Well-Being

Growth

When Growth Goes Wrong

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, December 21 2022

The Meaning of Life: A guide to finding your life's purpose goes into a lot of detail about how growth is the point because all life strives to be in a better state over time. It differentiates this purpose from happiness, which is the indicator of growth, such as when you feel happy after eating, sex, sleeping, or physical activity. One of the...

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Planning

The Value of an Internal Locus of Control

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, September 7 2022

There is a trend today that people not-so-affectionately call the “oppression Olympics” where people compete to see who can claim the most victimhood so that they achieve certain benefits such as more power, influence, and control over how others behave in relation to them (full disclosure: I come from a poor background and am guilty of trying to o...

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Growth

Just a Reminder to Take Care of Yourself

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, September 9 2021

During COVID, I did not leave the house for six months out of pressure from my significant other.  I ended up getting a severe Vitamin D deficiency, and my entire body started aching, I was tired all the time, and I didn’t feel like doing anything—not even getting out of bed.  I would spend hours in pain wondering what was wrong with me, and it tur...

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Suffering

What Is Causing Your Existential Crisis?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 11 2021

Humans have advanced cognitive abilities that allow them to think about themselves and the world around them.  That gives them greater survival capabilities, but it also allows them to wallow in despair.  The question is, what causes the latter to occur?  In other words, why are you questioning your existence?

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Planning

You Didn’t Choose to Be Born...But Should You Act Like You Did?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, July 28 2021

You might not have chosen to be born, but you're surprisingly better off acting as if you had. You know the scenario: a parent and child get into an argument.  There's usually some sort of pressure on the child to behave in some way or meet some set of expectations that results in the now-cliché response, "I didn't choose to be born!"  What is caus...

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Suffering

What to Do If You Don’t Want Anything in Life

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, July 7 2021

When you can’t feel anything other than depression, loneliness, isolation, dread, or emptiness, getting back to normal can require a monumental amount of willpower and effort to push through the resistance and lack of motivation.  Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet or perfect solution to the problem because there are several different causes...

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Happiness

People See What They Want to See

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, June 30 2021

This post is intentionally luring you in as the seeming beginning of a rant about how the world is one way but people refuse to accept it.  On the contrary, however, seeing what you want to see is actually one of the keys to life and the secrets to happiness and success.  To use it as a derogatory comment is pretty ironic in the grand scheme of thi...

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Happiness

Don't FIND Happiness...CHOOSE Happiness

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, December 30 2020

A lot of people this time of year will be asking, "How do I find happiness?"  That's what people are really looking for: more happiness and fulfillment in their lives.  They're looking outside themselves and trying to find what will make them happy.  In doing so, they're missing a key part of the happiness formula where they can choose to make thei...

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Growth

6 Simple Habits for Greater Meaning

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, April 8 2020

Being stuck inside during the coronavirus is tough.  Worse, it can lead to slacking off on the daily life maintenance that maintains your health and well-being.  One of the difficult parts of life is that improvement and deterioration are incremental, so you don't always notice them.  For example, you don't always stop exercising, eat only fast foo...

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