The Best Articles in Better Living
The most useful articles and videos in Better Living from around the web—beginners to advanced—curated by thought leaders and our community. We focus on timeless pieces and update the list whenever we discover new, must-read articles or videos—make sure to bookmark and revisit this page.
Top 5 Better Living Articles
At a glance: these are the articles that have been most read, shared, and saved in Better Living by Refind users in 2023.
Videos
Watch a video to get a quick overview.
How to Be Miserable and Ruin Your Life
Do you complain constantly? Always feel like you’re under attack? Well, congratulations, these alone tell me that you’re already well on your way to becoming...
22 Habits To Follow For A Happy Life
Kevin Kelly is the founder of Wired Magazine, a futurist, author, and public speaker known for his insights on technology’s impact on society.Working out how...
The problem with "positive thinking". #shorts
Illusionist Derren Brown believes that the centuries old philosophy of Stoicism may hold the key to a kind of happiness that is more grounded in reality.
4 Things I Wish I Knew in My 20s
🎙 If you liked this, you might like my weekly newsletter where I share actionable productivity tips, practical life advice, and high-quality insights from a...
What is ...?
New to Better Living? These articles make an excellent introduction.
What is Your Ikigai?
Ikigai is really your reason for being, the thing that gives you direction and motivation, and it is at the heart of what we do at Learnlife.
«“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why” - Mark Twain»
What Is Self-Gaslighting?
How we pick up the torch from the gaslighter and turn it on ourselves.
«Most of us have heard of gaslighting. It’s a form of emotional abuse that uses manipulation and minimization to make someone question their reality.»
Philosophy of Happiness
INTRO Here’s a short introduction to some of the most fascinating philosophical issues about happiness. We are going to look at three...
How to ...?
How to break unhealthy habits: Stop obsessing over willpower and focus on routines
Understanding and changing the environment in which habits form is a critical step when it comes to breaking unwanted behaviors and forming healthy ones.
«Another path to habit change involves friction: in other words, making it difficult to act on undesirable habits and easy to act on desirable ones.»
How to figure out what you want out of life
What society expects of you and what you actually want in life can be different things.
«At any age, setting aside time and intentionality to decipher what motivates you and whether you’ve been living authentically can be enlightening»
How to Improve Your Self-Esteem in 5 Minutes or Less
There are no quick fixes for low self-esteem: There’s no profound insight your therapist can give you that will suddenly improve your self-esteem There’s no secret mantra that will unlock your inner…
«If you spend your entire childhood learning that you’re not good enough or not lovable, that’s not something that’s going to change overnight.»
How to conquer digital distractions
Digital distractions are all around us. Here's how to combat them so you can stay focused and productive at work.
«Users were gambling every time they shared a photo, web link, or status update,»
How to get better at making every type of decision
Here’s what to do if you regularly wish you could hire someone to make all your choices for you.
«Keeney advises asking yourself, “What do I hope to achieve by addressing this choice?” and focus on aspects that aren’t easily quantifiable.»
Trending
These links are currently making the rounds in Better Living on Refind.
3 Hard Truths You Need to Hear
Welcome to the realm of harsh truths, where I, Mark Manson, will make you question everything you've ever believed in.
«Next time you’re absolutely sure about something, take a step back and ask yourself if it’s something you’ll be embarrassed about in a decade.»
Frugal vs. Independent
Here’s an important distinction about people who spend less than they earn. Frugal, by my definition, means depriving yourself of something you want and could afford. Not wanting something to begin…
«He quickly realized it wasn’t for him. Society told him he should want those things. But it wasn’t what actually made him happy.»
Baloney Detection Kit: How to Think Sceptically and Bust Bullshit
An exploration of Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit, a set of cognitive tools to help you think sceptically and bust bullshit.
«Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit is an informal set of thinking tools and techniques for evaluating arguments and detecting falsehoods»
How to Be Successful in Life
Wondering how to be successful in life and get ahead of 99% of people? Here are three things you must do, and some downsides to consider.
«The most significant challenge lies in disagreeing with the majority, being right in your contrarian stance, and having the courage to put everything on the line for your beliefs»
If You Want to Achieve Your Dreams, You Have to Be A Little Crazy
How do you achieve your dreams? The right mindset is important. When you have the best thinking pattern, you can execute your goals.
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles in Better Living—all under 10 minutes.
Smart Things I’ve Read Lately
“Until we know we are wrong, being wrong feels exactly like being right.” – David McRaney “I’m just a collection of mirrors, reflecting what everyone else expects of me.” – Rollo May “Basically, when…
«“Life is not a problem to be solved. It’s a paradox to experience. You can believe one thing and also believe its opposite.” – Derek Sivers»
The 5 Levels of Understanding Yourself
To understand the self, let's embark on a journey of brain-melting ideas that'll leave you questioning your very existence.
Motivation vs. Discipline: Which Helps You Go Further?
Delve into the complex interplay of motivation vs. discipline in the pursuit of your goals. Learn how to harness both forces to create lasting change.
Staring at the tsunami
Voltaire, optimism and selective updating
«We are being prevented from accurately assessing risk by elites who are gaming a cognitive glitch to keep business-as-usual on the tracks.»
Why We Do Things We Hate
If you're struggling in life, it might be because your answers to "What do I want to be?" and "What do I enjoy?" aren't the same.
«What are you doing in your life that you don’t actually love, but you’re doing it because of the image it projects or the persona it creates?»
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles in Better Living.
The mathematically correct way to tie your shoes
One of the major milestones of our early childhoods comes when we learn, for the first time, how to successfully tie our own shoes. As most of us learned, there are three key steps to making that…
Narcissism: Where It Comes From and How to Deal With It
Narcissism is way more complex and, quite frankly, way more annoying than we think it is.
«The past decade or two has seen a very public debate about the possibility of a narcissism “epidemic” in our current culture, especially among young people.»
How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events
How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events - Freakonomics
‘You reach a point where you can’t live your life’: what is behind extreme hoarding?
The long read: Hoarding can be distressing and dangerous. But it’s not just a matter of ‘too much stuff’ – it’s a complex condition that requires careful, targeted help
100 things I know
Tidbits I've learned that have made my life better
«If you never learned how to dance at parties/weddings/clubs, you can teach yourself by watching videos of Motown and girl groups of the 60s.»
Thought Leaders
We monitor hundreds of thought leaders, influencers, and newsletters in Better Living, including:
Mark Manson
3x #1 NYTimes bestselling author of "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" and others. Giving life advice that doesn't suck since 2008.
Tim Ferriss
Author of 5 #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers, early-stage investor (http://angel.co/tim), Tim Ferriss Show podcast (900M+ downloads), founder of http://saiseifoundation.org
James Clear
Author of the #1 NYT bestseller Atomic Habits (http://atomichabits.com). I write about building better habits.
The Cut
Style. Self. Culture. Power. Subscribe to the Cut newsletter: http://thecut.io/3Fo5AaU Subscribe to New York for more: http://nymag.com/subscribe
Elemental
Wellness, backed aggressively by science. A new publication from @Medium. Find us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/elemental
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The result: lists of the best and most useful articles on hundreds of topics.
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Who are the thought leaders in Better Living?
We follow dozens of thought leaders in Better Living, including Mark Manson, Tim Ferriss, James Clear, The Cut, Elemental.
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