More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
One of the keys to being extraordinary is knowing what rules to follow and what rules to break. Outside the rules of physics and the rules of law, all other rules are open to questioning.
Safety is overrated; taking risks is much less likely to kill us than ever before, and that means that playing it safe is more likely just holding us back from the thrills of a life filled with meaning and discovery.
The dips contain amazing learnings and wisdom that lead to sharper rises in the quality of life afterward. But you will need to brave the momentary
Life has a way of taking care of you no matter how dark it can sometimes feel—I
Your spirituality should be discovered, not inherited.
I like to recall the words of L. P. Hartley from the 1953 novel The Go-Between: “The past is a foreign country: They do things differently there.”
When an old belief no longer serves you, you have every right to swap it out. Yet we don’t.
the mind is so powerful that it can actually change health based on a changed perspective, imagine what that could mean about the mind’s power to control our mood, our self-confidence, our happiness, and everything else that determines the quality of our time here on Earth.
“Billy, what happened? What was the consequence? What can you learn from this?”
As I do so, I ask him two simple questions that I hope will end his day with positivity. First, I ask him to think of one thing he was grateful for that day. It could be the soft sheets he’s sleeping on, a friend he played with, a conversation we had, or a book he read. I show him that he can be grateful for anything. Second, I ask, “Hayden, what did you love about yourself today?” I ask him to talk about something he did.
It’s all about finding and hiring people smarter than you, getting them to join your business and giving them good work, then getting out of the way and trusting them. You have to get out of the way so you can focus on the bigger vision. That’s important, but here is the main thing: You must make them see their work as a mission.
Have big goals—but don’t tie your happiness to your goals. You must be happy before you attain them.
We shouldn’t do things so we can be happy. We should be happy so we can do things.
It turns out that our brains are literally hardwired to perform at their best not when they are negative or even neutral, but when they are positive. Yet in today’s world, we ironically sacrifice happiness for success only to lower our brain’s success rates. —SHAWN ACHOR, THE HAPPINESS ADVANTAGE
Instead, Dan suggests we look backward—to the past—and appreciate how far we’ve come. Dan calls this the reverse gap:
UNFUCKWITHABLE: When you’re truly at peace and in touch with yourself. Nothing anyone says or does bothers you and no negativity can touch you.
Kristina asked, “How is it possible to be happy when seeing so much misery and tragedy every day?” The Dalai Lama’s answer was actually a question, and it was simply this: “But who can you help if you’re unhappy?”
In order to be unfuckwithable, we need to be immune to such words and actions—to praise as well as to criticism. Every time you give someone the power to build you up with praise, you’re also unknowingly giving that person the power to destroy you with criticism. Therefore, accept praise and criticism as nothing more than someone else’s expressions of their models of reality. They have nothing to do with who you really are.
Knowing we are ENOUGH gives us the courage to do MORE, do BETTER, do our BEST. When we learn to be unfuckwithable, the biggest fears that hold so many back no longer bother us. We boldly pursue big dreams and goals.
When you pursue the right end goals while making sure you’re happy in the now, happiness unlocks the door for luck to come calling.
Behind every problem, there’s a question trying to ask itself. Behind every question, there’s an answer trying to reveal itself. Behind every answer, there’s an action trying to take place. And behind every action, there’s a way of life trying to be born.
Happiness is the fuel for intuition. When you’re stressed or fearful, you shut intuition down.
You don’t have to change the world. You just have to change what you pay attention to in the world. And that, it turns out, is hugely powerful.
