Jordan Lejuwaan • • 5 min read
10 Things That Will Make Your Life Better
I have a bunch of random things I’ve been wanting to share with HE for a while, but never found a good way to go about it. So I’ve thrown them all into this list. These things have greatly ameliorated my life — I hope they do the same for you!
1) Guided Mindfulness Meditation (Series 3) – Jon Kabat Zinn
I have tried out dozens upon dozens of guided meditations, binaural beats, soothing soundtracks, etc. and this is the only one that ever blew me away. Jon Kabbat Zinn has an extraordinarily soothing voice, and his diction is just beautiful.
Often times I’ll put this on while I’m working and will come out super relaxed despite not having paid attention.
My favorite meditation on here is the ‘Loving-Kindness’ meditation, in which Jon walks you through an exercise of being both the source and the object of unconditional love simultaneously. I won’t explain how he does it here, but know it’s powerful. Beautiful. Worthy of tears.
2) Just Being Here: Rumi and Human Friendship – Coleman Barks
Coleman Barks dedicated his life to translating Rumi poetry after he felt a strange calling towards doing so. On this CD, he performs the poems in his rich yet chilling southern drawl to the music of Grammy-winning cellist David Darling. This is hauntingly good stuff. I have seen people cry after listening to it for the first time.
I could not find a torrent for this CD in particular, but I did find another from Coleman Barks.
P.S. Don’t look on Youtube, you’ll only find poor quality versions without the cello accompaniment.
3) Neti Pot
This little wonder of an invention is used to completely clear out your sinuses. You fill it with water and a sea salt (most recommend Himalayan salt) and then pour it into one nostril, allowing it to dribble out of the other.
I had always thought this would feel like when you get water up your nose, but it’s nothing like that. Don’t get me wrong — it’s a bizarre feeling — but the result is fantastic. It’s great for when you’re sick, or just want extra clean sinuses.
4) Hearos Ear Plugs
Hands-down most useful accessory. These are the most powerful temporary ear plugs available. You can leave them in for hours without any discomfort. I use them to…
- meditate or sleep in loud environments
- focus on work that doesn’t jive with music
- change the feel of a walk (it’s nice when you can’t even hear the cars go by)
5) Home-made Kettlebell
Tim Ferris wrote about how to make a home-made kettlebell in The 4-Hour Body for only $10 (not including the weights). Normally a single kettlebell costs $75, and you quickly need to buy another with higher weight. Tim’s allows you to adjust the weight.
For those unfamiliar, Kettlebells provide the ultimate full-body workout. You can attack your legs and upper-body in the same workout. Tim explains why in this article.
I made my own kettlebell because I’ve never been able to get solid gains on my butt. I don’t have any safe-for-work before and after pictures, but trust me when I say this thing worked! The difference after just a few weeks was shocking.
6) Amazon Kindle
Instant (and usually free) access to books without the pain of staring at a back-lit screen: priceless. This is not a legitimate tablet replacement, but it’s fantastic for the sole purpose of reading. The new version, Paperwhite, comes with a handy backlighting option for reading in the dark.
My favorite Kindle feature is how it highlights passages that have been highlighted by many other readers. You can also see the highlights and notes of authors and other public figures.
7) Things (To-Do List Application)
For me, very little feels better than crossing something off a list. I’ve tried out a ton of different to-do list / productivity apps, and Things is the cleanest and most functional that I’ve come across.
Things has a ‘Today’ task list, which is extremely helpful so you don’t get bogged down with ALL of the tasks you have ahead of you. Take it one day at a time and maintain your sanity.
I also use this for archiving article and business ideas, quotes/mantras that I want to look at each day, little inspirations and bits of information that I use often.
8) iA Writer (Minimalist Word Processor)
Writing with zero distractions. This app goes full-screen and strips out all of the menus present in conventional Word processors, allowing you to focus only on the words flowing through you.
9) Subreddits
Most people think of Reddit as simply a mountain of cat GIF’s. To the contrary, it can be an amazing source of educational and inspirational content if you use it correctly. The secret lies in subscribing to the right subreddits, the categories of Reddit. When you first sign up for Reddit, you are auto-subscribed to a bunch of the most poplular subreddits (funny, videos, wtf, aw, ec.) which are full of the silly content Reddit is known for. If you can bring yourself to unsubscribe from cute animal photos and spend an hour delving into the endless subreddits available, you can make Reddit an incredibly targeted source of awesome content.
Here are some of my favorite subreddits:
/r/Frisson (things that give you the chills)
10) StumbleUpon
Just in case you somehow have not used StumbleUpon (SU) yet! SU is a service that randomly brings you to websites that appeal to your interests.
I call it The Universe’s Serendipity Engine because it brought me to places on the web that literally changed my life. HighExistence would not exist without StumbleUpon. In fact, most of you probably found HE through StumbleUpon! It has a knack for bringing you things you didn’t even know you were looking for.
I even met my girlfriend through StumbleUpon :) I’ve got to write them a thank you letter some day!
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What are your favorite things? Share them in the comments below!
