Sometimes it’s useful to read posts like one. Nothing in it is new, but it’s a list of principles of someone who lives a happy life (or strives to) and hence it’s helpful. Any checklist for happy life, any inspiration or new angle on old knowledge is always useful. See if you can find anything that resonates with you. My top 5 are below (note I made an exception from my usual approach of 3):

3. To know what you think, write it down. Forcing myself to write something down, to structure it, to let it see light is the best way for me to clarify what I actually think about something.

7. Put yourself in places that make you nervous. Nerves are really the only way to know that you’re being stretched. If there hasn’t been a moment of nerves in your life for a month, it might be worthwhile asking if you’re pushing hard enough.

11. Everything is mediocre. Most jobs are mediocre. Most people’s work is mediocre. Most products and experiences are mediocre. Most lives drift to mediocre. When you rise above the mediocrity, people will notice.

25. Get outside. You’re a collection of atoms, in a poorly understood universe that’s probably infinite. Go look at a tree, or think about a cloud or a star. Whatever you’re going through is probably pretty insignificant in the context of all of that.

29. Ship something. Don’t forget the value of making something, even the small stuff. A letter, a vegetable garden, a great recipe. No matter how insignificant. Making something helps remove the rust.

And for a final word,

You never know where you are on history’s big wheel. You never know what’s coming for you. You have to have some faith. Your moment is coming.