A long-time reader emails me about every five years and says he still thinks of me every morning when he makes his bed. Back in 2009, I wrote an article about the psychological benefits of making your bed as soon as you wake up. (Here’s a simple little task that will instantly shape your day – a foolproof first step Calpe your dime.)
Every day I think of a different reader who invited me to visit him at his home in Norway. While I was there, he gave me an Aeropress coffee machine and showed me his brewing method. After my first attempt, hot coffee grounds spilled all over his kitchen, I got the hang of it. I still think of him every morning when I stir the ground with the bamboo stick he gave me.
When I’m washing my car, I always think of my dad because he once said, “Without a foam brush, nothing gets cleaned.” I always use a foam brush and my car always looks great. This was a bit of insight from my dad, among many other things.
I like how things work. Ideas and ways of doing things can shift between ideas and find a home in new people. From there they can enter other people’s minds and so on. After you die, someone might still tie your shoes the way you did, or make chicken soup your way—maybe the whole family, who knows.
please accept my idea
I blog here in the hope of instilling some of the best things I’ve discovered about humanity into other people’s heads. I write the odd post about obscure psychological practices because I want people to do that. If people do this, they may actually get The ideas I’m trying to convey here will eventually realize their value if people understand them.
I hope people do these weird practices because the cost is so Low compared to benefits. For example, playing a secret ally to a stranger requires thirty seconds of your attention and can change your relationship with public space, strangers, and society at large. Imagine your friend (or your socks) disappearing for ten seconds, and almost any mundane moment can feel like a gift. This is a very good deal! I hope people continue to do these things after I’m dead.
Of course, different people have different ideas, but if you are an ordinary reader, you must believe that there are something It’s available here for you, you can pick it up and make it a part of your life.
As long as an idea remains an idea, it won’t work
Many readers said they printed off their favorite Raptitude posts, presumably hoping that doing so would spark that initial spark of recognition, that feeling of “Hey, I should do that!” Become something they actually do in their lives. A reader in Norway showed me a binder he had made using some of my posts. Several people have sent me bound books they made from their favorite books.
I also always print out other people’s ideas in the hope that this will somehow perpetuate an epiphany that will incorporate the idea into my own and make it a thing I do. If you do this too, you know that printing or highlighting some wise words often doesn’t make them something you actually do and live. The books on my shelf are full of page tabs and underlined sentences that made an impact on me when I read them, but few of them changed the way I lived my life.
Thoughts have no effect until they are turned into action. Printing the idea on paper makes it more concrete but still maintains the form of the idea. Eventually it must leave the realm of words and be printed onto your motor neurons. If you don’t, the spark of insight will disappear and nothing will come of it.
In my experience, here’s how it works: If I take action on an idea a few times—like I did with Tolstoy’s idea of ”run 25 miles and then rest”—and it pays off, there’s a good chance it will become part of my lifestyle. If I just read it and stick it on the wall in hopes of remembering it and acting on it when it matters, it’s less likely to break out of thought form.
Two Ways to Get Out of “Ideas Only” Mode
With this in mind, I’ve been working to build an active community around Raptitude. I don’t just broadcast my ideas to the world, but I bring people together to try these ideas in their lives and discuss what happens when they do so.
I wish I had made this a priority sooner. As you may know, my last experiment spawned an ongoing “Give Up Club” where people give up everything for a month, break habits and form new ones. (Go here if you want to try it.)
There’s also a lot of interest in the upcoming Raptitude Field Trip 2, which is great because these virtual field trips are the most direct way to discover what I’m really learning about through this blog.
For those who missed the first book, it’s about a group of readers taking an ecstasy practice “live” (i.e., into your life) and seeing what happens. I provide you with simple instructions so you can try it out and (if you want) report how it goes in the forum.
They are simple awareness exercises related to how you respond to everyday experiences. Most of them only take less than a minute each time, but they can change the tone of your day and, if you do them regularly, they can improve every aspect of your life, just like they did for me.
Field Trip is a fun and lightweight mini-course designed to help people discover the hidden treasures in their everyday lives, which is what this blog is all about. I try to make the whole plan as cheap as ordering a large pizza.
You can also chat with other readers, a group of enthusiastic and helpful people. And me, I’m there too.
Three things to know about Raptitude Field Trip 2
You can sign up for a new field trip today. There are a few things to know:
1. If you were on a last field trip, this one is new. Same format, all new approach.
2. The official start date is February 10th, you can proceed at your own pace.
3. This is not something you need to schedule time for. The classes are short, with exercises lasting a minute or two. When you go out and play, you play with them.
Register now |How does it work?
[What people said about the first Raptitude Field Trip]
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