One of the most frequent comments I get from people who read my social content or blog posts is, “I could never do that. How do you constantly have new ideas?”
The simplest answer is, I have new ideas to write about because I read a lot.
One of my favorite books on the art and craft of writing is Stephen King’s “On Writing”. I read it when it first came out in 2000 and again when the 20th anniversary edition came out.
The quote that stayed with me for two decades: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: Read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”
It will come as no surprise that as I prepared to write my book on happiness and goal setting, many books on those subjects are stacked in various places throughout my house.
I’m getting so many ideas for my book from my daily reading, but the personal applications are invaluable in themselves. To that end, each week this month I will share a book I’m currently reading and some of my favorite quotes.
Enjoy the quotes, and if you are so inclined, grab a copy for yourself and fire up those neurons for your own personal pursuit of happiness. If you use the links included here, I’ll get a few cents here and there from Amazon.
10% Happier by Dan Harris
“HOW I TAMED THE VOICE IN MY HEAD, REDUCED STRESS WITHOUT LOSING MY EDGE, AND FOUND SELF-HELP THAT ACTUALLY WORKS – A TRUE STORY.”
“In my view, the balance between stress and contentment was life’s biggest riddle. On the one hand, I was utterly convinced that the continuation of any success I had achieved was contingent upon persistent hypervigilance.”
”I was always hurtling headlong through the day, checking things off my to-do list, constantly picturing completion instead of calmly and carefully enjoying the process.”
“Make the present moment your friend rather than your enemy. Because many people live habitually as if the present moment were an obstacle that they need to overcome in order to get to the next moment.”
”The brain, the organ of experience, through which our entire lives are led, can be trained. Happiness is a skill.”
”Nonattachment to results + self-compassion = a supple relentlessness that is hard to match. Push hard, play to win, but don’t assume the fetal position if things don’t go your way.”
Betsy is a certified life coach and blogger who helps midlife women find satisfaction where they are now and inspiration to go after their big goals.
To learn more about working with Betsy, click here.