A More Joyful & Less Regret-filled Way to Live | Leo Babauta

Do you ever feel like you’re “behind” in your own life? Like you’re not where you thought you would be by now? Constantly trying to catch up to some imagined expectation or standard of where you “should” be, and piling on shame and overwhelm along the way? 

Oddly, so often even the most-outwardly accomplished and successful people fall into this trap. One that’s both of our own making, and also the fallout of a culture that tells you to measure your life by things that are, more or less, destined to make you feel bad, no matter how good they are, or could be, if you just got out of your own head. If you freed yourself to make some simple decisions that would open you to the experience of grace and ease that’s been begging to let you in for years, but you’ve been blind to. Grasping, without even realizing it, desperately at measures and ways of being and seeing that keep you perpetually battling stress, overwhelm, futility and malaise, along with the constant feeling that life could be so much more, without ever realizing how close you already are to so much of what you dream it to be.

Question is – how do you step into a way of being and living that, with a set of simple shifts in perspective, could introduce so much more ease, grace and play into your days, and side-step so much regret, not months or years from now, but literally right now? In this moment? And every moment moving forward.

This is what we’re diving deep into in today’s conversation with a dear friend from way back in my blogging days, Leo Babauta. Leo has spent his entire adult life thinkinging, writing about, running experiments and guiding the work and life choices and mindsets of thousands, in the quest to bring more simplicity, ease and joy into life. No matter what the world seems to be delivering up. As a long-time author and creator of Zen Habits, Leo has shared his wisdom on topics like simplicity, habits, mindfulness, and minding our inner demons, and leading a meaningful life with millions of readers online, in his books, and now for listeners to his new podcast of the same name.

In this episode, we explore the pervasive feeling of “being behind” in life – where it comes from, how to liberate yourself from it, and how to transform life into a game worth playing. Leo offers thought-provoking ideas on topics ranging from a completely different, highly-accessible and inclusive approach to simplicity and how it reduces stress, the power of self-compassion, dealing with discomfort to letting go of perfectionism and control. But it was his take on turning work and life into what he describes as an infinite game that has had me revisiting this conversation many time over in my head, and thinking about how to shift what I do, and the decisions I make in the name of, literally, transforming my work and life into a game. One that is so fun, joyful, playful and meaningful that, instead of trying to “win” and get to the end, I never want it to end. The ultimate goal being to make it so good, you want to keep playing for life. Imagine if you could do that? How much better would your life feel? 

Well, you’re about to find out.

You can find Leo at: Website | Instagram | Zen Habits Podcast | Episode Transcript