WHO & WHAT?
Hi there, my name is Arthur and I’m the human behind this project đź‘‹
I’m in my late twenties and trying to figure out how to create and live the life I truly want to live.
And I want to share this journey with you.
Even though you could call this a mindfulness or self-development blog as I talk a lot about these things, this won’t be another “how I reached happiness and how you can do it too” type of blog.
I am still trying to figure out my own life and purpose on Earth, so I’m not here to teach you or show you how to live the right way.
I’m here to share both sides of the self-growth journey. Ups and downs. Wins and struggles. Both sides of the coin, not just the happy one.
As I work on achieving a wholesome life by taking care of the most important categories of my life, I will share my journey, practices, experiences and thoughts about these topics.
I guess you can look at this blog like it’s a “case study”, as I show you exactly where I am, where I want to get and what I actually do to get there. All of it in real time.
WHY?
Why do I want to publish all that? Well, there are 3 key reasons that led to the creation of this blog.
1. KEEPING IT REAL
I feel that it’s very important to show both sides of the self-growth journey. Share the whole story.
Sometimes I feel like there are already too many people sharing only their “best” side.
Best stories, best moments, best feelings, best experiences, best pictures, best, best, best.
And this “showing only the good side” is tricky business. It tends to give other people a fake sense of reality of how life actually is.
And in return it tends to make people feel worse about themselves and their lives when all they see is the good side of everyone else. At least it made me feel worse about my life. And it still sometimes does – I’m just trying to be more aware of it.
Maybe you can call it a weakness but I find it hard not to compare myself with others who seem to be doing nothing but winning at life. I wanna be like that too, you know.
You work with yourself. You meditate, you write affirmations, you try to love and accept yourself the way you are, you try to be grateful and appreciate things you have. You go to retreats, workshops and so on…
And many things are changing in your life. You change and you grow, but you also fail and fall (a lot). And there are a lot of hardships and struggles along the way.
There are moments when you feel like nothing is working.
There are moments when you feel like there must be something wrong with you, because many of these techniques have worked for others but it doesn’t seem to work for you.
Sometimes it even feels that you are “special” in some negative way.
And when you look around at your peers and people that you look up to, it seems that you are doing something wrong…
Why? Because all you see is their good side. The side that they show to you and the outer world. And all you hear or read is the good stuff.
How everything is love, how everything is connected, how everything is your own manifestation, what you should do and how it will change your life. All about vibrations, law of attraction, love and so on.
The thing is – I’m not saying that they are wrong on any level or that they are lying – not at all. I do know that all these things are true (at least for me), however, it’s anything but smooth sailing. It’s much harder than it’s so often portrayed.
It’s much harder to change yourself for good than just learning the theory, reading books or going to retreats.
Yes, realizing that everything in your life is your own manifestation is a crucial step #1, but it doesn’t do much unless you truly incorporate that in your daily life.
And this leads us to the 2nd reason this blog has manifested itself into reality.
2. YOU ARE NOT ALONE
It took me a while to realize that everyone, I repeat EVERYONE is dealing with their own issues and problems. No matter how happy they seem, how beautiful, rich, influential, spiritual or zen they appear to be.
EVERYONE is struggling to some extent. We ALL have insecurities, struggles and fear. And more often than not you can never tell that without really knowing that particular person very closely.
Even those super happy, loving and spiritual folks out there who seem to have figured it all out struggle with their own issues.
That’s the curse (or maybe the gift) of being a human. I have realized that struggle is an integral part of success. You cannot succeed without failing along the way.
No matter how happy or confident people look or claim to be, they also struggle, doubt themselves and have their own inner battles.
Before this crucial realization all this “over positivity” around me left me feeling alone and isolated. That somehow almost nobody seems to be going through the same internal pain and struggles that I am.
Somehow life seemed to be easier or better for my peers.
And it took me a while to figure out that it can’t be the case. Everyone is struggling. And everyone has their low periods. But very few choose to share that “not so pleasant” side of the story openly. And that’s okay too.
But that’s why I am here. To show you both sides of the story.
And I guarantee that you are not alone. No matter what you are going through or experiencing, there are others experiencing and struggling with the same problems, traumas and issues.
What are the chances that our problems are completely unique just for us in the world of 8+ billion people?
And if other people can overcome the exact same problems, pain, fear, doubt and struggles, why can’t I? Why can’t you?
I believe that every human being can change for good if they truly desire that.
But I also believe that just wanting it is not enough.
You will also need these 2 things:
*) clear & actionable plan you can follow (your life’s path if you like) – How do you want your life to look like? Who do you want to be? How do you want to live? What do you want to achieve?
*) willpower and discipline to make your plan come true.
“Just” the plan and willpower, huh?
Well, I wish there would be some magical way to change life without putting in the work, but there’s not. You can work smart instead of working hard, but you still gotta do some work.
And this brings us to the third WHY.
3. YOU ARE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT PROJECT
What if I told you that you are your life’s most important project? What would happen, if you would be just as pragmatic and analytical with your whole life as you are in your work or business?
This realization came to me one day after watching “The Playlist” documentary on Netflix. Basically it’s a story of how Spotify was built and all the problems they faced and how they tackled them.
Later that evening an idea popped in mind: “What if I would be my own startup? What if I would look at my life like I would look at my business? What if I tackled my problems and struggles the same way I would do that in business? Calmly, strategically and without that emotional rollercoaster?
And if I have to make a solid business plan when I start a company for it to succeed, why don’t I make a “life plan” for my life if I want to succeed?”
At this moment I started to realize that I need to plan out my life strategically and address problems I face methodologically.
Just think about it for a minute. How many of us truly know ourselves? How many of us know our true strengths and weaknesses? How many of us have planned out our lives carefully and then executed that plan?
And I’m not talking about 1 or 2 categories where you excel at the expense of other vital categories (like career vs health or family vs your own free time etc)
How many of us acknowledge the patterns and programs that ruin our lives and stall us from progressing? And how many of us then actually do something about it until it’s sorted out?
After thinking about this for a couple of days I decided that I need to carefully sit down and look at my life from the bigger picture. I need to look at most important categories in my life like:
*) health and fitness
*) emotional health
*) romantic relationships
*) what characteristics I want to develop (and get rid of)
*) family
*) hobbies
*) career/dream job and on
And I need to think carefully about what I want to achieve in each of these categories. What’s truly important for me? Where am I now? Where do I want to be?
And what needs to be done to get from here to there? And just as importantly – what habits or patterns are stopping me from achieving that?
When I sat down and started working on this, everything started to seem so much clearer to me. How did I not think of this sooner? Just by putting everything on paper and giving it proper structure made it feel much more tangible.
And then I thought to myself: “Well, it obviously makes sense. Imagine if you would manage your whole business just in your mind. It would be a nightmare.” So how is this any different?
Inspired by my realization I spent a couple of days thinking and writing stuff down about each category that’s important for me. That’s how I created my life’s Masterplan v1.
I believe that there isn’t “one big” happiness out there. But there are “many small” happinesses (is that a word?) that add up and create something I believe can be classified as wholesome life. Life that is fulfilling and full of happiness and love.
Now we have covered my 3 “WHYS”. Let me quickly explain what you can expect from this website.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
If I had only 1 sentence to describe what I do at mymindfulhabits.com (MMH), it would be something like this: “I write about things that I am currently working on myself and that are important to me.”
As I work on creating a better and more conscious life, I will gather and compile all the information I use myself and then publish it here in an easy-to-understand way.
In a nutshell, this project is the collection of my thoughts and experiences in a systematic and structured way.
And please remember that I am not a teacher and I’m not teaching anything to anyone or showing how to live life the right way. I’m simply sharing my way of living and experiences with others.
Does something that I write resonate with you? Interests you? Great – take it, think about it and use it in your own life as you see fit.
Something that I write doesn’t resonate with you? You think it’s not true? You believe in something that I don’t? That’s just as fine – simply forget about it and don’t waste your energy on things that are not true for you.
There’s going to be plenty of articles along the way, so to make this as structured as possible, I have created a “What I am doing now” page here. There you will be able to find the latest updates in my journey.
That’s all for now I guess.
Thank you for taking your time to read this & I’ll see you around.
Take care,
Arthur