A Cliché title for a Cliché book?

 I'm so often amazed at how the mass media uses clichés, platitudes and trite remarks to grab someone's attention for a short four minute segment on The Today Show, for example. Recently, the morning show I mentioned interviewed a new author, Roxi Nafousi, who wrote Manifest in Action. Manifest is the latest moniker for a superficial philosophy that is actually meant for part time, weekend warriors. I highly suspect the author simply used the tired old self-improvement credos in order to write a book in the guise of an expert life improvement guru. Chapters like:

• Have a routine
• Improve daily rituals
• Keep a journal
• Think before you act 

Clichés and Platitudes

 I'm not against standing on the shoulders of those who've gone before us, not by any stretch of the imagination. But giving the same old, little league pep talk to those of us in the trenches isn't what we're after. 

All her suggestions are great but most of us in the challenging world of self-employment and Katy Business Connection in particular,  have advanced from the generalized baby food of  "manifest" to adult meat and potatoes. 

Make no mistake. The advice offered in the coined "manifest" is good but we strive supersede the "good advice" for a lifestyle upon which we already have a firm hold. Some useful books are those that I have found dig deep into ones psyche who are curious as to how their mind operates and seeks to become even wiser and better. 

Some of my favorites

The best reading is biographies of those who don't need to think about what they're doing because their routines, rituals and mindsets became a lifestyle years before they reached their own levels of success.

Bios of those who's dust we eat

Upon reading these magnificent stories I understand better what it takes to be successful and I am forced to ask myself very hard questions about own own fields of endeavors. 

 

Same Old Song and Dance

 What role do your routines play in our lives?

Some people insist that routine stifles creativity and one should live with a great deal of spontaneity to promote creative thinking. I, myself am guilty of being an artist by profession and the industry is replete with those who live by the credence of instinct. I've discovered the trait of spontaneity is a frequent defense mechanism among mediocre or lazy artists who fabricate a sense of mystery behind there "work" to prevent having to answer tough questions. 

But some of the most successful artists have had strict schedules and routines. Also, based on scientific research and  history itself, keeping a routine has immense advantages, artistic spontaneity notwithstanding.

The Benefits

• Routine brings order: In an unpredictable and chaotic world, a routine brings individuals a measure of control to there own realms. Our routines can anchor us in spite of the many unknowns in the world. No matter what happens it gives us great comfort in knowing we're having dinner at 6pm, and going to bed at 10pm.

• Reduces Stress: Knowing what we're doing at certain times of the day reduces our stress levels by preventing us from having to remember everything on our to-do list. 

• It's healthier: An exercise and diet routine allows us to have a heathier lifestyle. Our routine may be a regular time for daily exercise and prompts us to eat healthy food. 

Many famously creative people often has strict routines and some of there habits were unusual and even bizarre,

Believe it or don't

• Beethoven prepared his own breakfast and part of it was determining that 60 coffee beans made the perfect cup of coffee. Every morning he would count 60 coffee beans, one by one for the perfect dose.
• Whenever Aldous Huxley finished writing a novel, he would take a revolver he kept in his desk drawer and fire it out his window. 
• Maya Angelou would only work in motels or hotels. Not at home or an office.
• Victor Hugo took a public ice bath on the roof of his house everyday.
• Nikola Tesla had an obsession with the number three. He would only stay in a hotel room that has a number which was divisible by three. Before he entered a building, he would walk three times around the block. He would always eat meals with three sets of six napkins.
• Michelangelo slept fully clothed, boots and all.
• Charles Dickens slept with his head pointing north because he believed it aligned him with the Earth's natural electrical currents.
• Opera writer Friedrich von Schiller couldn't write unless he could smell rotten apples. He kept rotten apples in his desk draw. 
• Truman Capote never started or finished work on Friday.

Do you have noteworthy routines and habit? Feel free to comment on them in the comments section.