By Leo Babauta

This was quite the year of change for Zen Habits, and everyone in the world. Chaos, growth, uncertainty, tragedy, joy, meaning.

It’s hard to encapsulate it in words, because it contains multitudes and contradictions, but this has been such a year of powerful change.

In this post, I’ll share what this year has been like for me and my Zen Habits mission … as well as some essential Zen Habits posts from this year. I hope you find it helpful.

And know that I’m truly grateful for all of you.

A Year of Immense Change

I don’t even know where to start … but here are some of the major things that happened this year for me and Zen Habits:

• My team & I launched Fearless Living Academy, the biggest change to our offerings in a long time. It is a culmination of all of our offerings – habit change, purpose, and doing meaningful work. If you’re not a part of it, join today!
• We have closed down my long-running Sea Change Program and Fearless Training Program, merging them into Fearless Living Academy. It’s sad to close down things I love, but I’m also incredibly excited for what we’re creating in FLA.
• We launched and ran two really incredible rounds of Fearless Mastery, my small group mastermind program for people on a meaningful mission. We’re starting a new round this coming week and I’m psyched!
• Huge changes on the Zen Habits team: we hired a new operations manager, community magician, coaches and more, and went through major upheaval as well, saying goodbye to a really valued member of the team.
• Moved from L.A. back to northern California, once again in the middle of a pandemic. Took so much out of us, but it’s a really great move for us.
• Continued to study the Zen precepts with my teacher and a small wonderful group of Zen students.
• Took June & December off.
• Had personal tragedies in our families, from my brother’s infant to uncles and cousins.
• Personally, it was a year of flux and victories, and I’m still trying to make sense of it all.

I’m really looking forward to 2022 – I have a lot planned!

Essential Posts for Dealing with Chaos

For anyone having a difficult time in this pandemic, here are the most important posts from this year for what we’ve all been facing:

• First Two Steps to Creating Resilience
• Energy Depletion & the Practice of Relaxing Our Threat Detector
• Using the Pandemic as Mental Training Ground
• Relaxing with Chaos
• Delight in Uncertainty

More Essential Zen Habits Posts of 2021

Here are the rest of my favorite Zen Habits posts from 2021:

• How to Do the Thing You’re Avoiding
• Find Freedom in Any Moment
• Everything is a Practice
• Death Isn’t the End
• Getting Good at Just Starting a Difficult Task
• Stateless
• A Self-Sufficient Mind
• Stillness & Curiosity
• The Quest for Impact, Not Productivity
• How to Stop From Spinning Into Meltdown

And More

For more best of Zen Habits:

• Best of Zen Habits in 2007.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2008.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2009.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2010.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2011.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2012.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2013.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2014.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2015.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2016.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2017.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2018.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2019.
• The Essential Zen Habits of 2020.