Simple Frugality Blog

The Habit Guide Ebook: My Most Effective Habit Methods & Solutions

By Leo Babauta I’m thrilled to share with you my newest ebook about habits, and perhaps my best yet on the topic: The Habit Guide: Zen Habits’ Effective Habit Methods & Solutions. I wrote this for the Kickstarter backers of my Habit Zen app (so if you’re a backer, don’t buy this, check your Kickstarter […]

Video: How We Get Hooked, & How to Unlearn Our Patterns

By Leo Babauta In more ways than we often realize, we get caught up in our stories, and get latched into mental patterns that leave us frustrated, angry, full of resentment … or cause us to procrastinate. In other words, getting caught up is the cause of lots of our problems. I recorded a webinar […]

The Mental Habit of Feeling Rushed & Overwhelmed

By Leo Babauta As we dive into the holiday season, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, rushed, even irritated by family members and others around us. I’d like to encourage you to try a mindfulness practice. Here’s the practice: Notice each time you feel rushed, anxious or overwhelmed. Try to develop an awareness of it throughout […]

just two pieces of bread

I heard a saying from India,“All you need are two chapattis a day.” It doesn’t literally mean you should subsist on two pieces of bread a day, but is a reminder of how little we actually need. I’ve found this saying useful lately, as I’ve had urges to eat delicious food, buy more clothes, and more. […]

The Fearless Challenge

By Leo Babauta There’s a big part of all of us that doesn’t ever want to face our fears. The fears operate in the backs of our minds, affecting our lives in so many ways: we procrastinate, lash out at others in frustration, hold ourselves back from connecting with others in a meaningful way, stop […]

The Path of Fearlessness

By Leo Babauta The more I work with people who are struggling with habits or life problems, the more I see how fears are holding us back. Fears stop us from building healthy and productive habits. Fears cause us to procrastinate, keep us from finding work that is meaningful (or doing that work if we’ve […]

confessions of a minimalist

I have to confess that in recent years, I’ve often lost my minimalist way. The reason is that I get caught up in an obsession, and then I let myself give in to impulses. For example: I got obsessed with chess last year, and bought a new chess set, a tournament set, and an embarrassing […]

How to Not Be Driven by Your Aversions

By Leo Babauta I have a friend who doesn’t realize how much he dislikes so many things — much of his life is spent avoiding things he doesn’t like, or trying to rush through things like exercise, or annoyed by people who do things he doesn’t like. We all have aversions to things, more than […]

Compassion in the Midst of Madness

By Leo Babauta Whether you’re in the U.S. or not, the results of yesterday’s election can bring up some strong feelings — maybe outrage or depression, maybe elation and shock, maybe contempt for others. In this crazy emotional time, I urge you to try a compassion practice. Perhaps, like some people I know, you are […]

A Guide to Dealing with Dissatisfaction with Ourselves

By Leo Babauta The more I talk to people about their struggles, the more I realize that we all have some sense of dissatisfaction with ourselves. I have it, and I’d be willing to be everyone reading this does too. Consider some of the ways we’re dissatisfied with ourselves: We constantly have a feeling that […]