H A N D B O O K O F L I F E

R E P O R T5 2 T I P S F O R H A P P I N E S S

A N D P R O S P E R I T Y

S O U R C E : Z E N H A B I T . N E T

This is something I’ve been wanting to write for some time —

a Handbook for Life. Now, is there any handbook that can be

a guide to every single person? Of course not. This is just

a list of tips that I think will help many people in life —

some of them common­sense tips that we often forget about.

Consider this guide a reminder.

It’ll also become apparent from the links in this handbook

that I’ve written about this stuff before. In essence, this

site is a bigger version of this handbook. But I wanted to

put them all in one place, as a handy little guide. I hope

you find it useful.

How to use this handbookThis handbook is not meant to be a step­by­step guide, norshould you adopt all the tips below. Certainly not all at

once. That would be overwhelming. Here are a couple tips foradopting the tips:

Pick and choose the tips that will be most useful to you.

There are 52 tips here — not every single one will be usefulto every person. I hope you’ll find 10 that are useful, or

that are reminders of something you’ve been wanting to do.Don’t do them all at once. Choose one tip to do first, and

then do them one at a time. Focus on one first, and then thenext. It’s too hard to try to adopt a bunch of changes

at once.

Experiment. Try out a tip, and if it doesn’t work, tryanother. Life is an experiment, after all.

None are guaranteed. But many are very likely tobring happiness.

Also, these are not in any order. Some of the most importantare buried below.

FORHAPPINESS

52 TIPS

AND PROSPERITY

PART 1

1. Try rising earlyIt’s not for everyone, I’ll admit. It

may not be for you.But I’ve found it to be an amazing

change in my life.It has made the start of my days

much more positive,and I now have time for writing,

exercise, and silentcontemplation.

2. Do lessThis is both a happiness and productivity tip.Doing less will make you happier, because yourlife won’t be so hectic and filled with stress. Youwill have time for things that give you pleasure,for the loved ones in your life, for life itself. It’salso a productivity tip: if you focus on theessential tasks, the big ones, the ones thatwill give you the most return for your time, andeliminate the rest, you will actually be moreproductive. You’ll get fewer tasks done, but youwill be more effective..

3. Slow downMany new readers to this site have read my productivityarticles and think that I’m all about being hyper-productive. I’m not. Long-time readers know that I amabout a simpler way of life. Unfortunately, in my free-lance blogging, other websites usually ask me to writeabout productivity, so the preponderance of myproductivity writing has given the impression, I think,that I think people should be churning out work at anamazing rate, to the exclusion of all else. Actually, I feelthat life is much more enjoyable if you slow down. Bydoing less, you can actually get more done, even if youwork more slowly. And when you’re not working, youshould definitely try switching to slow mode. Driveslower (it is so much more relaxing), walk slower, eatslower.

4. Practice patienceOnce you’ve developed this

skill (and it’s a skill, likeeverything else, not an

unchangeable inborn trait),yourlife will become muchsaner and you will be much

happier.

5. Practice compassionThis may be the most important tip of all, in my opinion.If you were to choose any of these, I would choose this one.The first part of compassion is empathy — and this abilityto understand how others feel can be developedthrough practice. Start by imagining the suffering of a lovedone.Understand their pain, the emotions they go through, and whythey would react the way they would. By doing this exercise anumber of times, you are developing a skill that can be applied toothers — for every person you see, try to understand what theyare going through. Try to learn and understand more about theirbackground, and why they react the way they do. Once you’vedeveloped this invaluable skill, learn the other half ofcompassion — acting on your understanding, and helping others,alleviating their suffering, acting with kindness. This one thingcan bring true happiness to your life, and the lives of thosearound you.

6. Find your passionAnother indispensable tip. This might bethe second on my list of priorities. Findsomething you love to do, and your life willbecome immensely improved. You will loveyour work,the thing that you spend 40 hours (ormore) a week doing.You will become more productive,procrastinate less, be less stressed. Youwill produce something you are proud of,and happy about.

7. Lose weightThis only applies, of course, if you are overweight.But losing your extra fat (and when I say loseweight, I mean lose fat), decreases your health risks(obviously), makes you look better, and in general isvery likely to increase your happiness aboutyourself. I actually recommend that you learn to becomfortable and happy with how you look now, andnot feel negative about yourself evenif you are overweight. However, I’ve found thatlosingweight (at least for me) is a great way to feelbetter aboutyour body. Do not make this anunhealthy obsession, however— lose weight gradually, and enjoy the process.

8. ExerciseMake this a daily habit. Exercise notonly helps you lose weight, but for me,it’s made me feel so much better. Iactually enjoy exercise now. It’s atime of contemplation for me, and I feelso much better about myselfafterwards.

9. Eat healthyI don’t recommend dieting. It’s toorestrictive and you usually fall off it atsome point. I do recommend changes toyour diet, however — ones you makegradually, and that can be sustainedfor life. It not only helps lose weight,but really, once you start eatinghealthier, it is actually much moreenjoyable.

10. MeditateOK, you might be like me — not intoNew-Age stuff.But meditation can actually be a verysimple method forrelaxing, for bringingcalm, for returning yourself to sanity,for contemplation.

11. Get organizedThis one’s not necessary. You could gothrough life wonderfully messy,searching for stuff,enjoying the search. But I’ve trieddisorganized, and I’vetried organized. The second is muchmore enjoyable to me.

12. Think positiveAnother one of the most important tipson this list, thinking positive — ascliche as it might sound — is one of thesingle best changes you can make inyour life that will lead to so many morepositive tips

13. Simplify your finances.Cut down on the number of accountsyou have, cut down onyour credit cards, spend less, reduceyour bills. Make yourfinances automagical. Simplifying yourfinances greatlyreduces your stress

14. Simplify your lifeAnother of my top tips. I’ve greatlysimplified my life, in manyways, and I can say that having lessstuff in my life, and lessto do, has greatly increased myenjoyment of life. De-clutter,simplify your commitments, simplifyyour work space, simplifyyour wardrobe, simplify your rooms.

15. Accept what you haveThe problem with many of us is that we always think thatwe’ll be happy when we reach a certain destination — when weget a certain job, or retire, or get our dream house.Unfortunately, it takes awhile before you get there, and whenyou get there, you might have a new destination in mind.Instead, try being happy with where you are, with who youare, and what you have.To do that, instead of comparing what you have with otherpeople, or with what you want, compare yourself those whohave less, with those who are going through tragedy, withthose who are struggling.You will see that you actually are extremelyblessed. And this can lead to more happiness with yourcurrent situation.

16. Envision your ultimate lifeWhat would your ultimate life be like?Where would you live,what would you do, what would you dowith your days?Come up with a clear picture of this,and write it down. Now,one step at a time, make it come true.

17. Set long-term goalsYour vision of your ultimate life will help you comeup with long-term goals. Of those goals, pick one toaccomplish within the next year, and really focus onthat. Now, pick one medium-term goal to achieve inthe next few months that will get you furthertoward your longer-term goal. Now decide what youcan do this week, and today, to get you to yourmedium-term goal. Just choose one thing at a time,focus on it, make it happen, and then choose thenext thing to focus on

18. Review goalsSetting goals is important, but the keyto making them a reality is actuallyreviewing them (at least monthly,but weekly is better) and taking actionsteps to make them come true.Again, focus on one at a time, andreally focus on them.

19. Life missionRelated to envisioning your ultimatelife, but different — it’s important thatyou think about how you would like tobe remembered when you die — so youcan start living the life that leads tothat now. Live with purpose in life, andwake up every day with that purpose inmind.

20. Plan your big tasks for week anddayGive purpose to your day bydetermining the three most importantthings you can do with your day, andmaking those a priority. Do the samething with your week to increaseyour productivity: pick out the bigtasks you’d like to accomplish thisweek, and schedule those first.

21. Maintain focusOne important key to achieving your goals isto maintain focus on them. To do this, again,it’s important that you select one goal at atime. This will prevent your focus fromspreading too thin. It’s also important thatyou give yourself constant reminders of yourgoal, so you don’t lose that focus. Put up aposter of your current goal, or print it out andput it out somewhere visible, andsend yourself emailed reminders. However youdo it, find a way to maintain a laser-sharpfocus, and the goal will come true.

22. Enjoy the journeyGoals are important, but not at theexpense of happiness now. It’simportant to maintain a balancebetween going where you want to go,and being happy as you go there.It’s easy to forget that, so be sure toremind yourself of this little,but important, tip as you make yourjourney.

23. Create a morning and evening routineThese are two great ways to add structure to yourday, make sure you review your goals and log yourprogress, and get your day off to a great start. Anevening routine, for example, could be a great waynot only to wind down from a long day andreview how your day went, but to prepare yourselffor your next day so the morning isn’t so hectic.Your morning routine is great way to greet the day,to get some exercise or meditation or quietcontemplation, or to get some writing or other workdone.

24.Develop intimate relationshipsIt’s great to have a special someone, of course, butintimate relationships could be found with anyone around you.If you have a significant other, be sure to spend time each dayand each week with that person, to work on your relationshipand communicate and continue to bond. But if you don’t,there’s no need to despair (if in fact you are) … intimaterelationships can be developed with friends, other familymembers, kids, roommates, classmate, co-workers. Everysingle person we meet is a fellow human being, with the samedesires for happiness, for food and shelter, for an intimateconnection.Find that common thread, be open and sincere, find out moreabout each other, understand each other, and give love. Thiscan be one of the most important things you do.

25. Eliminate debtFinancially, this is a huge way to relieve stressand make you feel much more secure. I suggestthat you get rid of your credit cards (if youhave a problem with credit card debt or impulsespending) and create a snowballplan for yourself. It may take a couple of years,but you can get out of debt.

26. Enjoy the simple pleasuresYou can find these everywhere. Food (I loveberries!),sunsets, sand between your toes, fresh-cutgrass, playing with your child, a good book anda warm bed, dancing in the rain, your favoritemusic. You could probably make a list of20 simple pleasures right now, things you enjoythat you could find every day. Sprinkle thoselittle pleasures throughout your day. It makesthe journey much more enjoyable