Simple Frugality Blog

Mental Badassery: Becoming Aware of the Stories We Tell Ourselves

By Leo Babauta There’s a hidden mechanism that creates unhappiness, difficulty changing habits, relationship problems, frustration, anger and disappointment. Barely anyone is aware of this hidden mechanism, even though it’s happening all the time, in all of us. It’s the stories we tell ourselves. We do it all day long: we tell ourselves a story […]

8 Experiments in Motivation

By Leo Babauta I was talking to a 19-year-old recently and he has been struggling with motivation. His problem goes like this: he gets excited about starting a project or plan, and is very motivated at the start … but after a few days, that feeling dies down, and he starts procrastinating. He really does […]

My Personal Fat-Loss Plan

By Leo Babauta I think I’m not the only one among us who wants to lose fat. I’m embarking on a 2-month fat-loss plan, and I thought I’d share it with you in case you’re interested. Some background: when I started this blog, almost 10 years ago, I was overweight but had already made a […]

A Mindful Shift of Focus

By Leo Babauta Throughout the day, we get frustrated, irritated, angry. We are frustrated in traffic, when a loved one doesn’t behave the way we like, when someone tells us we’re wrong, when technology doesn’t work the way we want, when dinner is ruined, among many other daily stresses. These frustrations can build up into […]

The Minimalist Way to Declutter

By Leo Babauta One of the best things I’ve done to change my life — along with meditation, exercise, and eating healthier — is to get rid of most of my clutter. I downsized, and became a minimalist. It helped me find space in my life, figure out what was important and focus on that, […]

To Create a Habit, Tell a Good Story

By Leo Babauta If you want to create a new exercise habit (for example), you might tell yourself something like this: “This is going to be amazing, I’m going to get fit and look incredible and be super healthy!” This is a story you’re telling yourself. It’s not real, but it has tremendous power to […]

On Being a Dad

By Leo Babauta Being a dad is messy … not just the many spills and broken dishes and dirty kitchens and finger-painted walls you have to clean up, but messy because nothing ever goes as planned. It’s messy because you start out with the best of intentions, hoping to be super dad and loving and […]

Zen Habits Book Now For Sale

By Leo Babauta I’m happy to announce that I’m offering my Zen Habits book to purchase, for the first time since I put it on Kickstarter at the end of 2014. The book is called, “Zen Habits: Mastering the Art of Change.” The Kickstarter campaign did extremely well, and people gave me wonderful feedback on […]