Hey Reader,

Can you believe it's almost September already? How fast is this year flying by?

I don't have an essay to share this week as I've been taking a break from work, traveling with my wife and our dog Jackson. 🐕

This weeks's edition though is filled with some neat stuff that was shared by some of our readers: 🙏

• First up is this poem by Rumi called "The Guest House" (see below) that was recently shared with me. It really resonated with me because it's about inviting in our darkest emotions rather than running away from them like most of us are conditioned to do. Rumi suggests we welcome our pain like a cherished guest. (hence today's subject line)
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• An interesting theory on balancing (and excelling) in the different areas of life called The Four Burners Theory
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• Understanding the three types of laziness from a spiritual perspective by Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön.
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• Lastly, an assessment to determine your "money personality type" by Ken Honda who is an expert in the psychology of money and happiness.

Hope you have a great week. Enjoy the newsletter.

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The Guest House
​Poem by Rumi

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The Four Burners Theory of Self-Development
​Sources: The New Yorker, James Clear, and Chris Guillebeau​

In the Four Burners Theory, your life is represented as a stove with four burners on it. Each burner symbolizes one major quadrant of your life.

1. Burner# 1 represents your family. 👪
2. Burner# 2 represents your friends. 👬
3. Burner# 3 represents your health. 🏃🏻‍♀️
4. Burner# 4 represents your work.👨🏽‍💻

The theory then says:

This underscores this hard truth: life is filled with tradeoffs.

• If you want to excel in your career and have a great family life, then your friends and your health may have to suffer.
• If you want to have great health and be a great parent, then your career ambitions might have to take a backseat.
• You can divide your time and energy equally among all four burners, but this comes at the cost of never reaching your full potential in any given area.

👉 Do you buy it? 👇

Feel free to share your thoughts and insights as an answer to this Quora Question.​
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The Three Kinds of Laziness
​Pema Chödrön | 6 Minutes

1. Comfort Orientation​
   This is based on our tendency to avoid inconvenience. We want to make ourselves comfortable and soothe ourselves habitually and in turn, we become jaded and lazy. We seek the quick “upper” and become accustomed to automatic results.
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2. Loss of Heart​
   This is when we feel a sense of hopelessness, or “poor me.” We sit in front of the televi­sion, eating, drinking, and smoking, mindlessly watching show after show. We can’t bring ourselves to do anything to ventilate our loss of heart.
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3. “Couldn’t Care Less”​
   This is characterized by resentment. We are giving the world the finger. It’s similar to loss of heart but much harder. Loss of heart has some kind of softness and vulnerability. Couldn’t care less is more aggressive and defiant.

Rather than feeling discouraged by laziness, we could get to know our laziness profoundly and allow it to become our personal teacher.

​Read the post ➜ ​

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What is your money personality type?​
​Ken Honda | 5 Minutes

In his book “Happy Money”, Ken Honda outlines 7 money personality types: saver, spender, moneymaker, indifferent, saver-splurger, gambler, and worrier.

You can take the short assessment here.

​Read the post ➜
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Thanks for reading.

If you have any questions, feedback, or want to share some of your own insights, feel free to hit reply and let me know. I read and reply to every email.
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​As Always, Keep Creating,

Anthony V. Lombardo

https://anthonyvlombardo.com
Join the space: Notes on Personal Growth
Subscribe to my Youtube channel
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P.S. If you have a few minutes, I would love for you to complete my short survey so I can learn more about you.

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