7 Simple Habits for a Better Morning

Mornings are probably the best time to get things done. Besides the work factor, you can get to bask in the morning sun, renewing your soul, and starting your day right.
What you wouldn’t want is to wake up in the “middle of the battle”—-that’s like losing out right from the start. What you could do with, is to form habits (new habits), and making them consistent to form a better morning from today.
The good news? There’s no need to form huge habits to making things happen. These 7 simple ones will do:

1. Making the bed. Whats better than to wake up and make your bed neat and tidy. Like visual distraction, I’d rather start having a clean place where I rise up from, than to leave it messy. It’s like a deliberate move to making a good start for the day.
   
   
2. Having breakfast. Apart from giving you the appropriate amount of energy and nutrients to get your gears running for the day, breakfast is the time of the day when you get to move out from bed to another part of the room (or a coffee place, that’s if you prefer eating out)—-that’s being on the move.
   
   
3. Getting a good cup of coffee / tea. Not so much about having the caffeine high from the tea or coffee part, but it’s more about having patience by letting the water boil slowly, and adding in the coffee / tea mix, before savoring the sweet aroma of the freshly brewed drink.
   
   
4. Morning gratitude. I find it pretty neat to start the mornings at your peak state, by giving thanks for having great people around you, and for the amazing morning that you can wake up to. It’s as simple as perhaps, sending a loved one a good morning message, to sending out a Tweet by asking how you may help others this morning, or even posting a morning shoutout on the Facebook stream.
   
   
5. Morning shower. Having a morning allows you to be refreshed from the start; it’s like wearing a whole new garment in preparation for the new day.
   
   
6. Good seating posture. Once all morning good habit routines are done and you’re on your way to your productivity space, take a seat, and sit up straight. Go have a good seating posture to start your day with a focused-like mental and physical state.
   
   
7. Work. When all’s said and done, it’s time to do the next most important habit to allow you to continue having more better mornings, and that is to: work.

Go work on your passions, and continue enjoying the rest of the day while you’re at it.

10 Ways to Use Relationships for Personal Development

There’s nothing like a relationship to make you see yourself for who you really are. It strips away your outer shell and reveals your inner core, and this is why you feel emotions more intensely when you’re in a significant relationship – your joys are doubled, as is your pain. But no matter how a relationship begins, progresses or ends, it teaches you more about yourself and helps you develop personally. The key to self-development through relationships is to be aware of your feelings and emotions and learn from your experiences. And you can do this if you:

1. Don’t repeat mistakes: How many of us make the same mistake over and over again because we’re not wise enough to learn from our prior experiences? For some, it’s being taken for a ride; for others, it may be going all out to please someone and feeling like a doormat at the end of it. Whenever you realize the mistakes you’ve made, you tend to remember them and not repeat them the next time round because the pain you felt is still fresh. Relationships teach you how learn from experience and avoid making the same mistake twice.
2. Learn how to read people: The more relationships you’re in (with friends, family or significant others), the more you know how to assess and read people by their behavior and actions. You can understand their motivations and be able to judge if they’re looking out for you or looking to take advantage of you. Relationships help you become better appraisers of human beings.
3. Change yourself: When you’re in a relationship, your best and worst sides tend to come out alternately. You can be really nice to the person you’re with, or if you take them and your relationship for granted, you tend to treat them badly. If you consciously make the decision to be nice to the person you’re with, you better yourself personally. Relationships help you become a better person.
4. Adjust and accommodate: When you love someone, you want to make your relationship with them work. So you give in to their wishes and tolerate their faults because you want to be with them. When you adjust to their quirks and accommodate their eccentricities because of love, you become an open and easygoing person. Relationships make you more flexible.
5. Stay positive: Relationships have their advantages and disadvantages. When you learn how to focus on the pros and relegate the cons to the backgrounds, you become a more positive person with a better outlook towards life. Relationships make you an optimist.
6. Know when to let go: If you’re in an abusive relationship or one that is not working out to your liking, sooner or later, you do find the strength to let go and begin afresh. When you know when to let go, you become a stronger person and gain more control over yourself and your emotions. Relationships help save you from unnecessary pain.
7. Realize that life is full of ups and downs: When you’ve been in a few relationships, you remove the rose-tinted glasses with which you view the world as a youngster and realize that all aspects of life have their pros and cons, and that emotions like happiness, sadness, joy and pain are fleeting. Relationships make you more rational and practical.
8. Know that nothing is permanent: Any relationship goes through various stages, and as long as you accept this fact, you’re able to adjust to the changes that occur over a period of time. The more relationships you’ve been in or the longer you stay in any relationship, you realize that it’s best to roll with the change or be stuck in the past with only misery for company. Relationships make you more acceptable to change.
9. Believe: If you’re hesitant to trust again after a failed relationship, all it takes is one good person to make you believe that all is well with the world again. While it’s not good to trust blindly without knowing the other person, you must also remember that it’s not healthy to shut yourself up and protect your heart if you’ve been hurt before. The key to happiness in a relationship is to know who you can trust and who you must be wary of. Relationships help you identify people you can trust.
10. Accept: When you’re in a relationship, you see yourself through your partner’s eyes. Although this view might not be similar to the way you perceive yourself, you do tend to accept the way you are when more people see you the same way. And based on the positivity or negativity of this perception, you can change yourself to become a better person. Relationships further self-discovery.

Mental Math Tricks to Impress Your Friends

One thing that fascinates me is performing mental math. Being able to quickly perform additions, subtraction, multiplications etc is a good way to impress your friends. The problem is, I’m not a math genius, and I don’t know much behind simple arithmetic.
If you’re anything like me, but you’d still like to learn some basic math tricks, I hope you’ll find this list useful.

Simple tricks

How to multiply any two digits number by 11

Let’s say that you want to find the product of 36 and 11. One way to find it would be to multiply 36 by 10 and then add 36 on the result. There is, however, a simple trick that’ll do the job for any two digits number. To find out the result, write the first digit followed by the addition of the first and second digit, followed by the second digit.
Example:

What happens if the sum of the two numbers is bigger than 9? In this case you add 1 to the first number, followed by the last digit of the addition of the two numbers, and then again you add the second number

Square any two digits number that ends with 5

Calculating the square of a number below 100 is extremely simple. If you want to find the square of 25 for example, you simply have to take the first digit (2), multiply it for the next higher number (3), and then add 25 to the result.

Multiply any two digits numbers with the same first digit and the second digit that sums up to 10

Let’s say that you want to multiply 42 and 48 together. Notice that they both start with 4, and that the sum of their second digit is 10. In this case there’s a simple rule that you can use to find their product. Simply multiply the first digit (4) for the next higher number (5) and then append the product of their second digits.


Note that if the product of the second digits is below ten, you have to add a 0 in front of it.

Multiply by 9

To multiply by 9, simply multiply by 10 and then subtract the number itself.

Quickly find percentages

• To find out the 15% of a number, divide it by 10 and the add half of it.
• To find out the 20% of a number, divide it by 10 and multiply the result by two.
• To find out the 5% of a number, divide it by 10 and the divide it by two.

Addition

When we were at school, we have been taught how to sum two or more numbers together by using the right to left approach. With this method, you first sum the decimal part of the number, then you move to the hundreds and so on. This works good on paper, but it’s a pain when you’re doing mental calculations. Fortunately, the solution is very easy.

Left to right approach

Instead of using a right to left approach, we can start from the left and move to the right. Take the following example:

Usually, you would first sum up 4 to 45, and then and 30 to the result. But by using the left to right approach, you first sum up 30 to 45, and then you add 4 to the result. Although this example is very simple, you’ll see the advantages of this method as you start to use it.
If you’re working with three digits numbers, the process is the same.

This example is a bit more complicated than the previous one, yet it’s very easy to solve using the left to right approach. You first start by adding 600 to 459, which results in 1059. Now the problem is simplified to 1049 + 37. You simplify it even further by adding 30 to 1049, and then you finally add 7 to the result.

Subtraction

Like with addition, you can use the left to right approach for subtracting to numbers together. This time, however, it may feel uncomfortable to keep track of borrowings (a borrowing occurs when you subtract a number to a bigger one, like 16 – 9). Let’s see an example of this.

In this case, you first start by subtracting 10 to 64, resulting in 54, and now you only have to subtract 7 to 54. You can, however, subtract 20 to 64 and add 3 to the result. This way you don’t have to worry about borrowings.

Using complements to simplify subtractions even more

There is a way to easily calculate 3 or 4 digits subtractions very quickly in your head. This technique makes use of complements. For example. let’s say that you’re facing the following problem:

Instead of following the standard left to right approach, you could solve this problem by subtracting 400 to 674 and then add 42 back to the result. 42 is the difference from 100 and 58. A good question is: how do you find 42?

Note that there’s a simple pattern for calculating the second number. In particular, the sum of the first digits always sum up to 9, and the sum of the second digits always sum up to 10. The only exception is when the number ends with 0, which is simpler.
You can use this technique to solve any subtraction very easily.

Multiplication

In order to solve simple multiplications, it’s helps a lot being comfortable with the multiplication table for numbers below 10.
As you may have already guessed, we’re going to use the left to right approach to solve simple multiplication very easily. Take the following example:

We can reduce it by first calculating 30 × 7 (which is like 3 × 7 plus a 0) and then add 6 × 7 on the result.

This approach can be used for even larger numbers. Note that you can also round up instead of rounding down:

User contributions

the following are some math tricks contributed by the users.

Multiply by 5

Contributed by Scott.
To multiply 5 simply cut the # in half then multiply by 10.
eg. 17*5
1/2 of 17 = 8.5
8.5 * 10 = 85

Multiply numbers with multiple digits

Contributed by Tom Peterson
Use this trick when multiplying numbers with multiple digits
let {a;b;c;d…} represent digits of a number
ab x cd = (axc), (axd + bxc), (bxd)
the commas represent separation of digits, so “axc” represents the digit in the hundreds place, etc.
eg) 23 × 14 = (2×1), (2×4 + 3×1), (3×4)
8 + 3
= 2,11,12
in the event of double digits in the same digit place, the number in the digit’s place (starting with the unit’s place) carries the ten’s place digit of the digit place to the following digit place [what a mouthful!]
like in this instance
= 2, 11, 12 = 2, 12, 2 = 3, 2, 2
the answer is 322
the theory behind this is the “distribution property” of numbers commonly used with equations like (x + 1)(x + 4)=0 to make x^2 + 5x + 4=0
the same principles can be applied with 3 digit numbers as well
abc x def = (axd),(axe+bxd),(axf+bxe+cxd),(bxf+cxe),(cxf)
for multiplying 2 digit with 3 digit numbers, just use the 3×3 digits method but use a zero in the hundreds place of the 2 digit number

Square a number close to 10^2

Contributed by Prerak
Vedic mathematics provides lots of short cuts like shown here.
e.g.-
If you need to square a number close to 10^n, you can do so easily. Like if you want 92^2, lets take its answer as abcd.
Now, 92 is 8 before 100, so subtract 8 from 92, i.e. you get ab as 84. For finding cd, square 8 i.e. 64.
Hence the square of 92 comes as 8464.
For square of 87, let the answer is abcd again. Here 87 is 13 short of 100, so subtract 13 from 87 You get 74 as ab. For finding cd, square 13 i.e. 169. Since cd is only of two digits, add this extra 1 to ab.
So the answer becomes 7569.

Square two digits ending with 5

Contributed by alwayslovely
To square 2 digit numbers ending with ‘5’ eg 75 × 75
1. The answer will end with ‘25’
2. Take the first digit ‘7’ multiply by the number after ‘7’ => 7 × 8 = 56
75 × 75 = 5625
Test it out with 95 × 95.
Did you get 8125?

Squaring any number

Contributed by joe
take any number and find out how much to add to get it to the nearest tens subract and add that number to the orignal number multiply add the square
example:
(999+1) (999-1) + (1^2)
(998) (1000) + 1
999^2 + 998001

Squaring a number

Contributed by Ryan
A math trick I noticed when I was young. If you are squaring a number it is always equal to the total of the number times 2 subtract one of the previous squared number. This is helpful if you dont want to write it out. For instance most people know that 10×10=100 or 11×11=121 even 12×12=144 so lets say you dont know 13×13. Its equal to (13×2)-1(plus the previous squared number which was 12×12)144=169

Want more tricks?

All these tricks I learned are from the fantastic book secrets of mental math. This is one of the few books (probably the only one) that I would carry with me all the time. It’s extremely cool to be able to perform mental calculations very quickly, and you can get around it without being a nerd.
Here’s a list of what you can expect to learn from the book:

• Additions and subtractions.
• Basic and advanced multiplications.
• Divisions.
• Guessing a number (when it’s good enough).
• Pencil and paper math.
• How to memorize numbers.
• Many other tricks that will impress your friends

A Personal Confession: Why You Are Wrong About Me

About Me

It’s easy to look up at the people that are more “successful” than you and believe that they’ve got it all together, but do they really?
Not too long ago I thought so, but not anymore. As I’ve started climbing the ladder myself, I’ve realized that just because I make a living online and have a certain amount of subscribers, I’m still me.
When you’re on the other side of the fence, the grass will always look greener, because you never see the personal struggles people go through, and the fears they have to deal with.
So often we go around believing that the fears we face are unique to us, when in many cases we all go through the same whirlpools of fear and drudgery.

Ever since I wrote my post on how I’m going to make $1k, I’ve been feeling frustrated, impatient, and scared.
The interesting part of it all is that all of the bad stuff led to a breakthrough, which I’ll reveal in just a sec.

I Believe

I believe in integrity, honesty, and authenticity. There needs to be more of them. Somehow we believe that if we show our weaknesses, we become weak, when in fact we become stronger and more relatable.
We aren’t indestructible robots who keep chugging along until success comes along. We have feelings. Sometimes things go well, sometimes they don’t. That’s just a part of life.
Because I’ve been doing more consulting in the last week, I’ve noticed the same stuff popping up in my clients over and over again.
The bottom line is this: If you’re feeling frustrated, confused, and scared, know that you’re not alone, and know that it’s completely normal.
I’m right there with you. I fall to the dark side from time to time. I want to make more money. I want to progress faster. I have no idea where I’m going, or if what I’m doing will lead to anything.
I tell myself that I’ll never make it, and I ask myself why everything has to be so hard.
Even though I’m a very aware person and I know what’s going on inside, I still get caught up in my thoughts and allow them to wreak havoc on my inner space.
What I want to get across here is that we all go through these periods, and just because you are where you are and I am where I am, it doesn’t make it any different.
I’m human and you’re human. The people who are already making a living doing what they love, they’re human too, and they have their ups and downs as well.

An Interesting Twist

The funny thing is that even though I know that the frustration will pass, I still get caught up in it, and I want to do something to change it.
What I’ve learned though is that the best way to deal with it is to take a time-out.
Just a few days ago, I chatted with someone who made me an offer to work together on something. I won’t mention who or what yet, but I can say that it was exactly what I’d been looking for, and it made everything so much clearer.
You see, I am in the same boat as you. Sometimes I have no clue what I’m supposed to be doing, where I’m going, or who I am. It goes in cycles, and within the past few days, all of this has started to clear up, as I knew it would.
The bad news is that when you’re in the middle of the storm, you feel like you’re never going to get out of it, and once you’re out, basking in the sunshine, it doesn’t feel so bad.

The “Secret”

If you’re completely oblivious of these cycles and how they work, you can end up sabotaging what you’re doing.
The more you go through the fear, the overwhelm, and the confusion, the better you get at dealing with it. My way of dealing with it might not be your way.
In a way, I find it extremely liberating to be completely open about what I’m going through as I build a business around this blog. If you’ve read this far, I know you’re resonating on some level with what I’ve said.
There are too few people talking about what really goes on when you go against the status quo and start following your own path. It’s not all roses and dipping apples in chocolate, but it’s also not as bad as we make it out to be.
We cannot know what the future holds for us. When you really sit down and think about it, you don’t need to know what the future brings. You’ll never know what you’re going to do for the rest of your life.
I know you want life to be clear and to make sense, but that’s usually not how things work on this planet. What I have noticed is that when you start taking action and doing what you can, you’ll gain more and more clarity.

77 Great Quotes That Will Change Your Life

I’m addicted to quotes. They are inspiring, motivating and they have the power to provoke new thoughts. They have the power to break down old beliefs and inject wisdom into your life.
I’ve always gained inspiration from quotes, which is why I’ve decided to gather some of my favorite quotes into a post. Each quote comes with an elaboration from me.
The meanings of the quotes will probably not be the same for you as they are for me, so use whatever I say however you like. I can only share my own experience. After that it is up to you.
Enjoy!

Courage

1. “Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.” – Tom Krause
There are no guarantees in life. Even the false security of having a house, a family and money in the bank will pass. The only constant in life is change. The sooner we can accept that, the smoother life will be.

2. “The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” – Sven Goran Eriksson
We all fear failure. It’s a learned habit. It is said that the only fears we are born with are the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises, the rest is learned. There’s nothing wrong with failure. In fact, if you never fail, you will never grow.
3. “If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.” – John Maxwell
I couldn’t agree more with this quote. The more comfortable I get with being uncomfortable, the faster I grow. When you’re moving forward and making progress, you will feel uncomfortable, and that’s okay.
4. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” – John C. Maxwell
We grow up with the idea that we have to look for others for answers. Instead of seeking approval, look inside of yourself and feel what is right. We are all unique, therefore we are all on our own path. No one can tell you exactly what to do, because their destination is different from yours.
5. “They can’t hurt you unless you let them.” – Unknown
When I read this quote, I think about our imagination and our fears. Almost all of us are suffering without a cause. The fear of fear is worse than fear itself. You’ve probably heard it many times, but that’s because it’s true.
6. “The key to change… is to let go of fear.” – Rosanne Cash
The more you can let go of fear, the faster you will grow. I’m not talking about eliminating fear or being fearless. When I think about letting go of fear, I think about acknowledging it and letting it be there. There’s nothing wrong with being afraid.
7. “If you wait to do everything until you’re sure it’s right, you’ll probably never do much of anything.” – Win Borden
I’ve gotten many e-mails from people asking me for advice. The common thread that runs through them all is that they want to make sure they’re doing it right. My answer is always the same: you have to try, fail and try again. There are no guarantees. There is only the path.
8. “Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” – Raymond Lindquist
What is familiar is comfortable. Even though the familiar might be worse than the unfamiliar, we still tend to hold on to it, because going into the unknown is uncomfortable. Having the courage to go into the unfamiliar can be tough, but not impossible. It requires a shift in perspective. Become curious. Become an explorer of life. This is an adventure.
9. “Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
This is another good take on courage. What we have to remember is that definitions and perspectives are constantly in flux. There are no absolutes. Courage for me isn’t the same as courage for you, which is why, in the end, you have to trust yourself.
10. “There is far more opportunity than there is ability. “ – Thomas A. Edison
Most people are afraid to take action. Sure, they have ideas, but they don’t do anything about it. It’s scary to go down that path, which is why so few do. In the end, you have to determine what kind of life you want to live: one of mediocrity, or one of greatness?

Motivation

11. “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” – James Dean
Dreams are important, but they do not come to fruition if you do not take action. Don’t procrastinate. Start living the life you want to live today. There is always a step you can take. There is always something you can do.
12. “Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” – Unknown
If you never start, you will never get anywhere. If you want to find your passion, it starts with trying. You will fail, you will make mistakes, but that’s a part of the journey.
13. “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” – Brian Littrell
I’ve found that going after my goals rigidly only makes me unhappy. I now make goals, but I am flexible about them. I am open to new possibilities. Having a goal is essential, but use it as a guideline and not as something you have to reach.
14. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
Everything that you see around you will pass. Whatever success you may achieve will pass. Whatever failure you may run into will also pass.Doesn’t that make you wonder if life is more than chasing success and avoiding failure?
15. “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar
Following your passion isn’t effortless. I know many who think it should be, which is another obstacle holding them back from taking action. This is not a ride in the park. It’s a path of rapid growth. It contains both joy and fear.
16. “Never, never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill
Whatever you do—keep going. When I started playing poker professionally at the age of 18, I knew I was going to succeed. I was prepared to do anything. I knew that others were making money playing poker, so I thought “if they can, so can I.”
17. “Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” – Abraham Lincoln
You determine your happiness. There are several studies out there that show that even if you win the lottery, your state of happiness will return to its previous level in about a year. What happens outside of you is of little importance, as long as you have the basic necessities.
18. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Rohn
Motivation ebbs and flows. When I started blogging, the first few months were easy, but then I started bumping into periods of low energy. Habit and a focus on helping people is what kept me going. I constantly reminded myself that this was what I wanted to do.
19. “Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” – Wayne Dyer
You are responsible for how you feel. You can blame external things if you want to, but it will never change how things are. It is only when you accept your own responsibility that you can change.
20. “There’s always a way – if you’re committed.” – Tony Robbins
If you’re passionate enough and if you care enough, you will overcome any obstacles. Excuses will be a thing of the past, but if you’re not determined, you will let the smallest excuse hold you back.

Inspiration

21. “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius
If you’ve been trying to make your passion a reality, please do not quit. If something doesn’t work, all you have to do is change your approach. Look at people who are already doing what you want to do, and learn from them.
22. “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” – Walt Disney
Everything that has been invented has at one time or another been thought of as impossible. Don’t let other people hold you down when it comes to going after your dreams. Trust your heart and follow your highest excitement.
23. “Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” – Benjamin Spock
I know you may doubt yourself when it comes to listening to your heart, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. The sooner you embrace an attitude of curiosity, the sooner you will start trusting yourself. So what if you make mistakes? Who cares?
24. “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
The people that can do the things they think they cannot do are the ones who succeed. Following your passion and living your purpose is not always easy.
25. “Action will remove the doubt that theory cannot solve.” – Petryl Hsieh
You can spend your whole life thinking and theorizing, but it is only through action that you gain clarity. I’ve noticed that theory can only take me so far. When I actually start taking action, things are much different than in theory.
26. “Using no way as a way, using no limitation as limitation.” – Bruce Lee
Sometimes you have to be the pioneer. The only limitations you have are the ones you impose on yourself.
27. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
If you want a better life, all you have to do is get started. It doesn’t matter if you believe yourself to be a slow learner, because if you never start, you never get anywhere. It’s better to start than to live a life of regret.
28. “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” – Confucius
This is an excellent follow up to #27. You can try to learn as much as you want, but if you do not take action, you won’t get any results. You cannot know everything before you start, so don’t even try. Just begin and expect mistakes. Learn from them and keep going.
29. “Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” – Buddha
It can take a while to find your passion, but when you do find it, it’s your duty to give it your all. It’s not enough to find your passion; it takes hard work to make it a reality.
30. “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” – Maria Robinson
Dwelling on past mistakes does you no good. You can change everything today if you want to, or you can keep living the life you’ve always lived. It’s up to you, but remember this: every moment is an opportunity to change your life.

Success

31. “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” – Buddha
Your thought patterns and beliefs determine your life. If you are not happy with where you are, take a look at what beliefs are holding you back from having the life you want.
32. “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” – Aristotle
Find your passion and purpose in life. Love what you do and the end result will reflect it. If you do the work with joy, you will have no trouble perfecting every detail.
33. “God helps those who help themselves.” – Benjamin Franklin
This is an excellent way of saying that once you start taking action, the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place. I’ve experienced this first-hand. It wasn’t until I showed the universe I was serious that I started getting “lucky”.
34. “That some achieve great success is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.” – Abraham Lincoln
You can do what you love. There are people just like you, doing what you want to do. I may have different strengths than you, but in the end that doesn’t matter. If I am more tech-savvy than you doesn’t matter. We all have to find our own path.
35. “A jug fills drop by drop.” – Buddha
You do not need a crystal ball. Knowing what steps to take makes life boring. Take life one day at a time. Enjoy the surprises life throws at you.
36. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
Don’t look at successful people and feel like you are not enough. You are comparing yourself to someone who has worked hard at perfecting his craft. All you can do is start. If you want to get good at something, go do it.
37. “Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.” – Bruce Lee
Keep an open mind when you are following your passion. There will be surprises and obstacles on your path. What impact they have is determined by you. You have the ability to choose if they are positive or negative. Be flexible. Be like bamboo.
38. “A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.” – Bruce Lee
What your goal is doesn’t matter, as long as it is something that inspires you to take action. There are is no reason to be overly serious about what you do. Think back to your childhood years and your playfulness. Emulate it and your life becomes effortless.
39. “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” – Chinese Proverb
In order for you to be successful, you will have to go through trials. You will make mistakes, you will screw up and you will be scared. It’s a part of life, so stop running away from it and start running towards it.
40. “Everyone who got where he is has had to begin where he was.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
It’s easy to look at someone who’s already rocking it when you yourself haven’t even gotten started. It’s easy to forget that the one you admire has been where you are. It’s easy to forget, so remind yourself of the fact that we are all the same, and if that is true, you can do this as well, even if you doubt yourself.
41. “Fall seven times, Stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
The most successful people are the most persistent. When I began my journey with making my passion a reality, I didn’t succeed right away. I spent years and thousands of dollars trying to learn. I didn’t give up, which is why I am here today.
42. “The path to success is to take massive, determined action.” – Tony Robbins
Take action. Take Action. Take action. I can’t say it enough. If you want something, you have to take action. Plan, learn and absorb as much as you want, but without action, you will never get to where you want to be.
43. “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. “ – Thomas A. Edison
This is another good quote illustrating the importance of action. How many ideas you have doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that you take action!

Wisdom

44. “When the solution is simple, God is answering.” – Albert Einstein
The human mind has a funny tendency of trying to make everything complex. It takes effort to keep things simple. The more stuff you can eliminate from your plate, the more you get done. Focus on simplicity.
45. “Know thyself.” – Plato
We are all different. You have to find how you work and what makes you happy. Stop looking at others for answers and find your own. It takes time, but there’s no rush anywhere. Enjoy the process, because that’s what life is about.
46. “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” – Lao Tzu
If you’re unhappy, you can’t expect something or someone outside of yourself to fix it. You are the only one responsible for your life. If you want to change and start living with passion, you are the one that has to act.
47. “Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?” – Confucius
There is so much war going on in the world. We need to start treating each other with respect. We are the same species. We are brothers and sisters living on the same planet. We are in this together. Everything that separates us from each other should be reconsidered.
48. “Only the shallow know themselves.” – Oscar Wilde
There is always more you can learn about yourself. Personal development is a never-ending journey. Once you think you know what you’re all about, life will throw a curve-ball at you and you’ll discover new, subtle facets.
49. “Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.” – William Shakespeare
Take it easy. Once you’ve rushed enough in your life, you will realize that there is nowhere to go. The need to go fast comes from a feeling of lack. This feeling can only be remedied from where it originates—the inside.
50. “When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.” – Abraham Lincoln
This should be the religion of all people on earth. What good is a religion if it separates us? Who cares if your god is better than mine if all it leads to is hatred and war? It’s time to sit down and think about what we’re doing.
51. “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” – Buddha
You may think that being successful or having something will make you happy, but do you really believe that? Once you have strived enough, you may start questioning what society has taught you. We do need the basics, but no more. If you want to be happy and at peace, look inward.
52. “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” – Bruce Lee
Do not overanalyze. Err on the side of taking too much action, rather than thinking too much. Most people are thinkers, because it is easy, but few are doers. It’s hard, frustrating and sometimes painful, but it works.
53. “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” – Thomas Jefferson
You have to beat this point into your head: take action, and do it now! The stars will never align. Circumstances will never be perfect. The sooner you get started, the better off you will be. You will have to make mistakes, because it is the only way.

Truth

54. “Simplicity is the key to brilliance.” – Bruce Lee
The human mind wants to complicate. It takes awareness to keep things simple. It is only when you embrace simplicity that you start to realize how much you are capable of. This is what Everett did, the author of Art of Being Minimalist.
55. “Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” – Lao Tzu
You already have everything you need. Be grateful for the things you already have. It’s easy to get caught up in the drama of life. Focusing on negativity is easy, but focusing on the positive is what makes a difference and spurs you into action.
56. “The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his action.” – Confucius
Instead of telling people what to do, go and do it first and then speak. I have had more than a few people tell me that they were going to do something, and they never did. It doesn’t leave a good impression.
57. “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw
Always maintain the beginner’s mind. Whenever you think you’ve got it, you’re mistaken. You are never too old to play. You are never too old to have fun. It all comes down to your perspective.
58. “We acquire the strength we have overcome.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you face your fears, you grow stronger. Each time you do something you’re afraid of, it becomes easier. This has been true in my life, so I have no doubt that the same will be true for you. When you start out, it’s hard, but it gets easier. Trust me.
59. “Every choice you make has an end result.” – Zig Ziglar
Be aware of the actions you take and the consequences they have. It’s easy to act in haste. It’s easy to do selfish things. They may look good in the short-term, but in the long-term you’ll be digging your own grave. The same goes for going after your passion. It may be hard in the short-term, but it is more than worth it.
60. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
When Michael Jordan was a kid, he was horrible at basketball, but he kept failing, practicing and trying, which is why he became great. If you want to make something happen in your life, you have to start failing, trying and moving forward.

Life

61. “Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” – Unknown
Everything around you and inside you is constantly changing. The people that resist this process are the ones constantly whining and complaining. They are in constant internal agony. Keep going, be curious and remember to breathe.
62. “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu
There is no rush anywhere. The perfection of life lies in the ability to accept the perceived imperfection. This is why I recommend you find your passion, because life is a process that never ends. If you find something you love doing, you will be at peace. If you strive for a big payday, you will be striving even when you hit your goal.
63. “A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu
Have plans, but do not be rigid. Be present and focus on each task. Thinking about an end goal will cause stress, because your mind is focusing on the future, on lack, instead of focusing on what’s in front of you.
64. “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” – Confucius
This is such a simple quote, yet so powerful. If everyone lived by this, the world would be a better place. Treat others with respect and kindness, because that is how you would like to be treated, right?
65. “One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.” – Unknown
One day you will die. Why not make your life worth it? Every fear you have will disappear. They only exist because you have given credence to them. They exist because you allow them to.
66. “Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason” – Jerry Seinfeld
You don’t have to re-invent the wheel if you’re starting something new. It’s perfectly okay to learn from someone who’s already been where you want to be.
67. “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other” – Abraham Lincoln
You determine your success. No tools, strategies or courses can do it for you. If someone has resolution, but bad tools, he will succeed. But it someone has poor resolution and the best tools in the world, I certainly wouldn’t bet on him or her.
68. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Plato
We’re all going through this journey together, and we all have our own problems. Remember to be kind. Remember others, because you are not the only one that has problems. Focus your energy on being kind and helping. You will see a difference in your life.
69. “People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within.” – Romana L. Anderson
There is nowhere to go. There is nowhere you have to be. Happiness comes from within and looking for it outside of yourself will only lead you deeper down the rabbit hole.
70. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammed Ali
You have to be willing to take risks. I’m not talking about going for broke with a slim chance of success. I am talking about jumping into the unknown and going after the things that excite you, even if you are afraid.

Time

71. “Procrastination is the bad habit of putting of until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.” – Napoleon Hill
Take whatever you’re procrastinating on and do it right now. Get into the habit of using your awareness of procrastination as a trigger to take action. When you make it a habit, you are no longer slave to that which we call procrastination.
72. “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” – Albert Einstein
Time is an interesting beast, because it is relative. Put your hand on a stove and time moves slowly. Watch an excellent movie with someone you love and time flies by.
73. “Beware the barrenness of a busy life. “ – Socrates
You can do a lot of busy work. Actually doing the work is when you get results, but it’s hard and we tend to procrastinate a lot. If you’re just going to be busy, you might as well do something else. Do something that matters or nothing at all.
74. “Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste. “ – Benjamin Franklin
Remind yourself to be present with whatever you are doing. Keep your focus on one thing. Avoid multi-tasking. It doesn’t allow you to get into the flow and dip your soul into the eternal nature of all that is.
75.  “Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time.” – T.S. Elliot
There is nothing wrong with wasting time. I tend to force myself to work, so I’ve had to learn that wasting some time and having fun isn’t a deadly sin. It’s essential to a happy life.
76. “Don’t let the past steal your present” – Cherralea Morgen
We all dwell on the past too much. I know I do. Don’t let your past determine your future. Focus on what you want to do, and go do it. Release the past and step into your potential.
77. “Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods.” – Japanese Proverb
Last, but not least, remember to enjoy your life. Remember to be grateful for the little things. Remember to be kind to the people around you and remember to follow your heart

The Secret Element of Success That Nobody Will Ever Tell You

Before I started this blog, I used to think that to be successful online you had to know something that a few people only knew. Needless to say, I wanted to know what that something was, and so I started to buy products that promised to make me rich overnight.
It’s not that I had much hope on becoming rich overnight (I was ignorant but not naive), and I already had a nice salary. The thing is, I wanted to know; why is that some guys are able to create successful websites or blogs and are making thousands of dollars online by working only a few hours per week?
I believe I know the answer now, and it’s not what I thought it was.

The Journey

If you are a long term reader of this blog (thank you!), you will probably remember when I started this website from nothing, how I started my 10,000 euros per month experiment, and when I announced I was ending it in order to focus on this blog exclusively. The good news is that I’m starting that experiment again soon, so I may start to re-post my monthly reports again.
Anyway, let’s look at what happened when I started to focus entirely on the blog:

The graph above represents the number of RSS subscribers of this blog. That number indicates how many people have decided to use a software like Google Reader to keep track of the newest posts, and it’s often used to measure a blog’s popularity. On January 1st I only had 398 subscribers; today I have 2456. Not bad.
Traffic has also grown exponentially in the last two months, and I’ve seen my posts being featured on websites like Lifehacker and Alltop.
I’m not saying this to impress anyone, I’m just to provide some background information and support on what I’m going to write next.

The single most important thing you need to know

So let’s go back to when I was buying all those guides about becoming successful online. What did I learn? To be honest, I didn’t learn much other than using some particular plugins and knowing how to submit my articles to certain websites in order to get some traffic. Sure, websites like Stumbleupon can send you tens of thousands of visitors per day, but that never happens when you submit your own stuff hoping for the best. What I really learned the hard way is that the only thing that matters is having great content.
You heard it right, the only real secret of online success is having great, amazing content. The rest can wait.
I now laugh every time I hear someone says that content is no longer that important.
False.
Content is now more important than ever. Think about it. Why do you spend a lot of time browsing your favorite websites? Because you like their content, right?
But of course, this simple truth is hard to sell, and that’s why you rarely see it being mentioned.

How to create amazing content

Let’s take a look at what great content looks like, and then hopefully you’ll see how you can apply this truth to your real life as well. The following is a screenshot for a website I love:

The screenshot above is taken from a page that received hundred of thousands of visitors just for a few lines of text. Its author, Leo Babauta, is well known for his Zenhabits Blog, which is one of the most popular websites on the internet. Do you know why he is so successful? Because he is extremely passionate about what he does.
The best way to create amazing content online is to be extremely passionate about your topic.
It’s only when you’re passionate about something that you can transmit some of your passion to your readers, thus making them feel special. And that’s the secret.
End of the story.
Really, there’s nothing more than that, and I wouldn’t trust anyone saying the opposite.
Here are some other tips for creating amazing content:

• Believe in what you do. If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, don’t expect other people to do it for you.
• Be willing to try, and share your results. People love to see experiments. Example.
• Be honest. There’s no need to lie when you’re passionate about your topic. Being honest creates trust and reinforces relationships.

This fundamental principle can be applied to every aspect of your life.

10 Motivational Sentences that Will Kill Your Lizard Brain

To use them, you have to speak them out loud, otherwise they wont work.

• I’m lazy because my lizard brain doesn’t want me to succeed.
• I’m browsing the internet right now because it keeps me from doing my work.
• I’m angry because I can avoid accepting my responsibilities.
• I’m disappointed because that prevents me from changing my beliefs.
• My lizard brain is making me nervous.
• I want to start over with this project because what I’ve done might actually work.
• I feel bored because that prevents me from creating stuff.
• I don’t know what to do because this way I can never fail.
• Never try something new, said the lizard brain.
• I’m thinking about the past and the future because my lizard brain doesn’t want me to focus on the present moment.

10 Thirty-Day Challenges That Nobody Wants to Take

These are all challenges that you won’t usually think about, yet some of them can be very powerful. I personally want to try some in the near future.
If you want to give them a shot as well, I’d love to hear about your experience, and I’d offer you a spot here to share it if you don’t have a blog.
Enough talk for now, below are 10 thirty-day challenges that nobody wants to take:

1. No smoking, coffee or alcohol. This is only valid if you currently smoke or drink. I know that you’d never do this if you are a smoker, but come one, it’s only for 30 days, after that you can smoke again, and this would be the perfect opportunity to show everyone that you can quit anytime you want (right?). Not drinking alcohol is easier, but still challenging, especially if you hang out in clubs with friends who like to drink. I personally neither drink nor smoke, even tough I did both for many years, and guess what? I can still hang around with my friends and have fun.
2. No television. If you watch 2 hours of television per day in the evening, that adds up to 60 hours per month in front of a box. A nice challenge would be to avoid television for one month, and perhaps to use that time for reading books.
3. No computer and internet. A bit more drastic than the previous one. If I’d stop using the computer now, I’d lose all my clients in three days. Indeed I rely on the internet for working everyday (like many of you do). Still, it would be nice to try this challenge, or at least to minimize the amount you spend online per day. If you want to go the extra mile, you could also get rid of your cellphone and other electronics.
4. No sex, porn or masturbation. Seriously, I have no idea of what would happen with this. Perhaps we would get a lot of energy and feel better, but I can’t say because I never tried.
5. Raw diet. If you’re already eating a raw diet, you may laugh at this, but for the rest of us adopting a raw diet for thirty days would be really challenging. Make sure to do some research first if you want to try this, as changing your diet is always a challenge for your body.
6. Socialize with 5 new people a day. A good way to fight shyness would be to meet and talk with 5 different people every day, preferably of the opposite sex. It will be hard at the beginning, but you’ll become more confident.
7. Yoga. I’ve never tried yoga, but a friend told me that she’s taking a 30 days challenge of 60-100 minutes of yoga classes every day, and that it’s really challenging.
8. Polyphasic sleep. I don’t know if 30 days would be enough, but polyphasic sleep is another interesting thing to try. There are many kinds of polyphasic schedules too choose from, the most extreme being of taking only 6 20-minutes naps per day (without any other sleep). Steve Pavlina has tried this in the past with success.
9. Becoming an optimist. This can be really fun. Every morning and every night before going to sleep, list 10 reasons why your day has been awesome.
10. Find a way to make extra money every day. You’ll probably not become rich by doing this but.. it’s wort a try. Do something every day that will make you some money, like listing something on Ebay, running errands for someone else or making a website. How much you earn is not important as long as you make something. Here are 43 make money ideas to get you started

7 Motivational Mistakes You Don't Want to Make (And How to Avoid Them)

Motivation is everything. Motivation is what gets you up in the morning, what gives you the force to accomplish your goals and enjoy the results. Yet sometimes you don’t have enough of it, so you procrastinate instead of doing the things that you know you should do.
Below are seven motivational mistakes you don’t want to make, and how to avoid them:

1. Over-thinking. The first motivational mistake is thinking too much about outcomes and about what could go wrong. Questions like “What would happen if I do this?” and “But I can’t do that without x” can easily prevent you from doing the real thing.
   
   Solution: stop worrying about outcomes and realize that questioning outcomes will get you nowhere. Your brain is only making excuses because it likes to defend the status quo, but you can be smarter and beat its own game by getting started now.
2. Not getting started. Sometimes you know that what you should do is right, but inside your head it feels overwhelming to do the whole thing.
   
   Solution: this sensation happens when you transition from a situation of comfort to one of less comfort. For example you may feel the idea of going out for a run overwhelming if you were just taking a nap in your couch. The solution is to avoid thinking at the whole thing, but rather to take the first step and allow the rest to follow. It’s easier to get your shoes on and just get out of the door, so do that and don’t worry about what will happen next. It’s as simple as that, just get started.
3. Forgetting. You have all the intentions of the world to stop your bad addiction, but somehow one day you wake up and forget about it, and you get back to your old habit. Of course you realize that what you’re doing is totally wrong, but you also think that it’s too late to go back.
   
   Solution: first, it’s never too late to correct your behaviors. As soon as you realize that you’re doing something wrong, you’re given the opportunity to correct and learn from the situation. Be grateful and learn from it, and know that you’ll do better next time.
4. Trying too hard. If you try to run for one straight hour despite not having done a workout for months, you’ll either fail or get injured. Same goes for every other activity, if you try to do too much, you’ll feel overwhelmed and it’ll be hard to stick to your commitment.
   
   Solution: start slow. Run for 5 minutes a day instead of 30. Read 5 pages per day instead of 50. There’s no need to rush initially. Go slow and upgrade only when it feels right, and you’ll go a long way.
5. Having too much things to do. Sometimes you want to take drastic changes in your life. You commit to change everything but after a few days you feel tired and without energy. One thing a time and after a week you are back to how you were before making the commitment.
   
   Solution: unfortunately we can’t manage to change many things at once. Instead of trying to do many things at the same time, write down a list of everything you want to do, then take one item from the list and work on it until it’s done.
6. Being discouraged from early failures. Perhaps sometimes you would like to do something, but your brain keeps reminding you that many years ago you failed doing something similar, so you decide that you’re probably not gonna make it this time, so it’s better to avoid the risk of failing again in the first place.
   
   Solution: you’re not your past, and failure is your friend. Take your previous failure as a valuable learning experience, and who cares if you’re not gonna make it this time either? Next time you’ll be a better person with more experience and better chances. Remember that no-one got it right the first time, and the secret of success is to keep trying until you succeed.
7. Changing your mind for the next big thing. How many times have you started to do something, only to discover that there’s something else more exciting that you could do instead?
   
   Solution: this feeling usually happens after the initial phase of excitement, or after the first obstacle. Don’t feel bad about it, you’re close to succeeding, you just have to keep going. Write you’re next big thing on your some day list, and then get back to it once you finished what you’re doing now.

What Do You Want To Do in Your Life?

A reader asked:

All what I want to do in life is to become an entrepreneur because I love to create new and great things, but I don’t have a clue in what I’m going to entrepreneur. I Don’t know if it will be a service or product company, for instance. In this area I’m in complete darkness (I think someone need to discover what he loves to make great things). So what do you think about that? My idea is making a backpacking and travel in Europe for some months to open my mind.

I think this would be a common question, to which I can only give one answer: start creating value right now. The point is that nobody knows for sure what they’re going to do or accomplish in the next months or years. Sure, we may have plans, but before making those plans we didn’t know what we were going to do.
The problem here is spending too much time thinking about what you could do instead of focusing on what you can do right now. I’m going to give some practical advice in a minute, but before that it’s important to understand that all the planning as well as the activities toward achieving your plans can only happen in the present moment, not tomorrow or in the next month.
Shifting your focus from thinking about the future to focusing on the present moment will enable you to accomplish real things instead of wondering about all the possibilities.
Having said that, in this specific case I would start by making a list of all your current interests and picking one that particularly interests you. The best way to become an entrepreneur is by fixing an existing problem that people have by introducing something new and more powerful. But don’t stop there, ideas don’t come as easily as you would want them to come, so start by creating a blog around your interest and socializing with like minded people. Spread your ideas around.
If you put enough efforts you’ll soon start to have countless ideas about what you could do, but at that point you’ll also have a network of people with interests similar than yours that you can ask help from.
The best way to get ideas is by doing, so start doing something right now.

How Much do You Really Need to Be Happy?

Two days ago my friend invited me to do an exercise. He invited me to make a list of how I would ideally live my life on a daily basis, and then calculate how much money I’d need to make it a reality. I already a similar exercise some years ago, but now my priorities are changed so I thought it was actually a very good idea.
I thought about what I really wanted to do for a few minutes, but then I decided to sleep over it. The next day, as I was taking a shower, the answer finally popped out in mind. It turns out that what I want is simple and that I don’t need much money to be happy, indeed my ideal day consists of 1 hour of physical activities, 4 hours of writing and 4 hours of programming. I also want to be location independent, and live in a different country each year.

How to find your passions

Finding your passions is the first step toward liberation. Before figuring out how much you’d need to live your ideal life, let’s talk about how you can figure out what it would look like, which is often the hardest part.
I think that you can figure out what you want in your life in less than 30 minutes, regardless of your current situation. The trick consists of analyzing the activities that provide the more joy and satisfaction to you, and then understand what’s exactly making you happy. A few examples will help clarifying this concept:

• John is a 40 years old guy from New York. Every time he walks near a travel agency he remembers about that time when he was visiting Europe with his family. He can remember every detail about that vacation because he was having fun with his wife and his children. It turns out that John he’s spends most of his time working and what he’s really missing is spending time with his family, not visiting Europe. John could easily fix that and be more happy by working less and spending more time with his family.
• Christine is a 20 years old from Singapore. She loves making art and her dream is to spend all day creating paintings and other creative things, but right now she has to work all day in order to pay for bills.

It’s easy to see what those people would be doing all day if there were no limits, but what would you be doing instead? You can answer that by writing down in third person how your ideal day would look like. When I did it for myself, this is what I wrote:

Oscar is a 22 years old guy form Italy. He loves giving value to people by creating websites and writing about the things that he personally experiments in real life. He also loves programming and martial arts, and he’s living in a different country every year.

Your scenario will probably look very different than mine. Most people want to have a place that they can their home and spend time with their family, while others want to travel a lot and go to parties every night. Note that this is not a lifetime commitment, and you can expect your scenario to change within the next five years as you gain more clarity.
Another way to figure out what you want to do is asking yourself what you would do if you had all the money in the world. Imagine that you could have everything you wanted, what would you do during your day? Perhaps you would relax under a palm most of the time, or maybe you’d like to start a project. Only you can answer that question.

Fulfilling your dreams

Now that you know what makes you happy, it’s time to look at how much money you would need to live your ideal life. In my case my requirements are simple: a place to sleep, food, a computer and air tickets to travel around the world when needed. For me it’s not important to have a big home and expensive clothes, so I can optimize those areas that are not important for me and maximize those that make me happy. In my case 1000 euros per month are more than enough to live my ideal life, and I can also save something for buying tickets.
When you know how much money you need to be happy, it’s time to find a way to get them. If you already have a job that allows you to live your ideal life, then there’s nothing else that you need to do, otherwise you have to look for other options. One of those options is to do a part time job.
If you don’t need a fancy car and you can share your flat with someone else, you can easily cover your costs with a part time job. But let’s say that your requirements are high, for example that you want to spend most of your time reviewing expensive video cameras. In that case you’d need plenty of money right? In this situation what you can do is finding a way to get paid for doing the activities that you love. For example you could create a website where you would review video cameras and get a commission for each sale. You can also reach a point where manufactures will send you a product for review so you don’t have to buy them at all.
If you don’t know how to monetize your dreams, look at what other people are doing and imitate them.

Living your dreams

In the real world you’ll not be able to live your ideal life from day 1, most probably because you’ll still have a job that pays for your bills. That’s perfectly fine, you can still start to live your ideal life in your remaining free time. For example you can start by working on your dream for one hour per day and increase from there.
Leaving your day job is surely something exciting, but make sure you have enough to support yourself before making the switch.

The Smart Way to Implement Habits

During our lifetimes, we develop hundreds of habits. If you think about it, stuff like talking, walking, tying your shoes and riding your bicycle are all habits. They are all automatic patterns of thinking and acting which you implemented at a certain point, and now you do them naturally.
Beyond the age of 7, it seems that implementing habits gets harder. The context is no longer of such a nature that habits develop almost on their own. You actually have to follow the right steps to effectively develop new habits.
I think that most people struggle with implementing habits and creating change in their lives because they lack a certain understanding of how human learning takes places, how habits develop, so they try to implement them in deficient ways and they get nowhere fast.
What I’m gonna share with you are my ideas for effective habit implementation, in congruence with the principles of human learning.

1. Make it meaningful. Why do you want to develop a certain habit? I find that very often, we want to implement habits which are not particularly meaningful to us. We may want to learn to wake up at a certain hour or do a certain task, but it’s only because other people have told us we should. With that kind of a reason, it’s hard to get excited about implementing a new habit. So, make sure you choose habits which are first of all, meaningful for you.
2. Focus on one at a time. As a general rule, the more things you try to learn in parallel, the harder it is. If you only give a small piece of attention to each habit, the mental associations which constitute it will not grow fast enough, and no actual habit will develop. This is why I recommend that any time, you only work on one habit. Depending on the actual complexity of the habit, you may actually work on 2 or 3, but it’s best if you take them one habit at a time. Anything else is rather an exception, which reinforces the general rule.
3. Get to the threshold. A certain way of thinking or acting becomes natural, automatic, after you practice it consciously a number of times, which can be quite large for more complex habits. You usually have to reach a certain threshold, and then it gets much easier. The common problem is that a lot of people give up working on a habit before the threshold is reached. Don’t do this! Realize that you need to get to this threshold to make it worth your effort, and focus on a habit long enough to get there. Only then, move on to the next habit.
4. Schedule it. Another thing which is common is that what doesn’t get scheduled doesn’t get done. You can decide to start practicing something, but then you get caught up in your daily responsibilities and never actually get to it. The trick is to put that practice in your schedule. This means that you reserve time, energy for it, and a reminder to do it at the scheduled time. I recommend that you put the things you practice where all the important things go: in your written agenda. Give it the same status a big business meeting might have and you will see it happening.
5. Make it fun. Even if you decide to implement a habit which is meaningful for you, it may still be a struggle in terms of motivation if the actual activity is not fun. The process is at least as important as the destination. This is why it can make all the difference in the world if you find ways to make implementing a habit fun. Explore options, put your creativity to work, and you will find them.

I had a problem at one point with implementing a jogging habit, because although it was meaningful to me, I found all the actual running kind of boring. Then I decided to make one change to this: I started listening to my favorite audio-books while running. It made all the difference it the world. Running actually became fun, and I would also get my ‘reading’ done at the same time as a bonus.
Implementing patterns is not hard, if you do it the smart way. Apply the right principles and you make it a process which is both fun, and productive. When you do implement habits the smart way, in time you create changes and you see results which can be mind blowing.

Thirty-Day Happiness Challenge

I’ve spent the last few days putting together a step by step guide for finding happiness, and I think I’ve come up with something good. Below is a list of 30 little things and action steps that you can do for finding happiness. Each of them wont take much time to complete but all of them combined together can be very powerful.
The following list is intended to be read and applied one entry a day for thirty days. I recommend you to bookmark this page if you decide to join the challenge. Also feel free to share it with your friends if you find it valuable.

30 days to happiness – the challenge

Read and apply one element from this list every day for thirty days.

1. Start a journal. In order to make our journey memorable, we need a way to keep track of it. Today you assignment is to start a journal’ to keep track of the next 30 days. You can use whatever you want from a spiral notebook to text files on your computer. You should write down on it your impressions after completing each assignment or wherever you experience something special that you can relate with this challenge. Writing a journal is a good way to express and liberate your emotions, and you can extend its usage to other areas of your life as well.
2. Make a donation. Making a donation is a great way to build happiness, both for you and for those receiving the gift. You don’t have to necessarily spend any money to make a donation, indeed you could deliberately decide to give away something that you own and you don’t use to someone who really needs it. Today your assignment is to donate something. You can either publish an ad on craiglist or you can make an anonymous donation to some association if you have the opportunity.
3. Take a bicycle trip with your family or friends, or alone. Perhaps it’s been a while since the last time you joined your family or friends for a bicycle trip, but doing that would be really a nice alternative to the usual stuff that you do everyday, so today you’re going to invite someone to join you for a bicycle trip, or you can do it alone if no-one can join you. If the weather isn’t nice you can always organize something different at home, just be creative.
4. Call someone that you haven’t called in a while. I’m sure that you would be happy if an old friend or relative would call you to hear how you’re doing. The truth is that most of us will wait as long as possible to call old friends, perhaps because we feel like we would disturb them if we’d call. Not today. Today your task is to call someone that you haven’t talked with in a while. It can be a friend or a family member. I’m sure that both of you will be happy to hear each other.
5. Change the way you greet your day. Waking up in the morning is always hard. Somehow we always want to stay in bed more time when the alarm clock rings, but that’s not always possible. Here’s something different that you can try tomorrow morning. As soon as your alarm clock rings, jump out of your bed, open the window and take a big breath of fresh air. As an alternative you can go outside for a 3 minutes walk as soon as you get out of bed. This is a great way to kickstart you day!
6. Fix your room. This is something that you can do in 15 minutes or less. Today your assignment is to order in your living room, or the room where you usually work. The simple act of ordering your desk will clear your ideas and you’ll feel better after it. If you have a lot of disorder in your room you can repeat this assignment in the following days until you feel satisfied.
7. Make a list of ten dreams you’d like to come true in your life. If you had no limits or infinite resources, what would you do? Today your assignment is to make a list of ten things that you’d love to do if you’d have the opportunity. For example you might want to visit a foreign country or try a new experience. For some people it may be hard to write down ten dreams that they have, while others may want to write more. If you’re in the latter category, feel free to write as many dreams as you like, but write at least ten of them.
8. Go shopping. Some people (especially girls), love to do shopping. Here’s a secret: you can go shopping without having to buy stuff. Visiting shops and trying clothes can be done for free. And if you feel that you would spend all your money, leave your credit card at home, that way it’ll be impossible to spend all your hard earned money, but you can still shop around, try new clothes, or check out the latest high tech gadgets.
9. Organize a lunch together with your family. Eating together with your family or your friends is a good way to build happiness, especially if you do something a bit out of the box. A good idea might be to organize a picnic with your family or friends if the weather is nice, or perhaps a lunch at home could also work. The important thing is to get together with the people you love and share some happy moments.
10. Give a rose to someone you care. Donating a rose (or another genuine present) is a good way to make another person’s day, especially if it’s an unexpected gift. Your assignment for today is to buy a rose or an equivalent gift and to donate it to someone you care. You can also give it to a random person in the street if you feel adventurous.
11. Make a list of five things that you appreciate in your current life. A few days ago I told you to make a list of ten dreams you’s like to come true. Today you’re going to do something a bit different. Make a list of five things that you already have and that you are grateful for. It could be your kids, your home or something you bought that you really wanted. Sometimes it’s useful to remember about what you really have instead of wishing for something that you don’t have.
12. Smile to three random persons in the street. This might sound a bit strange for some people, but let’s try something more challenging today. Today your assignment is to go for a walk and smile to three random persons and see their reactions. If for some reason someone will ask you why you were smiling, just told them that you felt particularly happy.
13. Do something that you don’t usually do, like a new activity. Doing something that you don’t usually do (aka exiting your comfort zone) is a great way to grow, as long as it’s something exciting. Today your assignment is to go out and do something that you never did before. It can be anything, as long as it’s at least a bit challenging.
14. Read a good book. Reading can be a very pleasant activity. Most people think that they don’t have enough time for reading, but today you’re going to prove the opposite. Even if you only have five minutes, read a few pages of a book that you like. If you do this every day you can easily finish a book in just a few weeks, and if the books are good, even five minutes of reading every day will make you feel better.
15. Kiss someone. When you kiss someone in the mouth your body releases a substance that makes you feel happy. I know it might be hard to complete this assignment without a willing partner, but if you can, make some love today.
16. Imagine how your ideal life would look like, and write it down. What would you do if you would have no problem of money or location, and you could do whatever you want every day? Today your assignment is to try to answer that question. This assignment is different from the one you did for your dreams list as this time you should concentrate on what you would do on an average day if you wouldn’t have to worry about anything. Perhaps you’d like to travel or relax under a palm in some exotic country. Only you know the answer to that question. Write it down.
17. Listen to some nice music. Music can make or break your happiness. I don’t know why, but some people like to listen to music that makes them sad, perhaps you did that too once or twice too. Not today. Today your assignment is to find some music that energizes you and makes you feel better. Listen, sing, dance, enjoy some good music!
18. Do some exercise. Physical exercise is an essential activity for your body and for your brain. Contrary to what some people might think, you can increase your intelligence and happiness by exercising, because exercise helps your brain to function more properly. Today your assignment is to find some physical activity that you can do. It could be dancing or 10 minutes of jogging, you decide. By the way, you should really repeat this assignment every day, it will be very worth the time.
19. Surprise yourself and the people around you. I’m sure that you have some habits that you know are bad but that you think are impossible to break. Your assignment for today is to pick one of them and do the opposite. For example if you are a smoker, avoid smoking for today. Or if you usually sleep till late, wake up early instead. Surprise yourself and the people around you.
20. Analyze your words and how you interact with others. The words that you use every day have a strong power on your emotions and on the emotions of the people around you. For example if you use words that invoke fear, doubt, pain, you may end up experiencing those sensations. Your task for today is to analyze the words that you normally use and eventually to try to use more empowering words instead. You’ll be amazed at how powerful the words that you use every day can be.
21. It’s your choice how you react to external events. When something happens, it’s your choice to decide how to react. Today you’re going to choose to be happy, regardless of what will happen. It’s as simple as that.
22. Focus in the now. We spend far too much time thinking about the future or about past moments of our life. Here’s the thing: past and future are only an illusion, what really matters can only happen in the now. Every planning as well as the actions you may take to achieve your plans can only happen in the now. Stop worrying about what will happen in the next hour or tomorrow, focus in the now, it’s there for you to enjoy. Here, right now. You know what to do.
23. See the half-filled glass. Every event that we experience in our life is presented as an opportunity, but it’s up to us to decide which kind of opportunity we want (positive or negative). Your task for today is to think about some recent events that happened in your life and to try to figure out the good part of them. Perhaps you learned an important lesson or you were able to make a change that you wanted from a long time. Make the habit to see the positive side in all situations, despite of how circumstances present themselves at first.
24. Start a saving account. Today you’re going to do something for your future self (but you’ll still feel a sense of gratitude immediately). Your assignment is to open a saving account (possibly a free one) and to regularly put some money on it. You can start with just 50 dollars per month which would be enough at the end of the year for a small vacation, or you can save them for tough times.
25. Watch a good funny movie. I don’t usually watch tv but I occasionally watch some movies. I don’t know why but for me movies can be very powerful, and I especially like the ones that make me happy (or where I can laugh a lot). Today your assignment is to find a good funny movie and to watch it. Do this on the next weekend if you don’t have enough time, but don’t forget it.
26. Spend some time with your kids, or with your pets if you don’t have kids. Today your assignment is very simple, but I guess simplicity is part of happiness after all, so I’m perfectly fine with it. If you have kids, today you should spend more time with them than usual. If you don’t have kids, perhaps you may have some pets. If you don’t have neither kids nor pets, spend some quality time with your partner.
27. Laugh. Laughing is at the core of happiness. It’s very difficult to be sad and laugh at the same time. It’s also very easy to kill a sad moment with a good laugh, and that’s what you’re going to do today. Today your assignment is to laugh as much as you can (but without being ridiculous). Perhaps you could start by saying something funny or by watching some pranks on youtube.
28. Say yes. If you’ve watch the “Yes Man” movie, then you already know what you’re assignment for today is, otherwise, keep reading. Today your assignment is to say yes, to everything. Well, not really to everything, but to all those things that wouldn’t harm you, but somehow you always say no. You never know what kind of opportunities you’re missing until you say yes to them.
29. Do one step that will move you closer to one of your dreams. Today you’re going to take the list of dreams that you wrote a few weeks ago and start working on it. Take one dream and define an action that you can do right now that would move you closer to your dream. Perhaps it’s searching for some information online or making a call. Do it, do it now, those are your dreams and you should follow them.
30. Just be happy. Today is the last day and there’s no real assignment to complete. You’ve done a lot of things in these past thirty days and I hope you’ve had a good time. From now on I’d like you to always keep in mind that happiness is just a state of mind that you can enter whenever you want, and hopefully you’ve learnt that by taking this challenge. Congratulations!

Too Many Things That You Want to Do?

If you’re anything like me, there are a lot of things that you’d like to do, but somehow you never have enough time to actually do them. Perhaps you want to learn something new, or you want to start a new projects.
I used to have the same problem, and even though I’ve not yet figured out how to do everything I want, I’m pretty happy with the system I’m currently using.
I’ll use my current situation as an example here, but the concept should apply to everyone in a similar situation.

Step 1: What do you want to do?

Let’s start with a list of the things that I currently want to do. Here’s an example from my personal list:

• study internet marketing
• write blog posts like this one
• study mac/iphone programming
• study math
• study general programming (algorithms, interpreters, compilers, etc)
• workout

Note that I included only the things that I really want to do right now in my life. There are other things that I’d like to do like learning new languages or practicing some new sport, but these are the ones that I genuinely want to do right now in my life.
I suggest making a list like that with the things that you’d like to do on a daily basis.

Step 2: How much of it do you want to do?

Now it’s time to figure out how much time you’d ideally want to spend on each activity on your list. You may want to group similar activities if you want. For example in my case I can group together writing blog posts with internet marketing, and studying general programming with studying math.
The reason I’m grouping together similar activities is that it’s perfectly fine for me to switch between them. For example I can study math one day and programming the next day.
Make a second list with your grouped activities and the time you’d ideally want to spend on them on a daily basis. Here’s my new list:

• internet marketing/blogging – 2 hours
• mac/iphone programming – 4 hours
• math/programming study – 1 hour
• workout – 1 hour

Now that you know what to do, and how much of it, it’s time to figure out when you’re going to do all these things.

Step 3: Finding the time

If you sum up the hours I wrote aside each activity, you can easily see that I would need 8 hours each day to accomplish them. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m having an hard time finding all that time each day.
The truth is that the number of hours that I wrote aside each activity is the ideal time that I’d like to spend, but I can do less hours if needed. Each day when I wake up I carefully plan the activities that I want to do based on my time available. You can do this task the evening before if you wake up early. For example let’s say that you want to exercise thirty minutes and work on your side project for 2 hours. You can plan to exercise from 6:10am to 6:40am, take a shower and then work on your side project from 7am to 9am. You can do something similar in the evening if you are a night owl.
There is nothing new here that you didn’t already know. Yet I found that it’s easy to get sidetracked when you don’t have a clear list of things that you have to do. When you know that from 10pm to midnight it’s your time to work on your side project, you’re not going to procrastinate on other activities like browsing news online.
One of the most common causes of procrastination is that you don’t know exactly what to do. On the other hand, trying to plan everything in your day can easily become overwhelming, that’s why I’m not a big gtd fan anymore. My idea is to only plan for the big things in your day, the rest will follow up by itself.
My last advice is to keep a daily log of the activities you do, and to review it weekly. Here’s an example from my own log:

There will be days when I can accomplish more, and days when I get less done. The important thing to remember is to know exactly what you want to do, and then to plan each day in advance. Once you have a plan, follow it, don’t spend time checking email or reading news. If one day you fail to follow your plan, don’t feel bad, instead learn from your experience and do better the next day.
Note that some activities may have more impact in your life than others, so try to do more of them if you’re in doubt.

How To Become Very Good At Something

I’ve spent the last week on a high-intensity training program with my martial arts school. We stayed in a hotel in the mountains and we trained like crazy for more than 10 hours per day. I remember that at one point during a tough day our instructor told us the following:

“It’s when you think that you’ve reached your natural limit that we begin our work”

That quote represents the essence of grow and knowledge. It’s when you’ve reached you current limits that you can take the extra step and learn something new, that’s the only chance you’re given to push your limits.
After that day I’ve spent some time thinking about the effects of living a life where you keep pushing your limits. I had just spent six days training at a level that I never did before, and like me there were many other people, all of us astonished about what we had accomplished. In one week. The reality is that our limits are not fixed and our current abilities does not represent our full potential, far from it.
Now I had one question in mind: how can I achieve my full potential and become very good at something?
It was clear from the beginning that the previous question is somehow misleading. Our full potential is not fixed and thus can’t be really reached. There will always be something that you can do to grow a little bit more in certain areas. Anyway my intention is to figure out how to get that process started in the best possible way.
From my martial arts experience I know that in order to upgrade your skills, you need to do two things. The first one is practicing what you already know, and the second one is trying new techniques. You usually spend the most time practicing what you already know, and only add one or two techniques at the end of the day. In this scenario practicing what you already know represents your current limits, and trying new techniques represents pushing your limits. The reason that you practice a lot is that you need to be able to reach your limits very fast if you want to grow.
You have to be very good at what you already know before trying to learn something new, but once you feel confidence it’s time to try something new, and start the process again.
This, in my opinion, represents the essence of learning. If you want to become very good at something you need to master the basics and constantly try new things. The only way to master the basics is through practice, but make sure that you really understand what’s going on, rote memorization wont do the trick.
This learning approach is certainly not the faster around, but in my opinion is the most effective whenever you want to be considered an expert at something. Don’t worry if it takes you one year to go through a complex book or subject, just make sure that after one year you really understand the stuff you learned.