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My Top 100 Self-Improvement Posts

As I was looking at the most popular self-improvement posts this morning, I realized there’s quite a difference between my own picks and what other people (or intelligent recommendation algorithms by Google or StumbleUpon) are choosing. For starters, many people seem to digest lists posts better.

Truth is, the most popular posts on this blog are lists posts. To some extent, I admit I like writing list posts. As a matter of fact, I even wrote a post called 100 Tips On How To Write Huge List Posts.

But, to be honest, I like more the other ones. The little stories from my life which, all of a sudden, are revealing some deeper meaning, or lead to some sort of a breakthrough.

Yet, since this blog belongs to its readers as much as it belongs to me, I have to live with my reader’s choices. So, while I am really thankful for all the traffic I get on my huge list posts, I decided to create a “little” list of what I consider to be the most important self-improvement posts here, including, but not limited to, my huge lists posts too. Be aware that this comes in the exact order of my own preferences, which, obviously, is not the same with the order of your preferences.

Before proceeding, though, just a word about the potentially narcissistic perception of this post: I’m not doing this in order to showcase anything, but to put some order in my own writing. You can safely call this “housekeeping”. It’s good for keeping a house in order, but it’s also good to keep my own perspective about what I like from what I wrote over the years.

Without further ado, here’s the list of my top 100 self-improvement posts:

1. Playgrounds And Balloons
An afternoon spent with my little daughter at a playground, a bunch of toy-shaped balloons and lots of insights. Sometimes, we blow so much air into our own illusions that we start to believe they are the real world. They’re not. They’re just balloons.

Playgrounds And Balloons

2. To Have Versus To Be
One of my favorite questions and a few ramblings on the topic. “To have” favors acquisitions, possessions, control, disruptions whereas “to be” favors enjoyment, detachment, freedom and continuity. We tend to bounce back and forth from one mindset to another.

To Have Versus To Be

3. I Can Versus I Do
This one is all about words. “I can” is empowering, while “I do” is life changing. There’s a subtle, yet powerful difference between those verbs. As much as we don’t want to believe that, words are becoming actions and actions are creating our entire life.

“I Can” Versus “I Do”

4. How To Run A Marathon
The most important thing I did in 2012, that is. A very challenging endeavor, a mind blowing experience and probably the best self-esteem booster I ever had. Sometimes, in the morning, I just look at the man in the mirror and say: “You ran a marathon”.

How To Run A Marathon

5. The Slow And Almost Invisible Reward Of Doing Things Constantly
It’s not about habits. It’s about that point when you’re doing things so easily, that you don’t even notice you’re doing them. They’re so melted into your daily routine that you don’t even remember doing them at the end of the day. Yet, those tiny things can make you so powerful.

The Slow And Almost Invisible Reward Of Doing Things Constantly

6. The Book Of Life
An iPhone app to record your thoughts, a journal and my daughter writing in that app, day by day. Then, a sudden realization that we’re all writing in our own book of life, only very few are writing in the same language.

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