Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff (and it’s All Small Stuff) – by Richard Carlson Ph D
Don’t sweat the small stuff
Make peace with imperfection
Let go of the idea that gentle, relaxed people can’t be super achievers
Be aware of the snowball effect of your thinking
Develop your compassion
Remind yourself that when you die, your “in basket” won’t be empty
Don’t interrupt others or finish their sentences
Do something nice for someone else, and don’t tell anyone about it
Let others have the glory
Learn to live in the present moment
Imagine that everyone is enlightened except you
Let others be “right” most of the time
Become more patient
Create “patience practice periods”
Be the first one to act loving or reach out
Ask yourself the question, “Will this matter a year from now?”
Surrender to the fact that life isn’t fair
Allow yourself to be bored
Lower your tolerance to stress
Once a week, write a heartfelt letter
Imagine yourself at your own funeral
Repeat to yourself, “life isn’t an emergency
Experiment with your back burner
Spend a moment every day thinking of someone to thank
Smile at strangers, look into their eyes, and say hello
Set aside quite time, every day
Imagine the people in your life as tiny infants and as one-hundred-year-old adults
Seek first to understand
Become a better listener
Choose your battles wisely
Become aware of your moods and don’t allow yourself to be fooled by the low ones
Life is a test, it is only a test
Praise and blame are all the same
Practice random acts of kindness
Look beyond behavior
See the innocence
Choose being kind over being right
Tell three people (today) how much you love them
Practice humility
When in doubt about whose turn it is to take out the trash, go ahead and take it out
Avoid weatherproofing
Spend a moment, every day, thinking of someone to love
Become an anthropologist
Understand separate realities
Develop your own helping rituals
Every day, tell at least one person something you like, admire, or appreciate about them
Argue for your limitations, and they’re yours
Remember that everything has God’s fingerprints on it
Resist the urge to criticize
Write down your five most stubborn positions and see if you can soften them
Just for fun, agree with criticism directed toward you (then watch it go away)
Search for the grain of truth in other opinions
See the glass as already broken (and everything else too)
Understand the statement, “wherever you go, there you are”
Breath before you speak
Be grateful when you’re feeling good and grateful when you’re feeling bad
Become a less aggressive driver
Relax
Adopt a child through the mail
Turn your melodrama into a mellow-drama
Read articles and books with entirely different points of view from you own and try to learn something
Do one thing at a time
Count to ten
Practice being in the “eye of the storm”
Be flexible with changes in your plans
Think of what you have instead of what you want
Practice ignoring your negative thoughts
Be willing to learn from friends and family
Be happy where you are
Remember that you become what you practice most
Quite the mind
Take up yoga
Make service an integral part of your life
Do a favor and don’t ask for, or expect, one in return
Think of your problems as potential teachers
Get comfortable not knowing
Acknowledge the totality of your being
Cut yourself some slack
Stop blaming others
Become an early riser
When trying to be helpful, focus on little things
Remember, one hundred years from now, all new people
Lighten up
Nurture a plant
Transform your relationship to your problems
The next time you find yourself in an argument, rather than defend your position, see if you can see the other point of view first
Redefine a “meaningful accomplishment”
Listen to your feelings (they are trying to tell you something)
If someone throws you the ball, you don’t have to catch it
One more passing show
Fill your life with love
Realize the power of your own thoughts
Give up on the idea that “more is better”
Keep asking yourself, “What’s really important”
Trust your intuitive heart
Be open to “what is”
Mind your own business
Look for the extraordinary in the ordinary
Schedule time for your inner work
Live this day as if it were your last, it might be!
Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff At Work – Richard Carlson, Ph D
Dare to be happy
Become less controlling
Eliminate the rat race mentality
Don’t dramatize the deadlines
Have some “no phone” time at work
Avoid corporate bragging
Make the best of those boring meetings
Stop anticipating tiredness
Don’t sweat the bureaucracy
Remember the phrase, “being dead is bad for business”
Make the best of corporate travel
Light a candle instead of cursing the darkness
Join my new club, “TGIT”
Don’t sweat the demanding boss
Remember to acknowledge
Don’t keep people waiting
Create a bridge between your spirituality and your work
Bright up your working environment
Take your breaks
Don’t take the 20/80 rule personally
Make a list of your personal priorities
Use effective listing as a stress-reducing tool
Make friends with your receptionist
Remember the motto, “you catch more flies with honey”
Avoid the phrase, “I have to go to work”
Be aware of the potentially stressful effects of your promises
Examine your rituals and habits (and be willing to change some of them)
Stay focused in the now
Be careful what you ask for
Absorb the speed bumps of your day
Have a favorite business charity
Never, ever backstab
Accept the fact that, every once in awhile, you’re going to have a really bad day
Recognize patterns of behavior
Lower your expectations
Pat yourself on the back
Become less self-absorbed
Don’t be trapped by golden handcuffs
Get really comfortable with using voice mail
Stop wishing you were somewhere else
Ask yourself the question, “am I making the absolute best of this moment?”
Stop scrambling
Become aware of your wisdom
Realize the power of rapport
Recover quickly
Encourage company stress-busters
Give up your fear of speaking to groups
Avoid comments that are likely to lead to gossip of unwanted chatter
See beyond the roles
Avoid the tendency to put a cost on personal things
When you solicit advice, consider taking it
Take advantage of your commute
Let go of battles that cannot be won
Think of stress and frustration as distractions to your success
Accept the fact that there’s almost always going to be someone mad at you
Don’t let your own thoughts stress you out
Make allowances for incompetence
Don’t be too quick to comment
Let go of “personality clashes”
Don’t get stressby the predictable
Stop procrastinating
Confront gently
Remember the three R’s
Get out of the grumble mode
Get it over with
Don’t live in an imagined future
Make someone else feel good
Compete from the heart
Back off when you don’t know what to do
Admit that it’s your choice
Before becoming defensive, take note of what is being said
Complete as many tasks as possible
Spend ten minutes a day doing absolutely nothing
Learn to delegate
Strengthen your presence
Learn to say no without guilt
Take your next vacation at home
Don’t let negative coworkers get you down
Make the best of a “Noncreative” position
Stay close to your center
Forgive yourself, you’re human
Put your mind in neutral
Marvel at how often things go right
Make peace with chaos
Prevent burnout
Experience a magical transformation
Avoid “if only, then” thinking
Eliminate the worry factor
Ask for what you want, but don’t insist on getting it
Remember the whole story
Tap into your secret stress-buster
Speak to others with love and respect
Don’t go there
Remember to appreciate the people you work with
Don’t sweat your critics
Reduce your self-induced stress
Become aware of the thought factor
Ease off your ego
Remember, small stuff happens
“Life is just one thing after another”
Don’t live for retirement
“All days were created equal, today is every bit as important as any future day…”
Ref: SweatSmallStuff