Think Like a Monk

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

- Bruce Lee

Insight: Success is often depth in one thing.

Principle: Aspire to greater scale and depth.

• Insight: Noise adds to our cognitive load. The brain processes sound even when we don't consciously hear it.
• Principle: Sound-design your life: choose to incorporate sounds that make you feel happier and healthier.

Insight: Jane Goodall went to study chimpanzees in Tanzania in 1960, and has redefined conservation and been a role model and leader for women in the field, and inspired young people to get involved in conservation.

"Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything—anger, anxiety, or possessions—we cannot be free."

- Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching

Insight: Letting go of physical things can help us to let go of what those things remind us of.

Principle: Avoid physical triggers of negative thoughts and feelings.

"To my mind, the idea that doing dishes is unpleasant can occur only when you aren’t doing them... If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish them quickly so I can go and have dessert or a cup of tea, I will be equally incapable of enjoying my dessert or my tea when I finally have them... Each thought, each action in the sunlight of awareness becomes sacred. In this light, no boundary exists between the sacred and the profane."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Insight: We don't need to change anything to find value in our everyday activities.

"Every person is a world to explore."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Insight: We all bring different levels of self-awareness to our relationships.

Insight: We often overlook what we really need when looking for a partner - like how we want to be cared for, or what makes us feel loved.

"Often, we get crushes on others not because we truly love and understand them, but to distract ourselves from our suffering. When we learn to love and understand ourselves and have true compassion for ourselves, then we can truly love and understand another person."

- Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Love