Happy Monday! & Welcome to the first official Brupdates! (Brad-Updates) If you have no idea what's going on, read my big update and then come back!

For those who do, let's get into this week's post 😎

Highlighted Articles

This week's articles for you to check out!

On-site:

• Learning Japanese in 6 Months: Week Seven Update (about 1.5 min)
• Random Thoughts (2 min)
• In Case You Missed It: Why I'm Learning Japanese (4 min)

Here's how everything is going on the language learning front as well as a collection of random thoughts I've had that would be cool to turn into blog posts.

The last article gives a more wholesome look at how Japanese has been in my life for a long time and can explain several of the reasons why I am pursuing Japanese. You can comment or reach out with your thoughts!

Off-Site: (But still awesome)

• The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (6 min)

In light of my recent article highlighting me getting back to the "roots", this article goes into depth about why success leads to failure.

Favorite Quote: "We shouldn’t ask, “How much do I value this opportunity?” but “If I did not have this opportunity, how much would I be willing to sacrifice in order to obtain it?”

• How to Be Thankful For Your Life by Changing Just One Word (2 min)

This is a quick read focusing on a perspective shift by changing one word - "I have to" -> "I get to".

Favorite Quote: "By simply changing one word, you shift the way you view each event. You transition from seeing these behaviors as burdens and turn them into opportunities."

• The Age of Envy: How to be Happy When Everyone Else’s Life Looks Perfect (10 min)

This last one looks at the effects even just scrolling on social media can have on us and serves as a great reflection piece for those of us who use social media. What are we seeking?

Favorite Quote: "Participants received texts five times a day for two weeks, asking about their passive Facebook use since the previous message, and how they were feeling in that moment. The results were striking, he says: “The more you’re on there scrolling away, the more that elicits feelings of envy, which in turn predicts drops in how good you feel”."

Quote of The Week

“Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.” - John Updike

Wrap up

That's it for this week's Brupdate! I hope you found something useful and look forward to sending you more next week 😁 Remember to share the links you find value in and forward this email!

Thank you!

-Bradley

(Photo Credit: Image by Jan Steiner from Pixabay)