Food for Thought for a Life That Matters – TPW386

In this week's episode I’m sharing some thought-provoking ideas from books I’m reading that are inspiring and motivating me to think differently about life and productivity. Pondering thought-provoking ideas from good books can help us make a life that matters All my life I’ve been a bookworm and a productivity nerd, which means I’ve read a lot of books and articles about productivity. Many thinkers have, through their written materials, contributed to the formation of my philosophy of productivity as being more than simply maintaining a comprehensive to-do list and then checking off as many things as possible each day from that list.   This week I wanted to share with you some thought-provoking quotes and ideas I’ve been pondering from three books I’ve read lately. These are three books I highly recommend.  1. Stillness is the Key, by Ryan Holiday The concept of stillness - what it is and why it matters He describes it as something we all want: “To be steady while the world spins around you. To act without frenzy. To hear only what needs to be heard. To possess quietude--exterior and interior--on command.”  He acknowledges the difficulty, noting that it has always been so: “While the magnitude and urgency of our struggle is modern, it is rooted in a timeless problem. Indeed, history shows that the ability to cultivate quiet and quell the turmoil inside us, to slow the mind down, to understand our emotions, and to conquer our bodies has always been extremely difficult.” He notes that all ancient philosophical schools of thought around the world have wrestled with this dilemma and reached similar conclusions regarding the need for: “The stillness required to become master of one’s own life. To survive and thrive in any and every environment, no matter how loud or busy.”  He says it’s something crucial for all of us: “[T]his idea of stillness is not some soft New Age nonsense or the domain of monks and sages, but in fact desperately necessary to all of us. . . . It is an attainable path to enlightenment and excellence, greatness and happiness, performance as well as presence, for every kind of person. Stillness is what aims the archer’s arrow. It inspires new ideas. It sharpens perspective and illuminates connections. It slows the ball down so that we might hit it. It generates a vision, helps us resist the passions of the mob, makes space for gratitude and wonder. Stillness allows us to persevere. To succeed. It is the key that unlocks the insights of genius, and allows us regular folks to understand them.” The reason so many of us struggle to find this kind of stillness and the peace and insights that come from it: “We do not live in this moment. We, in fact, try desperately to get out of it--by thinking, doing, talking, worrying, remembering, hoping, whatever. We pay thousands of dollars to have a device in our pocket to ensure that we are never bored. We sign up for endless activities and obligations, chase money and accomplishments, all with the naïve belief that at the end of it will be happiness.  Tolstoy observed that love can’t exist off in the future. Love is only real if it’s happening right now. If you think about it, that’s true for basically everything we think, feel, or do. Remember, there’s no greatness in the future. Or clarity. Or insight. Or happiness. Or peace. There is only this moment.” He also talks about why this being present in the moment is so important: “Who is so talented that they can affort to bring only a part of themselves to bear on a problem or an opportunity? Whose relationships are so strong that they can get away with not showing up? Who is so certain that they’ll get another moment that they can conf...