Simone Veil wrote: “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”

We transform and evolve through our practices.

We practice when we do something repeatedly, either deliberately or unthinkingly.

Pay attention to what you avoid because you find it uncomfortable.

Do something you find uncomfortable every day.

Otherwise your comfort zone will shrink and become your prison

Samuel Johnson said that the art of memory is the art of attention.

Most failures of memory loss are instances of not paying attention.

WHAT you do matters.

WHY you do it may matter more. WHY is about your motivation. Your purpose. It's WHY that makes an activity feel meaningful.

The way you do it - the HOW - probably matters even more.

Because HOW you do things permeates every instant and every action and ultimately builds WHO you are - the way you habitually show up in the world, whatever you do.

Whether or not you know WHAT and/or WHY, pay attention to your HOW.

The biggest risk of exercising too much is that is can ruin your relationships.

The biggest risk of exercising too little is not being around long enough to enjoy your relationships.

“I wonder what’s it like to do that.”

“I wonder what it's like to be that.”

Imitation is a great way to answer those questions.

My gran used to say “anticipation is better than realisation”.

James Clear says your brain has far more neural circuitry for wanting rewards than for liking them.

Same idea, poetry vs prose.

People have a short attention span for other people speaking, so do you pass the KISS ME test when you present?

Keep It Short, Simple, Memorable and Engaging

Disregarding the body amounts to neglect of the mind, because the two are inseparable. They are two aspects of a whole.

Disregarding the body reduces our intelligence and range of thinking.

So much of our life is fast-paced and reliant on technology and fossil fuels. Walking isn’t. Walking is a radical choice.

Learning how to fall well and get back up smoothly is a valuable life practice - a good life metaphor too.

Your habits are the building blocks of your life.

It may take years for the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones to become clear.

So pay attention to them sooner rather than later.

Learning to do something involves the whole body. Learning about something does not.

The more awareness you can bring to bear on any action, the more feedback you get from the experience, and the more naturally you learn what works best.

There is no substitute for learning from experience. You don't know until you do.

Cultivating an attitude of gratitude makes life sweeter for you and for everyone round you.

So I thank you for reading these words and weighing them up.

Your actions are how you embody your identity.

They are evidence to others, and to yourself, of who you are. For practical purposes, you are what you do.