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3-2-1: How to deal with stress, forging your own reality, and learning vs. achieving

Happy 3-2-1 Thursday!

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Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

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3 Ideas From Me

I.

"To learn, wander. To achieve, focus."

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​II.

"You are better equipped to deal with stress when you are moving.

When you feel tense or frustrated or worried, it is difficult to think your way into feeling better. The more you think about the situation, the larger it becomes in your mind. Trying to think your way out of it often leads to a spiral of overthinking and rumination.

The first step is not to think something different, but to do something different. It doesn’t matter what. Stretch on the floor, go for a walk, work on a project. Get out of your mind and move your body."

III.

"Think about the little things you enjoy, then turn around and do them for someone else.

If you feel relief when someone asks a question in class, then other students are probably relieved too. Be the one who asks.

If you love it when a friend calls to check in, your friends probably love it too. Be the one who calls.

If it makes your whole day when someone compliments your outfit, other people probably love it too. Give out more compliments."

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2 Quotes From Others

I.

Author Francois de La Rochefoucauld reminds us that we often justify our mistakes rather than addressing them:

"We try to make virtues out of the faults we have no wish to correct."

Source: Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims​

​II.

Poet and novelist Charles Bukowski on forging your own reality:

"I was waiting for something extraordinary to happen but as the years wasted on nothing ever did unless I caused it."

Source: Post Office (1971)

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1 Question For You

What is one lesson you have learned this year?

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Want to share this issue of 3-2-1? Just copy and paste this link: https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/december-19-2024

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Until next week,

James Clear ​​
​Author of Atomic Habits​
Creator of the 3-2-1 Newsletter​
Founding Author of Authors Equity​

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p.s. Anyone know where the psychopaths are? ​​

What else am I working on?