Habits to Have a Baseline of Happiness

Habits to Have a Baseline of Happiness

By Leo Babauta

Post on August 18, 2026

Source

Someone told me recently that I’m one of the only people they know that seems to have a baseline of happiness. Most of the people they know, including themselves, are stressed, angry, anxious, overwhelmed, sad, etc.

It made me start to reflect: is this actually true? And if so, why is it true for me?

And I think it is true. I’m definitely not happy all the time — I have all the emotions everyone else has — but I do think my baseline is one of happiness and peace.

So why do I have this baseline? Part of it might be that I got lucky — I was born with brain chemistry that helps me. I think my mom also has a baseline of happiness, so it could be her genetics, or how she raised me. (I also had a dad who very much didn’t have happiness as his baseline, and his parenting definitely gave me some trauma to overcome.)

But I also think I’ve built on that with my own habits, mental and otherwise, that have helped me to have this baseline. I think these habits can help anyone, even if you weren’t blessed with good chemistry or a loving parent.

Let’s take a look.

My Habits of Happiness

I’ll start by saying that these won’t cure everything, nor are they easy fixes. They’re mental habits, and they take time to cultivate.

But here are the mental habits I’ve found to be helpful:

1. Slow down & savor: This is the idea that Zen Habits is built on — don’t always try to rush through your day, to get on to the next thing. Instead, slow down, and savor moments as often as you can remember. Every moment is something to be savored, if we can just wake up to that.
2. Be fascinated: So many of us get bored with life, or take the wonders of life for granted. Instead, what if we could get curious about the things we barely notice anymore? What if we could let our fascination lead us, instead of going through the motions?
3. Everything is a lesson: When I’m frustrated with someone, or frustrated with myself, or things are not going the way I’d like … I have learned to see what I’m facing as a lesson in deeper wisdom. I try to pause and notice what this person, or this moment, has to teach me. My deepest lessons come from the hardest struggles.
4. Enjoy progress, not only the result: I’ve come to enjoy every little bit of progress that I make. If I am inching along on a project, if my fitness journey is taking way longer than I hoped it would … I try to see what progress I’ve already made, and celebrate that. Even if it’s just a few steps. It means that I’m encouraging myself along the way, and that the end point is just one joyous point among many.
5. Feel but don’t dwell: I find that it’s important to feel all the feels. If I get sad, I let myself really feel heartbroken. If I get angry, I let myself rage (not at another person though). I feel all of it. But then I’m done. It’s not helpful to dwell on the thoughts that cause the feelings.
6. Try not to take things too seriously!: I like to take life lightly. I try to laugh at myself, and make a little fun in heavier situations (when appropriate!). This means that life can be lighthearted, which is always more fun!
7. Practice gratitude & wonder: I started my journey toward happiness with a simple gratitude practice — I just listed 10 things I was grateful for that day. Often they were the same things (my family, my health, nature) but what this did was have me looking throughout the day for things I might take for granted but that I was glad was in my life. Later, I expanded that to seeing things that filled me with wonder. This is how we appreciate the miracle of everyday life.

This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list — nor do you have to do all of these to be happy. They’ve just helped me tremendously over the years.

The hard part, of course, is forming these habits. Here’s what I’d recommend:

• Pick one and set an intention to practice with it every day. Set reminders on your phone, and posted around your living and working spaces.
• Try to catch moments when you can practice that mental habit. It’ll be hard at first, but you’ll start to catch it more and more.
• Set a 5-minute review habit for the end of each day, when you try to notice when you practiced during the day and when you might have missed it. It’ll help you get better each day.
• Do this for at least a month per mental habit. You’ll drop off a little at the middle of the month, but then try to recommit yourself to it and that’s when the real learning happens.

Be patient. It takes time. These are mental habits I’ve developed over years of practice. But they are so worth it.

with love,

Leo Babauta

Zen Habits

• https://zenhabits.net/

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 

• https://eraoflight.com/2026/08/17/habits-to-have-a-baseline-of-happiness/

Create a More Flexible Mind

Create a More Flexible Mind

By Leo Babauta

Posted on June 22, 2026

Source

There was a time in my life when I was addicted to junk food, fast food, comfort foods. These days, I still enjoy the taste of those foods, but nothing tastes as good as healthy, whole foods.

The switch for me was gradual, not instant. It was also intentional. And I’m so glad I made the change.

These days, I eat mostly whole plant foods (I’m vegan): beans, nuts, seeds, lentils, tofu and tempeh, whole grains, lots of veggies, lots of fruit. And it’s delicious.

I also mostly cut out sugar and fried foods, and completely cut out meats and other animal products including dairy, and am currently not drinking alcohol (for the last 5 months). These changes don’t feel like sacrifices to me.

If you’d like to make the switch to loving healthy food, let’s look at how to make it painless, delicious, and very much not a sacrifice.

What We’re Moving Toward

It can be really helpful to start by envisioning what you’d like to move toward — what would a healthy diet look like for you? What kinds of healthy foods would you like to include? (Don’t limit yourself to what you already like.)

You don’t have to envision a vegan diet (although maybe consider it!) … just think about what would be healthy for you. I encourage you to think about whole foods over processed.

For me, I love to include healthy bowls: grains with proteins (tofu, tempeh, beans, lentils) and veggies and a simple sauce or hummus. Maybe some nuts or seeds to go with it. I also love huge salads with all of these things included, or soups or chili full of beans and veggies. But you could think of healthy tacos, stir-fries, or wraps.

Envision the healthy meals, and try to think of them in a positive light — not only will these help make you healthier, they are delicious and lovely!

Making a Slow, Lovely Transition

Now that we have the vision, I encourage a slow transition. You might be tempted to go for the whole enchilada (so to speak) right away … and if that feels super doable to you, go for it. But sometimes it can help to go slower.

For example, maybe there are some healthy foods that you don’t really like — green vegetables, tomatoes, beans, for example. Maybe you’re interested in tofu or tempeh but aren’t used to them. Maybe you are used to lots of sugar and fried foods and eating foods that don’t have added sugar and aren’t fried seems terrible to you.

In that case, here’s what I suggest:

• Start with the healthy changes that would be easy for you. If you already like apples, feel free to just add apples for now. Maybe you also like carrots. Add those too! Get some easy wins.
• Gradually add the other things that don’t feel so intimidating. No need to buy everything you hate and try to thug it out. Go with the ones you can tolerate reasonably well, and start to acclimatize yourself in them.
• Focus on savoring and enjoyment. As you pay close attention, and try to find the elements of the textures and tastes that you enjoy, you’ll start to appreciate the food more.
• Harder foods: there will be foods you don’t love — but you can grow to love them, if you slowly acclimatize yourself and start to appreciate the more subtle qualities of the food. I have grown to love so many healthy foods that I didn’t before. Sometimes it helps to season them in a way that’s more palatable, or try different ways to prepare. Give yourself time.

There’s no rush. You have a lifetime to learn to enjoy these foods.

The Role of Identity

This kind of shift requires a shift in identity. You might think of yoursef as someone who doesn’t like these kinds of foods, or someone who “has to have” their sugar drinks or snacks, for example. This is your old identity.

A new identity could be someone who love all kinds of healthy, delicious foods, and someone who doesn’t need junk food to be happy or to deal with stress. It’s a new identity that’s resilient in the face of stress.

So my encouragement is to start to shift how you see yourself. Let go of the old, limiting way you think about yourself in relation to food. And start to craft a new version, that is empowered and ready to enjoy a new kind of life.

with love,

Leo Babauta

Zen Habits

• https://zenhabits.net/

How to Find Your Signal in the Noise

How to Find Your Signal in the Noise

By Leo Babauta

Post on May 2, 2026

Our lives are filled with so many inputs, it can all just feel like noise — emails, messages, tasks, meetings, news, social media and more. We get overwhelmed, and often shut down or avoid.

Too many priorities, too much information, too many inputs, too much noise.

The secret is to find the signal in all this noise.

The noise is everything that feels urgent, or all the incoming stuff. It can make us reactive when we’re acting on the noise.

The signal is the stuff that actually matters. It’s the stuff that will move the needle, make the impact you want, move the important things forward in a meaningful way.

We need to get good at distinguishing this if we want to deal with overwhelm, and be less reactive.

So how do we distinguish the signal from the noise?

Let’s take a look.

Criteria for Finding the Signal

There’s no right answer here, but here are some ways I look for signal in all of the noise …

1. What would move forward my most important things?
2. What would I regret ignoring?
3. What keeps surfacing when I get quiet?

And this last one is what I highly recommend — practicing a little stillness every day. It can be daily meditation, but it could also be just pausing for a minute or two, closing your eyes, breathing in slowly, and relaxing. Listening.

In this kind of stillness and quiet, the signal becomes clearer.

How to Practice

Question 1 above (moving forward your most important things) requires you to know what’s most important. So I recommend a little stillness every few months, for an hour or two, to get clear on your priorities. They might shift over the course of a year, so check back in every 3 months or so.

Then do a weekly “signal check”: 10 minutes at the start of the week to ask what’s really important for this week. Write those down, schedule them if you can.

I highly recommend doing a daily stillness practice, either at the start of the day or at the end (or both!) to keep the signal visible. What’s important for today, in all the noise?

And during the course of the day, if you’re overwhelmed or feeling reactive … just take a moment to calm yourself, re-center, and get clear on your signal with just a moment of stillness.

Clarity isn’t found in more information — it’s found in letting ourselves relax into stillness, and finding the signal of what really matters.

with love,

Leo Babauta

Zen Habits

• https://zenhabits.net/

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 

• eraoflight.com/2026/05/02/how-to-find-your-signal-in-the-noise/

Simplicity in Doing: 6 Key Ideas

Simplicity in Doing: 6 Key Ideas

By Leo Babauta

Post on March 30, 2026

Lately I’ve been exploring ideas around how to bring more simplicity to taking action, tackling tasks, doing everything I have to do in a day.

It can be so overwhelming, we procrastinate, we overcomplicate.

What if it could be simple?

In this article, I’ll share some ideas I’ve been exploring to bring more simplicity to everything I do in my day. The ideas won’t work for everyone, but I hope they’re valuable to you in some way.

1. Completing the Moment

One thing I’ve been noticing is how often I’ll rush from one thing to the next, leaving a bit of a mess behind, or leaving something unfinished, in my rush to start the next thing.

A phrase that’s been resonating for me is “complete the moment.”

What that means is to not rush to the next thing before I’ve completed what I’m doing. For example:

• If I finish eating, wash my dishes and clean up any other mess. Put away food. Wipe the counter.
• If I’m getting ready, make sure I hang my towel, put my dirty clothes in my hamper, fold up or hang up any clothes that aren’t dirty yet.
• If I finish a meeting, write down any notes or tasks that need to be done so I don’t forget.
• If I’m doing laundry, don’t just wash and dry the clothes — fold and hang them and put them away.

If I slow down and let myself complete what is called for in the moment, then I can move on to the next thing with a sense of completion and peace.

Also, it’s so much nicer!

2. Just This Task

If you look at your task list or email inbox, it’s probably way too long to finish this week, let alone today. It’s overwhelming, and if we try to tackle it all, we’re likely to be jumping around from one thing to the next in a frenzy.

What’s been resonating for me is the phrase, “Just this.”

What that means is that I pick one thing to focus on, and forget about everything else. Easier said than done, I know! But it’s a practice.

So I clear everything away, and just have one thing in front of me. I give it my full focus, as if it were completely worthy of full attention. I breathe, and put myself into it.

It’s very simple, and very meditative. This isn’t a forcing, but a simplicity that’s refreshing and calm.

3. No Need to Rush

As I’m moving through my day, I like to remind myself, “No need to rush.”

As a Zen practitioner, you might think I’m always calm and I move slowly. Not so at all! I really like to move quickly — if I’m cooking or cleaning the kitchen, you’ll hear cupboards banging about, and I’m moving around like a whirlwind. It’s fun!

So I have to purposefully slow myself down. I find it challenging but really nice. No need to rush. What am I in such a hurry for?

4. No Need to Run

There’s always a handful (or more) of hard tasks on our lists that we like to procrastinate on. They get pushed back, and pile up.

I like to remind myself, “No need to run from this.”

What that means is, this isn’t something that’s as hard and scary as I might think. It feels like I need to run from it, because I have fear, or I’m overwhelmed. But when I notice I’m about to run, I just remind myself that it’s not necessary.

Then I turn toward the task and breathe, and just take the first step as simply as I can. This too, is a meditative act.

5. Clear Things Out

How many of us have a browser with ten thousand tabs open? What about an email inbox overflowing and overwhelming?

I like to remind myself, when I have so many things open or piling up, to clear things out. It helps keep things simple.

Some examples:

• Every day or two, I save and close browser tabs — I bookmark the tab to find later, put it into a task, save it to my read later service, or just act on it. Ideally, I’ve cleared them all so I can focus on what’s next.
• Every day or two, I clear out my email inbox. Now, this isn’t always true — sometimes things pile up. But I like to have a clear inbox, so I take some time working through them. If things have piled up, it might take 5-10 sessions! But ideally, it’s a couple sessions a day.
• My read-later service (currently Instapaper) gets piled up, so ideally I try to clear it out every week. That means spending a little time reading articles and archiving them, or just deleting if I don’t feel like reading something. This means I don’t have guilt about the things I’m not reading.
• I do the same thing with physical items — if I have things on the kitchen counter, on my desk, on my bedside table, etc. … I take a little time to deal with each item and clear them out. Sometimes I don’t have time to do that all at once, so I’ll come back to the pile until it’s cleared out.

This isn’t about being perfect, or stressing out if there’s a pile of things. But if I take a little time to clear things out, my life feels so much simpler.

6. Moments to Plan & Reflect

I find it important to take a little time at the beginning of each week and each day to plan.

Nothing complicated: what do I want to get done this week? What do I want to get done today?

I do the same for each month and each year. It helps me to know where I’m going, and what to focus on. I like to keep that simple, and only do a few minutes each day and every Sunday (or Monday).

I think it’s also important to create a little space to reflect. What have I been doing, what’s worthy of celebrating, what am I putting off? What’s blocking me? What am I learning? I don’t have to reflect on these every day, but if I spend just a couple minutes every day reflecting, my life becomes much more sane and simplified.

with love,

Leo Babauta

Zen Habits

• https://zenhabits.net/

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 

• https://eraoflight.com/2026/03/29/simplicity-in-doing-6-key-ideas/

How to Be Less Judgmental

How to Be Less Judgmental

By Leo Babauta

Post on February 22, 2026

Most of us don’t like to think of ourselves as judgmental … it doesn’t feel nice to be all judgy! But not wanting to see the judgment only pushes it out of our awareness.

It becomes a blind spot for many of us.

If you’re interested in looking at where you might have judgment of others, here are some places to look honestly:

• Are you often irritated, frustrated, angry with other people? Underneath this annoyance or frustration is probably a judgment about them.
• Do you gossip about others? Make comments about them behind their backs? Or maybe just in your own head?
• Do you feel like other people are living their lives in the wrong way? Do you often offer advice? Or wish people would change? Do you get frustrated because it’s obvious what they need to do but they’re not doing it?
• Do you put up walls so that it’s hard to connect with you, because you think people don’t deserve it? Are you less loving or generous, because you think people don’t deserve it?

These are not the only ways we’re judgmental, but they might have you start to become more aware of your judgment. And you do have judgment — you’re only human!

So what can we do? Let’s take a look.

Compassion for Our Judgment

First, it’s important as you get more awareness of our judgment, that we not judge it too much! Let’s just acknowledge that we have it, because it’s a human thing to do.

And then notice any shame you might have about being judgmental. As we take an honest look at this, the shame might arise, and that’s OK. Let it come up, but don’t feed the shame with more thoughts about how bad you are. Have compassion for the part of you that’s ashamed of being judgmental.

This is a process of accepting a part of ourselves we usually judge.

Shifts in Perspective

As we accept this part of ourselves that we judge … it will help us to accept the parts of others that we judge. Other people struggle with the same things we do, and as we take an honest look at ourselves, and have compassion for ourselves, we can do that more and more with them.

When you notice yourself judging someone else — first notice that you’re feeling some fear and frustration, and have some compassion. You’re protecting yourself from fear, with your judgment and story about them.

Then see if you can drop that protection, and instead open your compassionate heart toward them. Be generous in how you see them. Feel how you’re connected to them, the same as them.

As we drop these boundaries between ourselves and others, we start to feel more connected to others, less separated, more open hearted. This is transformational and beautiful!

with love,

Leo Babauta

Zen Habits

• https://zenhabits.net/

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 

• https://eraoflight.com/2026/02/22/how-to-be-less-judgmental/

How to Follow the News Without Getting Overly Upset

How to Follow the News Without Getting Overly Upset

By Leo Babauta

Post on February 7, 2026

Lots of people these days are feeling upset, distracted, exhausted by the news. It’s the state our world is in, and it’s not easy to deal with.

But not following the news doesn’t feel like a good option. I did that for a few years — I just wouldn’t read or watch the news, except once every month or two, when I’d try to catch up. For most people, that doesn’t seem responsible.

I feel lucky in that I’m now able to follow the news but stay relatively grounded. I get upset by things, of course, and I’m not happy with the state of our world. But it doesn’t throw me into a spin or drain me excessively. I’m able to focus, on most days (though I’m far from unaffected).

So how do you manage that balance, between being able to follow the news and not getting so upset you can’t function during the day?

I’m going to share how I do it, but first I’ll share a couple of mindset shifts that can be helpful.

First, the Mindset Shifts

There are two mindset changes that have helped me a lot. The first was taught to me by Pema Chodron, one of our best living Buddhist teachers. The second, by the Stoics and Zen alike.

1: Let the news connect you to humanity. When I see some terrible news, instead of letting it make me think of how terrible things are (a valid way to look at it) … I let it be a moment of practicing compassion for others.

Pema, in her book “Welcoming the Unwelcome,” talks about how falling into gloom and anxiety when we read the news can lead to a defeativist attitude.

“Why try to do anything to improve the future if it’s hopeless anyway? But according to the teachings on karma, the future is unwritten. What we do now does matter, not just to ourselves but to everyone who is part of this interconnection that we call Mother Earth. Even smiling at someone once can have tremendous ripple effect that goes out and out- who knows how far? If this is the case, then think of how much we can affect the world by enthusiastically training in opening our hearts and minds, day after day.” — Pema Chodron, “Welcoming the Unwelcome”

So this is how I practice. If there’s a shooting, or a war, or people losing their jobs … I let my heart open for a minute to feel for the people affected. I feel a little heartbreak. I send them a compassionate wish. I might feel some anger sometimes, and let myself feel that, but I don’t focus on hatred or judgment. I focus on the hearts of the people involved, and opening my heart to them. I think this matters.

2: Focus on what you can control. A lot of the times, news can be stressful because we feel powerless. It helps to remember the idea that we can’t control everything — but we can choose to focus on what we control.

So I like to focus on the things I can do something about. It could be writing to a legislator, or signing a petition, or supporting a non-profit organization that’s helping, or spreading important information, or just educating myself about an issue so I’m less ignorant, or connecting with people. I don’t do it every day, to be clear, but I ask myself, “What can I do about this?” If nothing, I focus on something else in my life that is more actionable.

Now, a Method for Following the News

With those in mind, here’s what I do to follow the news in a grounded way:

1. Find balanced sources. I pick a couple sources that feel balanced, that aren’t ill-informed or screaming like the world is going to end. Then I focus on just following those on a (mostly) daily basis, while exploring wider sources beyond that. For me, that’s the New York Times and Vox. I subscribe to both. You might not agree, and that’s fine — pick ones that work for you. On a weekly (or so) basis, I also look at more international sources, and magazines that take deeper looks at things, or that have more alternative perspectives, just for some balance.
2. Set limits. I look at my daily news sources about twice a day, just for about minutes. I know I could be more informed, but that feels about right for me. The rest of the time, I allow myself to be in a crazy-free zone.
3. Breathe & connect. When I read the sources, I’m just trying to get an idea of what’s happening, and sometimes a bit of the why. That might mean I don’t read too deeply most of the time. As I scroll down, I breathe. I feel for the humans who are affected, and connect to them with an open heart.
4. Ask myself: what can I control here? Is there an action I can take to help in some way? If so, I might make a note of it so I can take action or at least reflect on that action. If not, I just am more informed, and that can be enough.
5. Sometimes, go deeper. When an issue is important enough, I’ll read pieces that go into it more deeply. I don’t have time for that most days, but when I do, I am aiming for understanding.
6. Let go. When I’m done with one of my sessions of perusing the news, I breathe and let go of anything I’m holding onto. Maybe I’m a bit upset or pained — that’s allowed! I process the emotion for a moment or two, then take on the next thing in my day by being fully present with that. Sometimes it takes a bit of a walk around to settle myself, or a short meditation. But I try not to carry it all with me into everything I’m doing.

This all takes practice! It doesn’t come naturally to me. But for me, it’s important not only to stay informed, and to feel for people and care about what’s going on … but it’s also important to be able to be resourced and able to take on what’s important to me and within my control.

I hope this helps! My wish is for you to have peace in your life.

​

with love,

Leo Babauta

Zen Habits

• https://zenhabits.net/

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 

• https://eraoflight.com/2026/02/07/how-to-follow-the-news-without-getting-overly-upset/

Discipline & Courage Training: Face What You Avoid Every Day

Discipline & Courage Training

Face What You Avoid Every Day

By Leo Babauta

Post on December 25, 2025

One of the biggest changes people want to make is some form of having more discipline — sticking to habits, doing the tasks you’ve been procrastinating on, being more focused when you work, tackling all of those things you’ve been avoiding.

But how do we get more discipline? Is there a magical Discipline Fairy, or is it just what we’re born with, or can we actually increase it?

I’ve found that we can increase our discipline with training — and here I’m defining “discipline” as the capacity to face the things we’re avoiding. With training, you can face these things more easily, longer, more often, and with harder and harder tasks.

I think of this also as “courage training,” because what we’re really training is our willingness to face the things that we’re resisting or that we’re afraid of in some way.

If we can train our discipline and courage, so much changes in our lives: we get better at tackling high-impact tasks that require focus; we start making our way through the more difficult tasks on our todo lists and emails in our inbox; we move important projects forward; we stick to habits better.

In short, what many of us have been craving in our lives.

So how does this discipline and courage training work? Let me share what I’ve been finding in my experiments with dozens and dozens of people.

Set Up Structure

I recommend committing to at least a month of training — more than a month is better, but a month is a great start where you’ll see some strong progress.

I also recommend Courage Sessions of just 15 minutes a day. It will feel like too little, but I find better success by starting with a very strong commitment to 15 minutes than by having a weaker commitment to an hour of training.

Block it off on your calendar each day. Make it unmissable. Pick something you’re avoiding to tackle, before the Courage Session starts. Then take it on, with as much courage as you can muster!

Find the Appropriate Level, Regularly

Two important factors in this discipline and courage training are volume and intensity. Volume is how long you do the sessions (and how often you do it — i.e. 3 times a day vs. once a week).

Intensity is how difficult the task is, for you in this moment. So, for example, if a task is super easy, you might rate it a 2 out of 10 in intensity. But if you’ve been avoiding your taxes for months, it might be more of a 9 out of 10. And on different days, the same task might be more or less intense — maybe last week it was easy, but today it’s freaking you out.

It’s important to find the tasks that are a challenge but that won’t shut you down. So if you’re really not able to face a task, it might be too intense for you right now. Pick something a bit easier. Shoot for something in the 4-7 out of 10 range, on most days, unless you’re feeling super courageous that day.

Find an Empowered Approach

Finally, we’re not looking to just force yourself to do stuff you hate — that’s not likely to be something you’re excited about for very long. We want something that you feel inspired to do, even if it’s not fun.

So think of an approach that lights you up. Maybe you are tackling tough tasks because they’re meaningful, or they’ll help other people. Or because there’s something fun about it, or it might feel like play, or an adventure. Or because it’s a learning experience, something to bring curiosity about, or to bring your gifts to bear on.

Get creative! What would make you feel inspired to take on this hard task? With an empowered approach, you’re more likely to grow your capacity to take on hard, scary things with openness.

Btw, in February, I’m launching my new Courage Through Action training system within my Fearless Living Academy membership program. I’ve been testing it out for months, and seeing really great results. Join us by signing up for my Fearless Living Academy today!

​

with love,

Leo Babauta

Zen Habits

• https://zenhabits.net/

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 

• https://eraoflight.com/2025/12/24/how-to-simplify-towards-the-years-end/