Your ultimate guide for captivating personal stories, actionable insights, and evidence-backed advice, propelling you toward a meaningful life. Join our community of 200,000+ readers!
🔄 Mastering The Art Of Action vs. Reaction
|
Hey Reader, Welcome back to Living Better—your ultimate guide to living more meaningfully, packed with actionable insights, captivating stories, and evidence-backed wisdom. In today's edition, we're exploring the dynamic between Acting and Responding in our lives—a crucial balance that can redefine our journey towards success and fulfillment. We’ll cover how your actions, not reactions, can carve the path to your dreams. Today's Sneak Peek...
Long-Form ReadsThe Act-Respond Spectrum: Taking Control Of Your Life➣ What is the difference between action and reaction? Life is a dance of actions and reactions. While responding is about addressing external demands (like those endless emails), acting is about taking initiative and doing things that align with your goals and desires (like hitting the gym). ➣ Why should we prioritize action over reaction?
➣ What is the neuroscience behind action? In psychology, proactivity is a trait associated with greater life satisfaction. But did you know that by taking action, you neurologically create positive feedback loops in the brain that reinforce your sense of agency and motivation? Proactive actions are influenced by the brain’s frontal lobe, which is responsible for decision-making and goal-oriented behavior. Therefore, each action you take reinforces your brain's ability to initiate and maintain goal-focused behavior. QuoteStrategies For Cultivating A Life Of ActionShift your mindset from being predominantly reactive—a responder to external demands—to being proactive and action-oriented. Ready to decide what you want in life and relentlessly pursue it? Here's how to get started:
Refer Friends, Earn Rewards!Want to support Living Better and earn some seriously cool rewards? Refer your friends to subscribe by using your custom referral link below: QUIZ: Which method below will help cultivate a life of action?1. Set ambitious and grandiose personal goals Community SpotlightDive into heartwarming stories and inspiring journeys from fellow Living Better community members! This week, we're highlighting Maura's touching story: "Every Monday at 12:30 I walk into my neighbor’s driveway to drag her garbage and recycling bins up to her side door.
She inevitably will call me at some point in the day to discuss at length what time she thinks she will get to the chore of placing her rubbish into the bins, and then I assure her I will bring the bins to the street by the end of the night.
Carol is elderly and in her own words 'not doing well.' I have been happy to help her in every way I can since I moved here, and she’s been so incredibly grateful.
It’s weird to talk about taking the trash out every week, but it’s become a welcomed connection to my lonely neighbor.
Carol doesn’t have any kids, or partner, or friends. Sometimes I’m the only person she speaks to for days. She doesn’t have the internet and would call me for advice, a weather report, or a plumber’s number.
Last night as I wheeled her bins to the curb, I realized she hadn’t put anything in them yet. Then I realized she hadn’t called me.
I called her landline and left a long message on her old school answering machine, giving her ample time to pick up. She didn’t.
Then I sat back and waited a few minutes for her slowly get to a phone and call me right back. And she didn’t.
So, I called her sister, who thankfully I had exchanged numbers with long ago. After explaining the day and the departure from our usual schedule, she shared my concern and decided to drive over and check on Carol.
I waited up until past my bedtime to make sure her elderly sister arrived as planned and to be there if they needed anything.
Moments after her sister arrived and turned on some lights, I saw the first ambulance arrive. Then another one. Then two fire trucks and police squads.
I knew it wasn’t good. Her sister came out and told me the news. She couldn’t find a pulse. I hugged her and started crying.
I am so glad I could help Carol stay in her home until the end.
She made it clear she had no interest in assisted living. It wasn’t my intent, but I was committed to helping her as long as she was next door and it just happened to work out that way.
I took this picture of my girls today and then almost erased it when I realized how visible the garbage bins were. But it was green garbage bins, just like these, that connected me to Carol. And helped me notice something was wrong last night.
I’m grateful I could do something to make her life easier. And I’ll miss our Mondays.
The police told her sister how lucky Carol had been to have a neighbor looking out for her. But honestly, I felt lucky too. To so conveniently be able to care for someone and make an intergenerational friend just feet away."
- Maura Caldwell, Living Better subscriber
Uplifting Newsletters We're LovingPOLL: How did you like today's newsletter?⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ I loved it! What are you loving? How can we improve? We want to hear from YOU.
What is one thing you've been responding to out of habit that you can change today in order to take a more active role in shaping your life? Until next time, live well. © 2023 Love What Matters |
Living Better
Your ultimate guide for captivating personal stories, actionable insights, and evidence-backed advice, propelling you toward a meaningful life. Join our community of 200,000+ readers!
Hey Reader, Welcome back to Living Better—your trusted guide to finding peace, purpose, and happiness in our fast-paced world. We all have dreams and aspirations, but how often do those dreams remain just that—dreams? Enter the WOOP strategy: a science-backed method developed by psychologist Gabriele Oettingen that helps transform your vague ideas into tangible, achievable goals. WOOP stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan—a simple yet powerful framework that bridges the gap between...
Hey Reader, Welcome back to Living Better—your trusted guide to finding peace, purpose, and happiness in our fast-paced world. Safety is a fundamental human desire. We buckle our seatbelts, install security systems, and seek out environments where we feel protected. But what if the very measures we take to keep ourselves safe actually lead us to take greater risks? This is the Peltzman Effect—a fascinating phenomenon where increased safety measures can lead to riskier behavior. "The greatest...
Hey Reader, Welcome back to Living Better—your trusted guide to finding peace, purpose, and happiness in our fast-paced world. We’ve all been there: the moment when you say something awkward, stumble over your words during a presentation, or wear something slightly out of the ordinary. Suddenly, it feels like all eyes are on you, and you can’t shake the feeling that everyone is judging your every move. This is the Spotlight Effect—a psychological phenomenon where we overestimate how much...