Hi, Resolution

TAoN No. 125: Make your world strange in 2023, and 9 more good habits to start any time. Plus, as always, more.

Photo by Cristian Escobar on Unsplash.

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Hello and happy new year! I hope you got some time off over the holidays. I spent some of my downtime sorting through some old (digital) files, and I happened across this set of suggested resolutions.

I’m generally not a resolution guy, but a lot of these suggestions are a good idea any time. (In fact I believe I squirreled away this list back when I was gathering inspiration for the Art of Noticing book.) While the piece is from 2017, it’s just as useful today, so I’ll share some of my favorites.

The writer, by the by, is Jason Zweig, an excellent columnist for The Wall Street Journal, a long-ago colleague of mine, and an all around class act. Normally he writes about investing, but I think you’ll agree his advice here is all terrific! Here are some of his suggested resolutions:

• “Listening to what someone else is saying without hearing what you  already think is one of the hardest challenges for the human mind. When  you listen, listen as if your life depends on it. Otherwise, you’ll just  hear your own words coming out of someone else’s mouth.”

• “Say ‘I don’t know’ at least 10 times a day. That will disqualify you for a career in politics but make you a better person.”

• “Introduce yourself to all the people at your job whom you see every  day but haven’t met yet. …”

• “Most of what passes for modesty in this world is just posturing meant  to elicit praise. There is no such thing as humility; there is only  realism about how much of your life you owe to luck. Always keep that  foremost in your mind, and people will think you are humble.”

• “Don’t laugh at things you don’t understand. Take the time and trouble  to understand them first. Most likely, you will find that once you  understand them, they either become even funnier than you thought in the  first place, or not funny in the least.”

• “Stop walking with your phone in your hand all the time. Look up and see how strange and beautiful the world is.”

• “Never try to get other people to change their minds without first  trying to understand why they think the way they do. Never do that  without being open to the possibility that the mind that might need to  change the most could be your own.”

• “When you’re having a bad day, call the closest friend you haven’t talked with in the longest time.”

And finally, this one, my very favorite:

“Work harder at making the familiar strange. Walk or drive a different route than your daily routine; work away from your desk; read something  flamboyantly irrelevant; call someone you don’t need to call; look up  at the sky instead of the concrete. When you turn back to your routine,  it will feel freshened.”

Here’s to making the familiar strange in 2023, and beyond. …

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BONUS MINI-RESOLUTION!

“If you’re not the type to make resolutions for the new year,” TAoN favorite Recomendo, writes, “you might like this list of 27 Life-Changing Micro Habits That Require Only A Few Minutes.”

My favorite:

Practice gratitude while you’re in the shower. “The shower is probably our last refuge from our devices,” [corporate coach Sabina] Nawaz says. “So, as you shower, ask who or what am I grateful for today? As you step out of the shower at the beginning of each day, you're already filling your cup.”

There’s actually a somewhat lighthearted prompt in the book, “Take A Mindful Shower,” but I like the specificity of this variation on the idea.

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MY FAVORITE 150 SONGS OF 2022

Here’s a nine-hour, 21-minute Spotify playlist; the songs are not ranked (it’s a 150-way tie for first), and I mean for it to list by artist. But in any case I recommend shuffle mode if you actually want to listen. Includes songs with explicit lyrics.

[The Icebreaker series will return next time!]

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COMING UP (+ SUBSCRIBER PITCH)

• I had some time to ponder and plan future issues over the break, and there’s a lot in the works. For subscriber-only editions I have plans to write about “mindful materialism;” a couple of posts about listening; more on everyday poetry; and asking how quickly do we exhaust our sense of awe?, among other things.

• In other recent subscriber-only issues I wrote about two cheers for social media, musical rabbit holes (revisited), unpopular culture, doing as arguing, and the best compliment you’ve ever received.

• TAoN is a reader-supported publication. For access to past and future subscriber-only posts, discussion threads, and more, support TAoN with a paid subscription.

THE NEXT FREE MONDAY EDITION IN TWO WEEKS.

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IN OTHER NEWS

• For The New York Times Sunday Opinion section, I wrote an essay in favor of clutter. (I think a number of you subscribed after reading that; welcome!) I got some interesting feedback, and now I’m thinking more about mindful materialism — a subject I’ll address in the very near future.

• For my BRANDED column in Fast Company, I wrote about 2022: The Year In Objects. This has become a mini-tradition I really enjoy.

• The Best Advice Show special year-end wrapup: “23 voices on change, purpose and meaning.” Includes TAoN fave Anne Kadet, and (briefly) me. Nicely done, a recommended listen.

• Very excited about The Kō Strategies: “A drumbeat throughout the year to help you stay present — in a tense world where it’s tempting to dissociate.”

• Introducing the Productivity Blocker, the first Chrome extension for blocking any website that makes you productive. : )

• This is off-topic but I enjoyed it: I had no idea that Warren Buffet has such a ridiculous, junk-filled diet, which this guy decided to emulate for a week … and regretted. Fun piece.

• Eyes. (Silliness.)

• New book co-edited by Joshua Glenn and me: LOST OBJECTS: 50 Stories About The Things We Miss And Why They Matter.

• And finally, this, from today’s bike ride, is for the reader who recently mentioned googly eyes to me. Here’s to more googly eyes in 2023:

  

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OKAY THAT’S IT!

• As always, I value your feedback (suggestions, critiques, positive reinforcement, constructive insults, etc.), as well as your tips or stories or personal noticing rituals, things we need a word for, and of course your icebreakers: consumed@robwalker.net. Or use the comments. —> Or just click the heart symbol. That always makes my day.

And thanks for reading …
rw

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All this by Rob Walker PO Box 171, 748 Mehle St., Arabi LA 70032 

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