Welcome to Edition #39 of Consider This, your every 10-day nudge off life's beaten path.

Hey,

Thanks to everyone who welcomed me back in response to the previous Consider This on what I learned from my summer break.

That issue got the most opens and replies of all time! 

("All time" is only 38 issues. But still.)

I especially liked hearing from the many of you who questioned my takeaway that you're better off acting dumber than you think you are than trying to be smarter than you really are. Maybe that's evidence the strategy's working?

And maybe there’s another lesson from the response I got:

Breaks are great, as covered last week, and even better if you’re welcomed back warmly. On the other hand, if you return to crickets or groans…. maybe it's time to make your break permanent. 

Which segues to today's topic.

Consider this…

While dilly-dallying during my break, another thing that dawned on me was this:

I quit doing a lot of things over the last ten-ish years. And I'm better off for it.

Here's my "Quit List":

(For quick stories on each, see my full post.)

• I quit sleeping on beds.
• I quit shopping for clothes.
• I quit paying attention to the news.
• I quit tanning.
• I quit arguing (…mostly).
• I quit counting how many countries I’ve visited.
• I quit cooking with vegetable oils.
• I quit devouring non-fiction books.
• I quit mouth breathing.
• I quit snacking.
• I quit casting my feet.
• I quit wiping and whizzing all wrong.
• I quit watching sports.
• I quit disliking black licorice.
• I quit shaving with a razor.
• I quit consuming every podcast in my feed.
• I quit listening to my tiger mom mind.
• I quit "doing abs."
• I quit working out inside.

Maybe quitting some of these things was stupid and confirmation bias is blinding me to the downsides. And I'm not recommending you quit all the same things.

But I suggest you consider asking yourself:

• What are you glad you quit? 
• What could you try quitting next? 
• What do you suspect you might quit in the coming decade? 

I'd like more ideas and examples to add to my post, so please send me any answers you're not too embarrassed to share.

• 🎁 Can you reframe having less of something as getting more of something new? For example, in The Comfort Crisis (good book!), instead of trying to spend "less screen time," Michael Easter recommends going for "more boredom." 
• 🗑 What if the solution to your problem is doing less of something? For example, Kevin Rapp solved his sleep problems with less caffeine instead of taking melatonin, and cleared up his skin by eating less sugar instead of using acne medication.
• 🤷 What's your free-time sweet spot? Recent studies spanning more than 35,000 people found having roughly 2.5 hours of free time per day leads to the highest sense of well-being. More than 5 hours hurts—unless you spend it on social connection, in which case the more, the better. 

Until next time (…unless you decide to quit being a subscriber),

Chris

Next Consider This: Active listening tips and tricks from a reporter.