This is one of the books I gifted most to family & friends. Why? It resonates with me. It challenges you to live true to yourself. No matter what the world thinks. Reading this helped me feel confident about being and expressing my true Self. And thus urged me to connect to my inner truth 😉.
Also, self-reliant human beings is what the world needs.
Why the "translated" version? Frankly, because I didn't really understand the original very well 😅.
This very small book is Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, Self-Reliance, translated into modern English by me, Adam Khan. When I tell people about translating Emerson, the first thing people always ask me is, “Why would his work need to be ‘translated?’ After all, he lived a fairly short time ago and he spoke English.” I’ve found when I share quotes from Emerson, it becomes clear why a translation might be helpful. For example, this is from the original Self-Reliance: “As soon as he has once acted or spoken with éclat he is a committed person, watched by the sympathy or…
The secret to happiness is to acknowledge and transform suffering, not to run away from it. Here, Thich Nhat Hanh offers practices and inspiration transforming suffering and finding true joy.
Thich Nhat Hanh acknowledges that because suffering can feel so bad, we try to run away from it or cover it up by consuming. We find something to eat or turn on the television. But unless we’re able to face our suffering, we can’t be present and available to life, and happiness will continue to elude us.
Nhat Hanh shares how the practices of stopping, mindful breathing, and deep concentration…
"When in flow, the individual operates at full capacity." - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
An accessible guide on why flow matters and how to get more of it.
Thanks to the book, I started mountain biking - biking through the nearby forest gets me into flow reliably and flow simply feels fantastic 🥰🥳. So, when I need a short break, I get on my bike and get into flow. This elevates my mood and energy - with a big smile, I come back and get back to the desk 😁💪.
Are you seeking to enrich your life? Get into flow 😉.
“When you get in that zone, it’s just this supreme confidence; you know it’s going in. It’s not a matter of if… it’s just that it’s going in… and you just have supreme confidence…” —Kobe Bryant, basketball legend. . From top athletes and successful coaches to world-class creatives, famous artists, and major companies like Toyota, Patagonia, and Ericsson—they are all singing the praises of flow.. Flow is the state of total absorption in an activity. Everything feels smooth and fluent, easy and effortless. You feel confident and in total control. Freed from worries and self-doubts, you’re able to perform to…
A smoothly flowing life. That's basically what Stoic philosphy promises.
Does it work? Absolutely! (Well, I'm obviously biased 🙃.) In my life, it's often helped me truly accept the challenges I was facing, and then focusing on what was in my power to make the best given the circumstances. For example, when I luxated my knee while playing football (soccer), I screamed, yes, but then I was quickly able to accept and even enjoy the experience. In hospital, I realized how practicing Stoicism has made my attitude toward such "unfortunate" situations surprisingly positive and supportive 🙏.
In a practical sense, Stoicism has to do with conscious behavior. Who are you, really? Do you live accordingly? Do you do what you feel to be right and say what you feel to be true?
The Little Book of Stoicism gives a simple overview of this wonderful philosophy and specifies many practices that we can apply right away.
Btw, a smoothly flowing life will still contain ups & downs, but they will be smoother to handle 😉.
“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?” – Epictetus, Stoic philosopher
