October 2, 2014

There is a good chance that you are reading this post while waiting for the end of the work day. You can't wait to get in the car and head home to your family, which, unfortunately, you only have a few hours to do before going to bed.

But are you doing everything right?

I understand that every person must work. Moreover, I am a supporter of hard, effective work with complete dedication. But I really don't like people who go to work just to pay bills and boost their ego by buying expensive, unnecessary trinkets. It's a real tragedy for me to waste over 90,000 hours of my life doing work that isn't really needed.

However, millions of people live this way.

I am sure that you can always find something, some specific goal that will light the fire inside you. And then you will be able to go to work not to pay bills, but to achieve new heights. This is truly possible, and in any field of activity.

Understand. Your job doesn't really define you as a person. It shows your professionalism, abilities, skills, but it is unlikely to open your soul. Even if you are a writer, seriously. Most people associate the concept of “success” with work, although in most cases this is not enough for real success.

Well, let's say a salary of a million rubles a year will make you successful? For many people in Russia the answer will be yes (), however, once you achieve this goal you will have to work even harder to reach new horizons, since this million will be yours simply not enough.

But there is also another side to the issue. In most cases, you will have to sacrifice a lot to make that million. Is missing time with family really worth the time spent working? What is better: money or spending time together?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to quit your job to spend all your time with your family. I understand that every person has financial responsibilities, which sometimes cause a lot of problems. However, there are many things in life that are truly more important than work.

Take a few minutes to truly appreciate them. Get started now.

1. Your family

I understand that this is obvious, but what exactly are you doing in this direction? You spend 40 hours a week staring at a computer screen (that's just at work) and only 10 hours spending time with your family (). Just think about how you spend your weekends. Most likely, you are so tired that your body barely has enough energy to change channels on the TV.

But your family needs you. They need you just as much as you need their support after a hard day at work. These are the people who make you feel truly happy. Where is it better to invest your time: in meeting the needs of your next client or your own family?

I have one friend who is working day and night to buy an apartment somewhere closer to Moscow. This is his goal, and I support it. However, in addition to his main job, he spends 2-3 hours in the evening doing freelancing. I commend such endeavors and am proud to know this man. However, the other day I saw his two children. They were very passive and clearly suffered from a lack of communication (the mother is also a workaholic). Of course, you can always hire a nanny, but do you really need it? Will it replace communication with real parents? Of course not.

IN modern world there is so much technology: computers, smartphones, tablets, and so on, that children, it seems to me, have completely forgotten how to play outside (). But remember how much happiness there was in this. In addition, playing in the fresh air helps health, and active games develop children physically. But who will show children the joy of such entertainment if you work all the time? If you just send a child outside, he will most likely return in a couple of tens of minutes.

I often see now how parents work hard to buy their child a new iPhone or iPad, but is it worth the time spent on these things ()? Just think about what's more important: new toy or full communication. And I’m still silent about parents who try to occupy their child in this way so that he doesn’t bother them. Why do they even need children in this case?

But I slowly began to delve into other jungles. Next time you're commuting between home and work, stop your car near a park, go outside and sit on a bench. Close your eyes, let the wind move your hair, and let the smell fresh air will fill your lungs. Imagine how good it would be for you and your family and make the right choice.

2. Your health

You may or may not agree with these, but your job is killing you. You are dying a slow death. Over the course of 30-40 years, your service uniform gradually drains the vital juices from you. Think about it: do you have enough strength to quickly get out of bed in the morning and happily start getting ready? Or can you normally run a couple of blocks if you just suddenly feel like it?

Sitting at a desk 24/7 is unlikely to have a positive effect on your well-being. This causes many problems with the heart, digestion and even cancer (read my article about that). If you also work at a desk, make sure you take enough breaks to stretch your body. Do some squats, do some stretching, and walk outside for 5 minutes.

Remember, no matter how successful you are at work, poor health is unlikely to allow you to enjoy achieving this goal (). In the end, what is better: to be a mid-level employee in excellent health or a top manager who is constantly in the hospital. Take care of your health first, and only then do other “successful things.”

3. Your time

Time is the most valuable resource you have, period. I bet you are now spending it the same way Bill Gates spends a couple of dollars - practically useless. Besides, you probably don’t value your own time resource. I am often surprised by people who are willing to spend 40 minutes to get to a cheaper store, and the discount amount will be 50-100 rubles. Do you earn less per hour?

I understand when people earn 30-40 rubles per hour (), but when their salaries are much higher, then what is the point of making such savings? Wouldn't it be better to spend this time much more productively? Time passes surprisingly quickly. I bet when I wake up as a 70-year-old man, I won't even notice how quickly the last few years have passed.

Now think about where you spend best years your life? That's right, at work! Start spending your time wisely today. At 20 years old, for example, work doesn’t mean anything, isn’t it better to spend time much more productively - quality education (and not just sitting on your pants), learning useful skills, love. You will still have time to work.

4. Your goals

What is your main life goal ()? Surprisingly, most people cannot answer this question. And not just because they don’t know, but because they don’t think about it. They live, succumb to human vices and benefactors, but do not understand why. This is why many people hate their jobs but continue to go to work. That is why the majority are always dissatisfied with everything, but do not change anything.

Give yourself at least an hour of free time on the weekend to understand why you even live. What's going wrong in your life? Why do you get up every morning? If you have at least some goals, for example, to get a second education (), then it will be much easier for you simply because the main vector of movement is given and you won’t have to spend too much time checking the right direction.

Of course, many will object, saying that goals can coincide with work. This really happens, so the title of the article does not exactly fit what was written. However, many of those who constantly talk about important work goals in fact do nothing at all. They come to work, make a minimum plan, and then simply forget about everything else.

If you really want to achieve anything meaningful, you will have to completely abandon these contradictions. If your goals coincide with your work, come to the office and work like a galley slave (), otherwise you won’t come out with anything good. If they do not match, then try to implement them during non-working hours. Just answer yourself why you even go to the office.

Let's say you dream of creating your own book, but you only need a job to pay the bills. So act according to your goals. After getting home and spending time with your family, sit down at your laptop and type, type, type. I believe you will succeed if you try hard, but if you do nothing, then what kind of results can we talk about?

5. Your friends

Jobs may come and go, daily tasks may change, and friendships last a lifetime. We very often forget about those people who give us support when we are immersed in work. I’m not saying that this is bad, this is a normal state of probably every modern resident, but if you do not constantly care for the tree of friendship, it will soon wither and die.

“I’ll call a friend later,” you say to a colleague or to yourself. However, a day, a week, a month passes, and you still cannot contact him. It was already said above that the speed of time is increasing every day, and you will not notice how quickly a year or two has passed. Don't forget about your friends, because you need them much more than you might think. And work is something that comes and goes.

Remember that the quality of your life directly depends on the quality of your relationships with other people. Reach out to a friend today, and they will reciprocate your feelings for many years to come.

Well, it's time to finish this article, I'm already too carried away. If you know any other things that are really more important than work– write about them in the comments. There you can ask questions that interest you. Don't forget to subscribe for updates. Bye!

These shelves are carefully monitored, they are wiped clean of dust every day, and the entire room is thoroughly cleaned once a week. Perhaps this is all that happens in modern libraries. Books have already forgotten about the touch of the readers' hands, knights and princesses are bored between the lines, dragons roar in frustration, because they have no one else to tell their stories. A book is not just a stack of printed pages, but an entire Universe that wants to be known about it.

Meaning of the word

The lexical meaning of the word “book” is defined differently in dictionaries, but its basic meaning does not change. For greater clarity, it is worth citing several popular values ​​(see table).

	What dictionary is the definition used?	Definition
	Efremova's Dictionary	A book is a printed publication that consists of pages bound together containing a significant amount of information.
	Ozhegov's Dictionary	A literary work that consists of many chapters
	Encyclopedic Dictionary	Non-periodical publication, which consists of bound sheets of printed material of more than 48 pages
	Business Dictionary	The meaning of the word "book" in the business dictionary is defined as a list of accounting registers
	Dictionary of symbolism	Here the book is defined as a symbol of the Universe, which carries wisdom and revelation
	Ushakov's Dictionary	A printed work or manuscript containing text or drawings whose pages are connected
	Dahl's Dictionary	Pages of paper bound together in one binding should be called a book.

As can be seen from the material presented in the table, a book is a work consisting of sheets of paper that contains printed, written or drawn information that is entertaining, informational or other in nature.

What is a book?

Typically, a book is considered a hardcover printed product that consists of more than 50 pages. However, a book can also be called a work of science or literature that is intended for printing as a separate publication.

Particular attention should be paid to children's periodicals. They are different unconventional form, in addition, can be presented as separate cards or sheets that are assembled together using an external element (box, spring, etc.).

Another type of book can be called an e-book. In the last ten years it has gained unprecedented popularity. Electronic versions of printed publications are easy to use. They can be read from the screen of a computer, phone or special devices. Electronic publications and audiobooks are not far behind. Progress has reached the point that books can now not only be read, but also listened to.

What does it consist of?

If we talk about the classic variation of an ordinary paper book, its structure changes depending on its purpose, but each copy consists of several required parts:

• The "face", or dust jacket, is the paper cover that is applied to the binding.
• Binding is a “cover” made of a hard material (usually cardboard) into which book sheets are glued.
• The cover is usually a soft or semi-hard page of a book on which the title of the work and its author are written.
• Flyleaf - sheets of paper that are located between the binding and the main text block.
• The spine is the place where the pages of a book are filed.
• Title page - the title of the book and the name of the author are placed on it.
• Abstract - brief description contents of the book.
• Introduction.
• Book block.
• Glossary - subject index.
• Contents and literature.

Books in ancient times

If you look back at history, you can see that books came in many different formats before they became what they are today. The most ancient way of transmitting knowledge is oral speech. It was only when ancient civilizations invented writing that people began to look for materials on which to write:

• Signs. Convenient and reliable writing medium. As a rule, clay or wax tablets were used. Moreover, the clay ones consisted entirely of this material, and the wax ones were wooden planks that were covered with a layer of wax.
• Scrolls. They were first invented in Ancient Egypt(2400 BC). Then all records were made on sheets of papyrus, and in order to make them more convenient to store, they were glued together and formed scrolls. Later, a similar method of storing information spread to the Roman and Hellenic kingdoms.
• Codes. In the 5th century it was generally accepted that book, scroll and codex were not different names for the same element. A book is a single scroll of information, while a codex is a collection of books (i.e. scrolls). In the modern understanding, the codex is the prototype of the first book.

A little from the Middle Ages

Time passed and books improved. The first handwritten books were created in scriptoria using ink and a reed pen. First, the parchment was drawn with a fingerboard so that the lines were even, and then the writing was applied. The first books were written exclusively in black ink. A little later, pictures began to appear in them, and the capital letter of each paragraph was highlighted in red.

Parchment was very expensive, so it was often reused. The inscriptions were erased with special solutions, the parchment was dried and used again. During the early Middle Ages, many books from Antiquity were thus destroyed. But what’s interesting is that when the Middle Ages came to an end, the books that were written by clergy were destroyed and works of ancient literature were rewritten over them.

Later, woodcut printing was invented, that is, a plate with letters was cut out of wood, dipped in ink, and several book pages could be copied. Everything that was related to books and was created in the world before December 31, 1500, is usually called incunabula, that is, the cradle.

From century to century

The significance of the book in human development is difficult to ignore. And the background on the creation of the books was not given in vain. From century to century, from era to era, people tried to transmit information to future generations. It was for this reason that writing was invented, parchment, papyrus, ink and, ultimately, printing were invented.

Each generation contributed something new to the development of the book craft. Someone passed on knowledge, and someone wrote it down. And a modern person must understand: a book is not pages with letters, but an achievement of centuries-old development. This is a thing that connects generations and makes a person think, teaches him and gives advice.

Children's books

The first time a book appears in a person’s life is in early childhood. I wonder what the importance of books is for children?

Children's journalism is considered an independent field of literary creativity. It often happens that books that were read to a child in early childhood, determine his views and value system for the rest of his life. Books “from childhood” shape character, educate and educate a child. Plus, love for reading -useful habit, which needs to be vaccinated as early as possible.

Children's literature helps us understand the world. You can always find a lot of material for thought in the book. In addition, they develop speech and creative inclinations. In a word, the book is an indispensable attribute of full and comprehensive development.

Not all for children

Moreover, it is useful not only in childhood. The importance of a book in a person’s life does not diminish, even when he grows up, and one can talk about the benefits of books forever. The main priorities that the book world offers to consumers can be expressed in the following theses:

• Books directly affect the enrichment of speech and vocabulary.
• They teach you to think in images.
• They give answers to questions.
• Develop thinking.
• Provide a wealth of information.
• They learn to empathize with others, to understand how a person feels who finds himself in a certain situation.
• Makes you think about issues of ethics and morality.
• Helps you understand that one question can have several correct options answer.
• Stories about other people make the reader more tolerant of his surroundings.
• Reading has been scientifically proven to relieve depression.
• And books significantly enrich the cultural environment of the planet, allowing people from other countries to learn about each other.

From the writer to the reader

The famous English writer Neil Gaiman once answered the question of what significance a book has. He said that reading fiction is the most important thing in life, which performs two important functions.

First, it is beneficially addictive. Finding out what will happen next, the need to turn the page, the desire to read everything to the end. Drink the story to the last drop, the last word. Even if it is difficult, the thirst for knowledge will persistently itch until it can be quenched. Thanks to this addiction, a person learns many new words, begins to look at the world differently and even thinks a little differently.

Second, reading creates empathy. When a person watches TV, he simply watches the characters from the outside, but when he reads, he can be “in the shoes” of the main character. Live his story, see the world through his eyes, understand how he feels.

This is where the meaning comes in modern book- an opportunity to expand your horizons and become a little better.

Every book is an irreplaceable thing in a person’s life. And few people know that there are many associated with them interesting facts and stories:

• Today the total number of books is about 130 million copies.
• The most unusual book in the world is “The Divine Comedy”, which was written by G. Celani on a sheet of 80x60 centimeters. The work consisted of 14 thousand poems that could be easily read, but if you look at this work from afar, you could see a map of Italy.
• The poet Oppian received the largest fee in the history of literature. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius ordered a poem from him about fishing and hunting and paid for each line with a gold coin. As a result, the author received 20,000 pure gold coins.
• The Codex Leicester (Leonardo da Vinci) is considered one of the most expensive books in the world. The treatise describes the knowledge of the famous scientific thinker about earth, water and celestial bodies. The text is printed in mirror font and the original copy costs $24 million.
• The most read books in the world: The Bible (1st place), Mao Zedong's Quote Book (2nd place) and The Lord of the Rings (3rd place).

Final word

There are always many stories associated with books. There are specimens that are unique in their kind, but unknown. There are books whose cost can be compared to the annual GDP of some countries. And there are also quite ordinary specimens that stand peacefully on the shelves. And you shouldn’t belittle the importance of a book: a person who loves to read is easy to recognize in a crowd. His speech is always pleasant and polite, he can support any conversation, is loyal to others and knows for sure that a bright future awaits him.

The lexical meaning (book) means that the sheets of information are connected by one binding. But as practice shows, behind each such binding there is something unknown. A world that can connect the reader to the past or send it into the future. A universe where you can live hundreds of lives and thousands of destinies. And even though modern libraries are already empty, this does not mean that humanity has stopped reading. Yes, now everyone can find another, more exciting activity. But if no one read books, there would be no need to answer the question: what is a book and what is its role in human life?

How often in our lives have we been able to understand another person and then forgive him? Probably a lot of times. And this is not due to the comedy character of a security guard from a popular show. The ability to forgive is one of the main components of the human psyche. First of all, you need to learn to forgive yourself. Since it can be very difficult to understand and forgive other people, by learning to forgive and criticize ourselves less, we will be able to understand and forgive others in the future. People who don't make mistakes simply don't exist. We all live in this world to learn, but learning does not happen without mistakes. The main thing is that you don’t need to focus your attention on this. Mistakes made are mistakes of the past that cannot be changed. So why think about something that you can’t fix? It is necessary to try to understand the other person. Why did he make an irreparable mistake? Get into his position. Ask yourself: “What would I do in this situation?” Perhaps understanding his actions will help you forgive him faster.

2. Respect the choice of your loved one

Sometimes it hurts to watch how your loved ones are unhappy. Immediately there is a desire to help, to give practical advice, in your opinion. And in response - a wall of silence. And this makes you even worse, because no one pays attention to your sincere desire to come to the rescue. However, this is not necessary. You cannot indulge your vanity and teach others how to live. Even if you are one hundred percent right, this is just your opinion and understanding of life. Every person has the right to live the way he wants. And if he chose to live the way he lives, you must respect that choice.

3. Admit your guilt

Admitting your guilt is not just saying something to a loved one so that he or she beams with joy. Verbal admissions of guilt alone are not enough to correct your mistake. In order to avoid any difficulties in human relationships in the future, analyzing your own guilt and expressing it to the person you did wrong is not enough. Only great aspirations towards better mutual understanding and friendliness, awareness of the mistake made and efforts not to make it again in the future can be fully considered an admission of guilt.

4. Do not develop conflict because every quarrel alienates people from each other

If you have a quarrel brewing with your loved one, you need to avoid this, because every quarrel only alienates people from each other. There are several basic rules, if you adhere to them, you can avoid developing looming conflicts:

• First you just need to cool down. It is advisable to simply leave the room under any pretext and be in solitude. Remember your wonderful holiday in Odessa. If it is some problem that needs to be solved, leave it until the next day. Having rested and calmed down with a clearer mind, you can return to solving the problem.
• You should never be offended and God forbid we start fighting. This will not solve the problem, but will only make the situation worse.

You should never let other people solve internal problems with a loved one. And most importantly, violence must be avoided.

5. Do not insult your loved one

As mentioned above, you should never insult a loved one. After all, insult destroys respect. Without respect, love turns into mere physical desire. And the loved one ceases to be a loved one, turning simply into a favorite toy, an object of physical satisfaction.

Culture

Some people become heroes of gossip columns and news releases due to luxury, excesses, etc., but this is not why the young American Andrew Hyde became famous. On the contrary, he has no excesses in anything. An American has nothing... except 15 things that are also not of particular value. They are simply necessary for normal life. An American minimalist lives using only 15 items.

Main field of activity

If you think Andrew is homeless or broke, you are deeply mistaken. The American’s housing and work are in perfect order. The fact is that Hyde is a so-called technology tycoon. He is engaged in consulting in one of the large American companies and is also the founder of the international movement for the development of new web projects "Startup Weekend". Hyde successfully organizes various conferences and events dedicated to the search for new ideas in the field of high technology, art and design.

The young American lives in two houses: he is constantly “torn” between work in New York and Silicon Valley. Hyde does not have a permanent residence. If the active Andrew has any free time, he prefers to spend it traveling, and he takes with him only the 15 most necessary things.

They are, according to the American, necessary for life modern man. All other items are excesses that should be excluded from daily use.

Necessary things for survival

The young innovator says he has always liked minimalism in everything. Andrew was also attracted to the idea of ​​using minimal items in his daily life. A couple of years ago, he decided to see if he could get by with just a hundred household items. And he seemed to be doing just fine with a limited amount of stuff.

After some time, Hyde decided to go even further. He sold all his belongings, including his wardrobe, household appliances and dishes. The American kept for himself only 15 of the most necessary things, in his opinion:

1. Backpack with a total capacity of 30 kg

4. T-shirt

5. Lightweight shorts

6. Towel

7. Warm jacket

8. A set of toiletries, including a razor and soap

9. Sunglasses

10. Wallet

11. MacBook Air computer

13. Long sleeve shirt

14. Jeans

15. Sneakers

Surely, each of you noted that socks and underwear are missing from this list. Hyde has enough of these little things in stock. The American left himself a minimum of clothes. According to him, now he doesn’t need to waste time thinking about what to wear to work, what to wear to a party, and what to wear for a walk. Waking up every morning, he simply takes out from the closet that shirt or T-shirt that he did not wear yesterday. Having no choice makes life easier. The American was convinced of this from his own experience.

Minimum things

However, according to Hyde, reducing his property to a minimum was very difficult and problematic. As Andrew himself recalls, he began to trim his wardrobe gradually. First he took two shirts, one pair of jeans and one pair of shorts. He also took one pair of sandals, sunglasses, and, of course, underwear.

An iPad and a camera also became mandatory items that the American took with him. He added a backpack, some toiletries, and a towel to the list of necessary things. Andrew also needed some small items such as a pen, connector cable and iPad chargers.

After all the things were put in a backpack, the enterprising American went on a trip to try to live with this set of things. As a result, during the trip, which lasted almost 5 weeks, the traveler-experimenter needed even less things than he took with him.

Modern man wants everything at once. These days, the average woman alone has about 20 pairs of shoes and a wardrobe of hundreds of outfits. And some people live completely alone in huge mansions. The young rich man Andrew Hyde, by his example, demonstrates to society that you can get by with little, and you don’t have to have millions to be happy.

Hello readers!

Welcome to the blog site.

Let's philosophize a little and talk about the most important things in life.

I talked a lot about this topic with my friends, relatives, and students of my seminars (I really like to talk and think :) and I know that every person has different values ​​in life. But basically, for a sane person, the most important things in life are:

• Love;
• family;
• children;
• health and longevity of yourself and your loved ones;
• long-lived youth and beauty within us;
• self-realization in life;
• happiness;
• wealth, money, financial freedom.

You noticed that I wrote money and everything connected with it at the very end of the list, but in fact, no matter how it jars our souls, they could probably top the list.

Why? Because we are accustomed to the fact that money is a material value, and material values ​​can never be higher than spiritual ones, and therefore, it is not the most important thing in life. I completely agree, there is nothing more important than health, love, children! But it is money that helps us in many, many ways!

It’s great if nature has rewarded you with good health, unfading beauty and youthful body, and if you are a little less fortunate, then you can’t escape the costs of medicines and medical care, fitness, cosmetic procedures, and this is all, unfortunately, a big expense item V .

One of my friends loves it very much, goes to various seminars and quickly “lights up” at every suggestion. The last time I attended a presentation of some coffee company.

Then he calls me and says:

- “This coffee is nothing better in life! Only it cleanses the body and gives health!” (this information can be heard from various networkers about their most best companies and products:lol:)

And I tell him:

- “My friend, all people need is money,”

- “No, people need health and this coffee!”

- “But to buy this coffee or other goods from you from other networkers, you need money...”, after that he had absolutely nothing to say and our intense 30-minute conversation ended.

Now, as for the family and all its accompanying components... love, children, “You won’t be satisfied with love alone,” so says the famous saying, and this is the harsh truth.

Have you noticed that young families have “aged” over the past 30 years; the generation of our parents had weddings and had children at the age of 19-22, and at the present time middle age“young” 25-35 years old. I think you understand why... Firstly, it is very difficult to acquire your own housing, you have to take out a mortgage for many years(which many marriages can’t handle) and this is “stressful” for a young family. Secondly, couples cannot decide to have children for a long time, there may be several reasons: the same housing problem and simply a small income (children today are an expensive pleasure). It turns out that at this moment the most important thing is money, at least this is the basis.

Self-realization without initial costs is also poorly feasible. If you decide to realize yourself through any profession, then you need to spend money on education; if you are planning to realize yourself in your own business, then you also need capital for promotion, etc.

“What are you all about money, but about money” - tell me that there can be no happiness without it? Of course it can, but for a very small number of people. Whatever one may say, money is one of the most important things in life, so I do this, it’s a great way to increase your capital.

Many people feel happy if they have a car, their own home, preferably renovated, a full wardrobe of branded clothes, the opportunity to relax and travel 2-3 times a year, and also have the opportunity to regularly visit beauty salons and allow themselves everything they want and also, it is desirable that others look with lust...

Maybe it’s bad that people place material values ​​a little higher than spiritual ones, but such is life, and regardless of the times, people always wanted to be richer and to be no worse than those around them, the main thing is that as they get richer, they do not become callous, mercantile and insensitive...

Surely, you agree with my thoughts if you have finished reading my article about the most important things in life.

I wish you every day to become richer, happier, improve your health, love and be loved, while remaining kind and sincere people!

Good luck and see you soon!

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