How to Live

Short-term thinking is the root of most of our problems, from pollution to debt, both personal and global.
Easter Island used to be filled with trees, but early settlers cut them down, and they never grew back.
Greenland used to have grass, but early settlers let their sheep graze, and it never grew back.
A few short-term decisions can lead to centuries of destruction.

We treat the future like a garbage dump.
We dump our debts, pollution, junk, and responsibilities on the future, as if it’s a problem solved.

Plan your death.
Write your will now.
Make sure your heirs know where everything is, and who to contact.

Thinking of the future doesn’t come naturally.
Our hunter-gatherer ancestors had to live moment-to-moment, so our tendency to focus on today is built into our biology.
But times have changed.
Now the surviving fittest are the ones who plan ahead.

Be extra-careful of habits that seem harmless.
Imagine each choice continuing forever.
Eat a cookie, and eventually you’re obese.
Shop for fun, and eventually you’re deep in debt.
When you choose a behavior, you choose its future consequences.

You need a constant vivid reminder.
So use an age progression filter — the software that takes a photo of a face and realistically makes it look thirty years older.
Run it on some photos of yourself.
See your elderly face, and take care of that person.
Run it on photos of the people you care for.
Save the results and put them where you’ll see them every day.
These future people are your responsibility now.

If an action feels necessary, and you can’t let it go, just write it down for later.
Everything seems more important while you’re thinking of it.
Later, you’ll realize it’s not.

Places don’t make emotions.
You do.

Your whole experience of life is in your mind.
Focus on your internal world, not external world.

When a problem is bothering you, it feels like you need to do something about it.
Instead, identify what belief is really the source of your trouble.
Replace that belief with one that doesn’t bother you.
Then the problem is solved.
Most problems are really just situations.

There’s no deeper happiness than wanting nothing.
Desire is the opposite of peace.

Most of what people say and do is unnecessary.

People mistakenly say yes to work, people, and places they don’t like, then need to escape to get away from their mistakes.
People make bad decisions because they felt they had to decide.

Most of being a good person is not doing bad.
Don’t be cruel or selfish.
Don’t lie or steal.
Just do no harm.

People always think they need to do something.