What Do I Know to Be True in My Bones But Can't Admit to Myself?

This question never fails to provide some sobering and much-needed answers.

- Travel is fun when I plan it, but is always tolling on my body. Often, I feel like I need a vacation to recover after a vacation.
I should treat travel like dessert - it is great once in a while, but if I do too much of it, my body will rightfully complain.

- I often feel more tired before I work out than after. If I have no energy, I should work out.

- Most of my stress comes from demanding too much of myself. Then, instead of letting my energy flow toward creativity and growth, I have to spend it undoing the stress.
I don't want to function like a proverbial workplace "firefighter," a person who starts fires for a single purpose - to spend time putting them out and keeping themselves busy. If I am stressed, a good question is, "Am I being unreasonable towards myself? Am I asking too much?"

- It's exactly when I don't want to meditate that I should. Usually, it is because I am too overwhelmed and don't have the guts to face it. A good rule of thumb is to opt for a 5-minute meditation instead of 20. It is harder for my head to convince me that "we don't have the time". Anyone has 5 minutes.

- The state of flow when creating something is often more fun than the results it brings.

- I have far less control over life than what I imagine.

- Best solutions to problems or creative answers come during mindless wandering in the woods or going for a run, so this time must be proactively protected. If I don't have it on the calendar for a given week, I need to reconsider my schedule.

- Strict diets or workout routines don't work for me and produce the opposite results. I rebel against the rigidness.

- If I crave eating but am not hungry, I am either stressed out or very tired. Food usually fails to help. What works better is a walk for stress and listening to an audiobook for fatigue.

- Anything I plan takes double the time.

- Many things that I consider home chores are the best moments of my life: cooking pancakes for family on Sundays, walking kids to a bus stop, or reading them a book at night. These are priceless but fly out the window first when I overload myself with business projects. I don't want to lose them by falling into the "We don't value the things we have" trap.