Being Mindful Can Help Guide a Decision

We’re really good at telling ourselves stories.

One story I told myself for a long time was that I needed to buy a lot of books. It’s my job to be on top of things, so I’d go to Amazon, read a sentence or two of a review, and buy the book.

Over time, this habit of buying every book didn’t actually lead to reading more of them. Instead, I found myself restacking a tower of books I never read. Once I accepted that my story had a few holes, I adopted a new rule. A book had to sit in my online shopping cart for at least 72 hours before I hit the “buy” button. Since then, the number of books I purchase has dropped significantly.

Read the rest of the article on The New York Times.