keep falling.

Recently, someone asked me about my habit of waking at 4:30 a.m. each day, and asked me to write about the health benefits of rising early, which I thought was an excellent question. Unfortunately, there are none, that I know of. However, there are a ton of other great benefits.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the goals you want to accomplish? Do you find it especially difficult starting out on a new goal? This is where the powerful "Rule of One" comes to the rescue.

How do you beat something so addictive as the Internet, or TV — things most of us find ourselves increasingly immersed in, all day long?

I've mentioned this briefly in my morning routine, but I thought I'd explain a little bit more about MITs – Most Important Tasks. It's not an original concept, but one that I use on a daily basis and that has helped me out tremendously.

It's no secret that we live in the Age of Instant gratification.

'The greatest remedy for anger is delay.' ~Thomas Paine

Often we’re discouraged because of some tough challenge or obstacle in our way. But a shift in mindset from a Zen proverb can change everything: “The obstacle is the path.”

Our days fill up so fast, and are so rushed and filled with distractions, that they seem to be bursting.

Even the most motivated of us — you, me, anyone — can feel unmotivated at times. In fact, sometimes we get into such a slump that even thinking about making positive changes seems too difficult.