3-2-1: On control, saying no, and keeping an open mind

“Slow and steady often wins because it keeps you motivated.

Take on manageable challenges and you'll get frequent signals of progress. Bite off more than you can chew and progress stalls.

When you make progress, you want to keep going. When you break progress, you want to stop.”

“When you say no, you are only saying no to one option. When you say yes, you are saying no to every other option.

No is a choice. Yes is a responsibility.”

Sharon Salzberg on faith and keeping an open mind:

“It’s not the existence of beliefs that is the problem, but what happens to us when we hold them rigidly, without examining them, when we presume the absolutely centrality of our views and become disdainful of others.”

The architect Christopher Alexander on how to design a room that people love:

“Light on two sides of every room. When they have a choice, people will always gravitate to those rooms which have light on two sides, and leave the rooms which are lit only from one side unused and empty.

This pattern, perhaps more than any other single pattern, determines... See more

“Ultimately, the only way to truly be in control of your life is to be in control of your thoughts.”