Actively orient your life as a perpetual student, approaching the world with curiosity and a willingness to learn from everything and everyone. This mindset helps avoid boredom and reconnects you with the richness of being alive.
Adopt the Dalai Lama’s concept of ‘wise selfishness’ by focusing on the benefit of others. Thinking about how you can be useful to others ultimately leads to greater personal happiness.
Recognize that you are constantly teaching through your actions, especially as a parent or boss. Be mindful and intentional about the lessons you impart, choosing to act with love rather than mindlessly.
Actively seek out other people as teachers, prioritizing flesh-and-blood interactions over purely digital or AI sources. The tangible ‘relation’ with a real person provides unique reflective energy and impact.
As a teacher or mentor, remain open to learning from your students, recognizing that roles can fluidly interchange. This prevents rigidity and fosters a dynamic learning environment.
Take time to reflect on all the individuals who have taught you throughout your life, even for basic skills. This practice cultivates gratitude and increases your openness to future learning opportunities.
Cultivate a willingness to learn from anyone who crosses your path, regardless of their formal role or your relationship with them. This expands your sources of wisdom beyond traditional mentors.
Practice gratitude even towards annoying or difficult people, viewing them as teachers who help you develop patience and work on personal growth.
In your meditative or spiritual practice, strive to cultivate both intellectual understanding (light) and heartfelt compassion (warmth). This balance ensures a rich, connected, and not cold or detached practice.
Practice acknowledging emotions or thoughts without continually ‘poking at’ or analyzing them, then allow them to naturally dissipate. This prevents getting stuck in unproductive rumination and exacerbating emotional wounds.
When you find yourself caught in unhelpful or repetitive thought patterns, mentally interject with the phrase ‘dead end.’ This technique helps to stop unproductive thinking and conserve mental energy.
Adopt ’lightness’ as a primary goal in your personal growth and spiritual practices. This implies a reduction of suffering and a more unburdened, less serious way of being.
Reframe the concept of enlightenment as ’lightening up,’ which involves taking yourself less seriously and personally. This shift can make you more available and less contracted around your views.
Engage in meditation to observe your own mind, which can help you develop an ‘inner teacher’ for self-guidance and support during challenges. This fosters an internal relationship for personal growth.
Channel your capacity for mentoring others towards yourself, offering internal support and encouragement when you are in difficult or extreme situations.
Implement personal reminders, such as a specific phrase or a visual cue, to consistently adopt and maintain a desired mindset or behavior. This helps counteract forgetfulness in daily life.
In frustrating or challenging situations, create a pause before reacting to consider the lessons your behavior might be imparting to others, especially children. This allows for more intentional responses.
Seek opportunities to spend time with wise individuals or teachers, even informally, to learn implicitly by observing their presence and how they handle various situations.
Intentionally surround yourself with positive influences and peers who model desirable behaviors. This creates a beneficial ‘peer pressure’ that continuously reinforces personal growth.
Make a conscious choice to avoid working with individuals who are difficult or unpleasant. This protects your well-being and fosters a more positive and productive work environment.
If you experience imposter syndrome about teaching or sharing your knowledge, overcome it by actively practicing and just trying to teach. Confidence often develops through doing.
Allow your willingness to teach to be animated by a deep love for your subject, your art form, or the desire for your passion to continue beyond yourself.
When dealing with intense grief or overwhelming emotions, consider approaching them indirectly through creative expression or other oblique methods. This can aid processing without direct confrontation.
If facial expressions are limited or difficult to convey, find alternative ways to express emotions like joy and love, such as through your voice or hand gestures. This ensures your intentions are communicated effectively.
When listening, use non-facial cues like hand gestures or verbal affirmations (e.g., murmuring) to demonstrate attentiveness. This helps others feel heard and understood, especially if facial mirroring is not possible.
Adopt the perspective that ’everything is magic’ or a result of an ‘ocean of causes and conditions.’ This mindset can ‘wake you up’ to the wonder and interconnectedness of reality.
Develop an open mind towards new experiences or things you’ve historically disliked. This openness can lead to unexpected enjoyment and learning.
View rejection not as a failure, but as an opportunity to practice and develop persistence. This mindset is crucial for achieving goals in any field with frequent setbacks.
When facing rejection, analyze the details and ‘gradations’ of the rejection (e.g., personalized feedback vs. form letter). This helps identify signs of progress and prevents fixation solely on the ’no.’
When encountering a ‘bad teacher’ or difficult situation, focus on cultivating your own resilience and well-being to navigate the experience. Learning self-preservation is a valuable outcome.
Learn to identify and, if possible, reject assignments or tasks that you genuinely dislike and that go against your core inclinations. This helps preserve your enthusiasm and joy for your work.