To wake up early
And then enjoy several hours of peak productivity and fulfillment
“Typically, we have a window of about three hours where we’re really, really focused.”


It only really feels terrible for five minutes, if you immediately get of bed and do something.

Otherwise, you compound the pain by either staying in bed or by falling back asleep and feeling regret. 

Start Your Day With Your #1 Priority
(Not what’s urgent)

It’s easy to start the day with something that seems good, but ultimately isn’t all that important.

Jim Collins said, “Good is the enemy of great.”

There are countless good things you could do.

But what is the FIRST thing you should do?

What’s the ideal way to START your day?

That depends on your #1 priority in life. 
If it’s your faith, you should probably connect with God and increase your faith. 
If it’s your business, you should probably get moving on your business.

For several years, the first thing I did in the morning was go to the gym. 
And although health and fitness are essential to me, they are not my #1 priority.

If you don’t make time for your #1 priority, then is it really a priority?

In the book, 
7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey explains the importance of putting “first things, first.” To illustrate the concept, Covey puts several rocks in a bucket. 
When you put the little rocks in first, you can’t fit all of the big rocks. 
But when you start with the big rocks, the little rocks can easy fill the empty spaces.


How you start something determines your trajectory.

Getting up early isn’t enough. 
You need to put first things first. 
When you put your top priorities first, then you ensure they make it into the bucket of your day. 
After your main priorities have been completed, the rest will fill the gaps.

This is essential to quality decision making. 
The best decision makers do things that simultaneously make everything else in their life easy.

You make ONE decision that makes several other decisions either irrelevant or easier. 
When you fill your time only with THE BEST, then everything else takes care of itself. 
The distractions and lower priorities are either given their allotted time or they disappear from your life. 
Because you already filled your life with stuff of much higher value.

Face Your Resistance
 & Do What You’re Avoiding (That one thing that really matters, and will matter in 10 years, that you don’t want to do)
“I know that each of us has much to do. 
Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the tasks we face. 
But if we keep our priorities in order, we can accomplish all that we should.”
Joseph Wirthlin

If you’ve been resisting doing something for a while, everything else in your life will suffer.

For example, I’m very close to finishing my PhD. 
But there are some things related to completing my PhD that I’ve been avoiding/procrastinating.

I can very easily fill my time with a lot of other really cool, important, and interesting things.

But always in the back of my mind, I know I’m neglecting something that’s crucial to my personal goals. 
I’m putting off something that really matters to me. 
Thus, I’m living in a state of incongruence.

Interestingly, WHEN I FINALLY GET MYSELF to work on my dissertation, even for just a few hours, I immediately feel a SURGE OF ENERGY toward the other important stuff in my life.

I begin to feel hope that I can succeed.

I begin to see more beauty in life and in the people around me.

I begin to feel motivated to succeed in my health, my relationships, and my other goals.

Embrace Multiple Learning Styles
(It all happens when you face the resistance and put first things first)
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.”
Henry Ford

According to 50 years of research on learning theory, 
we all have a dominant learning style. 
We all also have several backup learning styles we rely on when we’re in a difficult situation. 
However, there are also several other learning styles that each of us neglect and avoid.

Interestingly, 
most people have a “growth” mindset about the learning style they are comfortable with.
For example, if you like math and learn in analytical ways, you probably believe you can get better at math. 
You probably approach challenges and failures as opportunities to grow. 
You probably seek out mentoring, education, and help. 
You’re probably curious and seeking to expand your knowledge and horizon about that thing.

However, most people have a “fixed” mindset about the learning styles they aren’t comfortable with. 
For example, if you don’t like writing, you probably believe you can’t get better at it. 
There are some things YOU simply can’t learn. 
They aren’t in your DNA or something, right?

Much of the work related to my dissertation is way outside of my dominant learning style (such as heavy statistics). 
Hence, I avoid doing it. 
I much prefer work that’s in alignment with my dominant and developed learning styles (like writing and teaching).

However, when you engage in an activity that you resist, you active areas of your brain and emotions that you’ve suppressed.

You make tangible progress toward goals that are currently outside your comfort zone.

You open yourself to a new world of learning and experience.

You make new connections in your brain.

You gain confidence in yourself by watching yourself do something difficult.

You gain more confidence by doing something you believe you should do, and intrinsically want to do, but that is difficult.

I see many people, for example, who want to be artists — whether that be a writer, musician, etc.

But many of these people never succeed because the business and marketing side of being an artist are outside of their dominant learning style. 
And they refuse to learn those essential components.

They have a fixed-mindset about business and marketing, and therefore end up settling for a life they don’t really want.

Ironically, if they’d just get good at business and embrace some of their difficult emotions and underdeveloped learning styles, THEIR ART WOULD IMPROVE.

It would improve because they’d demonstrate to themselves how truly committed they are to their dreams. 
They’re committed enough to do stuff that sucks. 
They’re committed to not just being a dreamer, but a professional.

How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything
This Is Fact (When you’re out of alignment, your whole life becomes a mess)
“You cannot simultaneously want to eat a chocolate cake every day in front of the TV and want to be slim. 
You cannot want to be single and carefree and want to be in a loving, exclusive relationship.”
Malti Bhojwani

When one area of your life is out of alignment, everything else suffers.

You may compensate in one area of life for a while. 
For example, you may obsess about your work or your health, while neglecting your higher priorities.

But this is extremely unsustainable. 
Eventually and always, it will come back to you.

The things you excel at will eventually become your greatest weaknesses, unless you keep them in proper balance.

Know & Then Strategically Define Your WHY
(You get to decide your reasons)“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
Friedrich Nietzsche

The purpose of clarifying your WHY is two-fold.

Clarity leads to motivation

Operating from your deepest conviction creates authentic and optimal performance

So how do you get to your why?

It’s really not that hard.

I recently learned a brilliant strategy for getting to your why from Joe Stumpf, who is an author, CrossFit champion, and renowned transformational coach.

Here’s how it works:

Think about what it is you want, and ask yourself this simple question:
What about ___________ is important to me?

Just answer the first thing that comes to mind.

Don’t over complicate it.

If your goal is to work from home, then ask yourself the question:
What about “working from home” is important to me?

Your answer might be something like, “to have a more flexible schedule.”

You then put THAT into the previous question.
What about “having a more flexible schedule” is important to me?

Feeling less stressed and controlled.
What about “feeling less stressed and controlled” is important to me?

I work better, and am happier, when I can manage myself.
What about “working better, being happy, and managing myself” is important to me?

It’s good to go at least 7-questions deep into this exercise.

If you’re answering really honest with yourself, this exercise will expose two things:

Key events that have shaped you (often from childhood)

Key beliefs/values you hold about the world

If you can get to the core of WHY you’re doing what you’re doing, you can then realize just how important that thing is to you.

Far too often, we only think of our base-level motivations for what we’re doing, which is less personally meaningful. 
Thus, our performance doesn’t come from our core.

For example, I’m starting this business to have more flexibility in my schedule.

Sure, that’s important. 
But it’s not THAT INSPIRING. 
Why do you want more flexibility?

Go deeper. A lot deeper.

And once you get the crux, then remind yourself, daily, OF THAT REASON, for starting a business.

Here’s what’s great though. 
You get to decide HOW YOU FRAME your “Why.” You get to decide your reasons for what you do.

Those reasons COME FROM YOU. 
They don’t need to be assigned from an outside source. 
To quote the famed Diana Ross, “You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream, you’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.”

In the epic TED talk, philosopher Ruth Chang explains how to make really really hard choices. 
You get down to the WHY, and then ultimately, you define that WHY for yourself.

Yes, you have a story. 
But you get to shape that story. 
You get to shape your reasons. 
And when you do, then not only can you act from your highest values, but you get to proactively decide and define what those values are.



Be a GIVER, Not A Matcher Or A Taker
(“Life gives to the givers and takes from the takers .”— Joe Polish)
“Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it’s valuable in a marathon.”

Adam Grant
Many people are TAKERS, especially those who desperately want success.

They engage in relationships solely for what they can get out of those relationships. 
Put bluntly, these people are TRANSACTIONAL.

Everything in their life is a transaction, or an exchange.

Takers operate out of SCARCITY.

They don’t TRULY give. 
Their giving only goes to a certain point. 
Moreover, they are only grateful when they get what they want. 
They undervalue what others give.

If the relationship isn’t giving them what they want, there is no appreciation. 
The relationship ends.

Only Engage In Transformational Relationships
(Because all transactional ones will end soon anyways)
“I take pleasure in my transformations. 
I look quiet and consistent, but few know how many women there are in me.”
Anaïs Nin

When two givers come together, transformation can occur — where the new WHOLE becomes infinitely more than the sum of its parts.

When a giver attempts to work with a taker, that relationship will only last until the taker has what they want. 
Or, until the giver realizes what is truly happening.


According to research from Wharton professor, Adam Grant, givers are both the least and most successful types of people. 
Some people give to a fault. 
They give everything they’ve got and, most importantly, they give to the WRONG TYPES OF PEOPLE.

When you give to takers, the pie gets smaller and eventually becomes exhausted.

When you give to givers, the pie continually gets bigger and bigger.

Thus, being a giver isn’t enough. 
You need to give to the right people if you want your success and relationships to last. 
Who you surround yourself with, and who you work with, really matters.

I’ve engaged in many business relationships over the past few years — some with givers and some with takers.

Takers are very hard to spot in the beginning, because they are very manipulative and cunning.

Strategic Coach founder, Dan Sullivan, says he can spot a taker within 10 minutes of being with them. 
Takers are motivated by greed, not growth. 
You have to be really intuitive to spot the subtle cues.

I’ve decided that, to the extent I can, I’m no longer going to engage in long-term relationships with takers. 
I’m done with transactional relationships. 
I prefer relationships that lead to growth and transformation.

In order for these types of relationships to exist, you must be willing to face brutal truths. 
Transformational relationships are messy. 


If you trust someone, you’ll be willing to engage in ideological conflict with that person.
That conflict is NOT about the person, but rather, about moving past breakthrough and toward clarity.

Conflict is rough.

Most people quit relationships when conflict arises.

You’ll know someone is a giver when they genuinely help you without asking for anything in return. 
And they are truly, genuinely, happy for the success they help you have.

Those are the types of people you want to work with.

Givers also stay with you when you’re at a low point. 
They stick with you through conflicts and challenges.

Don’t Overvalue What You Contribute To Your Relationships
While Undervaluing What Others Contribute (This is what basically everyone does)
“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. 
But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune.”
Carl G. Jung

Think about your relationships.

In most of those relationships, do you OVERVALUE or UNDERVALUE what you contribute?

Moreover, do you OVERVALUE or UNDERVALUE what others in the relationship contribute?

Usually, people overvalue what they contribute and undervalue what others contribute.

If you’re a giver, you value and appreciate what others contribute. 
You’re genuinely grateful. 
You don’t take others for granted.

You don’t KEEP SCORE in your relationships.

Work With People Who Are Craftsman, Not Salesman
(But who also know how to market)
“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.”
Aristotle
“Be a yardstick of quality. 
Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
Steve Jobs

Similar to the points above, the quality of life you have (and the quality of the work you do) is based on who you spend your life with.

I’ve seen through multiple collaborations that most people have LOW STANDARDS for themselves and their work.

They procrastinate, then scramble to get things done last minute resulting in a lack of quality in the final product.

They’re takers — meaning they try to do AS LITTLE as possible rather than trying to do AS MUCH as possible.

How a person does anything is how they do everything. 
If they lack details in their work, they lack important details in the design of the other areas of their lives.

More recently, I’ve decided to work with people who are true craftsman and craftswomen. 
Yes, the process may be a little bit slower. 
But the final outcome is 10X or 100X better.

Things are less rushed.

Quality of life is better.

Quality of planning is more thorough.

Expectations of results are much higher.

Learning is much deeper.

There is less stress and feeling like an imposter.

When I say quality of life, I mean that in the literal sense. 
Working with people who expect a lot of themselves in their work, but also in the foods they eat, how they spend their time, who they spend their time with, the quality of products they buy, etc.

Far more attention to detail.

Far more passion for living.

For more GIVING to life and experiencing moments.

There are lots of people who are strictly SALESMAN, out there. 
These people are generally takers. 
They’re really good at talking, but their life is a mess.

You want to work with people who are craftsman and professionals. 
Yet, these artists are also scientists and marketers. 
Their first priority is in doing brilliant work, but they aren’t starving artists. 
They study the business-side as well, and also the strategy and marketing.

You can’t be a one-trick pony.

You need to work with people who care about the success and reach of your work. 
And who will help you raise the expectations you have for yourself, for your work, and for the service you can do in the world.

Elevate Your Sense For What You Deserve In Your Life
(Because what you receive will elevate how you contribute)
“Giving as you get acknowledges the Universe as truly abundant. 
Giving taps into the spiritual dimension that multiplies us, our thinking, and our results. 
The Enlightened Millionaire knows this: There is an ocean of abundance and one can tap into it with a teaspoon, a bucket, or a tractor trailer. 
The ocean doesn’t care.”

The One Minute Millionaire
As you seek to give more — to genuinely be a giver and not a taker in life — your sense of what YOU CAN HAVE expands and multiplies.

You realize that your life is a reflection of what you believe you deserve.

Your sense of what you deserve grows as you have a greater desire to help other people. 
You end up NEEDING to use your time better, because you have important work to do. 
Because you no longer settle for less.

Your standards for yourself, the world, and the people around you increase.

Your expectations become far more positive and clear. 
And what you expect is generally what you get. 
Psychologists have developed a full-fledged theory around this idea and it’s one of the dominant theories in motivation psychology: 

It’s called Expectancy Theory.

It’s based on three things:

How bad you want something

How much you believe you can actually have/do what you want

Your belief that the means by which you seek your goal will actually bring about the desired result

You get in life what you expect you will. 
To quote Dan Sullivan, “Our eyes only see and our ears only hear what our brain is looking for.”

You elevate what you expect when you become increasingly capable and confident.

When you develop skills and abilities coupled with faith and resolve, your future becomes predictable.

It becomes an increasingly upward cycle of expectancy.

You KNOW you can do more

You’ve watched yourself grow and transform

And you have higher and higher standards for yourself.

You watch as your world becomes better and better.

Elevate Your Sense For What You Can Contribute
(Because if you’re willing to work and learn, you can do masterful things)
“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”
Michelangelo
“Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. 
For this reason mastery demands all of a person.”
Albert Einstein
“There is a fluency and an ease with which true mastery and expertise always expresses itself, whether it be in writing, whether it be in a mathematical proof, whether it be in a dance that you see on stage, really in every domain.”
Angela Duckworth
“I wish that I had known back then that a mastery of process would lead to a product. 
Then I probably wouldn’t have found it so frightening to write.”
Elizabeth George

People don’t learn in the abstract. 
They learn THROUGH DOING.

Paralysis by analysis will stop you from developing a sense of true mastery.

Mastery comes from embracing difficult emotions. 
You’ll face difficult emotions because, in order to gain true mastery, you must understand all sides of something.

You can’t just have a single-dimensional understanding. 
You must have a four or five dimensional understanding.

You need to be able to integrate what you know with tons of new information, and to be able to quickly connect your understanding with things from seemingly disconnected domains.

This requires embracing all of the learning styles listed above.

It requires breaking past emotional blocks.

It requires expanding your sense for what you can do and achieve and contribute.

As you grow in your abilities, your sense of what you can contribute will expand. 
Naturally, you’ll desire to help other people. 
You’ll have a broadened view of the world.

You’ll see things more clearly.

You’ll see things differently than the masses.

Consequently, you’ll be able to solve problems that most people can’t solve, because they are blind to them. 
As Dr. 
Wayne Dyer has said, “When you change the way you see things, the things you see change.”


The more education a person gets, the more empathetic they can become.
There is no power in ignorance.

Decide What Kind Of Life You Want
Then Figure Out How To Get It (When the ‘why’ is clear, you’ll figure out ‘how’)
“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”
Oscar Wilde

Very few people live within their means.

Most people, particularly in Western Culture, have bought heavily into consumerism. 
They live paycheck-to-paycheck.

For most people, the notion of “living within your means” is the best advice that could be given.

And indeed, living within your means should be the foundation of a healthy financial life.

But that’s where most financial advice stops.

Rather than basing your lifestyle on what you’re currently making, a far more powerful and creation-based approach is to proactively decide what you want, and then figure out how to get it.

When you’re a giver, it’s not about HAVING more solely for the sake of it. 
Although having more is certainly not a sin.

The problem is becoming absorbed in stuff, trying to keep up, etc.

In an interview at the annual 

Genius Network Event in 2013, Tim Ferriss was asked, “With all of your various roles, do you ever get stressed out? Do you ever feel like you’ve taken on too much?”

Ferriss responded:


“Of course I get stressed out. 
If anyone says they don’t get stressed out they’re lying. 
But one thing that mitigates that is taking time each morning to declare and focus on the fact that ‘I have enough.’ I have enough. I don’t need to worry about responding to every email each day. 
If they get mad that’s their problem.”


Ferriss was later asked during the same interview:


“After having read 

The 4-Hour Workweek, I got the impression that Tim Ferriss doesn’t care about money. 
You talked about how you travel the world without spending any money. 
Talk about the balance and ability to let go of caring about making money.”


Ferriss responded:


“It’s totally okay to have lots of nice things. 
If it is addiction to wealth, like in Fight Club, “The things you own end up owning you,” and it becomes a surrogate for things like long-term health and happiness — connection — then it becomes a disease state. 
But if you can have nice things, and not fear having them taken away, then it’s a good thing. 
Because money is a really valuable tool.”


Money is a tool. 
The more you make, the more good you can do.

Rather than fitting your dreams into your current lifestyle, fit your lifestyle around your dreams.

Decide what you want. 
Create a bold vision for your life. 
Decide how you want to contribute, how you want to live. 
THEN, figure out the means of making that happen.

When your WHY is clear and powerful, you’ll figure out the means to make it happen. 
That’s how faith as a principle of power works.

Serve & Give As Much As You Can
Not to boast or put others down, but to have a clear conscious

Give 10X The Value Of What You Say You Will
(Blow people’s minds)
“Price is what you pay. 
Value is what you get.”
Warren Buffett
“The moment you make a mistake in pricing, you’re eating into your reputation or your profits.”
Katharine Paine

How do you get to passive income?

How do you create a sustainable and incredible business?

You GIVE WAY MORE than people pay for. 
You focus on value, not price.

When you focus on value, you can actually charge very large sums of money, because you know people will get at least 10X the value of what they paid for.

When you’re a giver, you MUST give more value than people pay. 
You do it because you find joy in doing your very best work. 
You do it because you value the fact that people came to you.

It’s really not about price.

People care about value.

Take this quote by musician, Fergie, for example:

“For me, it’s not about price. 
It’s about necessity, quality, and usefulness. 
Like, I have my Wet N Wild 666 lip liner. 
It’s 99 cents and always has been. 
I started using it when I was in high school, and it’s great.”


If you can blow people’s mind’s for less than $50, it won’t be hard to get them to pay you more. 
You have to earn people’s trust.

You have to genuinely create stuff that HELPS them.

What if you didn’t make a penny until people got the results you promised them?

How would that change your work?

How would that change the quality you put in?

That should be your benchmark. 
And then you should help them EVEN more.

Give Away Most Of Your Work For Free
“With the price of life these days, you’ve got to get everything for free you can.”
Carl Rogers

We live in what some have called the 

“Thank You” Economy.
Here’s how the THANK YOU economy works:

People are getting more used to having everything at their fingertips

People are getting used to having their needs met quickly, and cheap

Interestingly, people are also lowering their standards for the quality of services they are getting (and information they are consuming), because so much stuff is now available for free

If you want to build an enormous clientele, you also need to give away LOTS for free. 
But your free stuff should be so valuable that it makes people want to come back for more. 
And even after people have become paying customers, you should give them lots for free.

You build trust and community through SERVING PEOPLE.

Transformational relationships begin with giving, not a transaction. 
Do transformational relationships involve transactions? Absolutely! Usually far bigger ones than transactional relationships.

But those transactions are done for an entirely different purpose.

They’re done as a win-win. 
Not as a win-lose.

These transactions usually occur after one or both parties have been abundant benefactors. 
Why else would someone invest?

Make More Stuff
(But only really good stuff)

Ship often. 
Ship lousy stuff, but ship. 
Ship constantly.


Skip meetings. 
Often. 
Skip them with impunity. 
Ship.


Trick the lizard if you must, but declare war on it regardless. 
Understand that the only thing between you and the success you seek in a chaotic world is a lizard that figures out that safe is risky and risky is safe. 
The paradox of our time is that the instincts that kept us safe in the day of the saber tooth tiger and General Motors are precisely the instincts that will turn us into road kill in a faster than fast internet-fueled era.


The resistance is waiting. 
Fight it. 
Ship.




Seth Godin


Your behavior is what alters your identity.

Most people raised in a Western Culture have this idea exactly backwards. 
We’ve obsessed ourselves so much with the mind that it’s become everything.

We think the mind is the cause of everything. 
It’s not.

Mountains of research in Social Psychology portray that self-perception is the product of choices and environments.

This is VERY good news.

It means you can change your identity by simply changing your behavior and environment.

If you want more creativity, you simply need to do more creative work. 
You battle the resistance and get to work. 
Then, creativity becomes non-stop.

If you want to be a morning person, start getting up early. 
Before you know it, you’ll identify as a morning person (both to yourself and other people).

Make more stuff and your creativity will increase.

Give more love and your ability to love and receive love will increase.

Be more successful and you’ll become more successful (lol!).

Become The Best In The World At What You Do
(Know your niche, know your audience, and serve that audience better than anyone else is)

What is it you actually do?

More importantly, who are the people you help?

And even more important than that, what is the PROBLEM you’re trying to solve for THOSE PEOPLE?

Don’t define your audience or ideal customer by their demographics. 
Instead, define your audience by the problems they have.

What are they challenged with?

Why does this matter?

How can you help?

How can you help better than anyone else in the world?

How can you help them so much that you become a hero to them?

How can you give so much to these people that you completely change their lives for the better?

In order for you to do this, you not only need to know your audience, you need to know your niche.

You need to develop the skills, philosophies, and services that will solve their problems.

The people you serve may not even know they have the problem. 
But you do, and you’re gonna to create a new and better future for them. 
Because you’re a both a craftsman and a giver. 
A true professional.

Invest Heavily In Yourself
(The more you invest, the more committed you will be)

Throughout my doctoral research as an organizational psychologist, the singular concept I’ve focused my studies on is what I call, 
“The Point of No Return.” This is the moment it becomes easier to move toward your goals than to avoid them. 
Actually, it’s the instant that pursuing your highest ambitions becomes your only option.
How does this work?

Primarily, it happens in the form of an intense investment, which forces you to move forward out of compulsion.

Once invested to the point you must go forward, your identity and complete orientation toward your objective changes.

Because you must go forward, you’re no longer confused about what you need to do. 
You’re no longer uncertain if you’re going to act. 
You have already acted, and now you need to make good on that action. 
And there’s several psychological reasons why you need to make good on that action:

To not look like an idiot (although this isn’t very powerful)

To justify your investment

To be consistent with the behaviors you’ve performed (hint: your identity follows your behavior, not necessarily the other way around despite “common wisdom”)

Because you truly want to achieve a particular goal, and you’ve now created external conditions that will eventuate in a self-fulfilling prophecy

Here’s my favorite narrative from my Master’s Thesis, where I interviewed several entrepreneurs and wannabe entrepreneurs. 
The main difference? Entrepreneurs have had some form of “Point of No Return” experience, whereas wannabe entrepreneurs haven’t created such experiences.

One of the people I interviewed was a 17-year-old kid who wanted to sell shoes. 
He and his “partner” — one of his high school friends — invested $10,000 into a shipment of shoes. 
Here’s how he describes his “Point of No Return”:

Yeah, once we had all of our money in the same inventory it was all or nothing. 
That really scared me, just knowing that it was like do or die. 
I had to sell the shoes. 
You couldn’t turn back, you couldn’t just get rid of them and get cash back,you had to go forward.


My follow-up question was, “Did anything change after this moment?”

Here’s what he said:

After that, once I realized that we were truly going and everything, I think it really just opened me up to what I was able to do. 
At that point, I was like okay, I actually started a company, I’ve invested in it and now I need to run this thing. 
That’s when I think I really saw that I was running the company. 
It really changed my leadership role, I think, with my partners.


Once you’ve passed your point of no return, you’ve fully bought into your own vision. 
You’re committed. 
Your role, and thus identity, change. 
You’ve removed alternatives that were nothing more than distractions anyways. 
You’ve forced your own hand and now must move in the direction you want to go. 
You’re all in.

What about you…

Are you invested?

Your level of success can almost directly be measured to how personally invested you are.

Become A Speaker & Teach Others What You’ve Learned
(Speaking is the most lucrative and powerful way to communicate)
“You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of your heart.”
John Ford
“Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.”
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
“The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.”
Lilly Walters

No matter which business you are in, you’re success will 10X if you learn how to speak clearly, powerfully, and simply.

Seriously.

Why are ELON MUSK’s companies so successful?

Are they really the most innovative?

Maybe.

But Elon also understands the importance of getting the message out.

He understands the power of publicity.

He understands the power of story.

And he regularly gets in front of the world to share the message.

If you can teach clearly and speak powerfully, your whole career will change. 


As Simon Sinek said:
“There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.


Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. 
By WHY I mean your purpose, cause or belief — WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?


People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.


We are drawn to leaders and organizations that are good at communicating what they believe. 
Their ability to make us feel like we belong, to make us feel special, safe and not alone is part of what gives them the ability to inspire us.”


Learn In Public
If you want to learn something fast, learn in public.

Learn through raw experience.

Learn through failure.

But put yourself in a position where you’re getting actual coaching. 
Surround yourself with a support system of people who love HELPING YOU and INVESTING in you.

You do this by both being a giver, and also, by being a good receiver.

When people help and teach you, be an incredible student.

When you take what people teach and get incredible results, people want to help you more. 
Your results become a reflection of THEM.

It takes courage to learn in public.

It takes courage to practice in public.

Most people won’t do it.

But if you do, your courage will be rewarded 10X. 
Because you’ll both learn 10X faster, and you’ll also garner huge respect.

Take A Few Minutes Every Night To Mentally Prepare Yourself
For The Next Day
(You need to have made the firm DECISION that you’ll get up when the alarm goes off)
“Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.”
Thomas Edison

The success of your morning begins the night before.

All you have to do is spend a few minutes making FIRM decisions about what you’ll do when you first wake up. 
You don’t need a huge to-do list. 
You just need to know the FIRST thing you’re going to do.

Right before bed, you set the stage for all that will happen EVEN WHILE YOU SLEEP.

Just a few minutes of thoughtful and affirmative meditation will put your subconscious on a path toward achieving your goals.

When you wake up the next morning, you’ll be primed for success. 
The only thing you need to do is immediately get out of bed.

Don’t renegotiate with your pillow. 
You’re in no state to make a decision.

You already made that decision.

So just get up, get moving, and have an incredible morning. 
Then have an incredible day. 
Then have an incredible year. 
And then make an amazing life.

Successful mornings don’t happen by chance. 
They happen by choice. 
Neither does a successful life.


Activate Extreme Self-Confidence
and Destroy Chronic Anxiety and Fear
When I was growing up, I had virtually no self-confidence.
A chronic stutter had convinced me to keep my mouth shut; better not speak at all than speak and get laughed at.
Heavy pornography usage had eroded my ability to connect with people; I would frequently make huge conversational gaffs when I’d try to hold a conversation. 
“Look out, huge butt coming through!” I cackled stupidly as a girl I liked walked past me to her seat during a football game.
Do you ever just want to go back in time and…repeatedly smack your face with your shoe?
Most people don’t have high self-confidence. 
A life lived for others and no real effort to improve has left them wildly insecure, full of self-doubt and confusion.
The solution is confidence and self-belief. 
But these aren’t innate gifts, as most people might think. 
Motivational speaker David Schwartz once wrote:
“All confidence is acquired, developed. 
No one is born with confidence. 
Those people you know who radiate confidence, who have conquered worry, have acquired their confidence, every bit of it.”
If you want to activate extreme self-confidence and finally eliminate chronic worry and anxiety, you need to build it yourself.
Here’s how.
Trade Your Mediocre Behaviors For Those of Successful People
“The key to becoming world-class in your endeavors is to build your performance around world-class routines.” -Darren Hardy
Most people constantly practice mediocre, substandard routines and behaviors.
There is a distinct difference between how successful and unsuccessful people operate. 
They think, speak, and carry themselves very differently.
Successful people with high self-confidence weren’t just born that way — they became that way. 
NYT Best-Selling author Grant Cardone once said, “Success is not something that happens to you, it’s something that happens because of you and the actions you take.”
Success and self-confidence must be grown, nurtured, and trained. 
Anyone from any background, regardless of upbringing/social class/ability can cultivate this skill.
It requires deliberate and intentional training, though. 
Like any skill, it’s grown over time. 
Those who put in the work, get the results.
To produce extraordinary results, you don’t need an unlimited budget; you just need a better tool kit.” -Tim Ferriss
If you want to have the type of confidence, focus, and charisma that enables you to achieve your ideal lifestyle, you need to model your behavior on others who’ve already succeeded.
Want 100% financial independence? Find a mentor who’s already done it.
Want to own your business? There are dozens of incredible people who teach how to do it online, for free.
Want a strong, healthy body? I think you see where I’m going with this.
Trade in your outdated and unhelpful actions with the actions a successful person would do.
There are people, right now, living the life you want. 
Read their stuff. 
Buy their courses. 
Follow their instructions.
If you want a different life, you need to do things differently.
“One of the greatest turning points in my life occurred when I stopped casually waiting for success and started to approach it as a duty, obligation, and responsibility.” -Grant Cardone

Act While You Feel Fear
“Act while you feel fear rather than waiting until you feel unafraid.” -David Richo, How to Be An Adult
The world’s top salespeople still dread picking up their phone sometimes.
The world’s most accomplished athletes still get nerves before big games. 
Bill Russell, one of the greatest players in NBA history (winner of 11 championships in 13 years) often vomited before big games due to nerves and anxiety.
When asked about how he felt when he released a movie, legendary film director Martin Scorcese made this remark:
“If you don’t get physically ill seeing your first rough cut, something is wrong.”
The world’s top performers act while they are afraid.
Don’t wait until the fear is gone. 
Act while you feel fear.
I remember being in love with this cute girl in middle school. 
I barely spoke a word to her in class. 
I was terrified of rejection, of stuttering over my words if I revealed my feelings.
On the last day of school, I was determined to tell her. 
I can still remember how profoundly terrified I was as I walked up to her group of friends (why are girls always surrounded by an army of friends!) and I nervously asked if I could speak with her alone.
I told her I liked her, and asked if she’d be my girlfriend.
She said yes. 
I think we awkwardly hugged, and that was it.
The ending isn’t important (we didn’t speak to each other all vacation, and then she broke up with me through her friends when school started, OK?).
But if I had waited until I didn’t feel afraid? I would have never talked to her. 
I would have regretted it for years.
Author Mark Manson once joked, “How do you get rid of ‘runner’s block?’ You go for a f*cking run.”
If you’re scared of something, the easiest way to gain confidence is, well…just do it.
There are some phenomenal writers and authors out there that we’ve never heard of — they’re too scared to publish. 
As writer Jon Westenberg once wrote: “You just have to outrun everyone who doesn’t have the guts to publish their work.”
Act while you feel fear. 
Even if you get unceremoniously dumped, you’ll feel better and better.
Seek Problems, Don’t Avoid Them
“One of the major differences between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people look for problems to resolve, whereas the latter make every attempt to avoid them.” -Grant Cardone
What happens when you avoid problems?
You develop a bad reputation for dumping your work onto somebody else. 
Your personal integrity is chipped away. 
Fear and anxiety begin brewing; “Will this come back to haunt me later?” you wonder. 
Your peace of mind is lost.
But what happens when you decide to seek problems?
You become someone with the sterling reputation of a “problem-solver.” You attract respect and admiration. 
“The world gives to the givers and takes from the takers,” Adam Grant wrote in his book, Give and Take. 
You become someone people trust. 
Help naturally flows to problem-solvers — even if you don’t succeed!
The reason most people struggle with self-confidence is because they’ve proven to themselves over and over that they “can’t do it.” They’ve tried eating healthier, exercising, being more productive, drinking less, but nothing seems to work.
If you were a business, would a customer trust you’d follow through on your word?
The answer is no for more people. 
To remedy this, you need to start building trust in yourself again. 
Your word must be your bond. 
If you say you’ll do something, that means something.
So seek problems out. 
Give yourself some reps. 
Failure doesn’t matter; Seth Godin once said, “If I fail more times than you, I win.”
What matters is the practice. 
This builds up your self-confidence and self-trust.

Most People Aren’t Self-Confident — So Don’t Do What Most People Do!
“When they zig, you should zag, and you’ll win every time.” -Ramit Sethi, NYT Best-Selling author and entrepreneur
Most people aren’t full of confidence or self-belief.
Quite the opposite, in fact. 
Most people are insanely insecure. 
They are heavily preoccupied in what others think of them. 
They act to please others, and their primary motivations are “keeping up” and “looking cool.”
Whenever I fall into the rhythms that are common or “popular,” I start to feel that fear and anxiety again. 
Things like:
I need to keep up an image on social mediaI need to make sure I have a cool-enough answer at my high school reunion for, “So what have you been up to?”I need a better haircut so people will admire me fondlyIt’s all a game. 
None of it matters. 
It only leaves you feeling more insecure.
So if most people are insecure, scared, anxious, and fragile…
Don’t do what other people do!
“If you keep living like the way you are now, you will continue to produce the same life you already have,” wrote prolific motivational speaker Jim Rohn. 
If you want a different life, you need to do things differently.
If you want to eliminate your anxiety and fear, then don’t look for answers from what author Hal Elrod calls the “Mediocre Majority.” They’re just as lost as you are, even if they’re great at pretending they aren’t.
When most people zig one way, you should zag the other way.
Choose your role models carefully. 
Those with the loudest voices rarely offer the wisest insights. 
In my years in 12-step programs for recovery, getting a “sponsor” (a guide for the difficult path ahead) is crucial. 
The best advice given to me about choosing a sponsor was to just find someone who has what you want.
Do you want the same insecure, boisterous, superficial life most people have? Or do you want the real thing, full of quiet self-confidence and an inner pride?
Then find someone who has what you want, and ignore the rest.
What Doesn’t Add to Your Healing Subtracts From It
“If your lifestyle does not add to your healing, it will subtract from it.” -Benjamin Foley
Is your lifestyle full of positive, supportive, healing influences?
Or is it full of garbage that drags you down and prevents you from growing?
Most people have several negative influences in their life that are dragging them down. 
“All around you is an environment that is trying to pull you down to Second-Class Street,” author David Schwartz once said.
These influences — environment, people, media, behaviors — prevent you from evolving into better versions of yourself. 
It’s your responsibility to cut them from your life.
If it’s not helping you, it’s likely hurting you.
“You cannot hang around negative people and expect a positive result.” -Darren Hardy
Strangely, most people try to fill their life with all sorts of “things” to remove the fear. 
But for the most part, more things means more anxiety. 
It’s more upkeep, more debt, and more things draining your attention.
As my friend Niklas Goeke once wrote, “minimalism will not make you happier.” But less stuff is almost always better.
I gave away most of my clothes. 
I don’t buy “trinkets” or “doo-dads,” things that have no real value. 
Prolific blogger James Altucher claims he only owns “15 things,” ensuring his mind is focuses and unencumbered.
“I wonder what it is that the more we have, the more we become prisoners at the thought of losing it, rather than setting us free.” -Nirmalya Kumar

Your Best
We need to do our best, but doing our best is more than just saying that we're doing our best.
It's not about merely trying harder to apply the knowledge we already have, it's also about obtaining new knowledge.
Doing your best includes doing your best to keep educating yourself. 
It's not only good for you, it's also good for the people you impact.

Nagging Voices
The thing that's nagging you to be done isn't the thing itself, it's you.
But is it actually you, or is it someone else's voice replaying in your mind?
Just because the voice is there doesn't mean it's right. 
Find some quiet, alone time to make the assessment.

I Am
I am everything that is good and everything that is bad about humanity.
I'm hateful and I'm caring.
I'm selfish and I'm self-giving.
I'm rude and I'm polite.
I'm greedy and I'm generous.
I'm spiteful and I'm forgiving.
I'm shallow and I'm deep.
I'm impulsive and I'm prudent.
I'm spoiled and I'm grateful.

Why People Do Things You Don't Understand
There are two reasons why people do things you don't understand, including the way they treat you:
-They don't know any better.
-Because of the way you've been treating them.
Or a combination of both.
And there's a third: sometimes it's us that doesn't know any better. 
Maybe they know something we don't.

Risk-Taking
Being risk averse is the only way to be successful over the long-run. 
If you're a big risk-taker you'll have some big wins, but your big losses will wipe them out.
But you shouldn't be so risk averse that it paralyzes you. 
The idea is to take appropriate measures of risk after examining the facts, not to delude yourself into believing that a life of zero risk-taking exists.

We're Lucky
We're lucky to be living in the world the way it is today instead of the way it was three-hundred years ago. 
Simpler times weren't necessarily happier times.
Today, we have the option of choosing more simplicity if we want it. 
But you couldn't choose vaccines before they existed. 
You couldn't choose air-conditioning before it existed. 
You couldn't choose motorized transportation before it existed. 
The list goes on.
An advanced civilization with many problems is better than a primitive one with many problems.

Try To Disconfirm It
The strength of the belief isn't what makes it true. 
It's either true or it isn't, regardless of how strongly you feel about it. 
We need to think in terms of what's most likely to be true, instead of what we want to be true. 
Radical honesty and continuous learning is how you find out what's true and what isn't.
Continuous learning doesn't mean constantly looking for evidence that seems to confirm what you already believe. 
It's better to look for what disconfirms what you already think is true. 
It's actually a beautiful thing, because you realize how small your bubble actually is.

Counting The Cost
How do you know when you should keep going and when you should stop? The answer is that you need to be completely honest with yourself about all the reasons you've been doing it. 
Including the ones you've been hiding from yourself:
-About whether you actually know what you're doing or just making assumptions.
-About what your chances of succeeding actually are.
-About what the cost will be. 
Including the cost of failure. 
Not just what you put into it, but also the opportunity costs, i.e., what you could have been doing instead.
Another thing we get hung up on is "sunk costs". 
We're uncomfortable with the thought of changing course after we've already invested a lot of time or money. 
This even shows up in major world events. 
The Iraq War, for example. 
Some people wanted the U.S. 
to keep fighting in Iraq so that all the lives lost and all the money spent wouldn't be in vain. 
This was in spite of the fact that it had become clear that the war was a mistake and that many more lives and dollars would be lost if the war continued.
There are times to keep pushing forward — to keep investing more time and resources. 
And there are times to stop and change course. 
Don't make your decision based on what was already spent. 
It's a trap.

Wasted Time
If you knew you had only six months left to live you would become super focused. 
You'd quickly realize what's most important to you. 
And things that used to bother you wouldn't bother you as much.
Imagine if you knew you had only 24-hours left to live. 
You wouldn't even have time to be angry or negative. 
You'd likely become more prayerful, and more focused on positives.
Since we don't know when we'll die we act as though we're going to live forever. 
We waste time, as though it's not our most precious resource. 
And a lot of that waste involves making ourselves unhappy.

Don't Be So Sure
The power of imagination and the power of inner dialogue are so powerful that we're capable of convincing ourselves of almost anything.
Don't be so sure of yourself until you've attempted to refute your own arguments.

Planting Seeds
Act as though you're planting seeds for something that's going to mature 20-years from now. 
In other words, don't try to be an overnight success.
And if you quit what you're doing now so you can do something else, don't be so sure you won't want to quit that too.

Discipline
Discipline doesn't have to be a bad word. 
Discipline is another word for focus. 
An undisciplined person is an unfocused person (which is all of us at one time or another).
Be disciplined because it's important, not so you can think of yourself as obedient or heroic. 
Do it because it's a better life.
Remove distractions. 
Remove the unimportant.

Holding You Back
Rehearsing old stories about who you used to be and what people thought about you isn't helpful.
Neither is checking email multiple times per day, checking stats over and over again, watching numbers go up and down on a ticker tape, checking the latest celebrity news, watching politically divisive news shows, or going down YouTube rabbit holes.
None of these things are likely to help you move forward to a better life.

Habits
Repetitive thoughts and actions build pathways in the mind, and those grooves get greased through further repetition.
That's how bad habits and good habits are created. 
The best way to deal with that is to create an environment that makes good habits easier and bad habits harder.
Start by eliminating distractions and bad influences.

Look Closer
The usual seems boring. 
But the usual isn't just circumstantial, it's mental. 
In other words, some things happening around us are repetitive, but we also have the habit of looking at things in the same old way. 
Things aren't as they seem at first glance, nor are they limited to our tunnel vision. 
Look more closely. 
Pay attention.
Watching a spider make a web is boring if you treat it as a given. 
If you choose not to contemplate how amazing it is. 
If you choose not to see the intricacies of what is actually happening. 
The fact that the spider even exists is a miracle, let alone that it knows how to make something with such precision and symmetry and for a specific purpose.

A Beginners Guide To Living Longer and Healthier
I recently became aware of two doctors in the field of human longevity (the study of why we age and how to extend healthy lifespan). 
The first is Dr. 
David Sinclair, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School. 
The second is Dr. 
Valter Longo, a biologist at USC.
Here's a summary of what I learned. 
First, from Sinclair:
Scientists have been able to extend the lifespan and even reverse aging in mice through calorie restriction (fasting) and through giving them certain molecules.
Fasting has been shown to extend the lifespan of mice, because of something called sirtuin genes. 
All organisms on the planet have them, including humans. 
Sirtuins protect against deterioration and disease. 
When we're hungry, sirtuins, "send out the troops to defend us," Sinclair says. 
"You need a period in the day when you're hungry. 
This puts your body in a defensive mode."
Sirtuins need a molecule called NAD. 
Levels of NAD go down with age. For humans, by the time we're 50 we have approximately half the levels of NAD we had when we were 20.
Increasing the level of NAD in mice has been shown to extend their lifespan, protect them from disease, and even reverse aging. 
Researchers increased the NAD levels in mice with a molecule called NMN (a precursor to NAD).
The results of human trials with NMN aren't finished yet, but Sinclair has been taking it for years. 
[A less expensive alternative to NMN is another molecule called Nicotinamide Riboside]. 
He also takes a Resveratrol supplement. 
Resveratrol is a molecule that has been shown to make fat mice as healthy as thin mice. 
Sinclair says it acts as an accelerator for NMN. 
Resveratrol is like the accelerator pedal for Sirtuins and NMN is the fuel.
NMN mimics what diet and exercise do (fasting and exercise boost NAD levels), but putting it all together is even better: fasting, healthy food, exercise, NMN, and Resveratrol. 
When mice were given NMN and also exercised, they lived longer than they could with either of those alone (same thing with a Resveratrol and fasting combo).
Sinclair takes 1 gram of NMN and 1 gram of Resveratrol every morning. 
He mixes the Resveratrol in yogurt, because our bodies aren't able to absorb the powder unless taken with fat or protein. 
Resveratrol is found naturally in the skin of grapes and blueberries, but in low amounts. 
There's a higher concentration in red wine, but still not a lot.
Sinclair regards the supplements as safe for himself and hasn't experienced any negative side effects and says he has more energy since taking NMN (though he doesn't tell other people to take it). 
He says his 80-year old father takes NMN and Resveratrol and lives an active lifestyle. 
Sinclair himself is 50, but looks 40. 
(He said his family doesn't have good genetics for health or longevity.)
Other things Sinclair does for himself, include: exercise, skips meals, avoids sugars and carbs (doesn't eat desserts anymore), eats lots of green leafy vegetables, minimal protein, takes Metformin, takes vitamins D and K2, and puts his body under temperature stress (hot and cold).
Metformin is a drug that diabetic patients take. 
Though Sinclair doesn't have diabetes, he says Metformin is likely to extend lifespan and prevent cancer and heart disease even in non-diabetic patients (decreases athletic performance though). 
And temperature stress refers to alternating between sauna and cold bath. 
He says it makes yeast in the lab live 30% longer. 
"What you're doing when you do that is activate longevity pathways. 
The trick is to activate your body's defenses against aging."
Sinclair used to follow an Okinawan diet, because the island of Okinawa has a high number of people who live to more than 100-years old (10-times more than most other places). 
It could be that Okinawans have good genes for longevity, but it might also be because of their lifestyle. 
They work most of their lives and stay physically active, they fast, they eat a lot of green leafy vegetables and fish, and they stop eating when they're 70% full.
Damage to the "epigenome' is a major cause of aging. 
The epigenome is what reads our genes. 
The reader loses the ability to read the genes the way it did when we were young. 
Exposure to radiation accelerates that process. 
For that reason, Sinclair tries not to have too many x-rays or get too much sun exposure. 
Flying in jets also exposes us to more radiation and the body scanners at airports are believed to as well.
Sinclair is also wary of getting too much iron, especially for the elderly, because too much iron can damage our cells.
Note: Another leading researcher in this field, Aubrey de Grey, has said that the types of things mentioned above have the potential to extend human lifespan, but not by much — no more than 3 to 5 years. 
He says that the larger the organism, the less life can be extended through those methods. 
Since humans are much larger than mice, we won't get the same degree of benefit. 
He also says that fasting has been shown to decrease illness in humans.
Sinclair says Dr. 
Valter Longo is the main expert on fasting. 
Here's what I learned from Longo:
Don't fast any more than 12 hours at a time, otherwise you'll be at higher risk for getting gallstones, gut leakage, and lose muscle.
If you're going to fast longer than 12 hours, do a "fasting mimicking diet." Which means restricting calories to 800 to 1100 per day for a 4 to 5 day period (1100 on day 1, and 800 on days 2-5). 
This regime has been shown to radically improve health.
As a general rule, the less healthy you are the more often you'd need to do it. 
For relatively healthy people, 2-4 times per year is enough.
Calories for the fasting mimicking diet consist of vegetables, nuts, olive oil, vegetable soups, some vitamins, fish oil supplement, and lots of water. 
Basically, it cuts out all animal proteins, saturated and trans fats, sugar, carbs (except for vegetables), coffee, and alcohol. 
And no exercise.
Fasting and calorie restriction cause the body to get rid of damaged cells and burn unneeded body fat, especially "visceral fat" (fat that wraps around your abdominal organs deep inside your body), which is the worst kind (because of higher risk for diabetes).
A normal daily diet should be consumed in a 12-hour period (fast the other 12 hours), consisting of 3 meals, plus 1 snack (of no more than 100 calories), and eating should stop 3 to 4 hours before bedtime. 
An overweight person should probably eat 2 meals per day. 
For unknown reasons, skipping breakfast is associated with a greater risk for developing heart disease.
Number of calories per day depends on bodyweight, age, and gender. 
For example, a 190lbs, middle-aged man (me) needs around 2500 calories per day. 
For women, typically around 1800-2000.
Calories should consist of 60% complex carbs (mostly vegetables, but some whole-wheat pasta and bread is okay), 30% fat (mostly from fish, olive oil, and nuts), and 10% protein (mostly from fish, nuts, and legumes).
High saturated and trans fat diets put you at higher risk of disease and early death. 
Same is true for high-fat "ketogenic" diets, though they can produce good results in the short-term (not good for long-run). 
Same thing for vegan and vegetarian diets (you need more protein when you're old, because of frailty).
High protein diets shorten lifespan and increase risk of disease. 
Protein consumption should be 1/3 (in grams) of your bodyweight (in pounds). 
For example, if you weigh 190 lbs, consume no more than 63 grams of protein per day. 
Elderly people need more protein, because the risk of frailty outweighs risk from protein consumption. 
Sinclair touched on this as well, saying that a high protein diet can help with physical performance, but you likely won't live as long or be as healthy in the long-run. 
He also said that there's a molecule called TMAO found in animal sources (especially red meat) which is linked to heart disease.
The long and the short of it is that the types of practices mentioned above can help us stay healthier while we're alive, if not help us live a bit longer too.
P.S. 
I recently consumed 300mg of Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) per day for 30 days (no noticeable effects). 
I stopped for a couple of reasons:
It's expensive. 
$50 per month just for that small amount, which might be too little to do any good (very small dose compared to what the mice were given). 
Spending more for a larger dose isn't worth it unless I know beforehand that it's going to be beneficial (human studies are still ongoing).
It has to be kept cool at all times, otherwise it might actually be bad for you. 
I have no way of knowing if it's being stored properly before I buy it, especially since I can only get it through the mail and the warm months are approaching.

Hatred
Hatred seems to be nothing more than a miscalculated, poorly thought through survival tactic. 
It's often an expression of fear. Not that it's nothing. 
It's extremely destructive. 
But people who commit acts of hatred aren't inherently rotten to the core, and there are likely no spiritual entities pulling the strings.
There are two things that can triumph over hatred: Education and love. 
Especially an education in love. 
People are born with certain genetic predispositions, including a greater likelihood of becoming a sociopath or psychopath, but nurture and education have a major influence on how people turn out. 
The most "evil" people in society are typically victims of child abuse or neglect.

When Being Right Matters Most
You don't need to be right 100% of the time (it's not possible anyway). 
Even being right 51% of the time isn't the right way to think about it. 
Imagine you're playing Poker and you win 51% of the time. 
But when you win, you win an average of $20, and when you lose, you lose an average of $40. 
Being right 51% of the time wouldn't be good enough in that situation.
It's the relative consequences of your decisions that matter. 
Being right about the most consequential things is more important than how frequently you're right.

Created Equal
A culture of respect, based on the idea that all people are created in the image of God is better than a culture of fear, disgust, and superiority. 
Even if you don't believe in God, it's useful to treat people as though they're equal in the eyes of a creator.
The opposite sometimes leads to Social Darwinism. 
Which doesn't just apply to race. 
It applies to class, body-weight, perceived intelligence, and other things that differentiate people. 
This type of thinking even exists in religion, when certain religious beliefs are exclusionary ie; "if you don't believe what I believe, you're going to hell."

Hypocrisy
It's not possible to be consistently the same person all the time. 
We're constantly wrestling with opposing ideas about the world, about others, and about ourselves.
Show me someone who isn't a contradiction. 
Show me someone who isn't a hypocrite. Be patient with the hypocrisy of others, because you're a hypocrite sometimes too.

Inner Demons
The troubling thoughts that we blame on the "devil" or our "inner demons" is actually our own mind telling us things that aren't true. 
The reason we have that conflict within us is because there's a knowledge gap. 
If you had absolute knowledge — if you knew absolutely everything (which isn't possible) there would be no inner conflict.
Our inner conflict is a search for what's true, in a mind that doesn't have all the facts. 
Our imperfect mind, living in a problem-solving environment (Earth) creates imperfect behavior. 
We attribute that existential problem to negative spiritual forces for the same reason — we don't know any better. 
It's possible that evil entities exist, but at this point in my life I doubt it.
The best way to deal with your demons is to be radically honest with yourself and with God about your weaknesses, be a continuous learner, and give yourself boundaries.

Toxic Thoughts
Certain thoughts can be toxic, not only because of how they can affect your actions, but because of how they can affect your health.
Even stressing about your health causes your health to be worse, because worrying activates stress hormones (cortisol in particular) that can damage the body.
"Guard your thoughts" is good advice.

Changing Your Behavior
By not reminding yourself of the change you want to make, you've decided to not change. To change a behavior, you have to remind yourself daily. 
It's not enough to simply state, one-time (no matter how forcefully), that you're going to change.
Learning doesn't happen without repetition. 
It's too easy to forget. 
Repetition will drill it into your brain.

Silence And Boredom
Silence is far from boring. 
Silence is a gateway to another world. 
To a place of peace. Boredom is the result of expecting too much from this world. 
Boredom is the result of addiction to culture. 
Boredom is like a withdrawal symptom.
A boring world would actually be a good thing. 
More specifically, acceptance of a boring world, because when people are bored they're more likely to do foolish things. A more contemplative humanity would be less prone to folly.
If you can't find peace in silence, where will you find it? Usually what you'll find elsewhere is stimulation, excitement, frustration, and confusion.

Seeking Peace
Reaching a place of inner peace is never permanent. 
That feeling of inner contentment comes and goes. 
We move in and out of it. 
Learning to stay there longer and going back there more consistently is something we can learn to do better.
It's necessary. 
Everything depends on it. 
Without it, there's no foundation. 
Imagine a world where people had no inner peace. 
It would be a pointless existence.
Troubled souls either seek sources of peace or they become destructive. 
Since we're all troubled souls, our aim should be to find sources of peace as often as we can.

Putting COVID-19 Into Perspective
I've been following the Coronavirus/COVID-19 story fairly closely for the past couple of months out of both concern and intrigue. 
Here is the most relevant information I've gathered so far and some thoughts about what's happening:
First, what you probably already know
We have plenty of reason to be concerned about COVID-19, since it's a new virus (we don't know a lot about it) and it has the ability to kill people.
Seasonal flu kills between 300,000 to 600,000 people globally every year, which is around 0.1% of the people infected by it. 
COVID-19 seems to be more deadly (23,000 deaths world-wide so far, with potential to go into the millions).
COVID-19 spreads fast and can quickly overwhelm hospitals that don't have enough beds or ventilators to treat severe cases and leaves hospitals with less time and fewer resources to help people with other health problems.
Shutting down "non-essential" parts of the economy for a few weeks or months makes sense as long as governments can get money to people who need it. 
The "shut-down" will not only slow down the spread of the virus, it will allow time for more ventilators and masks to be produced, and for makeshift hospitals to be set up (though much of it may not be needed by then, if the shutdown is effective). 
It also gives researchers more time to learn more about the virus and potentially develop an anti-viral drug.
What you might not know
Though COVID-19 is a legitimate concern for the reasons mentioned above, and we should follow the advice of health authorities, the good news is that the virus isn't nearly as deadly as has been reported. 
The fatality rate is reported to be around 4%, but it excludes the people who haven't been tested. 
Health experts believe that there's likely 10-times as many people who have the virus, but may never know it. 
If that's accurate, it means that the real fatality rate may be around 0.4%, making it still worse than the seasonal flu, but not nearly as bad as we've heard (though it could go higher because of ventilator shortages, as seen in Italy).
Health experts say that the virus will reach between 30% and 70% of the global population and could kill 50-million to 200-million people. 
Perhaps over-estimating the number of deaths is justified to make sure people take the virus seriously, but those numbers are very likely worse than even the worst-case scenario. 
Mainly because of the fatality rate discrepancy mentioned above. 
There does remain the possibility that the virus could mutate and become more deadly though.
As of this writing there are 500,000 known cases of COVID-19 globally. 
Which means the real number may be somewhere around 5-million. 
It has doubled over the past week alone, spreading at a rate of approximately 10.5% per day (though increased testing may be distorting that rate a bit). 
At that rate it would reach 70% of the population by December (though a rate that high likely isn't sustainable for that long). 
However, China demonstrated through it's aggressive efforts (not condoning everything they did) that the virus can be slowed down to a crawl. 
The spread is now down to 0.08% per day in China, and they got it down fairly quickly. 
If the rest of the world can get down to that number by let's say, the end of April, global cases could be as low as 1% instead of 70% by December (barring any new waves of the virus).
If the virus infects 70% of the global population this year, and presuming that the real death rate may be around 0.4%, there could be 20-million deaths from COVID-19 by the end of the year. 
If it infects only 1% of the population, the number of deaths could be limited to 300,000. 
That would keep it down to seasonal flu levels, and seasonal flu levels themselves might end up being lower this year because of everything being done to limit COVID-19.
Shutting down a large part of the economy will be costly and will likely have some side effects that we haven't put much thought into. 
Including potentially more suicides, alcoholism, divorces, and other problems that are typically the by-product of unemployment and personal finance problems. 
Not to mention starvation in some cases. 
There could be other unseen side effects, such as money that would have gone into say, cancer research, will end up being used to create ventilators, masks, etc. 
The biggest financial risk of all might be the increase in debt that the shutdown will cause. 
You just never know how debt bubbles can came back to devastate an economy later on.
The partial shutdown is an unfortunate trade-off, but a necessary one, at least for awhile. 
We'll have to open things up sooner than later, with a commitment to continuing certain protocols ie; making sure elderly people and people with underlying illnesses stay home and are taken care of, while the rest of us try to stay 6-feet apart, wash our hands frequently, get tested and quarantine ourselves quickly, etc. 
We won't have to do it forever.

Extraordinary Mentors
Don't try to take on the world by yourself. 
Smarter and stronger people than you have tried and failed.
But merely copying what everyone else is doing will produce average results. 
Find the extraordinary people and learn from their example.

Money And Value
Money is a strong incentive for productivity, but it's not always the best incentive for producing the right things.
Money needs to take a backseat to purpose. Use money to buy freedom. 
Freedom to do valuable things with your time.

Love And Attraction
What people describe as "love at first sight" is often lust at first sight, followed by infatuation. 
When looking at a person we're attracted to, we usually don't see or look for the person inside.
The ideal mate is someone who adores you as much as you adore them. 
You see yourselves in each other, as well as something more that each of you wish you could be.

Taking Chances
You're not going to hear about all the failures. 
All the people who took big, crazy risks and failed. 
You're mostly going to hear about the success stories. 
This is otherwise known as survivorship bias.
The amount of skill you have will certainly improve your odds (unless you're playing strictly a game of chance), but even the skillful who take big risks will fail most of the time. 
You can afford some small failures, but a big failure can easily ruin you.

The Truth About Opposites Attract
All differences between people boil-down to each person's fundamental belief in what reality is and how we should live within that view of reality. 
The more your beliefs overlap with another person's beliefs the more harmony there is between you. 
The more opposed your beliefs are the more conflict there is.
Differences in belief, whether religious, political or otherwise are what cause conflict. 
That's why the idea of "opposites attract" is inaccurate. 
It may be true at the atomic level (electrodynamics), but not so in human relationships (for the most part). 
It's true that males and females tend to be more attracted to one another than people of the same sex, but it's also true that males and females are more alike than different (same is true for race).
There are certain qualities we lack that we're attracted to in other people, but we're mostly looking for people who think the way we do and like the things we like. 
Which makes sense, because it's difficult to have a close relationship with people who see things vastly different from us.

Assume Less
It's best to assume that you know less than you think you do. 
That will put you in rare company, and keep you from making foolish mistakes.
What else is a fool other than someone who assumes they know more than they actually do?
Proceed as though you don't know very much. 
Protect yourself from your own ignorance.

The Incalculable
There are calculations that can and should be made.
There are calculations that can be made, but don't need to be.
And there are calculations that can't be made.
Love is an investment you can't calculate the return on.

Fear And Concern
When you hear the word pandemic it almost sounds like the word panic. 
It's natural to feel fearful over the recent news about coronavirus, especially if you're keeping yourself glued to the story.
But concern, instead fear, will be more useful. 
Concern will help save lives. 
Unchecked fear leads to panic and panic leads to making fears come true (like empty grocery stores).

When Truth Speaks
It's in the quiet, alone times when you realize what a buffoon you've been. 
How inattentive you've been. 
How impatient and irritable you've been. 
How distracted you've been. 
How imperfect you are. 
You come face to face with everything that you're not and everything you want to be.

Thank God
Thank God, instead of congratulating yourself for "your" accomplishments.
And you don't need to "remind God" of "his promises". Remind yourself of what God has already done.
The ability to simply walk down the street is something to be thankful for.
 
 

Words And Actions
Your words and actions are a record of you. 
They're registered in space-time and in the souls of others.
Which doesn't mean we should say and do more. 
It means we should be more mindful of what we say and do.

Reprogramming Ourselves
We all have faulty hardware, in the sense that our brain and nervous system don't always perceive things accurately. 
Our hardware also comes with software already installed (weren't not born with a blank slate). 
That program is geared toward survival.
Because of our faulty hardware and default software we make mistakes in how we process input. 
We also have a bandwidth problem, in the sense that we can only take in, calculate, and retain a certain amount of information.
We all have these problems, so it's no wonder that we sometimes have difficulty getting in sync with one another.
We're born with certain programming and we're further programmed by cultural influences. 
Self-reflection is the starting place for writing over the negative aspects of our programming.
[P.S. 
Apologies to computer scientists if I butchered the analogy]

Thoughts On Creativity
Formality kills creativity. You can't plan or force creativity.
Creativity is an exploration. It's not a job, it's not a system, it's not a product. 
It's the canvas on which you explore and express.
How many different ways can the truth be communicated? That's the essence of creativity — to communicate an aspect of the human experience in an unusual way.
Great ideas can come from anyone. 
You don't need to have status first.

Doing Less
There's no race. 
There's nowhere to get to. 
The only place you're going to end up in the end is the grave.
Slow things down, instead of speeding things up.
If doing a little less means you're going to enjoy things a little more, than do a little less.

Insights
Your deepest insights will come unexpectedly. 
They can't be forced. 
They can be invited though, through mindfulness and being open to continuous learning.
Learning starts by being quiet and open.

Critics
You don't owe critics an explanation merely because they decided to be your critic.
Criticism is often a lack of understanding by the critic.
There will always be someone with an opposing view who is convinced they're right, no matter how wrong they might be. 
And they may seem just as confident and just as smart as you.
Care about what is, instead of what people say.
If the criticism is correct, make the appropriate adjustment.

Disagreements
Don't make your point too strongly if you're not sure it's right. 
Make it humbly and let it go.
Be calm, rational, and charitable in your debates with other people (and with yourself).

Careful With Goals
Whatever goals you set now may not be consistent with what you're going to want in the future. 
All the more reason not to be obsessed with specific, inflexible goals.
Let go of your expectations. 
You'll find life to be more agreeable that way. Just focus on doing good and intelligent things daily, and let the results take care of themselves.
Take each day as it comes and potentially your last.

Good People Doing Bad Things
We tend to assume that only criminals are capable of murder, rape, fraud, etc. 
But there are plenty of law-abiding citizens who, under different circumstances, might commit such crimes. 
If there was great political or economic instability in your country you'd see a sharp increase in criminality. 
It even happens in places where you wouldn't expect it, such as in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Culture and economics influence human behavior in profound ways. 
When you think of a country like Germany today you think of one of the most progressive countries in the world. 
Yet it wasn't that long ago that a large percentage of the population (of a previous generation) became corrupted by Nazism. 
The psychologist, Jordan Peterson, made a good point when he once said that any one us living in such circumstances might have fallen for it as well (or at least complicity gone along with it).
Decent people are capable of doing horrific things if they find themselves in a desperate or confusing situation. 
Decent people are capable of doing horrific things even when they're not in such situations. 
This was demonstrated experimentally in the Stanford Prison experiment in 1971, when a few university students who were given merely a bit of power went overboard with it. 
And in a 1961 Yale experiment, where participants were politely asked by a perceived authority to shock someone repeatedly.

The Void Of Nihilism
Nihilists have no right to be offended by anything. 
Because if nihilism is true, even basic human rights and human decency are mere constructs of the mind. 
And the mind itself was formed by random, meaningless events.
A nihilist who insists on being treated fairly or who gets upset because of injustice is a contradiction to nihilism itself. 
But then again what choice does the nihilist have? Since he doesn't have freewill, how can he change his mind? If injustice causes his mind to become upset, how can he help it when it's merely nature taking its course?
But what if the random, meaningless events of nature gave him the ability to learn and to reason? Then he does have the ability to willfully change. 
At least as far as nature allows. 
If nihilism is correct, none of it matters anyway though. 
And if none of it matters, why insist on your own rights? Why bother with anything?
The answer is that in this life there is joy and there is suffering. 
Peace and turmoil. 
Anyone who continues to live, is stating that his or her life is worth living. 
That the joy outweighs the suffering. 
When a person kills themselves they're effectively saying that the suffering outweighs the joy. 
That their life has become unbearable.
As far as we know, animals don't do that. 
They suffer, sometimes greatly, but they don't kill themselves. 
It seems that only humans have a need for joy to outweigh suffering. 
We also have a need to find meaning in our suffering and believe that it's worth it. 
If you're reading this you haven't lost hope.

Insecurity And The Ego
Your ego will defend itself even to its own detriment. 
It's fear-based, not knowledge, wisdom, or compassion-based.
The damage you do to yourself and to others comes from your insecurities.

What We Can Learn From The Walt Disney Company About Risk
Bob Iger once stated, in reference to making decisions as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, that he was "not risk-averse". 
I found his comment surprising, given what I know about Disney and the strategic moves that Iger has made. 
I can't think of even one risky thing he has done (including the fact that at 69 years of age he still exercises every day and avoids junk food).
The acquisitions he made on behalf of Disney include, Pixar (Toy Story, Incredibles, et al), Marvel (Avengers, Iron Man, et al), Lucas Films (Star Wars and Indiana Jones), all of 21st Century Fox's movies (Avatar, Ice Age, The Simpsons, et al) and a majority stake in Hulu. 
All of which seem like no-brainers. 
He also contemplated acquiring Twitter, but decided not to, because he thought it was too risky. 
And he was extra careful getting involved in streaming movies online, waiting a decade after Netflix came to prominence before creating Disney+.
Even the movies that Disney makes aren't risky, because of all the preparation that goes into each one. 
Iger has said that he doesn't allow films to be released until they're as good as they can possibly be. Disney sometimes goes outside the box with movies like Black Panther and Maleficent, but Iger knows that most of the movies the company makes are going to do well and that the company can afford a flop now and then. 
The big hits make so much money that they make up for the flops. 
Even if the company loses 50-million dollars on a movie (which isn't often) that amount of money represents a small percentage of what the company is worth (250-billion dollars), with some movies bringing in up to 3-billion dollars each.
Disney takes risks. 
They have to. 
But they're strategic risks. 
They put a lot of thought and planning into everything they do, making sure there's minimal downside. 
Iger knows he can't just sit there and do nothing. 
The company has to create and it has to evolve, and that means risking some minor losses along the way. 
But he never once put the company in jeopardy. 
The board of directors would likely never allow that anyway. 
Iger uses his chips wisely, making sure that he has plenty left if some of his bets don't work out.
[P.S. 
Ironic, and slightly annoying, is the fact that Disney sometimes makes movies that seem to encourage kids to take big risks. 
Moana, for example. 
Teenage girl with no sailing skills and no supplies takes a small boat into the pacific ocean on her own and it all works out great.]

Service
"In what ways can I be of service," is a better way of thinking than, "how can I get more for my services."
Chasing after wealth doesn't make you wealthy. 
It makes your spiritually bankrupt.
Do what people need help with and what you're good at.

Integrity
Always do the right thing and the right opportunities will be yours.
Succeed with your integrity intact.

Are We Selfish or Unselfish?
Nobody is totally unselfish. 
Even our acts of unselfishness aren't totally unselfish.
Perhaps there are rare of moments of pure unselfishness, such a soldier jumping on a grenade to save his friend. 
But even that might be partially motivated by self-interest. 
Such as not wanting to live with the pain of losing the other person or the guilt of not doing everything you could have done to save them.
We're affected emotionally, and in some cases physically or economically, by what happens to other people. 
What affects others affects us. 
It's difficult to detach ourselves from self-interest even when helping others.
The answer to the question of whether we're selfish or unselfish, is yes. 
We're both. 
But we likely have the potential to move ourselves on the spectrum toward being less selfish.

What To Do With Your Life
Asking other people what they think you should do with your life is a cop-out.
It starts by knowing who you are. 
If you don't know yourself, or if you've forgotten, you'd better start making it a priority. 
No one else can do it for you.
Find yourself through silence, solitude, and prayer.

Connect The Dots
Knowledge alone isn't the key to worldly success. 
The ability to connect the dots in a useful way is.
Contestants on the game show Jeopardy! have a lot of knowledge, but they aren't the most successful people in the world. 
And the most successful people in the world wouldn't necessarily do well in a game of Jeopardy! Ken Jennings would likely beat the pants off of Warren Buffett. 

Righteous and Unrighteous
I shouldn't be so sure that I'm any more righteous than the people who I think are unrighteous. 
I might actually be just as bad or worse than the people who I think aren't good.
It's the habit of all of us to think we're essentially good, while assuming that most other people aren't so good.
Take the log out of your own eye. 
Judge not lest you be judged. 
The measure of mercy you give is the measure of mercy you'll receive.

The Best Things In Life
It's said that "the best things in life are free." But nothing is actually free. 
Because to even experience, let alone enjoy the free things, you need food, clean water, shelter, medicine, etc. 
We have to sustain ourselves first, through work.
And once those needs are satisfied and you start to look at the "free" things, like love, you realize that that's not free either. 
Love will cost you. 
Because for one thing, people aren't always lovable. 
You'll have to put up with some crap.
The best things in life aren't actually free, but they are the best. 
You don't need to own the latest clothes or gadgets or be a millionaire to be happy.

Inner Battles
When you spend time in silence and solitude you notice that there are battles going on within you. 
Battles that you wage with yourself. 
Most of them are the same old battles being fought over and over again.
Those battles don't go away when we're busy or engaged in other things. 
They come with us. 
They're always there, acting within us. 
They govern much of our behavior.
It's in silence and solitude that we're more likely to notice them and to make some peaceful resolutions.

10 Reasons To Go To Bed Early
Going to bed early helps in many ways:
You'll feel more rested.
You'll be less irritable.
You'll be less prone to stress.
You'll get more done.
You'll eliminate late-night snacking.
You'll be less likely to make impulsive decisions.
You'll be less likely to go to bars, and you'll drink less alcohol in general.
You'll be less likely to be late for work, school, or appointments.
You'll be less likely to make important decisions or dwell on problems while tired.
You'll find sleep itself more enjoyable.

Fear and Rejection
When you remove the fear of what other people are going to think of you, what's left to fear? Not nearly as much, right?
In order to do what you need to do you'll need to face some rejection anyway.

Careful With Your Projections
Because . 
. 
.
It's almost certainly going to take longer than you think it will.
It's almost certainly going to be more complicated than you think it's going to be.
It's almost certain that you don't know as much as you think you do.

Two Things About Obsession
-Obsession can be great if you’re obsessed with the right things. 
Pick the wrong things and obsession can get you into a lot of trouble.
-It's crazy to shoot for the stars while ruining relationships along the way. 
Obsession with financial and career goals is a relationship killer.

Praise and Criticism
"Nullius in verba." (Take nobody's word for it). 
~ Royal Society motto
Praise and criticism aren't adequate indicators of whether you've done a good job or made the right decision. 
They can provide some insight, but usually not enough. 
And often they're inaccurate.
You need to look at other factors. 
Such as how you feel about your actions, absent any outside feedback. 
And objective measures, such as statistics.

Independent Thinking
"Seek facts diligently, advice never." ~ Phil Carret
Being an independent thinker doesn't mean coming up with every idea on your own. 
It means not automatically adopting the opinions of others.
It's important to collect knowledge from other people, but don't be dominated by the opinions of other people.

Optimistic
Reduce grumblings with gratitude. Fight negative thoughts with thankfulness.
Things are never as dark as they seem. 
There will be beautiful days ahead.
Your concerns are legitimate, but your gloomy predictions are likely wrong.

The Right To Be Angry
Anger is useful, but don't let it consume you.
Righteous anger is the right kind of anger. 
Righteous anger isn't the kind of anger that condemns people. 
It's the type of anger that defends the innocent. 
Including the times when we defiantly stand up against oppression, persecution, violence, etc. 
It seeks to defend, but not to destroy.
Anger taken too far becomes toxic to yourself and to others around you. 
"Be angry and sin not" is a useful model, because it's not realistic to never be angry, and it's not reasonable to allow your anger to get out of control.
No one lives without anger. 
Even when we don't see anger in another person that doesn't mean it's not there. 
An underlying righteous anger motivates many of our actions. 
Especially when it comes to the change we want to make in the world.
Give yourself permission to sometimes be angry, but not spiteful, toxic, unreasonable, out of control, or destructive.

What The D-Day Invasion Can Teach Us About Risk (A Poker Analogy Included)
On the night of June 5th, 1944 more than 156,000 troops from the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada (a contingent of the “Allied Forces”) were amassed along the English coast waiting for their orders. 
They were about to embark on the largest seaborne invasion in history. 
Their mission was to cross a 100-mile wide part of the English Channel at night and assault a highly fortified enemy position at Normandy, located on the northern shores of France.
They were up against 50,000 Nazi troops (protected by bunkers), 170 artillery guns, anti-tank obstacles, barbed wire, booby traps, and 4 million landmines, spread across 50-miles (80 km) of coastal area. 
The enemy also had at its disposal 800 aircraft, 300 tanks, 3 torpedo boats, 29 fast attack craft, and several U-boat submarines. 
It was a formidable defensive position. 
One which the Allied Forces would attempt to overrun with virtually no cover or concealment.
Adding to the complexity and danger of the mission was poor weather conditions. 
The Allies had a window of opportunity of only two days, otherwise they’d have to wait a month for the next opportunity (because of tides). 
On the first day an unexpected storm arose. 
As a result, General Dwight D. 
Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, decided to delay the mission for 24 hours to let the weather conditions improve. 
Though conditions were better the next day, the weather was still poor. 
High winds and cloudy conditions presented obstacles for both the landing crafts and the 24,000 paratroopers that would be dropped in behind enemy lines, potentially putting them off course.
I’ve heard it said before that the Allies were taking a big risk by attempting to invade Normandy. 
On the surface it does seem like they were, given how strong the German defensive position was and the sheer number of troops involved in the assault. 
But I contend that the Allies were taking an appropriate amount of risk. 
Battle is always risky for those involved, and it’s not fun to think about human lives in terms of mere numbers, but to a certain extent that’s the way political and military leaders need to think in order to save lives. 
If you don’t put those 180,000 lives on the line (plus French civilian casualties of 20,000 to 50,000), how many other people will die? From 1939 to 1945 the war claimed over 70-million lives. 
How many more people would have died if the Allies had not attempted the Normandy invasion?
Also, the Allies lowered the risk by doing two things:
1) They prepared. 
They spent a year planning, training, and building up resources. 
They also ran a campaign of misinformation to make the Nazi’s think the attack point would be somewhere else and on a different day. 
And in addition to the 156,000 that would land on the beaches and the 24,000 paratroopers going in behind enemy lines to secure roads and bridges, they brought with them 1,000 tanks, 4500 bombers, 3800 fighters planes, and 200 warships (not including escort ships, landing craft, etc.). 
Allied bombers, battleships, cruisers and destroyers bombarded the coastline for hours before any troops set foot on the beaches.
2) They didn’t risk more than they could afford to lose. 
Imagine if all 180,000 troops involved in the invasion had died. 
That would have been a devastating loss of life and manpower, and likely would have had a negative psychological effect on the remaining Allied troops. 
However, though the battle would have been lost, and the cost high, the Allies still would have had at least 3 million troops left to help win the war. 
They risked less 5% of their total manpower on D-Day. 
There were also 195,000 naval personal involved, but they weren’t nearly as exposed as the ground troops. 
But let’s say that all 180,000 ground troops and half of the naval personnel had been killed, bringing the total number of dead to around 280,000, that’s still no more than 10% of total manpower lost. 
And the chances of that many people being killed wasn’t high, given all the preparation that went into the invasion, weakening of the German defenses from bombardment, and greatly outnumbering the enemy at Normandy in troops, planes, tanks, and ships.
Millions of troops were waiting in England for the results of the initial assault. 
They weren’t put at risk until after the initial 180,000 troops were successful in overrun the German defences at Normandy. 
After that, it made all the sense in the world to send those reinforcements in to help take back France and eventually enter Germany. 
Which they did, in less than a year.
What about potential equipment loses?
The Allies had approximately 120,000 tanks, but sent only 1,000 on D-Day. 
They had approximately 100,000 bombers and fighter planes, but deployed only 8,000 on D-Day. 
And they had approximately 700 warships, but used no more than 200 of them on D-Day. 
In other words, the Allies had an arsenal of over 220,000 tanks, bombers, fighter planes, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, but risked losing only 9,000 of them (representing less than 5% of what they had).
The mission was not without risk. 
But the Allies risked a relatively small percentage of what they had to do something that could help end the war sooner, saving many more lives, and if they failed they would still have plenty of resources left. 
In comparison, it was much less risky than what Hitler did by invading the Soviet Union. 
Hitler lost over 1-million troops in that failed expedition, following in the footsteps of another fool, Napoleon, who also failed in his attempt to invade Russia a century prior.
Plans for the Normandy invasion were discussed between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. 
President Franklin D. 
Roosevelt for a year before the mission was carried out. 
It was ultimately their decision, but the plan wasn’t developed by them alone. 
Military leaders were involved, including Britain’s Field Marshal Montgomery, and General Eisenhower, who oversaw the mission. 
When Eisenhower was going through officer training at West Point he was a shrewd Poker player. 
He was the best player among his officer candidate classmates, who lost substantial sums of money to him, causing him to eventually stop playing, to avoid their resentment. 
One time he mentioned to someone that he was amazed at how little his classmates understood probability. 
I have to imagine that Eisenhower’s probabilistic thinking ability, going back to his Poker playing days (and later, his Bridge playing days), played a role in how the D-Day mission was planned and executed.
The Allies didn’t risk everything they had. 
Not even close. 
They risked a relatively small percentage of what they had on a mission that had a reasonably good chance of succeeding. 
And that’s exactly how good Poker players play Poker. 
In Poker you have what’s known as your “bankroll”. 
That’s all the money you have in the world for playing Poker. 
But you don’t use it all at once. 
You only use a certain percentage of it to “buy in” to a game. 
The buy in money is the max amount you’ll be able to risk. 
If you lose that money, you can “buy in” again using money from your bankroll. 
But only if you choose to. 
Even when a player goes “all in” they’re only going all in with the chips they’re using for that game, not their entire bankroll.
In terms of the Allied Forces at the time of the invasion of Normandy, their “bank roll” was 3,000,000 troops (again, not fun to think about people this way, but it’s reality) and 220,000 tanks, bombers, fighter planes, and warships. 
And their “buy in” amount was the 180,000 troops, 195,000 naval personnel, and 9,500 tanks, bombers, fighter planes, and warships they sent on D-DAY.
In Poker, unless you’re bluffing, you wait until you have great cards before you make a big bet. 
In the case of the Allies, bluffing wasn’t an option at Normandy (though they did run decoys to make the enemy think they were going to attack at a different location and date), they either had the resources to defeat their opponent or they didn’t. 
In hindsight, it’s clear that they did, as their causalities amounted to approximately 10,000 (4,400 dead), and the loss of 3 warships, 100 bombers and fighter planes, and 200 tanks.
Eisenhower and others ran the numbers beforehand and decided that they had superior cards and appropriately made a big bet, but not so big that they’d be bankrupt if they were wrong.
P.S. 
All numbers mentioned are approximate, as it was difficult to find precise numbers on this. 
Also, many more troops and equipment were used to take back France than mentioned in this article. 
Causalities for the Allies numbered in the hundreds of thousands by August of 1944, and there were many more after that. 
Any attempt to invade Nazi held territory, including France, was going to result in large losses, but an invasion of some kind needed to take place. 
The question is whether the entry point at Normandy was too risky, in terms of attempting to penetrate that particular defensive position along the northern coastline. 
This was also not a question of whether another entry point might have been less risky. 
The “soft underbelly” approach through southern Italy, which Churchill wanted, might possibly have been better.

Stretching Ourselves
Don't try to avoid all suffering or all challenges. 
You need some of it.
It's good to, at some point in your life, take on more than you can handle, so you'll learn that you're capable of more than you thought you were. 
But then it's time to dial it back. 
We need to stretch ourselves, but not to the point of breaking, or of perpetual misery.

Jesus Was On To Something
Faith in a loving God is beneficial to the world. 
Rigid, fundamentalist religion is destructive.
Atheism isn't a positive force in the world either. 
It leads people down the road of despair.
Jesus had a good message.

Realistic Possibility
We should teach our kids to be realistic and to not expect to get everything they want. 
But they're full of dreams, and to them anything is possible. 
They see possibility that we adults lose sight of.
From an early age kids see the world as full of opportunity. 
Opportunity for them to do things that interest and excite them, and that make them feel important. 
They're not aware of all the roadblocks yet, and there are many, but we should try to clear as many roadblocks as we can.
At the very least we should avoid putting obstacles in the way. 
We should avoid needless discouragement.

Guard Your Heart
Guard your heart against corrupting influences. 
We're all susceptible to going down a slippery slope. 
To a place we never intended to go and wonder how we got there.
Choose the narrow path, where few people travel.
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." ~ Proverbs 4:23

The Balance Of Being
When you don't know what to do, seek balance. 
Because in moments of indecision you'll be tempted to go to the extremes.
We spend a lot of time trying to figure out what to do and not enough time simply being.
Turn off your thoughts and be present. 
That's mindfulness. 
And that's where true insight comes from.

The Cycle Of Unhappiness
If you say that the main thing you want for your children is for them to be happy, then you should set the example by being happy yourself.
Sacrificing your happiness for their happiness isn't likely going to work. 
Because they will grow up and do the same thing. 
Then who's happy?

Go Within
What we chase after externally are shadows of what's already in us. 
What's external is already internal. 
Our biggest problem is that we're not willing to face ourselves.
Living from the spirit is true living. 
It goes beyond appearances. 
Beyond the ego. 
It's the realm of peace, love, and wisdom.

Love Complete
Love is misguided without faith.
Love is incomplete without faith.
By faith, I mean an awareness and surrender to God's love.
Putting your trust in God, even when you're not sure if God even exists, is the beginning of life (and the ultimate therapy).

Our Problems
Economic problems aren't the only problems we have. 
More importantly, we have spiritual problems. 
We don't know who we are. 
We still don't realize that love is the law of life. 
We still don't realize that we're supposed to be children of light. 
We still live with the mindset that the most important thing in life is survival — to keep on living at all costs.
Whenever possible, manifest peace in the world. Without peace we've got nothing.

Forget Your Master Plan
Just try to do the right thing everyday, instead of trying to come up with a master plan.
Do what you're good at, do what you like doing, treat people right, keep learning, take care of yourself — it's not complicated.

Resistance and Mindfulness
You'll face resistance. 
Both from others and from yourself.
I still often go against some of the biggest lessons I've learned. 
I get distracted, or I forget, or I get bored . 
. 
.
Or I become fearful.
There's the type of fear that protects you from legitimate danger, and there's the type of fear that can cause self-sabotage. 
Mindfulness helps us notice the difference.

Beyond Self
Love requires an ongoing commitment of getting beyond yourself. 
Of seeing the needs of others.
You're still going to take care of yourself, but you won't be obesseed with what you want.
We usually don't realize how obsessed we are about getting what we want. 
It's our default mode, and it's difficult to override.
It's largely true that you have to lose your life to gain it.

Judge Not
Believing in God doesn't make you a good person. 
Believing in a God who cares about everyone doesn't quite do it either.
Because there's still room for a caveat. 
The caveat being this: "God loves you, but if you don't believe everything I believe about God you're going to hell."
If you think God condemns people so easily, so will you. 
And you've elevated your own beliefs as judge, jury and executioner.
Saying that it's written in a book isn't good enough either. 
That's a cop-out. 
It's a way of avoiding the responsibility of educating yourself beyond a narrow set of beliefs.
Although religious texts have many flaws, they still have value. 
They're worth reading, because they represent what people think about the human condition and what they believe has been revealed to them through their faith in God.
There's too much danger in interpreting them literally or accepting such texts as decreed directly from God. 
Because as we've seen, that can lead to terrible things, such as inquisitions, wars, and acts of terrorism.

Your Brilliance
If you want to build something, start now. 
In twenty years it will seem like it was meant to be.
Fear keeps brilliance locked up. In what way are you brilliant? What fears are holding you back from expressing that brilliance?
Most people are busy trying to be someone else. 
The world needs you to be something different from what it's used to.
You have a gift and a purpose that's meant to be of service to the good of humanity. You are one of a kind. 
Find out how far that can take you.

Sleep
The kind of letting go required to fall asleep is the same kind of letting go required when we're awake. 
We fall asleep by turning off the chatter box and movie screen in our mind.
There's a time to make decisions and there's a time to sleep. 
Don't make decisions when it's time to sleep.
Sleep is often the "sacrifice" that doesn't need to be made.

Problems
Get out of your own way. 
That's often the answer to many of life's problems. 
They're often problems of the mind.
Even external problems aren't always problems. 
Sometimes they're opportunities to learn or become stronger. 
Our resistance to the opportunity is sometimes the problem.

Accountable
Find better ways to hold yourself accountable. 
So you can eliminate vices, biases, dishonesty, bashfulness, etc.
You can do so by improving your environment: eliminate distractions, as well as negative and false influences.
And by managing your time better: set aside time for prayer, meditation, exercise, more sleep, and continuous learning.

Approval
You don't have to try as hard as you think you do for others to love you. 
Be conciliatory, but don't be a pushover.
The chatter box in your mind isn't the real you. 
The part of you that wants to impress others isn't the real you.
Your true self is waiting to reveal many things to you. 
Be quiet and listen.

Leadership Over Conflict
Try to be a leader instead of an enemy. 
You can complain, and threaten, and berate . 
. 
. 
or you can raise the bar by inviting people to follow your example.
It won't always work, but at least start there. 
Not everything is about you getting what you want.
Be a leader. 
Influence culture in a positive way. 
There are already enough bullies in the world.

Mentalities Of Work
We're all in the business of serving others (except for thieves). 
But not everyone knows they are. 
Most people are merely doing a job — doing what the boss wants them to do, in order to keep getting paid.
There are even entrepreneurs who don't realize that they're in the business of serving people. 
Instead, they think they're in the business of extracting money from people.
Satisfaction in the workplace, and in business, belongs to those who know their job is to provide a service to others. 
Especially when it's something you're uniquely gifted to do and that provides people with not merely what they want, but what they need.
What satisfaction is there in selling tobacco? What satisfaction is there in merely being someone's slave, abused by ungrateful clients? What satisfaction is there in merely following an instruction manual? What satisfaction is there in merely trading time and labor for money?
Are we here to merely survive? Or are we here to learn something and be part of something bigger than ourselves?

The Right Priorities
We all prioritize. 
Our priorities reveal themselves through what we do. 
The question is: are you prioritizing the right things?
This isn't a question to be asked only once. 
It's a maintenance question. 
It's something we need to ask ourselves periodically, because it's so easy to get off track.
Having the right priorities is a disciplined approach to life. 
It creates unique outcomes that work in your favor.

Self-Knowledge
We all owe it to ourselves, and each other, to understand ourselves better. 
Knowing your weaknesses is the most important part of knowing yourself. 
You'll do less harm if you know your weaknesses.
But self-examination doesn't really begin until we acknowledge that something might be wrong with us. 
From there we need to have a curiosity about what is wrong and what to do about it.
That's how the process of self-knowledge begins. 
It requires letting go of the things we use to pump up our self-image. 
It mainly means letting go of excuses.

The Important Parts Of Religion
I've written before that certain elements of religion are optional. 
That we should take what is useful and disregard what isn't. 
But there are two essential parts of religion that aren't optional: peace and love.
If our religious or spiritual beliefs aren't first and foremost about peace and love, they're void.

Inner and Outer Environment
You shouldn't stay in a situation where you're likely to wreak havoc. 
If your emotions are going to get the better of you and cause damage to others, you need to either develop a new constitution or you need to put yourself in an environment that will cause you to be more at peace.
Your constitution is the set of beliefs that guide your behavior. 
If you don't have a constitution that creates inner peace and lucid thinking, then you need to seriously re-evaluate your beliefs.

The Way
Love is patient, love is kind. 
But the body and the mind suffer.
This makes it difficult to be patient and kind.
It is the way though.

Practice Over Preaching
Though reading the bible isn't for everyone, and we shouldn't blindly believe everything we read in the bible, there is an overarching message in the bible worth believing in: trust God and love people.
I have several hours per day to remind myself of the importance of trusting God and loving people, yet I still fail to do it consistently. 
That’s how flawed I am. 
All the more evidence that I need God.
If we can show our children, through our actions, that we trust God and love people, that will be more powerful than anything we preach to them.

The Power Of Early Mornings
Early mornings are when you're most likely to be in touch with your unconscious mind.
Those quiet early morning moments when you're semi-conscious, before you've had time to think about your problems or be influenced by other people — those are the best times to tap into your inner wisdom.

Over-estimating and Under-estimating Ourselves
Most of us think we're smarter, more talented, and more holy than we actually are.
There are times when we criticize and under-estimate ourselves, but most of the time we over-estimate ourselves.
We don't necessarily over-estimate our potential though. 
It's mainly our current state that we over-estimate. 
Practically all of us have the potential to be better than we currently are.

Understanding
Lack of understanding is what wreaks havoc in the world:
-That's why educating ourselves is so important.
-That's why critical thinking is so important.
-That's why empathy is so important.
Those constitute the trifecta of understanding — the purveyors of peace and prosperity.

Change For The Better
The willingness to accept undesirable outcomes is important. 
It's vital to our mental health.
But it's also important to make changes when they're needed. 
Otherwise we'd all be living in the wilderness like our ancestors did, struggling to find food and shelter, watching half our children die before adulthood, etc.
Life is better now, because enough people decided it could be better. 
Enough people weren't willing to merely accept things as they were.
Accept what can't be changed, but be sure first that it can't be changed. 
Often we can't be sure until we've tried. 
I mean really tried (because sometimes saying that we "tried" is merely an excuse to not try).

Willpower
Willpower definitely works, but it's limited. There are impediments, such as fatigue, social influences, environmental factors, etc.
Willpower is ultimately determined by how important something is to you. There are certain situations in which people won't give in. 
They'll die before they'll give in. 
Not that that's always a good idea, but it's willpower nonetheless.
The strength of one's belief in a particular principle or outcome determines the strength of one's will. 
All the more reason to get the beliefs right.
 

Quality Of Thought
We spend too much time thinking about the wrong things and not enough time thinking about the right things.
Can you sit alone in a room for an hour, or more, just thinking about the meaning of life, or why human nature is the way it is?
Or do you instead think about T.V. 
shows and celebrities, and that person who cut you off in traffic?

Reason
Just because something seems to make sense doesn't mean you have all the facts. 
There's always something you're missing. Our understanding is always partial. Our understanding of reason itself is limited.
We can use reason to understand the universe and human nature, but it can take us only so far. 
There's a point at which reason breaks down — where it reaches the limits of what the human mind is able to understand.
Use reason, but make sure you're not using it to justify want you want to be true. 
When reality refuses to bend to your will, it's time to adjust to reality.

Opportunity Costs
There's an opportunity cost incurred in everything we do. 
One thing is always traded for another.
That's the way it is in a world where time is linear and limited. 
You don't have the time (or the energy) to be great at everything.
You pay a price for not being focused.

Choosing Distance For The Sake Of Peace
Sometimes being around certain people is worse for them than not being around them. 
They might not understand why you keep your distance at certain times. 
And they might find your absence hurtful. 
But they might find your behavior even more perplexing and hurtful when you are around them.
Keeping your distance is similar to moderation of speech. 
In other words, we don't say everything that comes to mind. 
Physical distance from other people can be a way of moderating yourself. 
Because sometimes the presence, words, or actions of other people can influence our words and behavior, and not always for the better.

Challenging Beliefs
I'm not big on "duty," but I do think it's our duty to ourselves and to others to keep learning. 
And that includes challenging our beliefs.
Wrong beliefs are the very things that lead to the most horrific events in human history. 
What seems like a good idea can turn out to be disastrous.
Challenge your beliefs. 
It will be of service to you and to others.

Love And Marriage
Marriage requires you to bear with your partner through the various seasons of their life. 
Some of which will be unpleasant. 
Some of which will require personal sacrifice.
The essence of marriage is commitment. 
It's fundamentally a belief in love. 
And love doesn't give up easily. 
Love "bears all things."
Love can distance itself, but it doesn't give up.

Maintaining Peace
What are the triggers or circumstances that cause you to lose your peace? Be honest with yourself about what they are.
Assume that your ability to let go and maintain your peace isn't as good as you think it is. Because the danger isn't in underestimating that ability. 
The danger is in overestimating it. 
The "danger" is that your behavior will change in a negative way. Not only would that make you unhappy, it would make the people around you unhappy as well.

Your Wisdom
Information is nothing without wisdom. 
Some people get smarter without getting any wiser.
Wisdom isn't taught, it's realized. 
We have plenty of wisdom within us. 
We can tap into it by sitting alone with our silence.

Your Impact
Most big decisions are decisions you'll never have to make. 
Most of them have already been made for you.
You didn't decide who your parents would be, what country you'd be born in, what gender you'd be, what genetic advantages or disadvantages you'd have, etc. 
Many things are totally out of your control.
You can't will everything you want into being. 
But you can make small decisions that make a difference.

Restoring Balance
If you're tired all the time, you're out of balance. 
Be honest with yourself about whether there's something you can do about that. 
For most of us, most of the time, there is something we can do about it.
The problem is we're usually not mindful enough to see what can be done.

The Only Three Things That Matter
Learn. Be helpful. Be at peace.
That's all you have to do.

Wealth, Fame, and Power
This life is a spiritual pursuit. 
It shouldn't be treated as a quest for wealth, fame, or power.
Wealth, fame, and power (if thrust upon you) should be used for the greater good.
Life isn't a race against other people. 
Nobody wins in the end. 
Either you work some things out within yourself, or you don't. 
That is the chief aim.

The Long-Run
Having the patience to wait and see how things will turn out over the long-run is one of the most difficult, underrated, and potentially rewarding things you can do.
If it's clearly a disaster early on, a change may be needed, but most of the time we simply aren't patient enough.
This is true in relationships, in business, in investing, and other areas of life.

Beliefs
Negative influences aren't always easy to identify. 
They often seem like positive influences. 
For example, if you've been indoctrinated into a cult, you think it's wonderful. 
You missed the warning signs and found yourself deep into something that seems like a positive force. 
This is why rational thinking is an important component to identifying the right influences.
Belief is a powerful thing. 
Whether it's belief in something that's true or something that's false. 
That's why you have to regularly challenge your beliefs. 
You definitely don't want to be someone who has strong beliefs in something that is false. 
Do everything you can to see things the way they are, instead of how you think they should be.
 

Love and War
Love doesn't wage war, but it does stand up for truth.
Speak your mind, make your point, but try not to be too combative.
People are more interested in what comes from your heart than what facts you've accumulated. 
And there's nothing more powerful than people knowing that you care about them.

Possibilities
Anything seems possible when you're a child. 
Then you grow up and your beliefs become limited.
Education and experience teach us that there are limitations. 
But negative thinking and lack of imagination sometimes put too many restrictions on us.
Awareness of downside risks is important. 
And pie in the sky thinking should be avoided. 
But more things are possible than we realize.

The Value of Mindfulness
Mindfulness is easily dismissed by those who aren't mindful. 
If you've never gone there, how do you know what's there?
Ignorance reigns when mindfulness is absent. 
Mindfulness is the elimination of distractions. 
You don't know what you actually think until you're mindful.

Finding Yourself
Fear will cause you to forget who you are. 
To chase after things that will give you an identity and make you feel more secure. 
But it's a mirage.
The identity and security we seek are already within us. 
We just need to be willing to go there. 
To face ourselves, to face our demons, and to face God.

Expectations
You'll always be disappointed as long as you have high expectations. 
Eventually nature will force lower expectations upon you. 
So you might as well get used to it now.
How many ninety-year-olds do you know who have high expectations? Humility is eventually forced upon us all. 
The sooner you submit, the sooner you'll be happy.
"Do you want to know what my secret is? I don't mind what happens." ~ Jiddhu Krishnamurti

Fear Of Asking
Sometimes, if you don't ask, you don't receive.
The more you give, the more you can ask.

Creating Peace
If you don't have peace you don't have anything.
Create an environment of peace in your life. 
Which includes not only the places you go, the things you watch and listen to, the people you invite into your life, but also the thoughts you choose to dwell on.
Make prayer and mindfulness the foundation of your life.

Let It Pass
When you decide to let go of what's bothering you — when you decide to not care about it, at least for a little while, it will usually take care of itself.
Because often it's a narrative we're telling ourselves. 
Or it's someone else's mood we're dealing with. 
If you let it pass, it will usually pass.

Reality
There's a difference between reality and the experience of reality. 
There's objective reality and there's subjective reality. 
However, objective reality isn't merely that which can be quantified. 
Because that which can be quantified is actually part of a subjective experience.
There are certain "laws" that govern this realm we're living in, but those laws are themselves part of a subjective experience. 
Not that they work differently for each person — they're universal in the sense that they're "constant," regardless of our individual perceptions. 
They're "objective" as far as this realm goes, but they aren't necessarily the Ultimate Reality.
We're experiencing a version of reality. 
Not objective reality itself. 
And we experience this version of reality through our natural senses, which are themselves governed by the laws of this version of reality.

There Is A "Ghost In The Machine"
Contrary to the materialist point of view, the human body is not a machine. 
The human body has some similarities to machines, but it's also quite different from machines.
The human body is far more complex than machines and functions in ways that machines can't. 
Machines don't feel emotion or intuit the emotions of others. 
Machines don't dream. 
Machines don't become depressed or contemplate suicide. 
Machines aren't influenced by placebos. 
Machines don't benefit from mediation or pray. 
Etc.
In the future there will exist AI machines capable of replicating many of the things mentioned above, but they'll be mere replications, not conscious experiences.
Human beings are far too complex to be thought of as mere machines. 
Our understanding of consciousness, which is even more complex than the body, hasn't even begun. 
How can a conscious being detach itself from the reality it is part of and observe that reality independently and objectively? Our perception is influenced by the very thing we're part of.
This is to say nothing of the fact that we don't even understand matter itself. 
Who can understand why things happen the way they do at the quantum level or what's beyond that realm? We haven't reached the end of knowledge, but there are certain things we'll never be able to understand.

Nothing vs Something
Sometimes doing nothing is a lot better than doing something. 
And sometimes doing something is a lot better than doing nothing.
For example, in the investment world it's often best to do nothing. 
But when it comes to physical fitness it's often best to do something rather than nothing at all.
The truth is that there's always some sort of action going on, whether you're involved or not. 
Though you might not trade a stock for months or even years, things are still happening in the economy that will affect your investments. 
Though you might not exercise today or even this week, countless things are happening inside your body every second that you're totally unaware of and that will affect your health in unpredictable ways.
Your job isn't to control everything. 
Nor is it to sit back and let everything happen without your influence. 
Let wisdom guide you.

Imaginary Fights
Don't fight imaginary fights. 
The ones you create in your mind that never happened and likely aren't going to happen.
Don't create a hostile environment in your own mind. 
You're not going to score any points. 
All you're going to do is disturb yourself and make yourself more combative in actual encounters with other people.

Bad Habits
There are certain things we know we shouldn't do, even while we're doing them. 
We know it's a bad idea, but we do it anyway. 
It's because the pleasure we're getting from that activity in that moment clouds our memory of past regrets. 
We know we're likely going to regret it afterward, but we're out of touch with the actual feeling of regret. 
We're overwhelmed by immediate gratification.
This applies to many things ie; certain eating habits, sexual habits, revenge, angry outbursts, criminal actively, gambling, excessive shopping, etc.
Bad habits can be overcome, but it's not easy. 
There's an impulsiveness to bad habits, where we don't really think it through beforehand. 
We're often too distracted. 
We're distracted by outer influences, and we're distracted by the chatter in our mind.
Breaking bad habits starts with a new habit. 
The habit of being mindful.

Alone
"It's not good for man to be alone."
Yes it is, but maybe not for too long.
It's not good to be around people all the time either.
Find the right balance.

Doing What's Important
If it doesn't have to be done, and you don't want to do it, don't do it. 
There's no honor in doing it, and you'll be wasting the very little time you have left in this life.
Explore the crossroads between what you want to do and what truly needs to be done.

Complications
Life is complicated enough without you adding to the complication.
Life will cause you to suffer enough without you adding to the suffering.
Try to simplify and de-stress your life as much as you can.

Day After Day
Any great thing you're trying to accomplish is going to take a long time. 
You're not going to get that much done today or tomorrow. 
There won't be enough time. 
But you'll get a lot done if you keep working at it day after day.

The News Media and You
Your mind isn't meant for trash. 
What have you been feeding it?
If you give a lot of your attention to the news media, you'll enter a world of drama, gossip, hypocrisy, and manipulation. 
The news media's primary purpose isn't to provide you with the most relevant and objectively reported news. 
It's there mainly to serve its own interests ie; investors, advertisers, employees, and political affiliates. 
It keeps you hooked by entertaining you.
The stories that grip our attention via the news media aren't necessarily the most important events. 
They're reported because they'll get our attention. The primary goal isn't to inform you of the most important matters of the day. 
It's to get your attention so that something can be sold to you — either a product via an advertisement or a political viewpoint.
There's a lot of news you don't need to know. 
Most of it, actually. 
Be selective.

The Three Problems Of Life
Whatever is bothering you is related to something on this list:
Survival: How am I going to get the things I need to stay alive and stay healthy? When and how am I going to die? What will happen to me when I die?
Purpose: Why am I here? What should I be doing? Am I important? Does anything matter?
People: Does that person care about me? Do they understand me? Do they think I matter? Why am I being treated this way? What will people think if I do ____?

A Few Reminders About Communication
-The first rule of de-escalation is to not escalate.
-A question usually works better than a command.
-If you don't want someone to be offended, try not to be offensive.
-You might be right, but you can be right and handle the situation better at the same time.
-Respond when you have a message that honors both you and the other person.
-In attempting to intimidate someone, you're showing that you're insecure.
-Don't praise yourself. 
If you've done something worthy of praise, someone will praise you.

Biases And Intuition
It's true that we have many biases that impair our decision-making ability. 
But it's also true that we're capable of being deeply intuitive.
Knowing that we're prone to error because of our biases can help us make better decisions. 
Not only because we'll be more likely to think things through, but because having that awareness about ourselves can cause us to be more humble. 
That humility makes it easier for us to recognize true moments of intuition.
Intuition can sometimes come from experience, but it also comes from the spirit. 
We're connected in a way we don't really understand. 
We're more likely to intuit things by being deeply contemplative. 
In other words, meditation/mindfulness can produce unexplained insights.
But you have to be careful not to delude yourself. 
Let go of what you desire, so that what you truly need will be revealed to you. 
Lose yourself so you can find yourself.

Learn
A day spent learning is better than a day spent worrying.
Find teachers who will lead you to the teacher within yourself.

Annoyance and Anger
Annoyed by things you can't change = further annoyance.
Annoyance is a form of suffering.
Annoyance leads to inner griping.
Inner griping leads to anger.
Anger leads to destructive behavior.

Connected
Just about everything you have figured out, was figured out by someone else before you. 
By people who died long before you were born.
You're not experiencing something new. 
You're repeating the past experiences of others. 
Some of the details are different, that's all.
I don't believe in reincarnation, in terms of souls living on in new bodies, but we are re-experiencing things that others have experienced. 
And we're connected to all people, living and dead, in a mysterious way.

Why We Help Others
a) Sometimes we help others merely to get something in return.
b) Sometimes we do it to create a win-win for us and them.
c) And sometimes it's purely for the benefit of the other person.
Though (c) is often a win-win, because the giver experiences the joy of giving and spares him or herself the pain of seeing someone suffer.
We're capable of feeling that way about animals too. 
We are living, conscious beings, aware of our connectedness and likeness to other living beings. Plants are alive too, but as far as we know they don't experience suffering. It's suffering that we're concerned with. 
We want to limit not only our own suffering, but also the suffering of other beings.

Learning From Children
Children have something to teach us about how to be in the world. 
We lose touch with that part of ourselves as we get older. 
Children help bring back the child in us. 
They help us see, as we once did, the magic and beauty and possibility that we once knew.
After all, adults are merely children with more life experience.

Wisdom In Silence
We need to make room for silence. 
To go beyond the chatter in our mind. To reach the mind beyond the mind.
A quiet mind is a mind that invites wisdom. 
Wisdom speaks through silence. Wisdom is always there, wanting to guide us. 
If we quiet our mind we’ll be open to hearing it.
When we silence the monkeys in our mind, things that we didn’t realize we knew will come to us.

Honesty
Don't lie to yourself about why you do the things you do. 
Figure out why you do them.
The person who is most honest with themselves is the person who can be trusted the most.

Leap Of Faith
You don't have to force yourself to have faith in God. 
God is calling you to let your guard down.
God is always calling you. 
The question is, are you listening? Are you willing to take a leap of faith and see what happens?
That's what it's about. 
It's not about everything making sense first.

Take Some Time Off
Lions sleep 15 to 20 hours per day. 
So do sloths. 
There may be a lesson in that for us. 
We don't know what lazy is. 
If anything, we're addicted to productivity. 
We always want more.
This seems to be a symptom of modernity, rather than an inherent part of human nature. 
There are hunter-gatherer societies that work far fewer hours than we do.
In modern society, we don't know when enough is enough. 
And it's making us unhappy. 
Take some time off and spend more time in nature.

Don't Worry About Your Life
The New Testament records that Jesus told a group of his followers not to worry about their life ie; about where their food and clothing would come from. 
He used the analogy of how God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers.
I don't think the point of that statement was to say that everyone who has faith will live a long life, or that what they need will always be provided. 
Because just as birds and flowers eventually die, so do all people. 
Nor are all faithful followers of Christ always well feed or well clothed.
I think the point should be taken as this: that mere survival shouldn't be the focus. 
That the spirit is what matters most. 
Because the body is going to die, but the spirit will live on (in Jesus' time the average lifespan was only 30 or 40 years old).
So don't "store up for yourself treasures on earth . 
. 
. 
but store up for yourself treasures in heaven."
"Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. 
Each day has enough trouble of its own."
"Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothes?"
In other words, don't you have greater work to do? Isn't your body a vessel for you spirit, the part of you that really matters? Isn't the body itself just an illusion?
In Christianity there are many believers who think that if they have enough faith they can avoid illness and death, and that God will make them rich. 
But they ignore the fact that eventually (not that long from now) they're going to die.
It might make us feel good to believe that God will always heal us and give us the "abundant" life, but even if that were true, it's merely temporary. 
Even Jesus couldn't escape death, nor did he live an abundant life.

Loving People
The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. 
You just got to find the ones worth suffering for." ~ Bob Marley
Good people, not perfect people, are who you want in your life.
To find love you have to find the right people. 
People who are forgiving.
And you have to make yourself more lovable. 
You do that by being humble, generous, and by being as forgiving as you want other people to be.

Non-Judgement
Non-judgement means having the humility to admit that you know very little. 
It doesn't mean absence of decisions. 
Because that's not possible. 
We all need to make daily decisions based on our judgements.
Non-judgement is the recognition of the limits of our knowledge, the inaccuracy of our perception, and the prevalence of our flaws.

Before The Day Starts
Whenever possible, start your day in silence. 
Delay the influence of the outside world for as long as possible.
Conduct worldly business after you've conducted your inner business.

Quiet Mind
Remember to sit and quiet your mind for awhile. 
Don't always be looking for sources of entertainment.
If you're quiet long enough, you'll discover who you are and what you truly want.

See The Others
As much as you can, stop making things about you. 
Learn to be more accepting. 
Learn to be more gracious.
You can do this through prayers of letting go. 
Prayers of trust. 
And through choosing to truly see others.

Christ Is Relevant
Those who say Christianity is bogus or irrelevant haven't thoroughly contemplated Jesus' words and actions.
Despite what you might think of the origins of the bible or the accuracy in which the life of Jesus is told in the Gospels, Jesus is nevertheless an archetype worth following.

Justifying Your Self-worth
When you stop thinking about yourself all the time you'll have no need to impress others.
Your attempt to impress others is an attempt to justify yourself. 
An attempt to ease your insecurities. 
But all it does is mask them. 
Those insecurities will still control you.

Tribalism
All groups are biased, because groups consist of people and all people are biased.
How much time are you spending trying to disconfirm your group's beliefs vs trying to affirm them?

Different Worlds
In the world, there's a constant push for more, more, more. 
More in terms of materialism and more in terms of escapism. 
It's centered around the pursuit of money and entertainment. 
These are the things we think will make us happy. 
They do help, to a degree, but we tend to overdo it.
What we really want is peace. 
We tend to search for it in the next thing we buy, or the next promotion, vacation, relationship, etc. 
But the secret is to appreciate what we already have. 
And to go within. To quiet the inner chatter and switch off the inner movie screen we play our fantasies on.

Science And Spirituality
It took science awhile to catch up to the mystics. 
The ancient mystics already knew that the physical world is basically an illusion and that all things are connected. 
Quantum Theory, in particular, helped cement what the mystics already knew.
Science is about quantifying observable things. 
We learn a lot through that method. 
But there's also an inherent wisdom we're all capable of tapping into. 
Human consciousness gives us a type of "knowing" that we can't quantify or even explain.

Peace In Silence
Silence invites us to go with the flow of life, instead of fighting against it.
Silence can help guide us to make better decisions — to know when it’s time to take action and when it’s time to wait.
But the greatest benefit of silence is the sense of peace we can experience through it.
Peace is found in silence, because silence is home. 
Silence is where God speaks.

Find Yourself In Silence
When we’re in the world we’re usually not ourselves — we’re the person we think we have to be, to get what we think we need. 
But when our mind is quiet, we’re more connected to our true self. 
When our mind is quiet, we’re able to contemplate life more deeply and be more honest with ourselves.

Mindfulness
To live mindfully, is to look past mere appearances. 
It's to be in touch with something beyond the everyday cares of a worldly life. Not that you don't care, but that you see that much of our suffering is an illusion.
Mindfulness doesn't mean having your mind full. 
It means having your mind fully present, absorbed in the here and now, not dwelling on the past or future. 
That's the way to be most of the time.

Perfect Solutions
Good luck trying to find perfect solutions. 
The best solutions are always less than perfect.
We're living in a world of imperfection. 
We have to accept a certain amount of it.

Being The Person You Want To Be
It's not about pretending to be something you're not. 
It's not about mimicking others. 
It's about realizing who you truly are. 
The part of you that you've been ignoring or supressing. 
The noble you, who doesn't get expressed very often, because of fear of rejection.
There's a stigma that comes with expressing your better self. 
Most people don't want you to be too deep, too philosophical, or too noble. 
You're expected to be shallow, obedient to cultural norms, an entertainment junkie, and slightly debauched.
There will always be a niche group of people who get you, but most won't. 
Most people will understand you only if you're like them. 
But all they're really seeing is themselves and those they have been mimicking reflected back at them.

The Ultimate Ethic
We should stand firm on principles that lead to a greater realization of compassion.
In other words, we shouldn't make compromises when it comes to making love the ultimate ethic.

Advice
Start by taking your own advice.
Be what you say others should be.

What You Have
It's difficult to appreciate what you have when you hang on to it too tightly. 
The fear gets in the way.
Get comfortable with loss. 
You're going to experience plenty of it. 
The main thing is to not lose yourself in the process.
We have more than we think we have, if we're willing to notice it.

Plans
Timing can be extremely important, but you often won't know what the right timing will be.
Humble yourself by letting go of your complicated plans. Throw your plans out the window. 
Just put one foot in front of the other. 
Better yet, just sit and look out the window for awhile.
[P.S. 
I'm speaking in terms of specific expectations. 
Financial planning, city planning, etc., is useful.]

Being A Positive Force
The world doesn't need you to be just like everyone else. 
Emphasize the good in yourself. 
Let it speak in a unique way. 
Not just through words, but through your actions.
You can be a positive addition to the world by substracting your negative qualities and by reminding others of their positive qualities.

Overcoming Fear
You'll still have to deal with fear, no matter how much experience you gain or what level of success you reach. 
Get used to the fact that fear will continue to visit you. 
But that's all it can do, is visit you. 
You get to decide if it will control you.
Sometimes people will try to make their fears your fears. 
And they might not give up easily. 
They won't always be okay with you overcoming their fears before they have.
[P.S. 
Sometimes fear is our friend. 
The fear of jumping out of a plane without a parachute isn't a fear we should try to overcome.]

Why We Feel Like Imposters
We feel like imposters, because we actually are.
We know we're flawed. And we know it's dangerous to show people everything about ourselves, so we hide parts of ourselves.
Don't be silent though.
 

Prayer and Self-Consciousness
Being conscious of your body position during prayer is a distraction. 
Laying down, kneeling, standing, facing the east or the west, it doesn't matter.
Freeing yourself from all such concepts is better. 
Escape self-consciousness and be spiritually conscious instead.

Oneness
Silence isn't really silence. 
It’s stillness.
Stillness isn't really stillness. 
It’s oneness.
The purpose of life is related to the knowledge of oneness. 
To see beyond mere appearances and understand that this life is bigger than ourselves.

Those We Honor
We've all benefitted from the sacrifices of others. 
Honor them by living a good life. 
Be thankful for what you have and do good in this world.
We owe our lives to the many people who worked hard and died before we were even born. 
As well as many people alive today who most of us will never meet or even hear about.
Billions of lives have been saved by vaccines alone, but hardly anyone can name a person who developed a vaccine. 
Instead we admire movie stars and athletes.

Marriage And Outside Influences
Imagine if you and your spouse were the only two people on earth. If you were the only two people on earth, there would be no such thing as divorce. 
Divorce exists, almost entirely, because of outside influences.
We compare our spouse and our relationship to other options. 
We compare our spouse to other people. 
We compare our relationship with what other couples have. 
We compare marriage itself with the option of being single again. 
And we allow other activities to interfere with our relationship, ie; career goals, social activities, porn, etc. None of that would happen if you and your spouse were the only two people on earth.
Even the arguments you have with your spouse are mainly about options. 
What to spend money on, where to live, what events to go to or not go to, etc. 
Some of these issues would still come up if you were the only two people on earth, but far less often. And such decisions would be based entirely on what's best for survival, whereas in societal life it's almost always about two things:

What other people are going to think about you, and
Whether there's something or someone else that will make you happier.

If you and your spouse were the only two people on earth there would be no one else to impress, and there would be no outside influences to make you think you'd be happier. 
When there's an option to go looking elsewhere, you're more likely to do that, instead of working with what you've got.
If you and your spouse were the only two people on earth and you happened to fight about something, you'd almost certainly work it out. 
Even if you separated for awhile, you'd still help each other out, and eventually would live together again. 
At the very least, one of you would need the other on occasion, but more likely you'd both need each other regularly. 
Unless one of you became abusive (which itself would be less likely without outside influences), there would be almost no reason to ever permanently separate.
This little thought experiment shows that most couples would be able to stay together if it weren't for outside influences. 
We should keep that in mind when it comes to the influences we allow into our life.

Risk
The greatest hockey player in the world once said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." (Wayne Gretzky)
Take lots of shots.
But since life isn't exactly like hockey, make sure you ask yourself what the cost of missing will be, and give yourself an honest answer.
Some shots shouldn't be taken.

Rational Fitness
Your body is fragile. 
Give it lots of rest. 
Exercise should be moderate, and your schedule shouldn't be hectic. Manage your health in a sensible way. 
Pay attention to how your body feels. 
Listen to it.
There's a belief in the fitness world that the body is lazy and it's the person in the machine controlling the gears that needs to force the body into action. 
I don't buy it. 
The body knows better than we do. 
You can push it further than it wants to go, but you'll pay the price if you do.
There's a time to push yourself, but not for aesthetic reasons or arbitrary physical feats. 
Incidentally, the desire to accomplish physical feats is often an overcompensation for insecurity. 
The fear of not being good enough. 
The fear of not mattering. 
Not feeling loved. Ambition, in general, comes from such insecurity.

Living With Uncertainty
There are some uncertainties that will always exist. 
So it's not always a question of how to understand things. 
The question is, given that uncertainties will always be with us, how should we live?
What's the nature of reality? Can we ever establish a "theory of everything?" Does God exist, and if so, what is God like? There's so much uncertainly around questions like these. 
The bigger question isn't how do we solve them? (though worth exploring) It's how should we live in spite of them?

You're Not That Smart
If you can come to terms with the fact that you're not that smart, you'll save yourself from making a lot of silly mistakes.
As Charlie Munger has said, it's better to avoid doing really dumb things than it is to try to be really smart (paraphrased). 
And Keynes, "It's better to be roughly right than precisely wrong."
Humility is the key to learning and wise decision-making.

Marriage
Approximately 50% of marriages end in divorce. 
Of the 50% of couples who stay together, how many are happily married? The stats aren't clear on that, but my guess is that it's probably around 25%. 
If that's true, that means marriage is either only for the few or most people are doing it wrong.
My guess is that most of us are doing it wrong, and a lack of patience is a big part of the problem. 
The patience to wait for the right person and the patience to work out problems before seeking divorce.
Sometimes patience is forced upon married couples. 
Many couples stay together "for the kids." This may sometimes cause an unhappy situation to continue, but other times it might prevent couples from making a big mistake, because what bothers us now may not bother us later. 
Sometimes being forced to be patient is a good thing.
When we get married, we're convinced that we're making the right decision. 
Half of us then become convinced that divorce is the right decision. "I was young and stupid back then. 
I didn't know what I was getting myself into." Yes, maybe. 
Or maybe the grass seems greener on the other side. 
Maybe we were being impatient when we decided to get married and maybe we're being impatient when we want to end the marriage.

Silence
“I’m just trying to help my students hear the birds sing." ~ Unknown
Silence isn't the absence of sound. 
It's the absence of noise, distractions, disturbances, etc. 
Including our own inner dialogue — the conversations we have with ourselves.
Inviting silence into our life is an act of letting go. 
A letting go of our desire to figure everything out. 
A letting go of the running narrative in our mind. 
A letting go of obsessive judgment.
It’s surrender to the present moment. 
Surrender to deep inner awareness. 
Surrender to the presence of God within us.

Avoiding Silence
We make our own noise and create our own distractions much of the time. 
We think we're solving problems that way, but we're really just hiding from ourselves and from intimacy with God.
We get bored with silence, precisely because we don't spend enough time in it. 
You have to sit with your silence for awhile before you start to enjoy it. 
Before the moments of peace and insight start to break through.

The Power Of Knowing The Odds
One in a million sounds like terrible odds. 
And it is.
One in five-hundred sounds like decent odds. 
But it's not.
Even once in a lifetime, which is approximately once in eighty years, isn't good (and it could be zero for you and twice for someone else). 

But odds like these don't stop people from gambling. 
If you gamble, you'll have some small and moderate sized wins along the way (those are plenty in a lifetime), but eventually you'll give it all back, and then some.
Buying lottery tickets isn't as bad as typical gambling, because you're not going to lose as much money.
Or will you?
The odds of winning it big in the lottery are less than once in a lifetime (closer to one in a million). 
If you spend $5 per week on lottery tickets for 40 years, you will lose approximately $9,600 (minus your small wins).
But that's not all. Because every dollar you spend on lottery tickets is a dollar you're not investing. 
If instead of spending $5 per week on a one in a million chance of getting rich you put the money into an S&P 500 index fund (which has historically returned 7% per year, after inflation) you'd have over $50,000 after 40 years.
If you took it a step further and invested another $100 per week, you'd have over $1,000,000.

Relationships
Relationships breakdown mainly because of expectations of perfection. 
A relationship can't survive unless you're willing to accept a certain amount of imperfection. 
Because everyone is always in a state of imperfection.
There will always be a reason to end a relationship. 
Always. 
The question is: how much are you willing to bear? Because you'll have to bear a certain amount. 
And others will have to bear a certain amount of imperfection in you too.

Sabotage
You're as likely to sabotage yourself as you are to be sabotaged by someone else. 
Negative thinking, overconfidence, and impulsive behavior are common ways we commit self-sabotage.
And then there is self-sabotage by omission: not continually educating ourselves, through self-reflection, collective knowledge, and exposure to diverse ideas and experiences.
It's what we don't know that kills us.

Prayer And Your Better Self
Prayer will help you be your best self. 
Your best self is a person of love, peace, and humility. Without prayer you may find yourself lacking those qualities.
Prayer is your better self crying out for strength.

Know-It-Alls
Beware of people who have all the answers. 
Wise people have some answers, but they also know their limitations. 
The words, "I don't know," aren't far from their lips.
Beware of people who are never wrong. 
They're wrong plenty, they just don't know it. "I was wrong," is an important admission. 
It signals that you're probably dealing with a wise and honest person who is continually learning.

Blame
One of the reasons we sometimes blame other people for our problems (and for other problems in the world) is because nature itself isn't fair. 
In other words, even if you were the only person on earth, you'd still have a lot of problems. 
In fact, you'd have more problems. 
And it wouldn't be anyone's fault. 
Not even your own (most of the time).
In some cases, the people we blame might even be doing us more good than harm. 
Sometimes the good that people do, goes unseen. 
It can get overshadowed by mistakes the person has made or by circumstances that are out of the person's control. 
And because results aren't always immediate.
We have to work on overcoming both our tendency to blame others for the inherent challenges of life on earth, and our tendency to overlook the good that people do.

Being Liked
You don't need everyone to like you. 
It would be nice if they did, but you don't need it. Plenty of people will like you though, so don't worry about it.
People are thinking more about themselves than they are about you anyway. 
Even when they're judging you, they're actually thinking about themselves.
[P.S. 
Not needing people to like you isn't an excuse to be disrespectful.]

Goals
There are only two types of goals that are sensible:

A general long-term vision for the future (20-50 years out).
Specific daily habits and attitudes that are likely to help fulfill your long-term vision.

Quarterly, yearly, and five-year plans are virtually impossible to execute without compromising both your daily habits and attitudes, and your long-term vision. 
And such time frames are arbitrary — things aren't go to go according to the plans you set out within those time frames.
Dedication to your five-year life-plan might actually cause you to miss out on something better. 
Commitment to your one-year fitness goal might cause you to injure yourself and suffer a major setback (the body doesn't care how badly you want to do one-arm push-ups). 
Obsession with quarterly profits might cause you to cut corners and alienate clients.
Masterplans are for the delusional. 
Sensible daily habits and attitudes, with a general long-term vision is how positive outcomes are created.

Time For Solitude
"All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” ~ Blaise Pascal
It’s important that we find time for solitude on a daily basis, just as we find time for food, sleep, exercise, brushing our teeth, etc.
It’s not practical for everyone to spend large amounts of time in solitude, but when it's available it’s wise to take advantage of it. 
We can start with a few minutes per day and work our way up, like we would with a new exercise regime. 
The key is to start making it a habit.
When we spend too much time around other people we start to become like them. 
Their ideas, their fears, their negativity, all start to rub off on us. 
There are many positive things about spending time with others as well. 
But when we spend a disproportionate amount of time with others, we start to lose ourselves. 
We have to filter the influence of others through moments of solitude — through communion with ourselves and God.

Love's Attention
There once was a little girl who didn’t get enough attention from her parents.
One day she heard a line from a movie where a man said to his wife, “this child is the manifestation of our love and will forever be the object of our love.”
After hearing this, the little girl went to her mother and said, “why do you always ignore me, aren’t I the object of your love?” The mother began to cry and said, “yes you are, and you always will be.”
From that day on the mother made sure to make those words true.

Spiritual Work
Your life isn't done, so your work isn't done.
True work is spiritual work.
Spiritual work is what your life is about.

Do Good
Beware of these two prevalent character traits: those who like to stroke their ego, and those whose mission is to make money. 
Elevation of social status and economic status are what motivate many people.
It seems redundant to say that we should be motivated to do good things in the world. 
Yet we still see and hear, too often, that many people are motivated by what they can get from the world, instead of what they can give.

Give It To God
You don't need to struggle to find God. 
God is already closer than you think. 
God is found through letting go.
Let go and trust God to lead you.  Give your concerns to God and trust that things will work out as they should.

Unconscious Self
There's more going on in your unconscious mind than you're aware of. Great ideas and insightful thoughts come from that place.
But they won't come if your mind is busy. 
And they won't come if your schedule is busy. 
You have to leave some space for them to come through. 
Don't build a wall around your spiritual self.

Distractions
Slow it down. 
Make time for silence, creativity, and love.
Don't fill your days with news about everything going on in the world. 
Don't fill your days with noise and distortion. 
And don't fill your days with tasks.
Live the life of a contemplative. 
Live a spiritual life. 
Live a life of quiet meaning.

Take The Lead
When we spend a lot of time with other people, we start to act like them. 
This happens for two reasons:
The first is that we want to be accepted by them. 
The second is that we begin to see their behavior as the correct behavior, because that's what we're being exposed to the most.
You have to be a deep person to overcome this. 
You need to listen to your deeper self. Incidentally, a person who does that is a true leader. 
A person who does that can awaken others.

The Best Option
You're not always going to know what the best option is. 
Often you'll have to settle for what's merely a good option. In other words, in a world of myriad options, and limited ability to assess those options, you're not likely going to find the absolute "best" very often.
And there's not always going to be an absolute best. 
There may be many bests. 
You could draw names out of a hat and be happy with any of them.
This can apply to many things: who to marry, what investments to make, where to work, who to hire, what items to buy at the grocery store, etc.
To help narrow it down to a group of bests, start by eliminating the terrible and less than good options.
There's also a concept in data science called optimal stopping which says that the ideal time to make a selection is after you've examined 37% of the options (pick the next one that's as good or better than the one you liked best in the first 37%). 
This seems like a useful mental model for at least some decisions, but definitely not all.

Keep Learning
Keep learning from people smarter than you. 
Keep learning from what others have figured out. 
Keep learning from your mistakes and the mistakes of others.
And make room for silence, regularly. 
Sit in silence and let it guide you. 
Let go of your plans, you'll be fine.

When Souls Meet
There once was a young soldier who was deployed to a combat zone in a third-world country. 
Shortly after arriving, he sustained a gunshot wound to the head and fell into a coma.
While unconscious, he found himself inside a small, dark enclosure. 
A dark skinned woman entered through an opening and motioned for him to follow her. 
He followed her through the opening, and looking back, he realized he had been inside a mud hut, like the ones he’d seen many times while on patrol.
The woman sat down and motioned for him to sit next to her.
“This feels strange, but so familiar,” he thought to himself. 
“This isn’t my mother, yet she is.”
Playing in an adjacent field was an eleven-year-old boy. 
The mother waved him over to join them. 
“Your brother,” she said to the young soldier, “he is like another version of you. 
Always remember him that way.”
The boy made eye contact with him and as he did the young soldier felt an overwhelming rush of love, so strong that he began to cry. 
The emotion gradually faded as they both looked down at their feet.
The mother walked over to the door of the hut and gestured for the young soldier to go back inside. 
He stepped through the doorway and everything faded to black. 
He turned to face the doorway, but it was gone.
A small beam of light come down in front of him from above. 
He looked up to see what was there and the longer he looked the wider and brighter the light became. 
It became so bright that he had to close his eyes and look away.
As he did, a voice said, “Look again.”
He opened his eyes and saw that he was now in an open space, filled with so much white light that he couldn’t see any farther than a few meters in any direction.
The silhouette of a person appeared in front of him, with bright light streaming around it.
“Where am I?” The soldier said aloud.
A voice emanating from all around said, “You’re where you need to be.”
The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once and was neither male nor female.
“Who are you?” The young soldier asked.
“I am your potential,” the voice replied.
“My potential? What do you mean?”
“Everyone exists in all possible states of being and I am the best possible expression of your essence. 
How you express yourself in space-time isn’t everything that you are. 
Your heart understands what this means, but your head doesn’t.”
“You said I need to be here? Why, what’s going to happen?”
“If you could know a person directly, without knowing how they look, how they sound, where they’re from, and all the superficial judgements you make about them, you would feel like you were connecting with a family member. 
If you were able to see with the eyes of your soul, you would see other versions of yourself everywhere. 
Within you there’s a struggle between fear and love. 
Fear is a necessary protector, but it needs to be balanced with love. 
When you see someone as another version of you, that’s love.”
“Is that what that was about, with that family I just met?”
“The people of this country aren’t so different from you. 
There’s nothing particularly special about your skin color or the land you’re from. 
The soul is what matters. 
You experienced that mother as your mother, even though she wasn’t really your mother, and you experienced the brother as your brother, even though you’ve never had a brother.”
The young soldier was thinking of his next question, but before he could say anything the space where he was standing fell out from under him and he began to free fall. 
He felt the g-force in his stomach and feared that he was falling to his death. 
His body went flush and tingled all over, and just at the moment when he thought he was about to die, he was jolted awake. 
His body felt like lead pressing into the mattress underneath him, and the only light he could see now was coming from a light fixture above him.
“Welcome back, Private,” said an army medic, seeing him conscious for the first time in days.
“What happened?”
“An Ak-47 round pierced your helmet. 
You’re lucky — it didn’t fully penetrate your skull.”
Later that day his Sergeant checked in on him and filled him in on the details.
“I have some intel about the shooter,” said the Sergeant.
“It was a child soldier from a nearby village. 
Eleven-years-old. 
One of our guys took him out.”
“Eleven?”
“Yeah, his family had been killed by the rebels. 
He came home and found them dead. 
The rebels told him we did it.”
The Sergeant left the room and the young soldier’s eyes filled with tears.
. 
. 
.

Peace
If the things you're doing are blocking you from experiencing peace and love, you're either doing the wrong things or your attitude toward those things is wrong.
If you didn't have a peaceful day yesterday, what can you do differently today?

Suffering
Suffering can't be totally escaped in this life. 
The best we can expect is to reduce it. 
We can do that through science and through the way we treat ourselves and each other. We can also do it through the way we view suffering.
We should work toward minimizing unnecessary suffering, but also see unavoidable suffering as a means to appreciating what we have, to grow stronger, and to draw closer to each other and to God.

Care And Attention
If you care enough and are observant enough to see what other people are doing wrong, are you also able to give the same amount of care and attention to your own faults?
And are you able to see the good in others as easily as you're able to see the good in yourself?

Less About Self
Don't make everything about what you want and what you think.
Pay close attention to how you might be causing others to suffer by not being more open-minded.
Above all, people want to be loved. 
They want to know that they matter.

Fear And Bravery
Bravery doesn’t exist without fear. 
How could something be an act of bravery if the person wasn’t afraid to do it?
Even the bravest people on earth are afraid. 
It’s not that they don’t feel fear, it’s that they do what they think needs to be done regardless of the fear.
The cowards of the world are the people who allow fear to stop them from doing what needs to be done. 
And there’s a coward in all of us.

The Best Strategy Of All
More time spent in contemplation.
More time spent in silence and solitude.
More time spent with books that produce peace and insight.
And more time spent writing.
There's no secret way that you still need find. 
You've found it. 
Stop taking detours.

Becoming Love
Everyday is another day in the practice of becoming love.
You already are love, but you're not behaving like it. 
You haven't fully submitted to it. 
You're sill trying to find your way in the dark, when love itself is the light.
We fear what that means. 
It means vulnerability. 
Becoming love (our true selves) requires us to put our shield down. 
It can be extremely uncomfortable and scary.

Debts
We aren't just prone to financial debt, we're also prone to other types of debt, such as debt related to our health.
Not sleeping enough is a type of debt. 
Over-training and over-working are types of debt. 
Living stressed out is a type of debt. 
Even over-eating is a type of debt (because it incurs a cost on our body that we'll pay for in the form of illness).
Spend your money wisely, and spend your energy wisely. 
Both need to be budgeted.

Return To The Source
The ability to love can be temporarily lost in the noise of everyday life.
We need time to reconnect with God and our true self. 
So we can be reminded again of the importance of love and how to be love.
We need to return to the source of love so we can once again be a reflection of it.

Reasonable Expectations
Your anxiety and frustration will increase in similar proportion to your expectations.
It's reasonable to set the bar high. 
And it's reasonable to pursue worthy goals. 
But things will often turn out differently from what you expect. 
Prepare yourself for that.

Be A Nobody
It's better to think of yourself as a nobody than a somebody. 
Not in terms of a low self-esteem, but in terms of not bragging, patting yourself on the back, being easily offended, etc.
It's better to live as though your ego has been crucified. 
The truth is we have to keep crucifying it over and over again. 
Life will give you plenty of opportunities to do so.

Being Better
A person who knows themselves seeks balance. 
Growing in peace and love becomes their main pursuit.
We're not capable of being perfect, but we're capable of calibrating ourselves. 
We can make some adjustments.

Quality Work
The quality of your work is not just determined by how much time you put into it. 
It's also determined by how much of you you put into it.
Make your unique contribution to the world.

Ambitious For The Right Reasons
If you're going to be ambitious, do it for the right reasons. 
Not to elevate yourself, but to elevate all of us. 
Not just materially, but spiritually.
Seek God above all else. 
Be ambitious about it. 
Seek the knowledge of God's love. 
Spread that message, and be that message as best you can. It's better to be it than to merely talk about it (though it's much harder).

Your Decisions
Most things aren't your decision to make.
Let them go.
There are only a handful of decisions that are actually in your care. 
And they deserve more of your attention.

Fighting With Yourself
The fear of missing out, of not having enough, of being judged, of occasional discomfort — all these things will get in your way. 
They will block you, if you allow them to. All of them are you fighting with yourself.
The struggle in this life is mainly with ourselves. 
The proper way to live always comes back to letting go and trusting God.

Faith
Faith isn't believing that God merely exists. 
Nor is it about God giving you what you want if you just believe hard enough.
Faith is accepting the mystery of God's unconditional love for you.

Love And Faith
Love and faith are linked. 
There is no love without faith.
Real love isn't fickle. 
Real love can endure almost anything. 
And it's because of our love for others—our caring about their well-being, that we're willing to take risks for them. 
We're willing to sacrifice for them, and that requires faith.
Love and faith are just words and until they're put into action. 
Until they're lived, with real consequences. 
Those consequences will be both painful and joyful. 
And they will matter in this world and the next.

The Foundation
Faith needs to be the foundation of our life. 
True life is found through connection with God—the ultimate source of love, peace, and wisdom.
Surrender your fears and doubts. 
Surrender your plans. 
Reach out to God and find what you're looking for.

The Things We Run From
What you're trying to run from will probably come with you.
The things you run from will even find you in your dreams. 
You can't escape the unconscious mind.
We can escape certain people and certain circumstances, but we can't escape ourselves. 
Make sure it's not you that you're trying to run from.

Dig Deep
You haven't yet dug as deep as you can.
Deep down you know you can be more loving than you have been. 
And more free from worry than you have been.

Following Your Heart and Self-Sabotage
It can be difficult to tell the difference between following your heart and self-sabotage. 
Because following your heart will probably require you to undo some things. 
It may require you to quit a job, end a relationship, or give away some money.
Following your heart might feel like self-sabotage, because you'll be saying no to things the world has taught you to say yes to. 
Things like status, and never passing up an opportunity to make more money.

Wild Ego
An insult will activate your ego. 
Your ego is your protection. 
But it tends to over-react. 
And it makes all kinds of excuses and justifications for being unloving.
When it meets someone else's ego it can start acting like a wild animal. 
Tame the wild animal with the other part of yourself. 
The real, peaceful and loving you hiding behind your defenses.

Why You Do The Work You Do
If you start from the mindset of, what can I do to make money? Instead of, in what way should I be helping people? You're going to be disingenuous. 
You're going to deliberately deceive people and justify it to yourself as necessary.
You're going to cut corners, charge more than you should, hype something that's not that good, manipulate people's emotions, etc.
You'll likely know it's wrong, but you'll do it anyway. 
You won't be doing it to truly serve others, you'll be doing it out of fear. 
Fear that you won't have enough money, won't reach enough people, won't get enough attention, etc.
If you do it the generous way instead, you'll reach the people you're meant to reach and make the money you deserve to make. 
Both of which might be less than you think they should be, but it's not all about what you want anyway. 
If it were, we'd all be in trouble.
(by you, I mean me)

Work
A big reason why hardly anyone does what they want for a living is because hardly anyone tries to. 
And many of the people who do, give up too soon.
Just keep working at it. 
That's how you build something. 
Even if you don't know how it's all going to come together.
It's better to be a late bloomer than to not bloom at all.

Seductive Philosophy
Seductive philosophy is the type that sounds wise but is actually all about self. 
It is self-focus, instead of us-focused.
Sometimes it disguises itself as us-focused (such as Communism), but it leaves room for tyranny. It leaves room for, I know what's best for everyone, so it's okay for me to force it upon them.
Or, by being selfish, I'm able to produce greater value for others. Which is partially true. 
But not everything a person does out of self-interest is beneficial to others. 
As Charlie Munger once said, don't "overdose on Ayn Rand".

Temptation
Don't resist temptation, let go of it. 
Resistance makes it stronger.
You're the one doing it to yourself and you're the one giving it strength by giving it more attention.
Breathe, and focus on something else.

Love And Theology
It's better to love your neighbor than it is to study theology.
You can learn about loving your neighbor by studying theology, but if you have to choose between spending more time studying theology or more time actually loving your neighbor, you should choose the latter.
Even if you're not good at it—even if you try and fail over and over again, it's still better to try and fail at loving your neighbor than it is to be a brilliant theologian.

Convictions
The strength of your convictions doesn't determine the accuracy of your beliefs. 
Confidence isn't a measure of truth. 
The accuracy of the information that leads you to your convictions is what matters.
A balance between confidence and humility is important. 
Confidence without humility is hubris. 
And humility without confidence can cause us to be easily lead astray. That's the value of having convictions—to keep us from being mislead. 
But if our convictions are based on false beliefs, we're already off course.
Our education is never complete. 
Remain a lifelong learner. There's more information available than you're ever going to need. 
The challenge is to find relevant and accurate information.

Two Culprits Of Missed Opportunity
While you're busy searching for perfection, opportunities are passing you by.
The same is true when we settle for mediocrity.

Exposure
The more you expose yourself to the thoughts of others, the more you'll be influenced by them. 
Choose carefully.
Make moments of silence and solitude part of your day. 
You need them more than you realize.

Spite
Sometimes when we think we're hurting other people, we're also hurting ourselves. 
We sometimes miss out on opportunities because of spite. 
We're willing to miss out merely so the other person misses out.
Missing out is fine if you don't want to align yourself with someone because they're behaving unethically. 
That's a sacrifice worth making. 
But it's different from saying no to an opportunity merely because you didn't get picked the first time.

A Productive Day
A day of not forcing yourself to do things can be very productive. 
It can open up insight and creativity.
Go outside and get lost once in awhile too. 
Go for a random walk.

Greed
Greed is accompanied by excuses and justifications.
Let go of greed. 
Embrace purpose and service.

Success
Success means you accomplished something you set out to do. 
The question is what do you want to succeed at? Some things are clearly more important than others.
And if you're not motived by love and you haven't found inner peace, how successful are you really?

Motives
The line between helping others for the sake of others, and helping others for the sake of helping ourselves can become blurred.
Radical honesty with ourselves — that's what keeps our motives in check. 
That's what keeps us focused on being of service for the right reasons.

When You're In Pain
Things are almost certainly not as bleak as you think they are.
Time doesn't heal all wounds, but it does a pretty good job. 
What used to hurt a lot, now hurts less.

Tough Love
A kick in the pants is necessary sometimes. 
Because sometimes that's the only way you can get through to people.
You don't do it to win. 
You do it to help. 
Then you both win.
Sometimes you're the kicker, and sometimes you're the pants.

Being Different
Don't be afraid to do things differently from all the rest.
Just make sure you're doing it for the right reasons.
Being called weird isn't a good enough reason to change.

Silly Guilt
Don't feel guilty about trivial matters. 
You probably feel guilty because of social pressure. 
Pressure that started at an early age and has been reinforced many times over the years by elders, peers, the media, and the stories you tell yourself.
You didn't mow the lawn this week? Who cares? You're wearing the same shirt you wore yesterday? Who cares?
We sometimes feel guilty over the dumbest things.
P.S. 
[At the same time, don't make excuses for your big failures. 
Especially failures that involve hurting people in a significant way. 
Acknowledge the mistake and commit to doing better.]

Heroes
True love is brave. 
Because it is self-sacrificial.
There are people in this world much braver than me. 
I'm not talking about soldiers, police officers, or firefighters (though many of them are, and I've done two of those professions).
I'm talking about the mother who gives up her life to take care of an infirm child. 
And does so without bitterness (though she may feel frustrated at times). 
She is, above all else, thankful. 
And an angel to her child.
Those are the real heroes. 
They don't get paid. 
They don't receive glory. 
They work for love, and they are closer to it than anyone.

Simplify
Only by simplifying your life can you truly live a spiritual life. 
That means simplifying your needs and desires. 
Wanting less. Being content with less.
Simplify your life so you don't get lost in the temptations of the world.

The Spirit
When everything is stripped away, the only thing left is the spirit.
The spirit is the source of infinite intangibles. 
The things that really matter. 
The things we're all searching for — love, joy, peace, wisdom.
The spirit dwells in silence. 
Behind all the conversations we have with ourselves and the fantasies we project in our imagination.
Many of those conversations and fantasies are the things that disturb us the most. 
We create problems where none exist and we live them in our mind as though they're actually happening to us.
"I've lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened" ~ Mark Twain

Win Win
Remind people of what's truly important.
That's better than showing off. 
That's better than trying to prove yourself. 
That's better than trying to win arguments.
If you can bring the other person back to a sense of what's important, you'll both win.

Two Causes Of Error
Error is often the result of laziness or an obsession with perfection.
It's obvious why laziness would cause errors. 
But being obsessed with perfection is less obvious. 
An example would be an attempt to create a utopian society. 
Or a religion that claims to have all the answers.
People involved in such pursuits aren't lazy. 
They're often very energetic and driven. 
The problem is that they tend to see the world in black and white terms. 
They leave little room for nuance. 
They tend not to see things the way they are, but the way they want things to be. 
They're obsessed with the idea that there are perfect solutions and that they have found those solutions.

Shelter
Seek shelter from the distractions, temptations, and madness of the world, through silence and solitude.
There, you'll find peace. 
There, you'll find your true self. 
There, you'll find God.

Center Yourself
Don't allow yourself to be agitated. 
Don't allow your emotions to get the better of you.
Pray, breathe, trust, love.

Merciful
Not everyone's brain is functioning properly. 
That's important to keep in mind when dealing with someone difficult.
They could have a mental illness that you're not aware of. 
They could be suffering from brain damage. 
They might be taking drugs that mess with their brain chemistry. 
They could be tired. 
Etc.
It's easier to be merciful when thinking of it that way.

Better Than Before
It's usually better to compare yourself to who you were before, instead of comparing yourself to other people. 
Because there will always be someone better than you at something you'd like to be the best at.
Even comparing yourself to the way you were before doesn't always work. 
Because age will cause certain things to deteriorate. 
But on a deeper level — the spiritual level, you can become a more peaceful and loving person than you once were. 
That's something worth striving for.

Signs
Darkness is the absence of light. 
Evil is the absence of good. 
Ignorance is the absence of understanding.
Light overcomes darkness. 
Goodness overcomes evil. 
Understanding overcomes ignorance.
There's an inherent intelligence and goodness in the universe. 
It is the derivative of God. 
It is the sign of God's existence.

About Discipline
Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should. 
Nor should you avoid doing what's necessary just because you don't think you can.
Discipline is learning to do the right things, consistently. 
Which is really about avoiding the wrong things.

Christian Love
To dismiss Christianity as void of truth, would be to dismiss sacrificial love. 
Jesus' sacrifice, Paul's sacrifice, Peter's sacrifice were real. 
They chose others over themselves.
That's the real essence of Christianity. 
Despite the way some Christians behave. 
And despite doubts about the divinity of Jesus or the authority of the bible.
The foundational message of love can't be denied. 
Even if you regard the entire bible as fiction there's still a message of love there worth taking seriously.
The message of love and peace should be taken seriously wherever it is found.

Needs And Demands
Some people will think you owe them something merely because you exist. 
Merely because you have something they want. 
Merely because they have the ability to insist that you owe them.
They will insist that you owe them your time, money, energy, connections, gratitude, etc. 
Even if you don't know them. 
Even if they're just now learning of your existence.
Some people will need your help, even if they have nothing to offer in return. 
Help the ones you can. 
But beware of those who have the ability and the means to do something for themselves but instead channel their energy into getting you to do it for them for practically nothing.

Life's Gifts
If you make use of the gifts life places in your lap you can do a lot.
But first you need to recognize those gifts. 
Which means you have to stop focusing on what you don't have and begin a daily habit of being thankful for what you do have. 
Even the smallest things.

Why We Think We're Not Worthy
When we feel like we're not good enough—not worthy, it's the result of comparing ourselves to what we're not. We want to be more than what we are, so we can impress other people. 
We fear rejection.
From the moment we're born we are vulnerable and dependant on other people. 
Rejection threatens our security—both our physical survival and our emotional survival.
We fear not being protected and not being loved. 
So we compare how we think others currently perceive us, with how they could potentially perceive us if we were to change.
We think about all the times we've been criticized, judged, ridiculed, rejected, abandoned, compared to others, etc. 
and we imagine that this is how most people think of us currently and will continue to think of us unless we change into what we think they will admire.
The truth is that most people are wrong about you and you are wrong about how most people perceive you.
Another way to think about all this is to imagine that you're the last person on Earth. 
In other words, imagine there's no one around to impress and there never will be again. 
How would that change what you think about yourself? Would you still feel unworthy? Would you still feel like you're not good enough? Not good enough for what?
This whole feeling of not being good enough is an illusion we create. 
When there's no one to compare ourselves to the illusion goes away.

Assessing Without Condemning
Once you start having conversations with yourself about how wrong someone is, you'll soon start condemning them.
Condemnation doesn't fix the problem. 
It's actually a way of making yourself feel superior. 
A way of trying to make yourself feel more secure.
Look deeply at the situation. 
Look past appearances. 
Search for compassion and understanding within yourself. 
See yourself in the other and them in you. 
See your interconnectedness with everything around you.

Now
That thing you're stressing about that hasn't happened yet, you may not live to see it happen anyway.
What can you do right now in this moment? What's important right now? Come back to the present. 
You're life is passing you by.

Truth
We get angry when people lie to us. 
But we also get angry when people tell us the truth.
Might as well go for the truth. 
It's the only one of the two that has the potential to set us free. 
To open our eyes. 
To make us better. 
To make us wiser.

Crucify The Ego
The "ego" is a metaphor.
A metaphor for selfishness.
For irrationality.
For Fear.
For "the flesh".
For arrogance.
For hate.
Crucify and bury that part of yourself. 
Stop digging it up and breathing new life into it. 
Stop wearing it as a covering or a shield.
Step outside of it, like the spirit stepping outside the body. 
You are love, you are peace, you are wisdom.

Attention
Your attention is worth too much for you to be selling it at a discount. 
That's what we're doing when we consume trashy media, or listen to negative people, or gossip, or have arguments with people in our mind, and so on.
Get your mind out of the gutter. 
You deserve better and you have more important things to focus on.

Margin Of Error Thinking
It makes sense to build a "margin of error" into your decision-making process. 
What this means is that you consider that you might be wrong and adjust your actions accordingly.
In the investment world that means buying shares at a lower price than you think they're worth. 
That way if you're wrong you won't lose as much money. 
This way of think translates well into other areas of life.
Such as diet. 
Conventional wisdom used to be that you should consume a low-fat diet. 
The result was that people over-consumed carbs. 
Now conventional wisdom is that you should consume more of a high-fat/low-carb diet. 
Well, what if conventional wisdom is wrong again? Maybe low-fat and high-fat are both unhealthy. 
Maybe moderation is a better idea, just to be safe.
Or maybe it's best not to argue a point too forcefully. 
Maybe you're being over-confident, not considering that you might be at least partially wrong.
Individuals (laypeople and experts), companies, governments, educational institutions, religious institutions, peer-reviewed journals, etc. 
— they all get it wrong sometimes. 
Sometimes terribly wrong.
Allowing for a margin of error can help prevent that from happening.

Rejection
You'll probably have to go through the rejection of many in order to be accepted by a few.
Your value isn't determined by how many people love you. 
Nor should your inner contentment be.

Ambition and Mindfulness
Ambition is dangerous. 
It can destroy you. 
It disguises itself as benevolent. 
But it's actually a malevolent dictator.
The opposite of ambition isn't laziness or apathy. 
The opposite is mindfulness. 
Mindfulness puts priorities in order, and teaches us when it's appropriate to take action.
Ambition says, I want that and I'll do whatever I have to do to get it.
Mindfulness says, this is what needs to be done and this is the way to do it.

What We Want
Money and attention, that's what many of us want. 
To be rich and famous.
At least, that's what we think we want. 
That's what we think is going to make us happy and secure.
What we really want, deep down, is peace and love. 
Deep inner restfulness, and to be understood and accepted by other people and by God.

A Busy Mind Is Not An Open Mind
You're going to learn more by letting go than you will by repeating the same thoughts over and over in your mind.
You have to leave room for insight to make itself known. 
Your busy mind is merely keeping you busy, it's not increasing your understanding.
Begin by letting go. 
Begin by trusting that the right answers will find you. 
Begin with an open mind.

Doing And Not Doing
Everyday you're going to fight with yourself about something. 
Everyday you'll think you need to do something you don't. 
And everyday you'll think you don't need to do something you do. 
That will be the struggle.
The decision to do or to not do shouldn't be based on what others will think of you. 
It should start from a period of contemplative prayer.
The soul knows what to do. 
Let go of the false sense of self for awhile and find out what the true self wants. 
The true self knows the way, and that way will be marked by a sense of inner peace.

The Reason You Haven't Killed Yourself
Purpose will keep you going. 
It's the only thing that can keep you going. 
You would be dead otherwise.
There's a reason why you're still alive, and a big part of that reason is that you haven't killed yourself. 
You haven't killed yourself because you have a purpose for continuing to live.
That purpose may be unconscious. 
You may not consciously be thinking about it, but it's there, driving you, sustaining you, guiding you.
Get familiar with it. 
Understand it.

Check Out Of The Game Once In Awhile
In society we play roles, in a type of game, with certain rules.
That's one version of reality.
There's another world that exists within you. 
And it mostly goes unnoticed. 
It reveals itself in private. 
In moments of silence and solitude.
You can find peace there, and wisdom, and the ability to love more greatly. 
It has a lot to teach us.

Humble About Religious Beliefs
If you dedicate yourself to a particular religious belief without hearing the others, what are the chances you have the right one?
That's exactly what happens to most religious people. 
They believe wholeheartedly in whatever religion they were originally influenced by and reject the others without exploring them. How can everyone who does that all be right at the same time?
It gets even more complicated when you consider that each religion has various sects and denominations, based on differences in doctrine. 
We're talking about tens of thousands of different doctrines. 
What are the chance that the doctrine you hold to is entirely correct and that all others are completely wrong?
What are the chances that even most of your religious beliefs are correct and most of other people's are wrong? Better, but still not good.
And what happens when those people-the people who are supposedly wrong, are just as confident as you are? You better have at least explored all the options before you become so ridged.
Either way, you should be humble.

Pivotal Moments
There comes a time when you need to reinvent yourself. 
It's the result of changing circumstances in life and the lessons we learn along the way.
After awhile certain things that used to work well for you won't work so well anymore. 
Life forces such pivots upon us. 
You can resist it-you can hold out for awhile, but eventually you'll be forced to submit or fall behind.
We have this idea that we're never supposed to quit-to never give in. 
But that's nonsense. 
There are plenty of times when it's appropriate, even necessary, to give in.
Exercise good judgement.

What People Tell You
One of the most important decisions you can make is the decision not to automatically accept what other people tell you.
This doesn't mean automatically rejecting what other people say. 
It merely means not accepting it outright.
Collect it as information to be contemplated and processed.

Fighting With Others
Of course you're going to fight with people. 
You even fight with yourself.
It's not so much that we fight with people, rather we debate ideas. We're struggling to find answers. 
Answers that will lead to satisfaction.
We're all searching for the essence of satisfaction. 
An ultimate feeling of peace and security. 
But it eludes us.
The ultimate in satisfaction is to finally be one with God.

Foundational Leadership
You can't lead if you're directionless. 
You need to have some foundational principles that guide your decisions.
And you have to stick with those principles, unless it becomes clear that they're wrong. 
You can't be all over the place.
You can experiment with different ideas, but your core principles need to remain intact. 
You have to be open-minded, but somewhat dogmatic at the same time.

Open To Change
What behaviors do you want to change?
Meditate and pray about them.
You'll find solutions, because you've admitted that there's a problem. 
Because you've opened yourself up.
If you're open to finding solutions, solutions will eventually find you.

Getting To The Core
Take a step back from the debates you've been having with yourself.
What do you truly want, beneath all the arguments for and against particular options. 
What do you want the most, at the core of your being?
Doesn't it have something to do with peace and love? So choose what's in-line with those deeper and greater values.

Explaining Isn't Always Easy
Sometimes you won't be able to explain why you don't want to do something, or why you'd rather do something else. 
You won't always know how to put it into words.
The things of the heart/spirit are intuitive. 
They don't always fit into the logical boxes we want to put them in.
If you do try to put it into words it might sound like you're making excuses, even if you're not. 
As long as you're being radically honest with yourself, that's the main thing.
Because sometimes we actually are making excuses. 
Sometimes we do lie to ourselves or to others to justify not doing the sensible thing.

You'll Pay For It Later
How much would you spend to buy back your health?
How much would you spend to buy back lost time with your child?
How much would you spend to buy your way out of a job you hate? (taking a lower pay for a better job)
How much would you spend to have less stress?
We tend to sacrifice these things in the pursuit of money and material possessions, status, and the perception of security.

Being Other People
You'll be tempted to try to make yourself into something you're not. 
To be other people you envy or admire.
Use the ideas and examples of wise people to inform your judgement — to help activate and complement your own inner wisdom. 
But don't try to be someone else.
You have to follow your path, discover your strengths and interests, and how you can make a difference in your own unique way.

Thinking About Risk
In his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, psychologist Daniel Kahneman says that people are generally risk averse. 
That we feel the pain of loss more intensely than we feel the joy of gain. 
Which causes us to protect what we have, rather than go after what we don't have, even on the occasions when the odds are in our favor to go after them.
The evidence that he provides is compelling. 
More often than not, it's true that we're risk averse.
Being risk averse is generally a good thing though, and in some cases we aren't risk averse enough. The problem is that we're not very good at judging risk.
That's why casinos and other forms of gambling are attractive. 
That's why we pull money out of good investments prematurely. 
That's why we stay in jobs that are destined to be disrupted or terminated by technological and social change. 
That's why we go "all in" on a new business, even though the vast majority of new businesses fail. 
That's why we damage relationships with our words, etc.
It's the result of allowing our emotions and immediate impressions to guide our decisions.

Opportunities
You are probably luckier than you realize. 
You're living in a time of unprecedented freedom, prosperity, and opportunity. 
It's not distributed evenly to everyone, but most people living today are much better off than the majority of people who lived a century or more ago.
There are many opportunities to make your own luck in this world. 
It involves continuous education, self-awareness, and diligence. 
Often, one or more of these components is missing, rather than opportunity itself.
The specific opportunity you may want, won't necessarily be there. 
But a good opportunity of some sort likely will be. 
And it's not determined by whether you can see it in your mind's eye. 
It will likely come as a surprise.

Useful Criticism
Every idea probably deserves some criticism. 
Because it's coming from an imperfect source: a human being.
But there's a point at which criticism can be taken too far. 
When it stops being about determining the truth through thoughtful discussion or research. 
When it becomes cynicism, rather than criticism. 
When the critic thinks they already know everything. 
Or when they fear being decisive. 
Or when they refuse to understand.
Criticism is important. 
We should even criticize our own thoughts and we should welcome some feedback from other people. 
But we don't have to put up with cynicism or abuse.
Look for the truth, wherever it can be found. 
Be thankful when you find it. 
Even when it comes from a critic.

Wealth
We tend to compare what we have with what we don't have. 
More specifically, we compare what we have with what other people have. 
This makes us unhappy.
If there was no one to compare with, it would change everything. 
Most of us would probably feel more fortunate. 
The ability to see what we don't have causes us to overlook what we do have.
There's no way around that. 
There are only ways to reduce it. 
We can start by recognizing that envy may be what's making you feel like you don't have enough. 
That's not true for everyone. 
Some people truly don't have enough. 
But most of us likely do.
Enough will never feel like enough until you recognize that it's enough. 
Look for contentment outside material wealth.
Money itself isn't a master we're in danger of serving. 
Our own impulses are what enslave us. 
Material wealth makes it easier for us to delude and trap ourselves by our own desires.

Knowing
Before assuming you already know, assume you don't know.
Then find out if you do.

Mindful About Annoyance
When you're annoyed with someone is it because they're actually being annoying, or is it because the voice in your mind is active? Is it because you're frustrated about something unrelated to the person you're annoyed with?
Is it true that they aren't worth paying attention to in that moment? Would it be better for you to get away from them, or give them more attention?

Love's Way
There's no sense in pretending you're a saint. 
You're not. 
No one is. 
Just do your best not to hurt people. 
That's the main thing.
Don't expect perfection from anyone. 
Not yourself or anyone else. 
If you do, you'll always be disappointed and you'll be virtually incapable of love.

Hate And Fear
Hate is fear manifested. Fear shouldn't be the driving force in our life. 
Love should be.
Living in fear is like dying a thousand deaths. 
You're living the thing you fear over and over again in your mind.
We have a choice between fear and love. 
Whichever you choose is the one you have surrendered to. 
We don't like the idea of surrendering, but we have to surrender to one of them. 
Might as well choose the one that will give you peace.

Time Better Spent
The fact that we're able to find plenty of time to complain, and argue, and be negative, also means we have time to be productive instead. 
To find the positive. 
To make positive change.
If you have time to argue with someone, you have time to find a way to turn it into a respectful conversation. 
If you have time to complain, you have time to mention what was done right.

Better Than Fear
All fear is linked to the fear of death. 
Fear of not having enough, fear of being rejected, fear of not mattering, all of it is fear of death.
Fear is about survival. 
But survival doesn't have to be about fear. 
A life of fear is no life. 
A life of inner peace and love, that is true living.

Our Expectations Of Others
Consciously, and unconsciously, we have expectations of other people. 
We expect people to behave in certain ways. 
When people don't meet our expectations of them we become annoyed.
Sometimes our expectations are reasonable, and sometimes they're not. 
Sometimes the other person is the problem, and sometimes it's us. 
If you find yourself getting annoyed by someone, stop and honestly ask yourself if the problem is you. 
Are your expectations too high?

When Good Enough Is Good Enough
When you mop the floor you don't mop it to perfection. 
You can't see the bacteria, but it's still there. 
Lots of it. 
You could invest more time and resources into getting it sterile, at least for awhile, but would it be worth it? Why bother?
Good enough is good enough, for most things. 
You have no choice anyway. 
You don't have time to make everything perfect. 
And perfection doesn't actually exist in this world anyway.
So yes, it's okay to do the bare minimum in most cases. 
Another way to think about it is in terms of a "minimum effect dose". 
What's the minimum amount you need to do to get the result you need? Anything more than that may do you no good, and might even do you harm. 
Extra effort and extra resources may get you a little further, but how far do you need to go, and is it worth it?
Fitness is a good example: you'll make a lot of gains in the beginning of a workout program, but the more fit you become the more effort it will take to get more fit. 
And if you take it too far, you'll actually start to regress. 
As Robert Sapolsky stated in his book Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, "everything in physiology follows the rule that too much can be as bad as too little".
This doesn't apply to everything, of course. 
But it's a useful way to think for most thing. 
Especially when we're feeling overwhelmed with responsibility.

Did The Miracles Mentioned In The Bible Really Happen?
According to the bible, Jesus was followed by "throngs". 
Virtually everywhere he went, people came out by the hundreds, even thousands, to catch a glimpse of him. 
Or to hear him speak. 
Or to touch his robe. 
Or to be healed. 
Or to witness a miracle. 
The news even reached the religious and political authorities and intrigued them.
According to the bible, many people witnessed these miracles, or at least heard about them. 
Unfortunately, the only evidence we have of these events is the bible itself, which for many reasons can't be counted on for historical accuracy. 
At least not entirely. 
When we look at other documents from that era we find nothing that indicates there was a man named Yeshua performing such miracles (Josephus references him, but not any miracles).
History is mostly guess work and filtered through the biases of many people. 
So it’s difficult to be certain about anything from that far back. 
Especially given that there were no printing presses or recording devices. 
Everything was passed on by word of mouth and often flavored with exaggeration and altered because of personal biases and misinterpretations.
For at least 20 years, stories about Jesus were passed on by word of mouth before anyone wrote them down (as far as we know). 
And each document, when it was copied, was copied by hand. 
This went on for hundreds of years. 
The oldest manuscripts we know about were written more than one-hundred years after the life of Jesus, and they are copies of copes of copies . 
. 
.
We have very little basis for accepting the miracle stories of the bible as fact. 
We have every reason to be skeptical. 
It’s not just the lack of evidence, it’s also inconsistent with common sense and with what we’ve experienced in our own life.
(don't worry, this post has a positive ending.)
According to the bible, much of the population of Judea knew of Jesus and was aware that he was purportedly performing miraculous healings and other wonders. 
The bible also tells us that Jesus said his followers would be able to do the same thing. 
He had sent the apostles out to do such things, but they were unsuccessful. 
Jesus said that those who have enough faith would be able to do what he did, and more.
If the news media, the internet, and smart phones had existed at that time, news of Jesus miraculous acts would have been even more ubiquitous than they were. 
After all, Judea was a small country, with a relatively small population. 
If Jesus were to appear in present day Israel or Palestine doing the things he supposedly did in the first century, it wouldn't only be all over the Israeli news, it would make international news, and it would be all over the internet. He would take the world by storm in such in interconnected world where virtually anyone can have their own media channel and post videos within minutes. 
And politicians, academics, scientists, medical doctors and the like would be studying him.
Yet with over 2 billion people on the planet identifying themselves as Christians, we hear virtually nothing about miraculous healings being performed by followers of Christ (save for the likes of Benny Hinn and a few others whose works we can’t verify). 
How often do you hear about someone being raised from the dead? When is the last time you saw it on a news network or even on YouTube? We hear about such things through word of mouth only. 
Which is strange since we live in an age of mass media and where almost half the people on the planet carry around video cameras.
Why are there not Christ’s all over the world performing miracles, with swarms of people and media following them? Instead all we hear about are dubious reports. 
When is the last time you saw a Christian perform a miracle on a street corner, or in the local mall? It should be happening all the time and virtually everywhere. 
And there would be little doubt of their legitimacy. 
Remember, approximately 33% of the world population identify as Christian. 
Jesus, with no technology or media available, was supposedly known as a healer all over the country and other parts of the Mediterranean.
Even if only a fraction, say just 10% of today's 2.4 billion Christians world-wide are true believers, we’re still talking about 200 million potential miracle workers. 
Where are the miracles?
I used to go to a Pentecostal church. 
I attended services at that church for eight years. 
It was a church where most people believed wholeheartedly in miracles (myself included). 
Many people in my family are also believers. 
But in my forty years on this planet I have witnessed exactly zero miraculous healings, zero people raised form the dead, zero loaves of bread or fish feeding thousands of people, zero barrels of water turned into wine, zero mountains moved, and so on.
But I've seen a video of illusionists catching bullets with their teeth (video here) and women sawed in half and put them back together. 
Magicians/Illusionists have learned how to exploit gaps in human perception. 
And it works. 
So even if you do witness a miracle, especially one involving people you don’t know, you have every reason to be skeptical. 
If magicians can fool you, so can phony faith healers and other “miracle workers” (a famous example here).
One more point to consider: it appears, to me, that the miracles in the bible are limited to things that are somewhat believable. 
For instance, there are no stories about people growing a new leg after an amputation, or someone growing a new head after a decapitation. 
If stories like that were in the bible, especially the New Testament, we would be less likely to believe them. 
And the older the story, the wilder the miracles seem to be. 
In other words, the Old Testament miracles are more miraculous than the New Testament miracles. 
This could be a sign of a change in culture, or it could be that it’s easier to tell fictitious stories about the distant past than it is to say they happened in more contemporary times. 
The older the story, the taller the tale can get.
That’s just a speculation on my part, but it’s peculiar that the miracles of the New Testament are all somewhat believable. 
If someone told you Benny Hinn gave them a new head after being decapitated in a car accident, or if someone told you they are ten-thousand years old, or that they once made Mountain Everest jump into the Pacific Ocean, you wouldn’t believe them. 
But if they said they were once blind and now they can see, you might believe them. 
It seems more plausible. 
The New Testament miracles seem to coincide with this logic.
So what should we make of the miracles in the bible? I think the evidence suggests they're almost certainly not true. 
I wish they were true. 
I used to believe they were. 
When I finally realized they weren’t I was disappointed. 
It’s okay to say they might be true, but we also need to be honest with ourselves and admit that they're probably not.
We also can’t know for sure why they're in the bible. 
Were they deliberate lies, meant to deceive? Or were they meant to be metaphorical, to illustrate a point? We can’t know for sure, but we can confidently say that the bible does contain some valuable insights. 
So we shouldn’t discard it. 
Jesus is still a wonderful example of how a human being should be, in terms of being a peaceful person who cares about others, and who considered himself in union with God. 
The New Testament gives us a view of God that is quite different from the way God is often described in religion. 
If God is the way Jesus was, that's good news indeed. 
I think that's something worth hanging on to.

Presence
Our problem isn't that we don't do enough. 
It's that we're not present enough.
Be more present in the actions you're already taking.

A Hermit's Wisdom
There once was a man who lived alone in the woods. 
People thought he was crazy for living that way. 
They didn’t understand it.
One day, a young women asked him why he lived that way.
“Aren’t you bored and lonely?” She said.
“Aren’t you worried about what others are saying about you?”
“It’s the people who live in society who are bored and lonely”, the man said.
“That’s why they need to own so many things. 
That’s why they always need to be around others. 
That’s why they need drugs, alcohol, and excessive amounts of food. 
They need these things, because they don’t know how to live the way I do. 
But once you know how to live this way, you realize how much you already have and how little you need. 
As for reputation, what good does it do me out here?”

The Training Ground Of Life
Love is patient, love is kind.
Being patient and kind solves so many problems. 
But it's so hard to do. 
Because we don't always want to be patient and kind. 
And it's the times when it's hardest to do that are the most important.
Humility is a lesson that must be learned over and over again. 
We're continually challenged in this area. 
Life is a training ground, and our training is never complete in this life.

What's Better?
What's going to be more powerful: your philosophical treatise, or love?
What's going to change people more: your opinions and your ability to express those opinions, or showing people that you care about them?
If we had an entire planet of philosophers, 7-billion of them, all sharing opinions about how life should be lived and how society should be organized, would that be better than 7-billion people committed to caring for one another?
And if you're going to share your opinions, would it be better to do it before, or after, you've shown the listener that you care about them?

Physical Education
Pain is not "weakness leaving the body". 
If you have pain in your joints from exercise, this is not your body getting stronger. 
This is your body getter damaged, and ultimately weaker. Pain is one of the languages your body speaks. 
Sometimes it's saying "stop, you don't know what you're doing".
Our body is way smarter than we are. 
It does trillions of things we're oblivious to. 
Don't listen to meatheads who tell you to keep pushing yourself, they'll just get you injured. 
There are a few high profile meatheads who recently had heart attacks in their mid-50's — famous YouTubers who told young people to keep pushing themselves, to stop being weak.
Well, guess what? Your body is going to be weak no matter what you do. 
It's inherently fragile. 
And the real mental weakness is believing you're smarter than your body, and not educating yourself on good health.

Moving Forward
Where are you now? What can you do now?
That's what matters. 
Not where you were before.
Going back isn't an option. 
Only moving forward is.
(use past mistakes as teachers though)

Long-Term Adjustment
Adjust your behavior to reflect the fact that you're probably going to live 80 years or longer. 
Maybe even 100 years.
The longer you think you're going to live, the more you'll likely adjust yourself. 
And the more you adjust yourself, the longer you'll likely live.
There are no guarantees. 
Only probabilities. 
The best we can do is try to increase our odds. 
We can increase our odds of living a longer, healthier, and more prosperous life if we're willing to adopt a longer term outlook.
The chance that you're going to live a long time is really high. 
Live as though it's true so you'll make better decisions along the way. 
Guide yourself as though you're 100 years old and looking back on what you did right.

Potential For Better
When we say we're doing our best, what we usually mean is we're doing the best we know how to do at that time. 
We're almost always capable of doing better. 
The potential is there.
Keep learning.

Closer To Perfection
You have to accept a certain amount of imperfection. 
It will always be with you. 
Within yourself, in your relationships, in the work you do, etc. 
Instead of striving for perfection, we should follow our heart, and keep learning.
When you're focused on perfection you're focused on everything that's wrong. 
The more you focus on what's wrong the more you'll find it. 
You'll be able to improve some things as a result, but ultimately you will remain frustrated. 
Because you won't be able to correct everything to the level you want it to be.
You'll even start finding imperfection in your ability to discern what changes need to be made. 
And sometimes you'll make the wrong decisions in your attempt to achieve perfection and make things worse.
But when we make the decision to follow our heart (spirit) and continue learning, we avoid this trap. 
It won't get us to perfection, but it will get us closer to it, and we'll enjoy the journey a lot more.

The End Of Ancestral and Racial Superiority
In his book, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, geneticist Adam Rutherford mentions some interesting things scientists have learned through the study of genetics. 
Here are a few points that (if known by the general public) could help dismantle the divisions that exist among people on the basis of ancestry and race:
All people on earth share a common ancestor from only 3,400 years ago.
All people of even the slightest European descent share a common ancestor from only 600 years ago.
All people of European descent are related to every European who lived 1000 years ago (except for the ones whose DNA didn't get passed on). 
Nobody can brag about having "royal blood" or "Viking DNA", because everyone does.
The number of genes involved in what we think of as "race" is only a tiny fraction of the total genes each person has. 
For instance, pale skin is prompted by only a couple of genes out of 20,000 (and emerged only a few thousand years ago). 
People of the same race are more genetically different from each other than they are from people of a different race. 
Rutherford says, "there are no essential genetic elements for any particular group of people who might be identified as a race". 
It's our differences in physical appearance that cause us to think in terms of race, ie: skin color, eye shape, etc.
The largest amount of genetic diversity exists in Africa. 
African's are more genetically different from one another than they are from a European or an Asian, etc. 
The reason is that Homo sapiens originated in Africa and the number of people who left and populated Europe and the rest of the world long ago was a far smaller group than the number of people who remained in Africa. 
In other words, the pool of genes that left Africa and spread across the world was smaller than the pool of genes that remained in Africa.

Life As It Comes
Almost everything is out of your control. 
You have a say, but life is largely happening to you. 
It's certainly not happening because of you. 
That's how we live though. 
As though we're owed something. 
As though reality should be obeying us.
Calm your wants. 
Shorten your list of desires. 
Dampen your expectations. 
Take life more as it comes, rather than trying to make everything the way you think it should be. 
Do what you can and let go of the rest. 
Letting go actually helps you see what you can do.

Knowing What's Not For You
Get comfortable saying to yourself, and to others, "that's not for me".
Because most things probably aren't for you.
If you're running around trying to be like everyone else, or trying to like what other people like, you'll miss out on the things that are for you.

Hiding
Living in society typically causes us to wear masks. 
To hide who we really are. Because society is largely about fitting in. In most societies, it's acceptable to be a little different, but the leash is short. 
If you go too far, which in some cases isn't actually that far, you could be punished.
It's not sensible to go around doing or saying whatever we want. 
We do need to be mindful of how our actions affect other people. 
But it's also true that to function in society we tend to hide an important part of ourselves.
Who we are in public isn't who we are in private. 
Actually, who we are when we're around other people is different from who we are when we're alone. 
Because public isn't limited to the people we interact with on the street. 
It includes our interactions with family members in our own home.
Not only do we tend to suppress the deep-seated desire to express our true selves when we're around other people, we also shy away from getting in touch with that part of ourselves when we're alone.
In fact, we're rarely alone. Seeking entertainment is one of the ways we avoid being alone. 
The desire to be constantly entertained is similar to addiction to drugs, sex, food, and other such crutches. 
It's not inherently bad, but excessive dependence on it can lead to negative outcomes.
First and foremost, our "crutch" should be our trust in God. 
Prayer should be our refuge, rather than the myriad excesses that the world offers. This sounds very "preachy". 
And it is. 
Because it's true. 
We need to be reminded of these things. 
We need to be reminded that when everything is stripped away, there's one constant that remains: the spirit.

Cut The Crap
There aren't that many things you need to give your attention to. 
Spouse, children, work, health, spiritual life, people in need. 
That seems like a lot, but it's not that much when you cut out all the crap.
When you cut out the daily news, celebrity gossip, sports, day trading, what everyone thinks of you, how big your muscles are, shopping for stuff you don't need, envy, being pissed off over someone cutting you off in traffic. 
The list goes on.
Did I mention gambling, and porn, and drinking, and night clubs, and heated religious and political debates, and social media? And perfectly landscaped yards, and dream houses, and dream vacations, or ruminating over everything someone did wrong?
Now that's a lot.
Cut the crap and focus on what's important.

Nature
Our roots are in nature, but we've largely uprooted ourselves. 
Urbanization has done wonders for us economically and has helped us learn to accept people from different cultures. 
We're more connected than ever before. 
And in many ways it's a "kinder, gentler world", because we've become more metropolitan.
But there's a price to pay for living in urban jungles, sitting in cubicles all day, and spending our time in front of screens. Our lives have become more artificial.
The "real world" isn't the world we enter after high school or university. 
The real world is the world human beings lived in before modern times. 
Nature is the real world. 
Not that nature, in terms of physical reality, is all there is or all that matters. 
But that nature (the outdoors) is our natural environment.
Most of us have a relatively comfortable and safe lifestyle in this modern era. 
Nature reminds us that things used to be very different. 
Nature can provide a hard dose of reality. 
Giving us reason to be thankful for the lifestyle we now have, and reminding us that this life is about more than mere comfort and safety.

What To Follow
Being a follower of Jesus is different from being an adherent to Christianity. 
Christianity, as we know it today, is a set of inflexible doctrines created by groups of people interpreting what they believe about God.
It's better to be a follower of Jesus, than a "Christian". 
Even better is to be a follower of your own heart. 
Your spirit knows what to do. 
Be quiet and listen to it.

Limited Control
The thought of not being in control is scary. 
Because if we're not in control, who or what is? And what does that mean for us if we're not the ones in control?
We desire to be important, and to escape the uncertainty of death for as long as possible. 
That's what is behind our control-seeking. 
The feeling of being in control is a mask for our insecurities. 
The fear is still there, underneath.
We have a desire to feel strong. 
And we are strong in our own unique way. 
But we sometimes take it too far, where we have an exaggerated view of our strengths.
Whatever control we actually have is temporary and can be overridden at any time. The forces of nature themselves will prove to be more powerful than we are. 
And other people will at times impose their will on us.
Whatever measure of control you do have should be treated with great humility. 
It's been granted to you for now.

When People Want You To Change
The amount of pressure other people put on you to change isn't necessarily an accurate signal. Consult the facts instead.
Not selective facts that merely confirm what you want to be true. 
But fact-seeking with the objective of aligning with the truth, whatever it turns out to be.
Deep inner inquiry and reflection should be a major part of your fact-finding mission.

The Real Game
If your focus is on beating other people, you've already lost.
Life can be viewed in some sense as a game, but it's not a game of defeating, or being better than, or having more than other people.
It's the game of becoming enlightened. 
The game of looking past mere appearances. 
The game of discovery, and creativity, and expression, and love.

Fools
"I don't know" and "I'm not sure" are among the most truthful statements you can make.
Beware the opinions of people who don't use them. 
They may have fooled themselves into thinking they know more than they actually do, but you don't have to go there with them.

Your Influence
We generally don't take enough time to discover our true value. 
In terms of what we're best at. 
In what ways we can make the most impact in the world.
Too many of us settle for mediocrity. 
The invitation to be mediocre is compelling. 
And it is aided by endless forms of entertainment.
On the other side of the spectrum, there are super-ambitious people who chase worldly success as a way of overcompensating for their insecurities.
Finding your true path is an exercise in mindfulness. 
It requires regular withdrawals from the world, so we'll know what to bring to the world. 
We find who we are in silence and solitude, and we present our true self as a gift to the world.
We also become like sandpaper. 
When we rub up against other people we can help shape culture.

12 Things You Should Know Before Reading The Bible
a) People living in ancient times had very little understanding of science, as the Scientific Revolution hadn't occurred yet (it began approximately fifteen-hundred years after the New Testament was written, and thousands of years after the Old Testament). 
They had a tendency to explain natural phenomena as events orchestrated by God(s). 
For instance, if someone had an epileptic seizure it would likely be attributed to demon possession. 
If a storm killed a bunch of people, it was God punishing them for their disobedience. 
The Scientific Revolution dispelled many of such myths.
b) Ancient people often used metaphorical language and exaggeration to illustrate a point. 
The Jewish people in particular had a long tradition of using symbolic language. 
The Book of Revelation is case in point. 
It’s pretty far fetched to believe that the imagery described in that letter is literal (I used to believe it is). 
That letter contains symbolic language, not literal descriptions.
c) The bible was written in Hebrew and Greek. 
When it is translated into other languages some of the meaning gets lost in translation.
d) Jesus didn't speak either of those languages. 
He spoke Aramaic. 
Further causing meaning to get lost in translation.
e) Many of the stories mentioned in the bible were passed on through oral tradition for decades, or longer, before they were written down. 
Changes to the stories would have been made by those retelling them. 
Sometimes intentionally, sometimes inadvertently.
f) When stories were eventually written down, they were copied over and over again by hand for hundreds of years. 
Mistakes were made, omissions occurred, and changes were made. 
The story of the woman caught in adultery is a great example: it doesn't appear in the earliest New Testament manuscripts. 
Someone living in a later generation added it. 
Another one is the ending of the Gospel of Mark: it was added later, because someone didn't like the original ending (which didn't include a resurrection sighting).
g) We have no surviving original documents. 
Only copies of copies, written hundreds of years after the originals.
h) Most biblical scholars agree that many of the books and letters in the bible weren't written by the people we think wrote them. 
And some of them are complete forgeries (people pretending to be Paul or Peter, etc.).
i) There were many other Gospels written around the same time period of the four Gospels we're familiar with. 
All of them, including the four we're familiar with, were written anonymously. 
There were also several other books of Revelation, but only one was chosen to be included in the New Testament.
j) The four Gospels included in the New Testament contradict one another in some parts of the narrative, in terms of who did what and when. 
And they're generally inconsistent with one another on details important to Christian doctrine. 
For example: there is no mention of a virgin birth in Mark.
k) Certain Christian patriarchs living hundreds of years after the death of Jesus and the Apostles were the ones who decided which books should be included in the New Testament (and not all New Testaments contain the same choices). 
The other gospels and epistles (of which there were many) were discarded as heresy, even though they had been regarded as scripture for hundreds of years by many early Christians.
l) The Book of Revelation was a metaphorical depiction of the conflict happening between the Jews, Romans, and Christians of that era. 
It was not a prediction about the end of the world thousands of years later. 
The Book of Revelation is so opaque that one can read things into it and easily apply it to one’s own generation. 
Which is what has happened many times over the past two thousand years since it was written. 
See Last Days Madness: Obsession of the Modern Church
Other sources:
Confessions of a Bible Thumper
Forged: Writing in the Name of God 

Regrets
"I have no regrets" is nonsense.
Of course you have regrets. 
As you should.
But continually beating yourself up over them will also be a regret one day.
Use regrets as teachers.

Humility and Wisdom
Humility is an essential part of life. 
You'll either have to humble yourself or life will do it for you. 
You can fight it, but doing so will make you miserable.
Humility will be forced upon you, especially as you age. 
Your body won't be able to do what it once could, and your mind won't be as sharp as it once was.
Humility is a characteristic of wisdom. 
As we get older, wisdom will be forced upon us. 
That is something to be thankful for.

Higher Calling
Don’t try to make a name for yourself. 
Try to make an impact. Teach people what you’ve learned. 
Help people the way you’ve been helped. Most importantly, help people find the peace they’re looking for. There’s no higher calling than that.
Help people see deeper into the nature of reality. 
To look beyond appearances. 
To look beyond worldly success. 
To look beyond fear and greed. 
To see all as one. 
To realize that they're not the ego-person they've created and projected into the world.
I don't write to the masses. 
Because I know the masses aren't interested in my views (though I believe that many of the things I write about are universal on a subconscious level). I write to a minority of souls, spread out across the world, who value inner peace and wisdom through surrender to a mysterious but gracious God.
And I get my best work done in silence. 
That's where true insight comes from. 
Part of my calling is to bring a message of silence to the world. 
I can't do that if I'm always around others. 
I have to spend time in my own silence in order to help other people find their silence.

Gifts
The time you have left is a gift. 
Do good things with it.
Reach in and find the best of who you are. 
Pull it out and give it to the world.

Love
Love is patient, love is kind.
Even our thoughts about other people should be that way. 
Grumbling about people in our mind isn't love. 
And it affects how we treat them.
Love is evidence of maturity. 
Those who choose love as the foundation of their life are the ones we should follow. 
Don't follow the lost, follow the loving.

Busyness
You might think you're working faster by multi-tasking, but you're almost certainly working slower. 
The feeling of being busy makes us feel like we're getting more done.
People who talk about how busy they are (or how little sleep they supposedly need) aren't heroes. 
They're inefficient.

Two Things About Seeking Perfection
1.Practice doesn't make perfect, but it does make better.
2.Things that work can sometimes be broken by trying to make them perfect.

Christian Vengeance
The idea of an angry, vengeful God comes in handy when you have enemies. 
Because then you can imagine that God will curse them. 
Yet, according to the New Testament, Jesus told people to love their enemies.
And he practiced what he preached. He did it by washing the feet of Judas. 
He did it by not allowing Peter to kill the guards who came to arrest him, etc.
Where did some Christians get the idea that God will curse those who do them wrong? Answer: there are parts of the bible that seem to indicate that God does curse people. 
Which, incidentally, is inconsistent with other parts of the bible.
For that reason, you have to think for yourself. 
You have to consult your own heart. 
If you choose to also follow the bible you’ll have to ignore certain parts of it. 
Because you can’t love your enemies as per Jesus in the Gospels, and at the same time expect God to curse them as per other parts of the bible.
Every bible reader picks and chooses what verses to believe or to ignore anyway. 
Though few will admit that they do it. 
It's largely done on an unconscious level. 
Confirmation bias is often present.

The Path Of Least Resistance
Following the path of least resistance and going with the flow are metaphors I use when it comes to writing (and in life). 
I don't force it. 
I just let the words find their way onto the page.
But I still need discipline to sit down and write. 
Most of what I write gets written after I'm willing to remove distractions and sit with my silence for awhile. 
That requires some discipline. 
It requires me to overcome some "resistance". 
The least resistant thing to do might be to just watch T.V. 
or go to sleep.
In other words, the path of least resistance doesn't equate to being undisciplined. 
It also doesn't mean taking the easy way out when it comes to dealing with problems that need to be solved.
It's not about being lazy or unfocused. 
It's about finding the most fruitful moments and opportunities. 
It requires us to overcome some resistance to find them, but when we find them things just work better.
Otherwise we get distracted by the influences of other people. 
And we lose ourselves in our ambitions and insecurities. 
We forget to let go and trust. 
We either try to control everything, or we let go to the point that we stop caring. 
Neither of those extremes are helpful.
Letting go to the point of not caring is actually similar to trying to control everything, because neither option includes trust. 
Trust is what opens the door. 
Trust is what helps us see the right path.
Let go and trust, then the way will become more clear. That's where you'll find your path of least resistance, and you'll no longer get in your own way. 
Other people will still get in your way sometimes, but the worst is when we get in our own way.

What Really Matters
Trust God and love people. 
That's the only religion we need.
Until we learn to do that consistently, nothing else we learn really matters.

Fear And Love
There are really only two emotions: fear and love. 
And greed is an expression of fear, because greed is the fear of not having enough and not being enough.
Greed says, I don’t have enough. 
I want more. 
Even when you do have enough. 
The thinking is, the more I have, the more secure I’ll be and the more happiness and love I’ll be able to buy.
We live in an environment that is both nourishing and hostile to our survival. 
We fear for our survival, because we know we're perishable. 
We know death is coming. 
We fear what happens after death, and we fear insignificance in this life. 
Greed is the manifestation of those fundamental fears.
Fear reigns when we’re not connected to a higher power. 
Prayer and mindfulness are pathways to connection with God.

Corruption and Incompetence
Corruption and incompetence are sometimes indistinguishable.
Sometimes what seems like dishonest or malevolent behavior is actually a lack of understanding.
Have mercy.

What Our Arguments Are Really About
The desire to be right is related to the desire for truth. 
We are truth-seekers. 
We'll even make up our own truth. 
We'll fill in the gaps with what we want to be true.
We're not comfortable with being wrong. 
It makes us feel insecure. 
We're insecure because life is fragile and because our understanding of who we are and why we're here is limited.
When entering into an argument with another person we're attempting to do two things: teach the other person something, and find out if they have something to teach us. And it often occurs on an unconscious level.
The main thing is we want the other person to understand us. Being understood is a way of feeling that we matter. And it's a way of attempting to connect with the other person.
If the other person doesn't meet us there — if they aren't able to see through our veiled desire, we'll likely push them away. 
We might even begin considering them an enemy. But if they are able to meet us there, a connection can be made.
That's the heart of what human communication is. 
A search for truth and a desire to connect.

Patience
What stands in your way now may not always be there.
And sometimes "progress" is being thankful for where you are.

Prayer and Mindfulness
Both prayer and mindfulness are forms of surrender. 
Trust is present in them. 
Without trust, we wouldn’t be willing to surrender.
Surrender, in the form of prayer, is an expression of trust in God. 
We trust that God hears us and is willing to stand with us.
Surrender, in the form of mindfulness, is a type of contemplative prayer, where we trust that something beyond our ego (our active mind) will guide us.
Both prayer and mindfulness are spiritual activities. 
They’re both ways of placing our trust in something spiritual. It’s through that state of surrender that we’re able to connect with our true self and with the awareness of God. 
Where we find that there’s no actual separation between our spiritual self and the spirit of God. 
Only the illusion of separation. 
That God is in all and is all.
That realization is where fear gets pushed out. 
Where it loses its power. 
Where death losses its “sting.” Fear is related to death, because without death there would be no fear. 
Death in terms of bodily expiration, and death in terms of insignificance.
Imagine that death didn’t exist. 
That you could live forever in your current form. 
Would you still have fear? You would no longer fear bodily death, but you might still fear a life of insignificance — of not mattering, of not being loved. 
Both of those fears, of bodily death and of insignificance are defeated by trust in a higher power.
We make that connection through prayer and mindfulness.

Faith and Calculation
Calculation has its place.
It shouldn't be ignored.
But sometimes the math isn't clear and you'll have to move into things somewhat blindly because your heart is leading you there.

Humility
Humility requires self-reflection.
It requires us to assess ourselves honestly.
To see the way we really are.
To see our insecurities.
To see the masks we wear.
To see ourselves in others and to see them in ourselves.

Christianity And The True Church
Christianity is an off-shoot of the Jewish religion. 
Jesus himself was a Jewish person and grew up in the Jewish religion. 
But his teachings were radically different from the religious establishment’s. 
He told the religious leaders and his fellow Jews that God wasn't as they had believed.
What exists now in Christianity is a caricature of what Jesus taught. 
And it was that way right from the start, as many of the epistles indicate. 
Even Jesus’ closest followers had difficulty understanding his message. 
So we shouldn’t be surprised that, today, Christianity is extremely divided.
There is no true church, in terms of a particular denomination or institution. 
The true church is spiritual, not ecclesiastical. 
The true church is anyone who knows God’s love. 
And it’s not an exclusive club. 
Everyone is in, but not everyone knows they're in.
At the end of the day, we don’t need doctrine. 
We just need to go within and find God there. 
God is the love and the peace you have in your heart. 
That presence often gets drowned out by our inner dialogue and the many distractions of the world. 
But it's there, in all of us.

Prayers Of Surrender
How can you go wrong by starting your day in prayer? It can only benefit you. 
Unless your prayers are nothing but a wish list, rather than an act of humility.
Make your prayers, prayers of surrender. 
You'll feel better and you'll stay out of your own way more often.

Two Types Of Learning
It's important to learn through experimentation and research (objective learning). 
But it's equally important to go within ourselves (subjective learning).
What will happen is you'll have moments of revelation. 
And many of them will get confirmed when you learn from outside sources. 
You'll be amazed at what you already knew, intuitively.
We need to go within and see what inherent wisdom is already there, and supplement that type of learning through objective learning. Subjective and objective learning need to work together.
There's no objective learning without subjectivity anyway, because objective reality has to be interpreted subjectively. 
Objective reality is beyond the material world, because there is no material world, only the experience of one.
For example: In quantum mechanics, sub-atomic particles behave like matter when observed, and like waves when not observed. 
So which is the objective reality? Are sub-atomic particles matter, waves, or both?
Subjective and objective aren't separate. 
To borrow a term from Thich Nhat Hanh, they "inter-are". 
Everything is connected in a mysterious and seemingly paradoxical way.

Leadership
If you want to be a leader you're going to be judged and rejected by many people. 
But you'll also leave your mark on many others who will be glad you had the courage to put yourself out there.
If you want to leave a mark you'll have to stand for something. 
And you'll have to be a contrarian to some extent. 
You'll have to be different from what others are used to.
Sometimes you will turn people off. 
That will happen even if you tell the truth. But chances are if you speak your truth in a thoughtful way you'll earn the respect of many people.
You may be right, but you might not be great at articulating it. 
And your message and delivery method isn't for everyone. 
Even those closest to you might not understand it.
There will be people who won't understand what you meant. 
And there will be people who understand, but reject it anyway, because what you said hit too close to their insecurities.
You can’t lead if you're afraid to be yourself. The world doesn’t need you to be a leader if you’re not going to say what needs to be said. 
Especially if you're saying what others are afraid to say. 
Be their voice.

The Absence Of Faith
Fear becomes irrational and overruns us when trust is absent. 
Trust is the true meaning of faith. 
Our fears are eased when we trust. 
Fear rules us when we don’t trust that our life has a higher purpose.
That’s certainly true for me. 
The way I think and behave become dominated by fear whenever I have moments of doubt. 
Not doubt in terms of critical thinking, but doubt in terms of forgetting that my life has a higher purpose. 
That it’s not about mere survival.
My biggest fear used to be the fear of going to hell. 
That fear is now gone, because I don’t believe such fate awaits any of us. 
That God is far more loving than that. 
In other words, I had a revelation of God’s love which created a deep level of trust.
I still have momentary doubts about God from time to time. 
But now that doubt isn't a fear of hell, but a fear of non-existence. 
In other words, sometimes I have moments of doubt about whether there’s an afterlife at all. 
Instead of a fear of hell, it’s a fear that heaven might not exist.
Deep down I don’t actually believe there’s no afterlife. 
But there are moments of doubt, when the fear of not mattering grabs hold of me. 
That’s natural, since we live in such a vulnerable state of existence. 
And because God, heaven, the afterlife, are known to us intuitively. 
Whereas virtually everything we’re familiar with in this life is experienced more directly (we can see it, eat it, touch it, etc.).
We can conquer that fear through trusting our deepest intuition. 
By trusting that there’s more to life than meets the eye. 
That it means something. 
Something very special. 
Something difficult to put into words. 
Something difficult to point to. 
But we know in our heart of hearts that it must be true. 
We trust that God exists in some way and that his (I use that pronoun loosely) intentions are good. 
Even if there’s much that we don’t understand.
It’s a surrendering to something bigger than ourselves. 
That’s what it means to have faith. 
That’s where we find real confidence to live by. 
It goes deeper than physical or intellectual abilities. 
It goes deeper than our ability to reason. 
Essentially, it means that we trust in divine love. 
A love that loves without conditions.
Once we ground ourselves in that reality, fear is driven out. 
It always comes back. 
It will always come back to visit us, to ask us if we’re sure life isn’t meaningless after all. 
If we’re sure God is good. 
If we’re sure we should always do whatever it takes to survive. 
If we’re sure we shouldn’t take matters into our own hands more often.
It comes back because we leave the door open for it to come back. 
We leave room for it to slip in. 
That happens when we’re not being mindful. 
When we see the truth, but then run away from it. 
When we allow our mind to move away from the present.
I said that fear is the absence of trust. 
But more specifically, fear is the absence of trust in God, who loves us more than we love ourselves.

Impostor Syndrome
We're all imposters. 
None of us fully practice what we preach.
But that doesn't mean we should forever remain silent.
What you want to say might be true, even if you're not always good at doing it. Be honest with yourself about it though.

Decisions
You're more likely to do the right thing if you first eliminate the obvious wrong things.
Start by telling yourself the truth. 
From there you should be able to make good decisions.
You probably already know what to do. 
You're just not doing it.

The Voice Of The Ego
The voice in our head is the voice of the ego. 
The self we think we are, which is different from the true self.
The ego is a version of ourselves that is concerned with individual identity and survival. 
It’s not inherently a bad thing. 
The problem is that it gets out of control.
It’s okay that we identify as individuals, but when that individuality runs amuck we lose sight of our connectedness. 
We lose sight of the fact that what we do to others is done to other versions of ourselves. 
That this life is temporal. 
That survival is not the chief aim of life. 
That personal wealth and reputational success aren’t either.
It’s our lack of awareness of our connectedness that causes us to go from expressing ourselves as unique individuals to separate entities who must self-preserve at virtually all costs. That’s the voice speaking to us much of the time. 
That’s the “false self”.
It’s false, because it’s who we are when we’re disconnected from our true self. 
The true self is the part of us that knows that not only are we all connected, but that this life isn't the whole story.

Living By Faith and Love
I have to keep reminding myself to let go and live by faith and love. 
Good things in my life manifest themselves that way.
When I live by fear and greed, I become anxious and angry. 
When I live by faith and love, I have peace. 
Which is the thing I value most.

Unhealthy Competition
Cooperation is the glue that keeps society together, but a certain amount of healthy competition is also good, even necessary. 
The problems arise when it becomes cut-throat competition, or when we attach self-worth to it.
Competition can become an obsession. 
Especially when certain accolades are attached to it. 
And especially when it's culturally enforced through the media, in schools, in the workplace, and at home. 
When your value is determined by how you rank in a particular category relative to other people it won't be good for your self-esteem.
Living as though you have something to prove, that you matter, is a game that can't be won. 
Partly because the game will never end and partly because it's a false premise.
Competition is something that should happen more passively. 
For example: two businesses trying to serve the same client base shouldn't be obsessed with destroying each other. 
The focus should be on being of better service to clients, and as a natural result one will likely do better than the other.
That's the way it often is, but in many cases there's a lot of cheating involved. 
Sabotaging your "opponent" or manipulating potential clients isn't a decent way to behave.
There's nothing inherently wrong with being competitive. 
With wanting to be your best. 
With wanting to excel ahead of others in a particular domain. 
Obsession is the problem. 
Obsession with only mattering if you're better or have more than someone else. 
Obsession with survival at the cost of others and a sense of self-worth through tribal one-upmanship.
Such competitiveness lacks mindfulness. 
Mindfulness keeps us grounded, focused on what's most important, and causes us to recognize the ego-traps of the world. 
When we're mindful we don't get caught up in separating ourselves. 
We're not focused on trying to distinguish ourselves from other people. 
Instead, we see interconnectedness.

Insecurity And Negative Self-Talk
Our insecurities are what result in the type of self-talk that cause us problems. 
Our insecurities stem from the fact that we’re vulnerable and that there’s much we don’t know about who we are and why we’re here. Our uncertainties create our insecurities.
Talking to ourselves can sometimes be helpful. 
The problem is when we dwell on negative things, rehearsing them over and over in our mind or under our breath.
Negative thoughts can change our perception of reality and make us feel terrible. 
Specifically, when we tell ourselves things that aren’t true, or when we obsess over things that aren’t going the way we want them to.
We have the power to create our own torment, but we also have the option of choosing peace. 
Choose peace.

Legalistic Religion
It has done a lot of damage. Turning people away from a spiritual life, rather than toward it. 
And those who do turn toward such a perverse form of spiritually become some of the nastiest and most hypocritical people.
Legalistic religion is the kind that is obsessed with rules. 
Especially rules that have been institutionalized and place religious leaders on pedestals. 
It's the type of spirituality where people are easily condemned and are forever trying to please God.
It creates an on going cycle of emotional highs and lows. 
Euphoric feelings of radical love, followed by feelings of dread at the thought of not being worthy of God's love.
And none of it is grounded in facts or independent thinking. 
It's all a matter of what someone else says is fact, and the impact that message has on you emotionally. 
This emotional roller coaster is antithetical to the inner peace we all need and are looking for. 
True spirituality isn't a torturous pursuit of God's acceptance. 
It's an awakening to radical acceptance.

Humility Isn't Easy
Because it requires acknowledgement of our weaknesses and faults. 
We tend to think that acknowledging such things about ourselves will cause other people to think less of us and give them an opportunity to take advantage of us.
When we're being humble, we're laying ourselves bare and asking others to be empathetic. 
And we know that not everyone will be. 
Some will call us weak and try to take advantage us. 
But we sometimes forget that having an exaggerated view of ourselves leaves us vulnerable to making mistakes. 
We end up hurting ourselves.
And although there will be people who will take advantage of us and hurt us when we exercise humility we'll also gain many allies.

Intuition And The Existence Of God
Science can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God. 
What science does reveal though, is that the nature of reality is a mystery.
We can figure out how certain things work, but science can’t tell us why anything should exist in the first place. 
We have to go beyond science and consult our intuition.
Intuition is a deep, indescribable knowing. 
We know, but we don’t know how we know. 
If we’re honest with ourselves, our intuition tells us that God must exist.

Christianity Apart From Religion
Religion has taught us to be afraid of God. 
Even Christianity taught us this. 
Even though Christianity was supposed to be the opposite of religion. 
It’s impossible to read about Jesus in the New Testament and conclude that he wasn’t a heretic by religious standards.
Jesus was a maverick, who taught people to look within themselves for the Kingdom of God. 
But it wasn’t long before his message was distorted and turned into religious dogma.
Religion can sometimes pose a great danger to humanity. 
It has been at the root of many wars and persecutions. 
But Jesus’ message seems to be totally at odds with this. 
There is something very valuable in his words and the stories about him, not only for Christians, but for all of us.
If we can look past the biblical inaccuracies and dogmatic doctrines that have been derived from the bible, we can see a more pure message. 
One which resonates with our deepest being.
Many of the words and actions attributed to Jesus resonate deeply with many people. 
It’s a message of inner peace, love for one another, and trust in a loving God.

Love For God
You can’t beat people over the head with a book or scare the pants off them with fiery preaching and expect them to "love" God.
Especially nowadays.
In the Middle Ages that way of teaching was more effective, because most people were illiterate and under-educated. 
Today, people are better educated and able to read religious texts themselves.
And because of the Scientific Revolution, we have a much better understanding of how the natural world works.
Today, people are also much less likely to obey authority. 
Including religious authority, because we’ve embraced the values of democracy. 
Religion thrives on autocracy and tends to have very little tolerance for those who think for themselves.
When we relate to God from the perspective of connection, instead of obedience to a harsh judge, love for God becomes possible.

Honesty
If two people agree on everything, one of them is lying.
Being honest with others starts by being honest with yourself.
Lies are often a matter of omission, rather than commission. 
In other words, it's easier to leave stuff out than it is to make stuff up. 
Lies often consist of what wasn't said.

The Voice In Our Head
We have a voice in our head that always seems to be talking. That voice is constantly evaluating what’s good and what isn’t. 
It’s constantly evaluating our past experiences, potential future outcomes, what people think of us, etc.
That voice is a dialogue we have with ourselves. 
It’s the voice of our inner debates. 
It’s the false things we say to ourselves about ourselves, about others, and about our circumstances.
It thinks it knows everything, and at the same time it argues with itself. 
It’s the inner voice we use to talk ourselves into and out of things. 
It’s the arguments we imagine ourselves having with other people. 
The voice that tells you you’re better than you actually are and the voice that tells you you’re worse than you actually are.
Our true voice — the still quiet voice of the spirit, doesn’t speak with words. 
It doesn’t speak English or any other linguistic, but we understand it. 
That is, if we’re listening. 
If we turn off the dialogue and just listen.
The dialogue is like ripples in a pond. 
It’s a disturbance. 
A disturbance to our otherwise peaceful nature. 
Another analogy would be mud. 
As Lao Tzu wrote: “do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?”

Ambition's Trap
It's a mistake to allow our ambition to be primarily about getting more for ourselves.
Selfish ambition is a symptom of insecurity. 
We fear loss and we fear not being loved. 
So we overcompensate by trying to acquire more money, possessions, fame, etc.
Incidentally, the desire to be famous is narcissistic. 
The desire to make positive change in the world, regardless if you get credit for it, is a much more worthy aim.

Following Your Heart
What does it mean to "follow your heart"? It's not about merely following your emotions. 
Nor is it about blunting your emotions in favor of pure reasoning. 
It's about doing what's most important to you. 
It's about allowing your spirit to guide you, rather than following the path the world says you should take.
Follow your heart, but be honest with yourself about what that means. 
Emotions are involved, but they have to be balanced with rational thinking. 
The two need to work together. 
Emotions themselves aren't irrational, but our response to them can be when we allow them to cloud our judgement.

Prayer
Sometimes we treat prayer as though it's a due we must pay in order to earn favor with God. 
But really, it's a way of connecting with God. 
And it produces the fruit we need in life: love, peace, patience, wisdom, etc.
It's like tapping into a pipeline of resources that are available to us, if we're willing to do the work of trapping into it. 
It's not hard work, but it does require some discipline.
Just as we need bodily nutrition, we need spiritual nutrition.

Intelligence
If physical strength or brute force were what determines survival and prosperity, humans would have died out long ago.
It was our unique intelligence that allowed us to outwit much stronger animals. 
And it's our unique individual intelligence (including Emotional Intelligence) that increases our chances of thriving within human society.
Prize fighters, power lifters, and soldiers don't rule the world. 
Intelligence does.

Minimum Effective Dose
The idea of a "minimum effective dose" (popularized by T. 
Ferriss) is a useful mental model. 
It works especially well when applied to fitness and diet. 
Also for work hours.
What's the minimum you need to do to get the results you need? More doesn't always equal more. 
More sometimes equals less. There are such things as over-training, over-hydration, over-eating, over-working, etc.
At what point is the law of diminishing returns reached? And how much further should you go once you reach that point? Those are the questions to ask. 
Because the name of the game is efficiency, not hard work. 
The hard work of being mindful is the real hard work.

Acknowledge It and Let It Go
Take a moment to examine what's bothering you. 
Figure out what it is, acknowledge it, and let it go. 
When in doubt, repeat.
Breathe, when you hear fear and anxiety knocking at your door. 
Acknowledge its presence and choose not to open the door.

The Most Important Lesson
We often hear about how poor of a job the education system is doing. 
Especially in the western world. 
We hear about how much better the eastern countries in Asia are educating their young people. 
Especially in math and science.
But what is the one thing you would want your children to know? If you could teach them only one thing and you had a limited time to do it, what would it be? I doubt it would be math or science, as important as those subjects are. 
It would likely be a more human quality. 
You'd likely want them, above all, to be compassionate.
Everything is worthless without that foundation. Build the foundation first.
We're doing that for the most part. 
But we continue to see massive amounts of greed and self-centeredness. 
We see it in politics, in business, in the criminal underground, and even in our everyday life with co-workers, neighbors, family members, etc.
It's part of the human condition. 
And it's the most important thing to learn to overcome. 
The other subjects have their place, but lets not forget the most import thing: love.

Mercy Received And Mercy Owed
Everyone is another version of you. 
Not that other people actually are you, but that we all come from the same source. 
And that even the behaviors we abhor in others are sometimes our own behaviors.
You might think your sin isn't as bad as the next person's, but you've probably done something bad that they'll never do. 
And you might not even realize you've done it. 
You may have forgotten, or repressed it. 
You may have hurt someone and not realized it. 
You've certainly done things in your youth that were hurtful. 
But you received mercy.
Everyone you encounter is still a child in their own way. 
You owe them mercy, because they are other versions of you. 
You owe them the same mercy you've been given and you owe them the mercy you'd like to be given the next time you make a mistake (which won't be long from now).

Control
You don’t have to be in the driver’s seat trying to control the direction of everything. 
This doesn’t mean we should sit back and do nothing. It just means trusting our inner wisdom to guide us from moment to moment. Don’t create a life where you need a lot of detailed plans, check lists, and to-do lists.
We try to imagine everything that we'll do. 
How everything will play out. 
How to solve all our problems at once. 
But it's impossible. 
We have to take it one moment at a time. 
And things often turn out differently than we imagined.

Healthy Fitness
It's crazy to sacrifice your health to merely look good. 
People tend to equate looking good with being healthy. 
But that is false. 
A shredded 50-year old bodybuilder could be on the verge of suffering from a heart attack, but you wouldn't know it by looking at him. 
You also wouldn't be able to see the joint damage.
The more time you spend working out, the more of a slave you'll likely be to your body. It's not really your body you'll be a slave to though. 
It's your ego. 
Your body will be the thing your ego acts upon.
The more focus you put on the body, the more you'll be feeding your ego. 
The ego is all about overcompensating for insecurities. 
For some of us, our insecurities manifest themselves in the way we obsess over our body image and physical abilities.
What if you could never look at yourself in the mirror again, how would that change the way you workout? What if no one was ever going to see you again, how would that change the way you workout? Not only would you feel better about yourself, you would be less likely to injure yourself.
Healthy fitness requires removing your ego from the equation. 
Don't be a slave to your ego, just be healthy.

Defining Success
Is success defined by you or is it defined by other people? If it's defined by other people, what wisdom do they have that you don't?
We tend to think of success in terms of what our tribe thinks it should be. 
But the tribe isn't always right.
It's hard for us to believe that the majority could be wrong. 
And it's hard for us to live in a way that might invite ridicule or persecution from our tribe. 
Especially when those who we most want to accept us might reject us or think less of us.
Success isn't entirely subjective or arbitrary. 
There are some obvious ways in which we can fail. 
But it has nothing to do with who made the most money or who was most popular.
Once you remove what the tribe thinks, it changes everything. 
Success, for you, will no longer be defined by what other people are going to think of you.

Our Biggest Challenge
We need to remind ourselves over and over that this life is about love. 
It's so easy to lose sight of that and begin chasing after other things.
Getting beyond ourselves is our biggest challenge. 
In theory, we agree with the "golden rule", but in practice we often ignore it.
It's basically painless to think about it. 
It even makes us feel proud of ourselves for thinking about it. 
But to actually do it is painful.
But when we don't do it, we don't immediately realize the damage it can do to us. 
Damage to others is damage to ourselves. 
It can come back to us in unexpected ways.

Simple Wisdom
We already have many of the answers we seek. 
But we ignore them. 
We want something more complicated and exciting, and which gives us a feeling of accomplishment.
Simple wisdom isn't sexy and not immediately satisfying. 
And it's universal, so we can't claim ownership of it. 
And it's hidden in plain sight, available to all, so we can't pat ourselves on the back for finding it.

Thoughts On Political Motives
The desire to be a politician is typically a desire to mold society into one's own ideal vision of what society should be. 
A vision of society that especially accommodates one's own desires. 
It's another mechanism by which we try to seek security and purpose for ourselves.
Politicians tend to think their ideas are the best and are willing to cheat to see that their ideas win. 
Even though democracy by its very nature is supposed to be about the rule of the majority. 
Politicians are usually more than willing to ignore or circumvent the wishes of the majority when they think they can get away with it.
Therefore, it's not the system they support. 
It's not democracy (the will of the people) that they care about. 
It's the worship of their own ideas (or the ideas they've adopted from others).
People of opposite political opinions often have one major thing in common though: they want justice.
Their sense of justice may sometimes be skewed or misdirected, but generally that's what they want: justice. 
They want things to be fair.
The problem is that not everyone agrees on what "fair" actually is. 
Political motives are almost always fueled by the fear of justice not prevailing (justice as they see it).

Purpose and Money
I read a comment recently by someone who stated that his "purpose" was to make money for his family. 
Well, that's similar to Milton Friedman's idea that the purpose of a corporation is to make money for its shareholders. 
The problem with that way of thinking is that there are a lot more people affected by your actions than your family or shareholders.
That type of reasoning is an excuse to be selfish. 
An excuse to give in to fear. 
It's based on a fundamental belief that life is about survival. 
That there's no actual purpose. 
That love is just an idea or an emotional/chemical activity in the brain, and that ultimately there is no God other than self.
We can do better than such nihilistic thinking. 
If we're willing to humble ourselves and see where a life of faith and love can take us.

Imperfection
Your entire life is imperfect. 
Take a closer look at your body, your thoughts, the house you live in, the car you drive, your relationships, the politics in your country, etc. 
You're surrounded by imperfection, inside and out. 
And it will always be that way.
Do what you can to make things better, but don't be obsessed with perfection. 
Otherwise you'll live a miserable life. 
Try to find beauty in imperfection. 
It's there. 
You just have to look closely.

Different Than We Imagine
It's impossible to imagine ahead of time everything I'm going to write. 
It's always surprising how much is still left in the tank. 
It comes out a little at a time and it amounts to a lot over time.
Life is like that too. 
We try to imagine everything that we'll do, how everything will play out, how to solve all our problems at once. 
But it's impossible. 
We have to take it one moment at a time. 
And things often turn out differently than we imagined.

Resonating With Others
We tell ourselves a lot of stories. About ourselves, about others, about the world, and about the meaning of life. We tend to fill in the gaps where we lack knowledge and understanding. We're so used to doing it that we often don’t realize we do it. 
And the gaps are many. 
We know far less than there is to be known. 
But we do experience moments of truth when we’re able to see through our own B.S. 
and be humbled by the mysteriousness and complexity of life. In that state of mind we're most able to resonate with others and help them enter that state of mind also. It’s about cutting through the noise so we can hear the voice of truth within.

What's Bothering You?
Write it down. 
Get it out in the open where you can see it and make peace with it. 
It's calling for your attention. 
Acknowledge its existence, then let it go.
Write to de-stress. 
It works. 
It helps you put your thoughts and feelings into perspective. It gives us an outlet for our troubles, our need for self-expression, and our need to make sense of life.
Writing in times of difficulty, even in times of frustration and anger, can be a source of inspiration. 
Writing during those times can help you get through them. 
Writing during those times can help you see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Things Are Better Than You Think
What are the worst things that could happen to you? Write them down. 
Have any of them happened? Chances are none of them have. 
So shouldn't you be on top of the world?
Imagine if they did happen, and somehow it all got reversed. 
Wouldn't you be the most thankful person in the world?
Put yourself there visually. 
Imagine the very worst things have come true. 
Feel it, as though it has happened to you. 
Feel what it would be like.
Then come back to the present. 
Come back and be thankful. 
Come back and live your life differently. 
With gratitude. 
Thankful for everything you take for granted.

Fear and Greed
Fear and greed are linked. 
Greed is a symptom of fear. 
We want more, because we fear not having enough.
It's about survival and it's about self-worth. 
The more we have, the more likely it is that we'll survive. 
And the more we have, the more we can look good in the eyes of others.
Or so we tend to think.

An Aid To Self-Control
You're going to make mistakes sometimes. 
Even when you're being rational. 
But you'll greatly increase the number of mistakes you'll make if you allow fear, greed, and anger to determine your actions.
By having better command of your emotions and impulses you'll stack the odds in your favor, in terms of avoiding big mistakes. 
This requires self-reflection and it involves being knowledgeable.
Statistics is a good example of knowledge that can help tame emotions. 
Because often our fears are overblown. 
A knowledge of statistics can expose our irrational biases.

Excellence Instead Of Perfection
"Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God's business" ~ Michael J. 
Fox
Nothing you do will be perfect. 
If you try to make it perfect, that's exactly the conclusion you'll come to. 
It's better to realize that sooner than later, otherwise you'll be prone to self-sabotage. 
Whatever you're working on will refuse to be perfect and that may frustrate you to the point of wanting to throw it all away.
But even if you decided to throw it all away and go live as a hermit in the woods you'd still realize how imperfect your life is. 
You'd still realize you can't avoid yourself or the reality of the world you live in.
Your only choice is to reach as close as you can to perfection (which will always be far off) and then surrender to it. 
Accept that it's beyond you, but that you can get close enough to still make a difference in the world. 
Don't use it as an excuse to not be the best version of yourself you can be.

Sinner and Saint
I'm a loving person and I'm a dangerous person. I'm capable of self-sacrifice and I'm capable of murder.
I've seen both within myself. 
I've felt them and I've acting them out (hatred, assault, bad-mouthing people, are forms of murder).
I'm a sinner and a saint. My willingness to let go of fear and trust God is what will determine which I'll be in any given moment.
We have to live with trust in our heart, so that love will reveal itself there and manifest itself in our actions.

Grace
The finger you point eventually gets pointed back at you. 
The grace you give eventually graces you.
Accusations tend to provoke defensiveness, rather than confessions.
Grace wins friends, condemnation makes enemies.
Grace produces change, harsh criticism makes people stuck in their ways.
Grace will make you a fisher of men and women.

Working Out Your Problems
You don't need to have everything figured out today. 
Work it out one step at a time.
Whatever decision or dilemma you're struggling with, it's one of many more that you'll have in your lifetime. 
Each one is a project for you to work on.
And it's mostly about letting go (faith and patience). 
Much of what you're trying to work out will work itself out.

Our Default Nature Is Good
Usually, we don't need to talk ourselves into doing the right thing. 
When we do something bad it's because we've talked ourselves out of doing the right thing.
A mother doesn't have to talk herself into taking care of her child. 
She would have to talk herself out of taking care of her child.
People don't naturally wage war. 
They have to talk themselves out of being peaceful.
It has a lot to do with the stories we tell ourselves. 
Starting from an early age. 
Kindergarten children are generally good natured and well behaved, but some of them will be doing terrible things by the time they become teenagers. 
Things happen in their life that cause them to tell themselves a story. 
A story that convinces them not to follow their inherent good nature.
Think about your own behavior. 
For you to go around wreaking havoc you'd have to talk yourself into it. 
It doesn't come natural. 
Even in war-torn countries only a minority of the people get involved in the civil conflict and looting. 
Most people are on the side of peace. 
That's our default nature.

Start With Changing Yourself
It's time to stop thinking so much about how other people need to change and start thinking more about how you need to change. 
That's change that can actually be made.
Your best chance at changing other people is through changing yourself anyway.
Each of us has a lot of work to do on ourselves.

We've Come A long Way and We Have A Long Way To Go
We've been here for thousands of years. 
And in that time we've learned many things. 
We've created many amazing things. 
We've figured out how to use natural resources in ingenious ways to provide for ourselves. 
To not only provide for ourselves, but to live a relatively luxurious lifestyle.
A middle class person living today enjoys more luxury than the richest person in the world did a century ago. 
Yet we still have billions of people struggling. 
Even in first world countries we have millions of people struggling to simply pay their rent or own a small house. 
Most of us have to slave away for decades under the rule of bosses and money lenders before we can own a modest home to live in.
We've come a long way economically (and socially). 
There are far fewer people living in poverty (per capita) than ever before. 
People live longer. 
More people can read and write. 
Violent crime has gone down. 
There are fewer major wars. 
Women and people of color have more rights (people in general have more rights). 
But with everything that we've accomplished we still have major gaps in lifestyle.
In other words, greed is still a major problem. 
There's no easy fix. 
We need a market economy — we need capitalism. 
But we also need a spiritual revolution, where capitalism is seen as a way of serving humanity, rather than serving self. 
Not enough people have come to the realization that their spiritual life and their service to others should be their priority.

The Primacy of Love
We're not here to merely "have fun" or "maximize our potential" or "make life what we want it to be". 
The purpose of life is certainly deeper than such superficial and self-centered pursuits.
The fact that you care about yourself suggests that you're worth caring about. 
And if you're worth caring about, even with all your flaws, then so are other people. 
Love is the thing we desire most. 
The purpose of life has something to do with the mystery of love.
Those who reject that way of thinking tend to become nihilistic. 
Nihilism creates a self-fulfilling prophesy. 
It helps create reasons not to see meaning. 
It creates reasons to reject the primacy of love.
Once you reject the idea that the meaning of life has something to do with love, it becomes open season for life to be about whatever you want it to be about. 
Even the most selfish and perverse things.

Effective Communication
How do we know if our speech is constructive or destructive? Truth isn't the only factor. 
The way truth is communicated is also important.
Is what you're communicating and the way you're communicating it likely to set the other person free, or cause them to entrench further?
That's what it means to "speak the truth in love". 
It doesn't mean you always have to be gentle, but you do have to be aware of your communication style. 
You can't merely say whatever you feel like saying in the moment and then wonder why someone is upset by it.
We have to try to see from the other person's perspective and then present our own perspective in a non-threatening way. 
In a way that is likely to liberate rather than shut down.
Listen first, speak later. 
Listen for a long time. 
Ask questions. 
Understand empathetically. 
Then respond.

Sleep Is A Good Use Of Time
Many people regard sleep as a waste of time. 
Because when we're asleep we're not "doing anything". 
Because we're "unconscious". 
But the truth is there's a lot going on while we sleep.
While we sleep our brain processes things we've learned and our body repairs itself. And although we're unconscious in one way we're still conscious in another way. While we sleep we experience alternative realities that can be enlightening. 
Sometimes the things we experience while we sleep are more interesting and enjoyable than what we experience when we're awake.
We're still conscious beings while we're asleep. 
We're still experiencing life. 
Just in a different way. 
Those experiences, and the learning and repair work that takes place, make sleep far from a waste of time.

Two Choices
Disappointment presents us with two opportunities:

To be become angry, depressed, afraid, etc.
To let go and find something to be thankful for, and thus find peace.

Option two doesn't mean giving up or not caring. 
It can still act as motivation to make things better. 
But ground yourself in peace first.
Incidentally, giving up is a good idea if you're going in the wrong direction or if your motives are wrong. Sometimes we want the wrong things or go about getting what we want in the wrong way.
Frustration is often an indication of that. 
But more often, frustration is a sign that we have the wrong attitude. 
That we're responding the wrong way to obstacles.
First find out if you're going in the right direction. 
Then figure out the right attitude to have along the way.

Always Arriving
You're never there. 
Where you want to be. 
You're always in a state of becoming. 
You're always discovering and rediscovering.
You'll never reach a state of permanent enlightenment as long as you're in the body. 
You'll continue to struggle. 
But it's possible for you to find more moments of enlightenment. 
More moments of peace and love.
That's worth living for. 
And it's worth helping others get there more often.

Accomplishments
How much you accomplish in aggregate isn't as important as how much you accomplish relative to what you started out with.
And what you accomplish is more important than how much you accomplish. 
In other words, quality matters. 
Did it help others, or did it merely help you?

Living Boldly
Live more boldly.
How do you do that?
It's not about taking big risks. 
Big risks mean a slight chance of huge success and a high probability of catastrophic failure.
Living more boldly means recognizing that many of your fears are false. 
That some of the things that seem risky actually aren't that risky. 
Living boldly means pushing aside false fear.
There are times to take big risks. 
Risks that may even lead to catastrophic failure. 
If your daughter is about to be hit by a car you're going to put yourself in harms way. 
Even if the likelihood of saving her is low. 
You're going to do it anyway, because it has to be done. 
You have to at least try to save her.
That type of risk is a lot different from taking on huge amounts of debt, or moving your family to a war zone, or gambling large sums at a casino, etc. 
That's not living boldly. 
That's living foolishly.
Many of our false fears are related to what other people think of us. 
We hold back because we're afraid of what people might think (and we sometimes take big foolish risks for the same reason). 
Living boldly is the ability to overcome false narratives. 
And it's the ability to do what needs to be done, even if we might fail. 
Even if people will laugh at us, or be angry, or be envious, etc.

Adjustment
Whenever possible, use disadvantage to your advantage. 
Sick? Now you have more time to read. 
Etc.
Let your response to adversity be adjustment instead of complaint.

Time
If you want to optimize your time, do what's important to you and avoid drudgery as much as possible.
You don't have much time. 
Days fly by like nothing. 
Especially as you get older. 
So you really have to focus on what's most important and avoid nonsense.
You're not going to be here long. 
What is truly important? I'm not talking about a "bucket list". 
Think more in terms of love and higher purpose.
You only have so much time in the day, and only so much energy, and only so much capacity to make decisions. 
So what will you do with your time?

Procrastination
To procrastinate means to put things off until later. 
But that's not always a bad idea. 
Sometimes it's better to do it later.
Because sometimes we rush things. 
Sometimes we have our priorities out of whack. 
Sometimes the thing we think needs to be done doesn't actually need to be done. 
Maybe you told yourself it did. 
Maybe you sold yourself a story and now you're having trouble letting it go. 
Maybe it's irrational fear pushing you to do it.
The things that really need to be done will get done. 
You won't be able to not do them. 
What you need to do will be revealed to you in silence. 
In prayer. 
In moments of letting go and trusting God to guide you.

A Different Way To Treat People
Our tendency is to compete with people or to impress them with how much we know. 
Rarely is it to simply love them with the love of God.
Our motive for competition and for impressing people come from our own desire to be loved. 
We forget that it's by loving others that we receive love from them. 
We also forget that we're already loved by God.
Loving others, especially strangers, and especially people who aren't nice to us, is hard. 
That's why we often choose not to do it. 
In the short run loving your "enemies" is the hard way, but in the long run it's the easier way.
It takes mindfulness. 
It means consistently living in awareness that we're loved by God and that everyone we meet is also equally loved by God. 
That way of thinking needs to be the foundation we build our life on. 
And the thread that runs through everything we do.

Motivation and Priorities
If something is truly important to you, no one will have to motivate you. 
And you won't need to put it on a to-do list.
You'll just do it, because you can't help but do it.
If you don't do it, it's probably not that important to you.

Turning Weakness Into Strength
Refusing to let go makes us fragile. By admitting our weaknesses we become strong.
We can overcome our weaknesses by inviting the strength of God into our life. 
That's what it really means to let go. 
Letting go of the false belief that we can handle everything, and relying on God to handle it for us.
God doesn't necessarily handle it by taking it away, but by giving us peace and guidance.

Overcoming Darkness
Everyone has darkness in them. 
It must be overcome by love. 
Reject darkness by choosing to love.
Darkness lives behind excuses. 
By removing excuses you allow light to illuminate those dark places.

Self-worth
When we attach our self-worth to what we can do, instead of who we are, we set ourselves up for failure.
Don't attach your self-worth to a job or to physical attributes. 
Instead, recognize that you're loved by God and called to love others.

The Bible Is Still Relevant
The story of the woman caught in adultery didn't appear in biblical manuscripts until several centuries after the death of Jesus. 
Someone created the story and put it into the bible.
It's a great story. 
It conveys an important message. 
A message consistent with what we know about Jesus. 
But it didn't happen.
This demonstrates the power of a good story. 
This demonstrates the usefulness of the bible. 
Even if some of it is fiction. 
The story isn't true, but the lesson is.
Even Jesus told fictional stories. 
He used allegorical stories to illustrate important truths. 
The bible is still relevant.

Fear Of Loss
Fear of loss is not inherently a bad thing. 
It can keep you from making foolish decisions. 
Such as risking more than you can afford to lose.
But don't let it stop you from taking action. 
Some risk is necessary. 
Even not taking action can sometimes be more risky than taking action. 
Risk is inherent to life. 
Be wise about what the costs may be for the decisions you make.
No decisions are without consequence. 
Good or bad. 
And often the consequences can remain hidden for a long time. 
Like planting seeds, they remain unseen, until they're not. 
Eventually what you plant makes it's presence known.
Plant the right seeds and be patient. 
You can hardly go wrong with that way of thinking.

Be The Peace You Want To See In The World
Sometimes we need people to point us toward peace. 
Because we forget. 
We forget how important peace is. 
How powerful it can be. 
And we forget how to be that peace. 
To "be the change you want to see in the world" (Gandhi).
That's the true essence of spirituality. 
It's the underlying message of Christianity, Buddhism and many other religions. 
But that message often gets drowned out by obsession with rules.
The word religion has become synonymous with rigid rule-based living. 
But what it actually means is to have a connection with God and our spiritual nature (our true self). 
That's where peace is found. 
And that's how we learn to be peace.
And that's the awakening we need to create in the world.

A Safe Assumption
We want to believe things we don’t actually know. 
It makes us feel better about the fact that we know very little. Admitting that you don’t know is the beginning of knowing.
Protect yourself against your own ignorance. 
Assume that you're going to change your mind about certain things in the future. 
Assume that you're wrong about some things you currently believe. 
Make decisions with that in mind so you'll do a better job of managing risk.

First Impressions
"Can I trust this person?"
"Is this person like me?"
"Can this person do anything for me?"
Those are the most common subconscious questions we ask ourselves when we meet new people. 
We tend to assess people this way without realizing we're doing it.
Knowing that this is what other people are also going through when they first meet us is helpful. 
It can help us flip the questions around so we're not too standoffish.

A Life of Faith
Living a life of faith is a life dependent on God. 
Trusting God to guide you from moment to moment. 
We get ourselves into trouble when we stop relying on God. 
When we try to take matters into our own hands. 
When we allow negative emotions like fear, greed, and anger to control us.
When we let go and trust God to guide us, we make better decisions. 
We have better relationships. 
We attain wisdom — we see more deeply. 
And we find peace and love. 
The most important things we're all searching for. 
We lose sight of them when we allow negative emotions to take over.
We must always let go and trust God to show us the way. 
Part of that means being patient, waiting for things to run their course, being more of a listener, and being focused on the task at hand.

Going Your Own Way
You'll be tempted to follow the crowd. 
To not go your own way. 
Going your own way seems riskier. 
And sometimes it is. 
It may cause you to lose some relationships. 
It may invite criticism and persecution. 
It may require you to leave some money on the table. 
Maybe a lot of money.
But you're not here to prevent those things from happening. 
You're not here to impress people or to see how much money you can make. 
You're here to learn something and to be something special.
That's what it means to go your own way. 
It's about knowing who you are, what you want, and what you're here to do. 
You're not going to be here long. 
Stop holding back. 
Put yourself out there.

Choosing Goodness
What you believe becomes true to you, even if the substance of that belief isn't objectively true.
It can go in one of two directions: toward violence, dishonesty, destruction, etc. 
Or toward peace, respect, service to others, etc.
It's clear that one outcome is good and one is bad. 
And we're capable of going either way, depending on what we believe.
Which one is more fulfilling? Which one are we more likely to regret? It should be clear to any reasonable person that goodness is objectively better than badness. 
The choices aren't equal.
The fact that goodness is the way, tells us that God is good and that our true nature is good. 
When we're bad, it's a false self being manifest. 
The false self is who we are when we become disconnected with our true self.
In losing sight of our goodness, and the goodness of others, we become prone to doing evil. It's in our collective best interest to help each other see that each of us are inherently good.

Wisdom Within
Too much advice clouds judgment and drowns out wisdom.
Even if you are taking advice from wise and intelligent people, you still have to go off to a quiet place on your own and think about it. 
You still have to find wisdom within yourself.
Explore what's in you. 
There's more in there than you realize. 
You're the most sophisticated thing in the universe. 
Spend more time exploring your inner being.
Any wisdom we hope to gain from others can't be recognized unless viewed from the source of our own wisdom. 
Wisdom recognizes itself elsewhere.

Urgent or Patient? It Depends
"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today". 
Sounds really wise. 
It sounds true, and reasonable. 
But so does "never do today what you can put off until tomorrow".
Both statements are true and wise, depending on the circumstances. 
The question is: are we putting it off until later because we're being lazy, or are we simply prioritizing?
Maybe doing it today will cause us to rush it and do a bad job. 
Maybe we're caught up in the moment and don't realize that it doesn't need to be done right now. 
Or maybe it doesn't need to be done at all and we're merely telling ourselves that it does.
Putting it off until later is a really bad idea when it actually needs to be done now. 
But just as we're good at being lazy, we're also good at being urgent. 
In other words, we're not good at being patient. 
We pretty much always want things done right now. 
Sometimes being a little "lazy" can keep us out of trouble.
Here's another one: "the early bird catches the worm". 
Well, it depends on what we're talking about. 
Because it's also true that "the second mouse gets the cheese". 
You don't want to be the early bird in all situations.

Respect For The Gift Of Life
Life doesn't have to be as serious as we make it out to be. 
Nor should it be treated as a joke. 
Life is serious, but it's also lighthearted.
Life is too long for us to be serious all the time and too short for us to not be lighthearted. 
The gift of life deserves to be taken seriously and to be enjoyed.

Finding God
You find God by letting go. 
You have to let go and trust.
It's simple, but not easy.
When God shows up, he shows up as a quiet assurance. 
Without seeing him or hearing him you'll say "there you are".

Have Mercy
Subconscious memory affects behavior. 
People don't always know why they do some of the things they do. 
We have memories buried deep within us that our conscious mind has forgotten about. 
The brain remembers everything. 
Even the things we don't consciously notice happening to us.
If you find someone acting in a peculiar way, remember that they might not realize they're doing it. 
Even if you point it out to them, they might not see it. 
All the more reason to be merciful. 
In other words, be patient with other people's faults.
Of course, you have your own faults too which may make it difficult for you to be merciful, but do your best.

A Missing Part of Respect
Treating people with respect includes respectfully declining to allow them to walk all over you.
By doing this, you're doing yourself and them a favor. 
You're doing them a favor by teaching them how to behave.

The Right Thing
Everyone suffers persecution. 
So you might as well suffer it for doing the right thing.
If you choose to do the right thing, you'll be happy with yourself, and the right people will respect you.
You might be able to impress people by doing the wrong thing, but you'll attract the wrong people, and they won't love you.

Fear Perpetuated
Fear comes from within and makes its way into society, where it gets magnified. It then comes full circle back to us, further reinforcing our individual fears.
This is made all the worse by media outlets that thrive on keeping people in fear. The News causes people to believe that rare events are ubiquitous. 
People react to the report of rare events, rather than responding to everyday life. 
The News is a distraction from life. 
An escape from life. 
An excuse to run from ourselves.
Time for silence and solitude, for connection with the peace of God, is a necessity.

Negative People
Sometimes you have to let people go if they're a negative influence on you. 
It doesn't mean you don't care about them. 
It means you want to take care of your mental health.
You may be tempted to try to overcome the negative influence they have on you, or try to change them. 
But it's okay to admit that you may not be strong enough. 
That it might destroy you, or cause you to destroy them.

Words
There's power in words, because we're more than mere physical beings. 
Words are an expression of the spirit. 
The spirit is the true power, not the body.
Words are powerful, because all people are insecure. 
No matter how confident someone may seem, they're still deeply insecure. 
We're all flawed, vulnerable children who fear what's going to happen to us.
Words can lift up and they can tear down. 
Words can inspire and they can intimidate. 
Words can change behavior and perceptions.
And no one has a monopoly over them.

The Best Philosophy Of All
Love, not philosophy, is what changes people.
And if your philosophy is about loving people, you need to actually practice it.
We see this in religion all the time, and among philosophers and academics. 
They miss the forest for the trees. 
They want to think and talk about the right thing to do, but they don't want to actually do it. They get too wrapped up in their theories and doctrines and pious observances.
As great as their arguments and oratory may sound, they don't get it. 
They don't get what they should actually be doing. 
And they spend their time pointing fingers and starting arguments (I'll avoid doing the same by not naming names).
Educating ourselves is important, but knowledge also "puffs up". 
We need to keep learning, but we have to be careful not to cling to knowledge as a means to boost our ego. 
Seeking knowledge should be primarily about learning how little we actually know.
Knowledge can lead to hubris or it can lead to humility. 
We need to make sure it's leading us to greater humility. It's in humility that we'll find it easier to love others, rather than trying to lord over them.

Mistakes
You're always going to make mistakes. 
The question is: what are you going to do after you notice them?
When beating yourself up over past mistakes, remember that the reason you're beating yourself up is because you're a good person. 
If you weren't good, you wouldn't care. 
And the fact that you want to do better, means that you probably will do better.
You can't change the past, but you can change the future. 
You can be better than you were.
You'll never be perfect though. 
No one is. 
You'll have to forgive yourself over and over again.

How To Make Success Less Random
Success is less random when you're willing to focus.
When you're willing to keep learning.
When you're willing to keep showing up.
When you're willing to treat people with the respect you'd like to receive.
When you're willing to delay gratification.

Avoiding Bad Situations
We spend a lot of time and energy trying to fight our way out of situations that we could have avoided.
Debt is a good example. 
It takes less work to maintain a budget than it does to dig yourself out of debt.

Non-Attachment Defined
If non-attachment means not caring, then it's not right.
But if by non-attachment we mean living by faith, letting go of our ego and insecurities, that's the way to be.
A non-attachment philosophy that is nihilistic serves nothing but selfish desires and allows its adherents to hide from responsibility.

Sympathy and Responsibility
People will sometimes try to make you feel bad for not giving them what they want. 
But the problem may actually be with them. 
They may be asking for too much or for something they should be doing for themselves.
People tend to avoid taking responsibility and prefer to put in on others. 
Even the people closest to you will sometimes do that. 
(and you'll sometimes do it to them).
Too much sympathy allows people to be weaker than they need to be. 
Tough love has its place.

Being Great At What Matters Most
In a world full of distractions, we need to remind ourselves often of what's most important.
There are only a few things that matter. 
Master those before adding anything else. Be the best you can be at the things that matter most.
What are those things?
Love for your children and your spouse.
Treating all people the way you'd like to be treated.
Having an intimate connection with God.
Helping people in need, materially, mentally and spiritually.
These are the things that should be the focus of our life. 
Remind yourself of them everyday.

The Things of Heaven
The things of heaven are not up in the sky or merely in another dimension.
They are to be unlocked within you, right now, while you're still in the body.
They are love, joy, peace, humility, patience, and more.

Return To The Basics
We don't always need a profound new insight. 
Often, we just need to be reminded of the basics — the lessons we've already learned.
More information isn't necessarily a good thing if you haven't yet taken in the information you've already received. Absorb the lessons you've already learned before moving on to the next one.
It's easy to read or listen to something and say to ourselves, "oh that's interesting", and then move on to the next thing. 
But what if we were to spend more time with it. 
To spend some time contemplating it and how to apply it to our lives. 
To write down our thoughts about it. 
To re-read or re-watch it multiple times over the next year?

Childlike
Everyone is still a child in one way or another.
A child knows very little and is just trying to find his or her way. 
A child imagines what he or she wants to be true. 
A child's feelings are easily hurt. 
A child depends on others for survival. 
A child laughs and cries. 
A child wants his or her own way and will sometimes take it from others by force or by being cunning. 
A child avoids responsibility and hides or lies when he or she does something wrong.
None of us have fully outgrown our childhood. 
The child is still in there — still driving much of our thoughts and behaviors. 
By recognizing that, we can continue to grow. 
We can continue moving toward maturity. 
(Though there are some parts of our childlike nature that should be embraced: creativity, humor, wonder etc.)

The Role of Money In Your Life
Money can be a friend or it can be a foe. 
It depends on what you expect it to do for you.
What do you expect it to buy?
Can it buy what you expect it to buy?
If it can, do you actually need it?
We get ourselves into trouble when we're not able to answer those questions honestly or accurately. 
We need to examine our motives thoroughly, because we're really good at lying to ourselves. 
We've had plenty of practice. 
We've been doing it our entire life.
"Everyone is doing it" and "everyone has one" aren't good enough reasons for acquiring more money or for spending it.

The Power of Our Words and Actions
Words can heal and they can harm.
Actions can be constructive and they can be destructive.
We have the power of life and death in our words and actions.
Living prayerfully and mindfully is a life-giving choice.

Living A Life Of Purpose
We live in a time when it's easier than ever to have a job that you love and make a decent living from it.
Maybe you won't get rich, but you'll have enough. 
If you can pay the bills and have a little money left over, while doing something you love, you're already rich.
There are plenty of rich people who hate what they do and aren't happy with their life. 
Those people aren't actually rich. 
They're monetarily rich, but poor in spirit.
You're only going to be here once. 
It makes no sense to spend eight plus hours per day doing something you dread. 
Live a life of purpose. 
Do what you love. 
Do what God put you here to do.

Putting Ambition Into Perspective
Lack of action isn't my problem. 
Lack of patience is my problem. 
I want it and I want it now, so I go after it. 
Even when I know the best thing for me to do is wait, I'll still take action anyway.
When I want something, there's no lack of drive. 
And that drive can sometimes lead me down the wrong path. 
Thank God I'm not always that way, but I'm that way more often than I want to be.
What we want and how we go about getting it are very important.

Purpose and Trust
Fully understanding the purpose of the universe, and why God allows suffering, is too big of a task for us to take on. 
At best, we can merely catch a glimpse of its meaning.
We can't fully know the truth in this life, but we can know it in part. 
It's difficult to use mere words to describe the truth, but words like wisdom, love, and peace come close.
We have to accept that we can't figure everything out. 
We have to trust that God knows what he's doing, as difficult as that may be sometimes.

The Narrow Way
Sometimes we need the wise words of others to keep us straightened out. 
It's so easy to go down the wrong road and so difficult to follow the "narrow way". 
Sometimes we need help following the right path.
What makes the "road that leads to life" so narrow? It's narrow, because it's focused. 
Trust God, love your neighbor, it's pretty basic. 
It rules out a lot of other behaviors.
It's difficult to follow, because all possible behaviors are available to us. 
The wide road doesn't require discipline, focus, or accountability. 
The wide road presents all kinds of traps. The narrow way leads to life, because there's nothing in it that can ensnare us.
That's why some people become monks. 
So they can limit their options. 
Fewer temptations to lead them down the wrong path. 
We need to adopt some of those safeguards for ourselves. 
Limited media consumption, owning fewer possessions. 
And spending less time with people who are "of the world" — people who aren't interested in the narrow way.

Turn Off The Inner Dialogue
If you're arguing with yourself in your mind, stop. 
It's not getting you anywhere. 
All it will do is take you around in circles. 
It will also invoke emotions that will cloud your judgement.
And all the chatter is drowning out the voice of wisdom which whispers within you. 
It whispers in silence. 
It whispers in stillness.
The dialogue you're having with yourself is the result of not listening. 
Not being still. 
Not being in the moment. Believing that you're smart enough on your own to figure things out that can only be revealed to you.
The sooner you become quiet, the sooner it will be revealed. 
Not right when you want it, but right when you need it.

Ambition and Insecurity
No matter how much you do, it will always feel like you're not doing enough. 
Because we're aware that we're capable of more. 
And we never quite feel secure enough in this world, because life is so fragile.
It's our awareness of our potential and our awareness of the fragility of life that fuels our pursuit. 
We want more, because we believe we're capable of it and because we believe it will provide us with further security.
We'll never be totally satisfied or secure in this life. 
There's always more to be done and there's always something to be concerned about. 
That doesn't mean we can't have peace or some level of security. 
It just means it will never be perfect and fear will visit us from time to time.

Two Heads Are Not Always Better Than One
"You are neither right nor wrong because people agree or disagree with you." ~ Benjamin Graham
You may be smart, but other people are smart in a different way than you. 
They have a different tool box than you. 
You have gaps in your knowledge that they don't have, and vice-versa. 
That is obviously the meaning of "two heads are better than one".
But it's also true that two heads are not always better than one. 
Sometimes even many heads working together aren't smarter than one. 
It depends on the individuals involved and on the subject.
A bunch of people in a room together brainstorming ideas can actually be worse than one person sitting quietly in a room alone. And at the end of the day that's what you're left with. 
You sitting alone with your thoughts.
You will have to decide what's best. Even the choice to blindly follow someone else is still your choice. 
You're the one to make that decision.
None of us are smarter than all of us. 
We need to learn from each other. 
But we also need the wisdom and the courage to make rational decisions on our own, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Relating To Others
We usually want to help people who make us feel good. 
Even if the person already has way more than they need.
But someone who makes us feel bad is hard to love. 
Even if they're merely expressing frustration over their suffering.
That's usually why we treat people badly. 
Because the person contributed to our suffering in some way. 
Or at least we perceive that they did. 
In some cases, we're merely doing it to ourselves.
If we're able to see that the other person is acting the way they are because of their suffering, we can avoid being angry with them and avoid adding to our own suffering.

Personal Enemy Number One
Who is your real enemy?
Is it other people, or is it you?
Most of the time it's ourselves, but other people get the blame. 
We're busy blaming each other instead of looking in the mirror.

Competition
If your goal is to do good in the world, other people doing good are on your side. 
They're not your competition.
Your competition is yourself. 
The part of you that challenges you to be better than you were before. 
Not better merely for the sake of patting yourself on the back or having more than others. 
But better for the sake of others too.
If you're trying to be better than others, it shouldn't be about domination or a feeling of superiority. 
It should be about making others better too, and better off.

We're Not That Different
There are no full-time saints, only part-time saints.
There are no full-time sinners, only part-time sinners
All people are capable of being selfish and self-less. 
It's largely a struggle between fear and trust.
None of us are as superior or inferior as we think we are.
 

Disappointment Instead of Condemnation
If you want someone to stop being dishonest, it's better to appeal to their sense of nobility than to do anything that would make it difficult for them to save face.
"I'm disappointed" is better than "You're a liar".
Condemnation doesn't provide them with an out. 
In their mind you've already made your decision about them. 
So they'll be defensive. 
And they'll be angry with you for being judgmental.
You don't want them to think you're angry. 
You want them to know you're hurt and that you know they're better than the way they've been behaving.

Come Back To Yourself
By not being present, we scatter ourselves. 
And that scattering causes us to go looking for fulfillment in the wrong places. 
When we're present, we come back to ourselves. 
We become whole. 
And in that awareness we find what we're looking for.
Pray and breathe. 
Return to yourself. 
You dispersed yourself, but now in this moment you can recollect yourself. 
Your mind doesn't have to be in ten places at once. 
You can bring it back to the present moment.

Seeking True Perfection
Though we'll never come close to reaching perfection in this life, it's nonetheless our "duty" to move toward it. 
We can get closer to it. 
The closer we get, the happier we'll be, and the less suffering we'll cause to others.
By "perfection" I mean perfect love. 
I mean removing unloving thoughts, words and actions from our life. 
We can all improve on this. 
There's nothing more worthy to improve on.
People want to look better, eat better, make more money, etc. 
But it's rare for people to make love the number one aim of self-improvement. 
Not romantic love. 
But love that does no harm. 
Love that forgives. 
Love that is not self-interested.
That is the ultimate in "self-improvement." Virtually every other kind is focused on self, with little regard for the welfare of others.

Going Deeper
Most of the time, we're thinking and living from the surface, instead of living from the spirit.
Living from the spirit requires us to expose ourselves to others and to face judgment for being different. You're going to be judged, no matter what, so you might as well be your true self.
By true self, I don't mean we should say whatever comes to mind or do whatever we want. 
That isn't deep enough. 
It's about finding the part of ourselves that is peace, love, and wisdom.

True Life
Does a relationship survive and thrive by you insisting on getting your own way, or does it happen by crucifying your ego?
Is life better when good things come our way unexpectedly, or when we try to force it?
We all want to truly live, but we don't want to die to get there. 
That's what it takes to truly live — giving up our life so we can gain it.
We want to know the truth. 
We want to know the Way. 
But we don't really want to pay the price. 
That, takes some persuasion. God/life persuades us by frustrating our selfish ambitions. 
Mainly by not allowing those ambitions to fulfill us.

I Don't Want To Serve Two Masters
One of my fears lately has been that if I take my eye off how I can make more money I won't make enough. 
But what happens is I end up repeating the same old ideas over and over in my mind. 
And that gets me nowhere.
My best ideas come when I let go. 
When I go with the flow. 
Not when I hang on or try to figure things out. 
The success I've had online up to this point has been the result of prayer, reading, and writing. 
It was my surrender to God that caused me to start writing and to read more.
I don't want to think about how to make more money. 
I want to think about how to make more of an impact. 
My job is to help people, not to make money.
Two biblical quotes keep coming to mind:
"Seek first the Kingdom of God."
"No one can serve two masters."

Love Sets Free
Selfishness can sometimes disguise itself as love. 
Infatuation and lust are manifestations of selfishness that disguise themselves as love. 
They are selfish, because they desire to use and to possess.
Love doesn't wish to possess. 
Love sets free. 
Love sees others as children of God. 
Love wants to be loved back through free choice. 
Love is even willing to die on behalf of the beloved. 
Love desires spiritual companionship, not mere physical gratification.

Different Types of Reflection
Less time looking at yourself in the mirror, more time reflecting on what's in you. Keeping up appearances only works for so long. 
What's in us eventually gets revealed.
The impression you make on others isn't merely your physical appearance. 
It's also your words and actions. We tend to underestimate the impressions we make through our character.
If your heart is right, you'll be more likely to communicate the right messages. 
And that means far more than your hair style, the wrinkles on your face, or your body fat percentage.

Why Are You Here?
Come back from your own little world of wants and desires. 
Become acquainted with all that you already have and the true purpose for why you're here.
Are you here to get rich, own a big house, an expensive car, be the boss at work, get six-pack abs, be famous?
No. You're here to learn something and to teach something. 
And it has something, if not everything, to do with love. 
The love of God and the love of people.

The Stories We Tell and Why
The type of storytelling we need, is the type that educates and uplifts people. 
Not the type designed merely to sell a product. The product may be good and beneficial, but those who sell it are biased. 
They think it's better than it actually is. 
So their story will be misrepresentative.
And whether the product is beneficial or not, the seller will be blinded by potential profits. 
It's not nearly as much fun drinking a Coke as the commercials make it seem.
We also fool ourselves with the stories we tell ourselves. 
When I was in my late teens, I wanted to own a Jeep. 
I imagined myself cruising around with the roof and doors off. 
I couldn't imagine a cooler or more fun vehicle to own (with the exception of maybe a Corvette Stingray). 
An older friend of mine at the time, who had once owned a Jeep, told me "it's more fun watching someone else drive a Jeep than it is to drive one yourself." I later found out he was right.
Stories sell. 
But are we selling the right things for the right reasons? And are we telling ourselves the right stories? Are we educating and uplifting each other and ourselves, or are we creating unrealistic and idealistic fantasies?

Faith Is Trust
Faith isn't hope. 
Nor is it certainty.
It's trust.
Trust isn't blind. 
It sees, but not very clearly.
When is there not a time to live by faith? Everything is based on trust anyway. 
We trust that we'll wake up tomorrow morning, but we don't know we will.

Sit With Your Silence
There’s something very natural about sitting in silence. 
It’s a return to a more natural state of being.
Sometimes you have to sit with your silence for awhile before you have any insights. 
While writing this paragraph (as with most things I write), I had no

idea what I was going to write. 
I sat in silence and waited for something to come to me. 
This is the power of the unconscious mind at work.
You never know what’s in there until you quiet the conscious mind and simply listen. 
That’s what it’s about. 
It’s about listening. 
I sit with my silence and listen for the next thing that wants to be written. 
I never know what it’s going to be.
The idea is to stay with your silence as long as you can, and continue returning

to it as often as you can. 
It’s not about chasing perfection and then feeling bad when you realize you can’t catch it. 
It’s about returning to a place of refuge. 
Or as it says in the bible, it’s a continuous renewing of the mind.

Knowledge Defeats Fear
Many of our fears are the result of not understanding things. 
Once we become familiar with a place, or a person, or how a particular system works, many of our fears go away.
Fear is a symptom of the perception of powerlessness. 
The perception of powerlessness is a symptom of a lack of knowledge. 
Knowledge reveals truth and direction.

Comfort and Growth
Comfort is great. 
But one of the downsides to comfort is boredom.
An animal surviving in the wilderness is rarely comfortable or bored. 
But it's fully alive.
It's healthy for us to be uncomfortable once in awhile too.

13 Sensible Daily Habits
Go to bed early and get up early. Staying awake while tired will make you feel more tired and irritable the next day. 
It's almost never worth it to stay up late watching t.v. 
or getting extra work done. 
You'll be more efficient if you start your day earlier and you won't have to live with the hangover of being tired from the night before.
Start your day off in silence. No phone, t.v., internet, stressful conversations, etc. 
Enjoy the quiet of the early morning. 
Pray, write down your thoughts, read a book.
Drink plenty of water. 
Especially in the morning. 
Drink two glasses of water upon waking up, before eating anything. 
Drink a glass of water 30 mins before every meal and 1-hour before bed. 
If you're going to drink something with a meal, hot water or tea is better for digestion.
Don't wait too long to get up and start moving around. 
After you're done with your quiet reflection time, go for a walk or do some things around the house. 
Sweep the floor, put things away, etc. 
Do some light stretches or joint mobility. 
These things will help wake the body up and remove stiffness. 
It will also energize your mind and establish a mind-body connection. 
You'll feel better and it's good for you. 
Exercise also helps inspire better idea generation and build confidence in your abilities.
Consume fewer calories. 
Especially simple carbs (things containing refined sugar). 
Only eat when you're hungry and stop when you're 80% full. 
If you're feeling hungry, it might be dehydration. 
Drink water first before eating anything. 
Consume a high fiber diet — all-bran cereal in the morning is a good start. 
Fiber counterbalances the negative effects from highly processed and sugary foods. 
It also fills you up. 
So does food that is high in protein and fat. 
Fat doesn't make you fat, carbs and sugars do. 
Delay eating in the morning as long as you can.
Limit your time on the internet, the t.v., texting, listening to the radio, etc. They are addictive and distracting. 
You've got better things to do and better messages to feed yourself with.
Limit your exposure to the news. The news focuses on negative events, because negative events are more rare than positive events. 
The news is more about entertaining you than informing you. 
Entertainment is what keeps you coming back, and you coming back is everything to them. 
Most of what the news informs you about are things you don't need to know and much of it is biased and inaccurate.
Save and invest your money. Maintain a budget, where you keep track of every dollar you spend. 
Allocate every dollar at the beginning of the month to a particular expense or savings category. 
Keep expenses as low as possible. 
Borrow as little money as possible (preferably none). 
Don't incur credit card debt, as the interest rate is far too high. 
If you insist on using debt to buy a car or renovate your home, use a line of credit instead of a credit card. 
As for investing, beware of mutual funds, hedge funds, bonds, and crypto-currencies. 
They're inferior to index funds that track the broader stock market. 
Or learn to invest in individual stocks for the long-run (invest in companies that have a "durable competitive advantage" (Buffett). 
Don't short stocks and don't use options. 
Also, all get-rich-quick schemes are wrong-headed, ignore them.
Don't have arguments with yourself or with others. Keep mental dialogues to a minimum — breathe, pray. 
And don't let real arguments with people get heated. 
De-escalate as much as possible.
Be a listener more than a talker. You'll learn more that way. 
You'll have fewer arguments. 
And people will respect you more.
Live as though you're valued by God and treat everyone as though they're equally valued by God. We're all sinners and saints. 
You may have made your peace with God, but you're not perfect and neither is anyone else. 
Don't expect them to be.
Live as though everything you have is a bonus, rather than a right. Anything you have can be take away. 
Even your very life can be extinguished in a moment. 
Be thankful, always, for what you have. 
And don't brag.
Tell your spouse and children everyday that you love them. Tell them with words and with actions.

Unattached Pursuit
Go after what you want, but let go of it at the same time.
Pursue it, but don't tie yourself to the idea of it.
What you truly want can't be fully had in this world anyway. 
What you want most isn't of this world.

Wisdom
Wisdom is more than mere intelligence. 
There are plenty of intelligent fools.
Wisdom is the ability to make sound decisions.
It involves empathy and compassion.
It involves real world experience.
It involves imagination.
It involves the ability to connect dots across multiple disciplines.
It involves the ability to break complex situations down into simple ways of understanding and application.
And above all, it involves self-knowledge and self-control.

Unconditional Love
If you view unconditional love as a license to sin, then you don't understand it. 
You haven't actually accepted it for yourself. 
You mock it with your actions.
When you realize that you're the recipient of such love, it changes you. 
It helps you do the right thing. You'll never be perfect, but you'll want to do right and you'll do your best to do right.
Unconditional love doesn't mean absence of consequences. 
There can be conviction without condemnation. In other words, unconditional love doesn't say: go to hell and never come back. It says: I'll be here waiting for you when you're ready. 
In the meantime, you're going to cause yourself a lot of pain."

Getting Physical Fitness Wrong
The thing about focusing on fitness as a goal, is that you'll never be satisfied. 
No matter how fit you become, you'll never feel like you're fit enough. 
And as you age, it will become more and more of a losing battle.
That's why fitness goals should be about general health and well-being, rather than about self-image, competition, or achieving goals. 
Who you're becoming on the inside is what matters most.
With spiritual growth, there's no regression with age. 
It's better to double down on your spiritual growth than to go to the extremes of physical fitness.
The body can only take you so far. 
The mind and the spirit will have to take you the rest of the way.

Instead Of Trying To Be Smart
"People are trying to be smart — all I'm trying to do is not be idiotic, but it's harder than most people think." ~ Charlie Munger
Don't try to be a genius. 
Just try not to be a fool.
We're really good at fooling ourselves. 
It tends to happen when the truth doesn't square with what we think we want.
What we want, and what we think we want, are sometimes two different things.
Sometimes what we truly want (the thing we would want if we knew it's what we need the most) is hidden behind an obstacle we fear. 
It's hidden behind sacrifice. 
It's hidden behind discomfort.
Not always. 
But when it is, that's when we're most likely to lie to ourselves. 
Lying to ourselves includes imagining false outcomes. 
Outcomes that we think will make us happy, but likely won't.

A Simple Way To Manage Your Health
Focus on themes instead of details.
In other words, don't micro-manage your health.
Instead, think of macro-issues that are likely to have the most impact on your overall well-being.
For instance, instead of trying to figure out exactly what foods to eat and what the nutritional value of each should be, why not simply focus on eating less food in general?
Another example: instead of trying to come up with the perfect exercise program, which will take a long time to study and implement (and become a source of frustration when you're not able to stick with it), why not stick to the basics? The basics are going to give you 80% of the results you want anyway. 
Be careful about what you sacrifice for that other 20%.
Here's a list of macro-themes that I think deliver the most value in terms of overall health and well-being:
Eat only when hungry, and stop when you're 80% full. 
Also, make your diet high in fiber.
Stay hydrated.
Sleep 8-10 hours per night, consistently. 
Go to bed early.
Exercise moderately, three times per week. 
Pick something you enjoy doing.
Spend 30 minutes per day reading a book and reflecting on what you're learning from it. 
(good for brain health)
Be thankful and prayerful every day. 
(reduces stress)
Treat everyone with respect. 
(conflict is stressful)
This is a very simplistic formula. 
But I think it's better than getting bogged down in all kinds of time consuming and frustrating details. 
And although there's no perfect formula for good health, I think we can stack the odds in our favor by focusing on such major themes.

Radical Love
Radical love should be the focus of your day. 
It should be the focus of all your remaining days.
The purpose of your life isn't to make something of yourself. 
It's to know your true self, to know God, and to know radical love.
It's the purpose of your life to share that knowing with others, through your words and through your actions. 
Not just once in awhile, but every day.

How To Change The Future
You can't change the past, but you can change the future.
Changing the future starts right now.
It starts with what you decide to focus on. 
And it's dependent on your willingness to continue learning.

How Not To Win Someone Over
Treating someone like they're an enemy doesn't convince them to become your friend.
Treating someone like they're evil doesn't convince them to become good.
Also, you can't win a heart that doesn't want to be won by you.

4 Ways To Get What You Want
One way, is to want less.
Another way, is to first help other people get what they want.
Another way, is to create it.
The worst way, is to cheat someone out of what they have.

Be Peace
Fighting against the storm doesn't calm it.
The key to your struggles may be to stop struggling.
The real you is peace. 
Be peace.
Pray and seek your center often. 
Especially when you feel anger or frustration rising in you.

Focus
Here are four separate thoughts I had about focus. 
I'm not sure which one is the best. 
So here's all four:
When you're about a lot of things, you're about nothing.
When you try to be good at a lot of things, you'll be great at none of them.
When you try to be an expert at everything, you remain an expert at nothing.
If you put your eggs in too many baskets, you won't be able to give any of them the attention they need.

Don't Be A Pushover
A person who isn't stubborn is a pushover.
A person who isn't flexible is also a pushover.

Intimidation
When we try to intimidate, it's because we are intimidated.
One should be more intimidated by a calm response than an angry one. 
A calm person is more powerful.

Simplicity
The simple way is the way.
Simplifying your life means not taking on more than you can handle. 
This requires you to be honest about your strengths and weaknesses. Also, about how much something is going to cost you in terms of time, stress, money, etc.
We often underestimate the costs. 
Especially the long-term costs.

Ability and Potential
It's wise to underestimate your ability, but not your potential.
In other words, you're probably not as good as you think you are right now. 
But you're probably capable of becoming better than you think you can.

Our Civil War and How To Win It
Everyday is a mental battle we fight with ourselves. 
It's a civil war in which we're always in danger of sabotaging ourselves.
We know what to do, but we fight against it. 
We torment ourselves with fear and doubt. 
And most of the time, these fears and doubts don't come true.
Living more boldly, with trust in God and love for people is the way forward.

Destructive Leverage
In the business world, the term leverage is used to describe strategic use of debt. 
A company or an investor can borrow money and use it to help increase profits. 
The more leverage you use, the more money you can potentially make. 
At least in the short-term. 
Because the downside to using financial leverage is that the more you use, the more you jeopardize your ability to make money in the long-run. 
It increases your risk of going broke.
This is the same thing that happens when we compromise our integrity. 
When we decide to do things we consider unethical, as a way of leveraging opportunities. 
When you lie to save your butt. 
When you bend the rules to win. 
When you follow unlawful orders. 
When you follow lawful orders that violate a more sacred law (the one within you). 
When you use people as objects for your own gain or pleasure. 
When you sell things you're not proud of. 
When you bully. 
When you gossip. 
When you play office politics.
These are ways we try to use leverage to get what we want. 
It can work. 
Especially in the short-run. 
But what about the long-run? What are the chances that using this kind of leverage will ruin you, and the people you take advantage of along the way?

Nature and Modernity
Nature and modernity are not harmonious. 
We must balance the two. 
We need modernity for its economic benefits, and we need the mindful and spiritual experience of being close to nature.
Think of a wooded area, and next to it is a busy road. 
Imagine leaving that road and walking into the woods. 
What happens? Your mental state changes. 
Things slow down and become quieter — more peaceful, and you start to shake off some of the things that have been bothering you.
Then you leave the woods and go back out onto the busy road. 
What happens? Things become noisier. 
Your sense of peace and clarity gradually fades.
In this sense, nature and modernity represent two different sates of mind. 
It's a rough analogy, but it's basically true.

A Sense Of Meaning
One of the reasons we sometimes lose a sense of meaning in life is we're often too self-focused. 
We have our mind on ourselves and our problems too often. 
And we want our circumstances, and the meaning of life itself, to meet our expectations.
It's our expectations that make us unhappy and cause us to lose hope. 
We have to let go of not only our expectations, but our desire to find a concrete meaning to life. 
We have to trust, in spite of our questions, that there is meaning in the universe.
There will be times when we'll catch a glimpse of that meaning and times when we'll lose sight of it. 
Just trust that there will be times when it will touch you. 
And that in the end, when this life is finished, there will be a greater revelation.
God is telling a story, and that story has something to do with love.

Making The World A Better Place
Find the crossroads between what you're best at and what will be most rewarding, not only to you, but to other people.
We should be doing things that will make the world a better place and avoiding things that don't. 
We usually think about what's best for ourselves but fail to look at the impact we may be having on other people. 
We often don't realize that serving the needs of the world, rather than merely our own, is usually what's best for us.
Much of the good you do for others will come back to you. 
And that's far more satisfying than always trying to take what you think is yours. 
Not everyone will appreciate you. 
Not everyone will reciprocate your generosity (and some aren't able to), but some will.
It creates a virtuous cycle, where the good you do for others, gets paid forward to even more people. 
If enough of us are doing this, we can leave the next generation better off than our own.

Why Do We Feel Bad For People When They Die?
Is it because . 
. 
.

We miss them?
We don't believe heaven exists?
We think they may have gone to hell?

If it's the first, we don't really feel bad for them, we feel bad for ourselves.
If it's the second, there's no reason to feel bad for them, because they'll no longer suffer. 
Same thing if they're in heaven.
If it's the third, it must be because we believe the person was bad, or that God is a brute.
The third one seems like the only legit reason to feel bad for someone when they die. 
However, we tend not to feel bad when "bad" people die, and it's hard for us to believe that God sends "good" people to hell.  So even this one doesn't really work.
Maybe we fear that the person no longer exists and we can't bare that thought. 
That it's not fair that they should no longer exist, and that it's not fair that one day we will no longer exist.
Or maybe we just fear the unknown.
It's hard to pin down the real reason isn't it?

The Four Ways
Some ways are right.
Some ways are wrong.
Some ways are better.
And some ways are equal.

When You're Overwhelmed
What's the minimum you can do?
That's an important question to ask ourselves when we feel overwhelmed. 
We quit or avoid things when we feel overwhelmed.
If you can't do everything, how much can you do? Do that.

4 Ways To Get Your Mind Out Of Dark Places
Seek out positive messages 
Spend time reading, watching or listening to things that inspire you and give you hope. 
Don't settle for fluffy messages though. 
Keep an eye out for positive but realistic messages. 
Fluffy messages might make you feel good in the moment, but they're not your friend in the long-run. 
They can lead you down the wrong path.
Give yourself an outlet
Write down your thoughts in a journal. 
Actually, you don't even need a journal. 
You can just grab a piece of paper and write down everything you're thinking. 
Then rip it up and throw it in the garbage. 
At least you're getting your thoughts out in the open where you can see them. 
This makes it easier to let them go. 
Ripping the paper up and throwing it in the garbage is also a way of letting go.
Have a candid conversation with someone you trust.
Do work that's import to you. 
Even if you can only do it on the side. 
Get involved in something that's important to you or create something that's important to you. 
There are more opportunities to do this now than ever before.
Exercise. 
The term "workout" is a good metaphor, because exercise really does help you work some things out of your body and out of your mind. 
It's a de-stressor and can help provide better clarity of mind. 
As long as you're not over-training. 
Over-training can cause increased anxiety, and injuries that may never go away. 
Moderation is important.
Give your concerns to God
Be thankful for what you have, every day.
Be mindful of your thoughts. 
Observe them, and let them go, trusting that God will work things out for you.
Focus on your breathing
Take notice of your in-breaths and out-breaths. 
This will help you stop thinking so much. 
It gets you out of your head and centered in the present moment, reconnected to your body and what's going on around you.

Maximizing Your Potential. 
The Real Way.
"The purpose of life is to maximize our potential. 
To be the best we can be." If by that, you mean love, then I agree with you. 
If you mean physical fitness, career progression, or something else that is selfish or superficial, then no.
Most of the "coaches" and "gurus" in the "self-improvement" industry heavily lean toward the latter. 
They sell you on the idea of getting more for yourself, rather than being of greater value to others.
What will truly make you a better person: looking in the mirror every morning and telling yourself how great you are? Or, asking God every morning to continue molding you into a more loving person? And which will be more fulfilling?

Originals and Copycats
The world is full of originals trying to be copycats. 
People pretending to be something they're not. 
People imitating other people.
Expression of originality is a scaring thing. 
Because we fear rejection. 
It feels safer to risk rejection as a copycat than it does to risk rejection as our authentic selves.
But those who don't reject our originality will become our strongest supporters. 
Stronger than any supporters we could ever have as copycats. 
And their support will embolden us even more to be original.

Prioritizing Love
Is love your number one priority?
Not romantic love. 
But love that isn't self-interested. 
Love that isn't about how the other person feels about you, or how they make you feel. 
Love that sees everyone as children of God. 
Love that is unconditional.
I'm not asking if it's one of your priorities. 
Is it your first priority? Does everything else come second?

A Reflection On The Purpose Of Suffering and The Nature Of Reality
The existence of suffering is what leads some people to become atheists. 
They can't imagine how God could allow suffering to occur. 
This is a real dilemma, with no great answer. 
Other than to say that we need to look deeper into the meaning of suffering.
I think there's a message in suffering. 
That as real as suffering may seem, it's actually an illusion. 
Or that it's a temporary means to a better end. 
In other words, the suffering still occurs — we experience the pain, but it's not the ultimate reality. 
That it pales in comparison to the ultimate reality.
This doesn't mean that God takes pleasure in our suffering or that God is indifferent. 
God may actually experience the pain with us for a greater purpose.
We already know that physical pain is an illusion. 
Our nervous system is what causes us to experience the sensation of pain. 
Where there are no pain receptors, there is no pain. 
The brain, for example, has no pain receptors. 
A neurosurgeon could poke and cut your brain, but you wouldn't feel a thing.
And at the same time, the brain is what interprets pain, via signals from other parts of the body where pain receptors are present.
Many things in this life are an illusion. 
Sound, for example. 
It doesn't actually exist. 
Sound is an interpretation. 
Sound is actually a vibration. 
That vibration is interpreted by our eardrums and our brain as sound. 
If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? No. 
It makes a vibration.
Even molecules, which everything is made of, are an interpretation of a deeper reality. 
Those molecules are made up of atoms and those atoms are made up of even smaller particles. 
And those sub-atomic particles only behave like particles when we experience them via our nervous system.
Quantum Theory tells us that their true nature is actually a "wave function". 
Their true nature is not "material". 
We only experience it that way. (Biocentrism is a good resource if you want to read more about this.)
We have no idea what that "wave function" actually is. 
All we know is that the true nature of reality isn't what we experience through our natural senses. 
Our nervous system is interpreting reality in a particular way that makes sense to us and that is useful to us.
This doesn't take into account our intuition, or mystical/spiritual interpretations of reality. Many people in science would be quick to write off such experiences as mere delusions. 
Some "spiritual" experiences are delusions, but even our experience of the natural world itself is a type of delusion.
Dreams, are also a type of delusion. 
But they can still be true. Who's to say that what we experience as spiritual insight is always delusional and not sometimes merely a different way of interpreting reality?

When It's Someone's Birthday
It's easy to not be angry with someone on their birthday. 
Virtually every other day of the year (with the exception of anniversaries and certain holidays), we make the excuse that it's too hard. 
That we can't help it.
But what if we treated everyday like it's their birthday? (Without the gifts and the cake.)
We're capable of being more patient. 
We're capable of being more kind.

Casting Stones
"Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."
So insightful.
It wasn't originally in the bible though. 
Someone added it hundreds of years later. 
But it sounds like something Jesus would say. 
Either way, definitely words to live by.
Every time you want to be angry with someone for something they've done wrong, think of something you've done wrong.
Think of the worst thing you've done, said, or thought. 
That way, you'll be less likely to justify your actions by saying to yourself: yeah, but what I did wasn't as bad as what they did.
You'll still be temped to tell yourself: yeah, but what I did is in the past. 
Well, so what? One day, the other person's deed will also be in the past. 
And you're not free from err in the future.
Treat people with the maximum amount of grace you've received in your own life and which you'd like to receive in the future. 
The more judgment you dish out, the more judgment you'll likely receive. 
Not necessarily from God, but from people you've judged and people who witnessed your judgments.
Conversely, the more grace you dish out, the more grace you'll likely receive from others.

The Problem With Trading Up
A new car, a new house, a new job, a new relationship, they seem virtually flawless in the beginning. 
But as time goes on, we start to see the imperfections. 
And eventually those imperfections become so glaring, especially in relation to what we think other people have, we think about trading up.
The problem is, we're comparing what we have intimate knowledge of, with things we only know superficially. 
Often, the grass really does look greener on the other side. 
And most of the time it's not.
We keep fooling ourselves into thinking that perfection exists somewhere out there. 
We keep thinking we can trade up. 
But often we end up with a new set of imperfections that we must learn to tolerate or overlook.
How will you know if what you're trading for is actually better, if the grass merely seems greener? And what happens after we make the trade and realize we were wrong?
We'll either have to admit it to ourselves and try to go back. 
Though going back usually isn't an option. 
Or we can justify. 
We can tell ourselves that it was "meant to be". 
Which then leaves us prone to making the same mistake again.
Or, we can admit to ourselves that we made a mistake. 
And recognize that although going back may not be an option, we can at least avoid fooling ourselves the next time we're tempted to trade up.
This isn't to say that we're always wrong. 
That we should never sell or move on. 
Sometimes we know in our heart of hearts that it's time to move on. 
But we need to recognize how prone we are to getting it wrong.

How To Be Listened To
A great thing to tell yourself when having a conversation with someone is: I don't need to be right.
Often, our first instinct in a conversation is to prove we're right. 
Which comes from our desire to be understood and valued. 
That's what starts arguments and games of one-upmanship.
The reality is that if we demonstrate to others that we don't need to be right, they're more likely to listen to us and consider our point of view.
The need to be right, puts us and the person we're talking to into defensive mode. 
Humility takes us out of it.

Church, Jesus and Love
In church, you're mostly taught to sacrifice your life to the worship of God. 
But you're rarely taught to sacrifice your life for the love of others.
Which did Jesus do?
Helping the poor, the sick, the abandoned, and the oppressed was a major part of what Jesus did and talked about. 
Not going to a building to win brownie points with God.

3 Ways To Attract People
You attract people by being unique.
You attract people by being honest.
And you attract people by being good at what you do.
Put them all together and it's hard to lose.

The Journey
The path toward realizing your vision, may not be as rosy as the vision itself. 
You'll likely need patience to see it through.
Your patience will be tested from now until your death. 
In fact, patience requires that you die now while you're still alive. 
It requires you to let go of what you can't control, and to sometimes put the needs of others before your own.

Why Does Evil Exist?
God allows evil to occur, because love is bigger than it.
I'm not sure evil actually exists though. 
Suffering does.
If you crossed paths with a coyote and it showed you its teeth, it would be frightening (photo of it here). 
It would seem "evil". 
And if it attacked you, or you saw it attack another animal, that act would seem evil. But you would know that the coyote isn't actually "evil". 
You would conclude that the coyote is merely in survival mode. 
That it's doing the only thing it knows how to do to survive. 
It would merely seem evil.
If you saw a human being do such things, you would instantly conclude that you were witnessing an act of evil. 
It wouldn't matter how hungry the person was, you would consider the act of killing and eating another person to be evil.
When an animal acts in a savage way, it seems evil to us. 
Then we remind ourselves that it's "just an animal" trying to survive. 
But when a human being acts that way, we think the person is evil.
Complicating the issue even more is the fact that humans are capable of killing for pleasure. 
Sometimes we conclude that the person has a mental illness, so it's not their fault. 
But the act still caused the same results. 
The act itself still seems evil.
So in all this complication, how do we know if evil objectively exists. 
And how do we identify it? Under what circumstances is savagery objectively evil? Does it only apply to humans? Are animals excluded? They seem to not have a conscience, but we do.
Maybe evil isn't the point. 
Maybe evil is just a word. 
A label. 
Maybe suffering is the point. 
Maybe the bigger question is not,"why does God allow evil to exist?", but "why does God allow suffering to exist?"
Instead of trying to identify evil and fight against it, maybe we should try to identify suffering and try to minimize it. 
It's easier to identify, and it's less likely to lead to retribution or scapegoating. 
We would be less likely to think of others we don't like as enemies.
We don't think of animals that way, even though we know some of them would rip us apart in the most savage way possible. 
Instead, we empathize with their suffering. 
Maybe we should empathize with people when they do horrible things, rather than thinking of them as evil people?
That doesn't mean we should let such acts continue. 
It just means not thinking of each other as evil. 
We can recognize an action as a destructive idea without demonizing the person doing it. 
We should still stop them from doing it, but we can also choose to see them as ourselves. 
We all do destructive things. 
Things that hurt others. 
Some people do so more often or to a higher degree, but this doesn't excuse our own actions.

Principles
The principles we live by, are like the foundation of a building.
Some people aren't able to build much of a life, because their foundation sucks.
Some are able to build impressive structures which eventually collapse.
And others are able to build magnificent structures that last a lifetime. 
Even many lifetimes.

Stepping Away From Religion
When you step away from religion, you realize that each of us are on separate spiritual journeys.
It's okay that we don't all believe exactly the same thing. 
It's okay that we have questions about what this life is about.
Religion wants to put everything into a neat little box and leave no room for doubt. 
But that's not realistic. 
Such thinking is based on what certain individuals want to be true, rather than what is true.
The main thing, is that we're honest with ourselves about what we believe. 
At least that way we can grow.

Learning
Learning, is progress. Progress, is changing our mind for the better.
Learning, calibrates us. 
It keeps us out of the ditches.
If our views aren't changing, we're not learning enough. 
This doesn't mean we should be changing our mind every day, or always having our views changed in radical ways. 
But if they haven't changed at all over the past ten years, we haven't been challenging them.

8 Ideas To Help You Stop Overeating
"I have food to eat that you know nothing about." ~ Jesus
There's good reason to believe that eating less (and less often) is good for our health, longevity, mood, energy levels, and spiritual development. 
Here are a few things that have worked for me.
Practice mindfulness/contemplative prayer. 
This can help you recognize when you're actually hungry vs when you're eating out of habit. 
We tend to eat even when we're not hungry. 
It's often an impulsive reaction to stress, boredom, etc. 
Mindfulness/contemplative prayer can also help take your mind off of food when you actually are hungry. 
Delaying consumption when you're a bit hungry can be good for your bodily and spiritual health. 
Spiritual food can help replace bodily food. 
At least for awhile.
Drink more water. 
Sometimes our hunger pangs are actually a sign of dehydration. 
If you're feeling hungry, or even if you're not hungry but feel like eating anyway, drink one or two glasses of water. 
This may hold you over for awhile. 
This is especially important in the morning, because that's when we're usually most dehydrated. 
Try to delay breakfast as long as you can.
Eat a breakfast that is high in protein and fat (such as eggs), or high in fiber (such as All-Bran cereal). 
This will make you feel more full. 
And it won't get burned off as fast as something that is high in simple carbs.
Stop eating after you're 80% full. 
Once you feel satisfied or a little bit full, it's probably time to stop. 
The tendency is to keep going until we can't eat another bite, but we should stop sooner. 
Eating slower can help you be more aware of how full you are.
Before you decide to go for a second serving, wait. 
Your desire to eat more may just be a craving, rather than hunger. 
Wait 5 or 10 minutes and it will probably go away. 
This is especially true for sweets. 
Credit to Leo Babauta for this idea (can't find the original article).
Go to bed earlier and sleep longer. 
This is a good idea for many reasons, but one reason is that if you're not sleeping enough you'll want to eat more. 
This is especially true if you're staying up late — you'll crave late night carbs.
Don't drink alcohol before a meal or on an empty stomach. 
It will cause you to eat more. 
Especially carbs. 
Eating a vegetable appetizer, such as a salad, will do the opposite. 
Consume alcohol with foods that are high in protein and fat.
Drinking coffee will help suppress your appetite. 
Stay away from it later in the day though, as the caffeine may interfere with your sleep.
You don't have to do any of this perfectly. 
Don't beat yourself up over it. 
It's better to do some of it, rather than none of it.
Here are some of the resources that influenced this article:
How To Eat, Move And Be Healthy! by Paul Chek
Longevity and Diet and Fibre — the anti-nutrient  by Dr. 
Jason Fung
Fasting: A trending food idea and new frontier in longevity science
How Intermittent Fasting Affects Your Body and Brain

The Problem With Productivity Culture
The culture of hyper-productivity is not a mindful one.
It masquerades as purpose-driven. 
But it's actually soul-sucking.
And it's almost entirely self-focused. 
It's all about accomplishing goals for yourself, instead of service to others. 
It's about how much money you can make and what stuff you can buy, and what name you can make for yourself.
Life isn't about achieving as much as you possibly can or making as much money as you can. 
It's about love. 
Not romantic or erotic love, but love that causes us to see ourselves in each other.

The People You Want In Your Life
Find people who value peace and wisdom, and who believe in a loving God. 
These are the people you want in your life.
Also, there's nothing more valuable than people in your life you can truly trust. 
Not just in terms of loyalty and integrity, but in terms of reliable judgment. 
That's a rare combination.

Good Ideas
Good ideas will come to you if you're open. 
But you can't force them.
You can generate ideas through effort, but they probably won't be your best ones. 
The best ones will land on you when you least expect them.
The sooner you get out of your own way, the sooner you'll be ready for the right ideas to find you.

Take A Closer Look At Your Role Models
Some people are already where you want to be. 
They have what you want to have.
But that doesn't mean you should get there the same way they did.
They may have sacrificed many things along the way that weren't worth sacrificing: integrity, relationships, health, etc.
Don't just look at the results. 
Look at the path, and look at the character.

The Light Will Shine Again
No matter how much doubt you might be experiencing in this moment, it's temporary.
No matter how dark it gets, know that the sun will shine again. And the Ultimate Light is yet to be experienced.

A Quiet Man
There once was a man who was very quiet. 
Because of his quietness, people thought the man lacked confidence. 
His quietness made others feel uncomfortable.
One day, a lady asked the man why he was so shy.
“Shy?” The man replied. 
“I’m not shy at all.”
“But you hardly say anything”, the woman replied. 
“Why don’t you come out of your shell, we won’t bite you.”
“I’m not quiet because of fear”, said the man. 
“I’m quiet because this is the natural state of man. 
It’s those who insist on a lot of chatter who are truly afraid. 
They’re afraid of silence. 
They’re afraid to be with their true self. 
They’re afraid of rejection. 
I’m afraid of those things too, but I’m conquering my fears through silence. 
The strong are considered weak and the weak are considered strong, that’s the way of the world, but it’s not the way of the spirit.”

Mentors
Everyone you learn from is your mentor. 
We're mentors to one another. 
A teacher isn't merely someone who stands at the front of a classroom.
Everyone is a potential teacher in their own way. 
We instruct each other through words and through actions.
I admire people who not only say wise things, but also act wisely. 
Such people are rare. 
I aim to be one of them myself, but I know I fall short. 
That's at least half the battle though — knowing you're a fool.

Priorities
Do what's important, rather than what's merely popular.
If it's important to you, you'll do it. 
Even if it's hard. 
Even if it's not popular. 
Even if people won't like you for it. 
Even if you might fail.
How much is your time worth? That's a question we answer every day by what we choose to do. 
And most of us are selling our time at a deep discount.
Your priorities aren't what you say they are, they're what you do.

Choosing The Right Path
"Someone once told me the definition of hell: on your last day on earth the person you became will meet the person you could have become." ~ Unknown
There are a number of things you're capable of succeeding at. 
But which path are you most interested in?
Which one would you take if you didn't need money or attention?
Which one gives you the most peace?
Which one are you less likely to regret?
Which one would you be most proud to talk to God about?

Focus On What You Know Best
We're more likely to succeed at the things we understand best. 
Yet we often step outside our competencies. 
That's when we get ourselves into trouble. 
We end up saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, we put money in the wrong investments, we injure ourselves, etc.
Stick to what you know best. 
Proceed cautiously into things you don't know well. 
Be radically honest with yourself about what you actually know and don't know. 
Guard against fooling yourself.
"I have three boxes on my desk: In, Out, and Too Hard." ~ Warren Buffett
I love the idea of the "too hard box". 
You don't need to waste time trying to figure stuff out that doesn't make sense to you. 
(Unless you really want to.)
It's best to stay within your "circle of competence" and to expand that circle by studying things that you're able to make sense of.
You don't need to find an answer to every question you have or every question that other people put to you.

Why You Should Take The Long View
It's tempting to try to start big. 
To try to become an overnight success. 
But such thinking causes us to risk too much. 
And it tends to set us back further than we would be if we had just stared out the window instead. At least staring out the window sometimes leads to insight.
When we hear about someone else's success, it seems like it happened overnight. 
But we weren't there with them in the trenches. 
We don't know how much it actually took for them to get where they are. 
We don't know what they learned along the way or what sacrifices they made.
By trying to become an overnight success, you greatly increase your chances of becoming a long-term failure. You're probably not going to be an overnight success, but you can be a twenty-year success. 
Realistically, that's what it's going to take.
Start small and stick with it. 
That is the way. 
Plant the seeds for the life you want. 
Keep watering them, and over time they will grow. 
We can have many of things we want if we're willing to do this. 
A little at a time, adds up to a scary amount over the long run.

What Are Peace and Freedom Worth?
Freedom is worth paying for. 
Peace is worth paying for. 
If having freedom and peace means you'll make less money, it's worth it.
Money is merely a means to an end.
What's more important than peace and freedom? Owning more stuff won't do it. 
And you can't get back any of the time you spend chasing after it.

Self-Sabotage
Self-sabotage is probably your greatest danger.
Self-sabotage happens when we choose impulsiveness over wisdom.
And it happens when we sacrifice what's truly important to us, so we can maintain appearances or give ourselves a false sense of security.

Influences
We become what we expose ourselves to. 
We become who we hang out with, who we listen to, the shows we watch, the books we read, etc.
We have to be sensible about what we expose ourselves to and about how much time we spend in the company of those influences.
And we must seek out more alone time for ourselves, in quietude and close to nature. 
If we don't do this, we'll lose ourselves. 
We'll become other people and lose our peace.

An Angry God
What we call the "wrath of God", is actually our own wrath projected onto God.
We make God into who we would be if we were God.
Accept, we would never throw ourselves into hell. 
Only other people deserve that.

Making Life Better
We sometimes have a sense that life is harsh and unfair. 
For the most part, we can deal with that. 
What's more difficult though, is when we treat each other harshly or unfairly. 
Life is challenging enough already, but it's worse when we cheat one another.
Being fair with one another helps us overcome the sense of unfairness that seems inherent in the natural world. 
Cooperation helps make life better.
When people are out for themselves at the expense of others, they're actually contributing to the sense of harshness and unfairness that they themselves despise.

Gossip
Maybe we shouldn't say things about people we haven't yet said to their face? Unless our discussion of them is about how to say it to their face.
The most respected and trusted people are those who don't gossip or say negative things about other people.

Leaders
A leader doesn't say "what way is everyone else going? I'll go that way." A leader says "come on, lets go this way."
A leader doesn't put his/her finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. 
A leader finds the right way to go and goes that way regardless of what others are doing. 
And if it's the right way, eventually others will follow.
Another thing about leaders: they take responsibility. 
They have a social conscience. 
And they recognize that they are accountable to others, not just to themselves. 
You know you've grown up when this is who you are.

Am I A Christian?
The first time I thought of myself as a Christian was when I was 15 years old, after I had said the "sinner's prayer" (though I had believed in God and Jesus from the time I was about 5 years old).
During my teens, I attended a Pentecostal church for several years with my father. 
I was taught that a real Christian is someone who believes everything in the bible is literally true. 
That it was the "word of God".
For that reason, I fully accepted that Jesus was the Son of God, was born of a virgin, performed miracles, was risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, left the "holy spirit" to live within us. 
And that true believes would be "raptured" into heaven just before God unleashes seven-years of "tribulation" on the non-believers who will be left behind, etc.
Christian denominations squabble over some of the details, but very few doubt that Jesus was God in the flesh, was born of virgin, was risen from the dead, or that "salvation" happens through believing in the "finished work of Christ on the cross".
This is generally what I would call fundamentalist Christianity. 
Most of these Christians would not consider me a Christian today. 
And in that context, I'm not (though I would be perfectly okay with Jesus being God in the flesh).
What's true to me now, is that God is love. 
That the "Kingdom of God" is within us. 
That Jesus understood this and was a living example of that truth. 
He was the epitome of forgiveness and humility.
That is the type of Christian I am now. 
One who wants to be more like Christ.
A fundamentalist will tell you that you can't have it both ways. 
That you can't pick and choose what to believe in the bible, and you can't interpret its message on your own. 
That you need a "spiritual father" to tell you what it all means. 
But the truth is you can and you must pick and choose.
Biblical scholars have known for years that the bible is full of inconsistencies and that some of the books and letters of the bible are outright forgeries. 
Most Christians don't know that. 
I didn't know it until about four years ago. 
No preacher or bible teacher ever told me.
But now the scales have fallen off and I can see that I was deceived. 
That most of Christendom has been deceived. 
It's time to wake up and educate ourselves and to trust that if God is real, he is capable of being our guide. 
Even the bible says so (1 John 2:27).
So, am I a Christian? Yes, I am. But I use that term loosely.
Even the early Christians didn't call themselves Christians. 
That was a term non-Christians used to describe them. 
They were students and followers of Jesus. 
I put myself in that category. 
No labels necessary.
I consider myself a student and follower of many people. 
I want to be more like people who are/were a living example of the truth.
Truth is grounded in love, peace, simplicity, and humility. 
I believe these qualities represent the character of God. 
These are the qualities we should all want to cultivate, regardless of what we label ourselves.

Forgiveness
Do you pardon the sins of others as readily as you pardon your own? And are their sins really as bad as you think they are?
Other people deserve a break as much as you do.

Enemies
You will have enemies. 
No matter what.
But you can't change your mission because of them. 
You must move forward.
Enemies aren't necessarily "evil". 
Enemies are people who refuse to understand or empathize with you. 
They are missing something within themselves.
Don't worry. 
Chances are, the goodwill that you'll receive in your life will outweigh all the times you'll be cheated or sabotaged.

Finding Purpose In The Present Moment
Creating specific goals and plans didn't get me where I am now. 
Letting go did. 
Flow did. 
Following my big questions did.
I don't need schedules, to-do lists, a goal program, etc. 
I'm not smart enough to plan my life out anyway.
But I know what interests me. 
I know what I'm good at. 
I know what brings me peace and what makes me a better person.
All of this can be realized in the present moment. 
When we get off the treadmills we put ourselves on.
What we need to know, and the path toward learning what we need to know, are found by being present.

Going To God
We can connect with God without a book or a preacher directing us. 
If fact, it's just as likely that a book or preacher will teach us the wrong things about God.
We must go to God ourselves, with honesty. 
This includes going with our questions and our frustrations. 
God is big enough to handle your anger and replace it with peace.

Being Thankful
"Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow." ~ Michael Ramsey
Don't have everything you want? Then be thankful for what you have, because even that can easily disappear. Everything we have, everything we are, and everything that we accomplish is a gift.
Are you not privileged in some way? Never forget that you are.
You've never accomplished anything by yourself. 
Countless people, including people you've never met, some of whom died before you were born, have contributed to your success. Be grateful for the services that other people provide. 
Your life would be a lot tougher without them.

Staying Silent
Sometimes you'll have nothing to say. 
And that's okay, because silence is important.
It's been said that actions speak louder than words. 
But sometimes silence also speaks louder than words.
Think before you speak. 
You may find that many of the things you normally say, don't need to be said.

When And When Not To Go Against The Norm
I'm a big advocate of going against the norm. 
But only when it makes sense to do so. 
When it's clear the consensus is wrong, you shouldn't follow it.
The consensus doesn't matter. 
Only what led to the consensus matters. 
The consensus is determined by facts, ignorance of facts, personal experiences, personal biases, etc. 
The truth and the consensus are not synonymous.
The point is, don't agree with something merely because the majority thinks it's right. 
Think deeply about the issue, do some research, and decide for yourself. 
If the crowd is right, follow it. 
If it's wrong, don't.
The reason the crowd can sometimes be wrong (and not realize it) is because most people don't think deeply or do much research. 
Most people either blindly follow or they allow their skepticism to be defeated too easily.
By all means, allow your skepticism to be defeated, but only after careful reflection and serious inquiry.

What You Need To Know
"The ego gets what it wants with words. 
The soul finds what it needs in silence." ~ Richard Rohr
You don't need to have an opinion on everything.
What matters is not how many things you know, it's how well you know the things that matter.
Some of the things we want to know are unknowable anyway. 
But everything we need to know is knowable, and much of it is within.
Spend some time away from the voices of others if you want to hear your inner wisdom. Wisdom comes from having a quiet mind. 
Seek your answers in silence.

What You Are Not
You're not what other people say you are, and you're not what other people say you're going to be.
Another person's underestimation of you, may actually be an overestimation of themselves.
You don't need to remain tied to a past identity. 
You don't need to keep telling yourself that same old story.

Be Reasonable
It's not a lot to ask of people to be reasonable. 
That's one of the biggest problems we have in society: a lack of reasonableness. 
A lack of willingness to hear each other out and not jump to conclusions.
Also, a lack of willingness to change one's mind. 
Which sometimes requires swallowing our pride.
Our goal as individuals living and working together should be to get to the heart of a matter. 
To learn the truth, so we can live in peace and minimize unnecessary suffering.
It doesn't matter who is right. 
What matters is what is best. 
We should be thankful when best practices are discovered, regardless of who discovers them. 
It's to our collective benefit to give each other credit for our contributions to society and to the pursuit of truth.

How To Give Your Life A Greater Sense Of Purpose
One of the things you can do to make your life more interesting and to give it a greater sense of purpose, is to treat it like an experiment.
An experiment in how much good you can do. 
An experiment in how much value you can create for others. 
An experiment in how much better you can become as a person, etc.
I think that's basically what we're supposed to be doing anyway.
We're not here to merely survive. 
Or to have a contest to see who can accumulate the most stuff or the most popularity. 
We're here to learn something about love. 
And God, who is Love.

Respect
We know nothing about respect until our life ceases to be all about ourselves.
Until we're willing to treat others the way we want to be treated.
Until we're willing to give respect first, before we receive it, and even after we've been disrespected.

Understanding Others
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about." ~ Rumi
There is a universal language. 
A language of the heart/spirit.
When we communicate from that place, we understand each other. 
When we don't go deep enough to meet each other in that place, there is distortion and conflict.
The more you understand someone, the less you can be angry with them.

Hiding From God
Who could possibly understand you better than God?
So why hide?
Why not give everything you are, including your weakeness and your deepest darkest secrets to God?
What choice do you have?

Be Still
You don't need a detailed plan. 
What you need are good daily habits. 
Including the habit of a still mind.
Knowing how to be still teaches you how to take action. The quiet unhurried mind understands the most.
Silence is home base. 
It's your refuge away from the noise of the world. 
It's where you'll find peace, truth, and wisdom.
Just sit and be quiet for awhile and see what happens.

Purpose
Don't live as though the world owes you something. 
Live as though you have something to contribute.
Don't live as though you have something to prove. 
Live as though you have something to give.
Don't underestimate the difference you can make in people's lives through small acts. 
The impact you have on people through your interactions with them is larger than you realize. 
Even a few words can change a life.
Take the strengths and blessings that God/Life has given you and do good things with them.

Letting Go Of Control
Trust more. 
Fear less.
Almost everything is happening outside of your control. 
It was that way before you got here and it will be that way after you're gone.
By letting go of control, we actually gain a greater sense of autonomy. 
Letting go of control allows us to see more accurately what we're actually able to influence and what we're not.

How To Get What You Want
The way to get what you want is to exercise good judgement. 
But often when we want something, we ignore good judgement. 
Because good judgement will tell us the truth. 
It will tell us to wait, or that what we want is wrong for us. 
We don't want to hear that, so we choose not to listen.
What we need, and what we want, are often two different things. 
We usually know the difference, but we're really good at fooling ourselves. 
It's difficult to resist short-term gratification for long-term satisfaction.

Why We Do What We Do
We don't like to think we've made an inferior choice. 
We like to believe we're smarter than most people. 
It makes us feel important. 
It's not just about feeling accepted and valued though. 
It's about wanting to be dominant, which I think has something to do with survival.
It's a strange mixture of wanting to ensure survival and wanting to be loved. 
Ultimately, we want to be loved. 
This is even more important to us than survival. 
We struggle to maintain a balance between our drive to survive and our need to be loved.
The answer to this problem seems to be our own love for others. 
When we forget about self and put the needs of others before our own, the drive to survive and the need to be loved, fade away.
It doesn't fade away forever though. 
It comes back eventually. 
Which is why love is a choice. 
A choice that we have to keep making. 
It's the hardest thing in the world to do, and the most important. 
Love happens by giving it away.

Leaving The Door Open
Atheism is inherently nihilistic. 
If you hold a staunch belief that God doesn't exist, then you must also concluded that life has no meaning. 
If you preach atheism, you'll inevitably produce nihilism.
There's still room for morality under the banner of atheism and nihilism though, because one could argue that it's beneficial not to lie, cheat, steal, kill, etc. 
That it's more sensible to have a society of cooperation, with rules governing competition.
This is true for most people. 
But there are some who benefit more from living an amoral life. 
We know of such people. 
Some of them become powerful politicians, business leaders, etc. 
Some of them eventually fall from grace, but many don't.
Is there any doubt that brutal dictators are either atheists, or theists who believe in a perverse God? Wouldn't a leader who believes in a loving God be better? Wouldn't leaving the door open for such a belief be better than keeping the door closed?

Searching In The Wrong Places
We tend to look for fulfillment outside ourselves. 
Through the opinions of others. 
Through material possessions. 
Through promotions at work, etc. 
We forget to turn back to ourselves. 
To go within.
We run from ourselves. 
We create a false self. 
One that will fit in with the other false selfs we meet in the world. 
We get sucked into the world’s noise. 
We get seduced by it. 
And we get seduced by our own thoughts. 
We fall into traps of negative thinking, over-thinking, over-planning, and over-confidence.
We also get sucked into other people’s drama, fears, greed, and expectations of us. 
The latter is a big one — as the world runs on expectations. 
What people think of us, is often the most important thing to us.
We want to be respected and we want to fit in. 
It’s a survival instinct. 
And we want to matter. 
But we forget that fitting in is not the most important thing. 
And that fitting in is as likely to get us in trouble as it is to benefit us.
Finding time for silence is essential to our well-being. 
We need to eliminate distractions from our daily life, otherwise we won’t be ourselves. 
We’ll be disturbed, confused, frustrated, anxious, inauthentic, and easily mislead.
We tend to run from silence, because that’s where we come face to face with our problems. 
It’s easier to do something more entertaining. 
There’s no shortage of things to distract us from the sobering reality silence can provide. 
But by avoiding silence, we miss out on something special.
Silence is a great teacher. 
Silence helps us be more aware of how we’re feeling. 
To be aware of our negative thought patterns. 
To recognize holes in our character. 
To see ourselves as part of the bigger picture. 
To be reminded of what’s truly important. 
To stop searching for peace and love in the wrong places. 
Silence is a gateway to connection with God.

How To Protect Yourself From Yourself
Prevent yourself from falling into future traps by removing temptations in advance:
Don't keep certain foods in the house.
Block yourself from certain websites.
Mute commercials (or don't watch TV at all).
Don't go to the bar.
Stay away from certain people.
Put money into a locked-in retirement account.
These are a few ideas.
Protect yourself from moments of weakness while in moments of strength. 
Now is probably one of those moments.
See Ulysses pact

The Bigger Question
If you view life as mere survival, it will be empty.
If you view life as mere pleasure, it will be empty.
If you view life as merely achieving goals, you will have the illusion of success.
What will give you the inner peace you're looking for? That's the big question. Everyone is in search of inner peace, but few admit to themselves that's what they're looking for.

The Quest For Truth
Pull on the thread of curiosity and see where it leads. 
This is how to increase the depth and width of your understanding. 
Keep gathering clues and see where they take you.
Every clue, every fact, and every discovered lie, is another piece of the puzzle. 
The puzzle itself is called truth.
Truth is more elusive than we realize. 
Just when we think we have it nailed down, just when we think we've grasped it, it slips away.
But, it always leaves a piece of itself behind.

Bad Ideas And Better Ideas
Some people say you shouldn't criticize an idea unless you have a better one. 
But sometimes the better idea is to just stop doing the bad one.
Sometimes we try to fix things that aren't broken. 
And sometimes what's broken just needs us to step aside so it can fix itself.

What You Can Do Instead Of Arguing
You can stay and argue, or you can get back to your mission. 
(This includes imaginary arguments).
You have more important things to do. 
It's usually better to go do something productive than it is to try changing someone's mind.
Once you enter into an argument, you're entering into another person's world. 
And that world may not be a rational one. You'll probably just end up frustrated.
Most of the time, when we enter into an argument, we're lowering our standards. 
We're lowering the bar of what's important and we're lowering the bar of how to communicate properly.
Set the bar high. 
Force people to come up to your level. 
Not in a pretentious way, but in a way that says "we can do better".

Your Life Is Too Short
Your life is too short to waste it trying to be "successful".
Your life is too short to waste it with negative thinking.
Your life is too short to waste it reading or listening to things that are uninspiring.
Your life is too short to waste it arguing with people who don't want to be convinced.
Your life is too short to waste it accumulating way more stuff than you need.
Your life is too short to waste it trying to figure everything out.
Your life is too short to waste it trying to be someone you're not.
Your life is too short to waste it worrying about death.
Your life is too short to waste it having imaginary arguments.
Your life is too short to waste it doing work that kills your soul.
Your life is too short to waste it being all about yourself.

A Closer Look At Past Actions
Things tend to look better from a distance than they do up close. 
This also applies to how we evaluate our past actions. 
The distance, in terms of time, tends to cause us to look more favorably on ourselves.
Each of us have done some truly hurtful and foolish things in our past, but we usually see them as less damaging than they actually were. 
Even when we acknowledge this truth about ourselves, it can still be difficult to see the effects of our past actions in an accurate way.
But acknowledging this about ourselves, is a step in the right direction. 
It can at least make us less arrogant and think more carefully about the potential effects of our future actions.

How To View Suffering
Everyone suffers. 
No matter how rich or how spiritual they might be. 
It's inescapable. 
But extreme suffering is something we can and should do something about. 
We can do something to help those who suffer more than we do. 
Especially those who can't help themselves.
We shouldn't assume that suffering, even our own suffering, can be completely eliminated. 
We need some suffering. 
We need some challenges. 
It helps us appreciate life more. 
It brings us closer together, and it brings us closer to God.

What Living With Purpose May Require You To Do
Sometimes, often actually, living with purpose will require you to leave some money on the table. Living with purpose isn't about maximizing profits, it's about being of service. 
It's about living out your calling.
It's helpful in a way, to think of your life as a business. 
But if we carry that way of thinking too far, life loses meaning. 
Large corporations tend to operate with the goal of maximizing earnings per share for their shareholders, but people who live with purpose tend to maximize the potential of the people around them.

Be Real
You're not going to be here long, so you might as well be real. 
The world needs you to be real anyway. The real you is your best self.
Authenticity is what resonates. 
If you want to make a dent in the world, if you want to be a light for others, you must be real.

Why Don't We Just Do This?
We don't know if anything about Jesus is actually true. 
Son of God, born of a virgin, resurrected on the third day, all that. 
We don't know if it's really true. In fact, there's more reason to believe it's not true.
But we can still go with what we know is true. 
We know that loving your neighbor as yourself is important. 
We know that faith and prayer help us get through tough times. 
So why don't we just go with that and put the doctrinal stuff aside?

When Less Equals More
Shorten your list of desires. 
The shorter it is, the happier you'll be.
Quiet your mind. 
The quieter it is, the more at peace you'll be.

True Success
"True success is exiting some rat race to modulate one's activities for peace of mind." ~ Nassim Taleb
Find inner peace. 
Find freedom. 
These are the things that matter. 
Not more possessions or more attention.
The question doesn't always have to be "how can I get more?" Sometimes it should be "what do I need to let go of?"

Is It Really Necessary?
If it stresses you out, but doesn't have to be done, don't do it.
You could probably lower your tax bill if you spent more time learning the tax code, but it might also be tedious and stressful. 
You might be better off spending that time with your family or working on your next project.
Everything has a cost, in terms of money, time, stress, etc. 
Choose wisely.

Everything You Desire
There once was a boy who asked God for many things.
God said, “you’ll have everything you desire, but it won’t happen the way you expect it to.”
“What do you mean?” the boy asked.
“You don’t fully know what you want. 
Many of the things you think are good for you, aren’t. 
And many of the things you think aren’t good for you, are actually what you need most. 
Also, it won’t all happen in this life. 
There is another life that awaits you, where what you desire will be fully realized in its true form. 
What you truly seek will remain formless and nameless in your current life. 
One day you’ll understand what this all means.”

Adversity
You won't be able to help others solve their problems if you don't have problems of your own to solve. 
Personal adversity makes you a greater asset.
Your pain and your struggles are your gifts to the world. 
They produce insights that can help others with their pain and struggles.

Finding God Outside Institutional Religion
In the New Testament, the Pharisees represent institutional religion. 
And Jesus was their antitheses. 
Followers of Jesus eventually turned the movement he started into an institutional religion much like the one he was against.
But those who seek God outside religious institutions, are still able to find him. 
And he is quite different from the God preached about in most churches.
The "Body of Christ", as it is called in the bible, is not everyone who goes to Church or everyone who says the "sinner's prayer", it's anyone who knows the kind of love Jesus represented.
God doesn’t fit in the box religion tends to put him in. God is more mysterious. 
But he's not far away. 
God is available to all, through surrender. 
We must put away the false self and open ourselves to mystery.

Avoid Big Mistakes By Learning From Others
You don't have to reinvent the wheel to be successful. 
You just have to keep doing sensible things and avoid huge mistakes.
Small mistakes, you can live with. 
Particularly if you learn from them. 
But it's even better to learn from the mistakes of others. 
Especially the big ones.
In fact, it's imperative that you learn from the big mistakes of others, lest you repeat them and not be able to recover from them.

Change
Change requires guts. 
Because to change, you must face the opinions of others about you.
Change, is also to admit you were wrong.
Therefore, change happens because of a willingness to continue learning and to face rejection.

Uncertainty
It's okay to not be in a hurry.
It's okay to not have everything figured out.
It's okay to make some mistakes trying something you think is important.
The world is not going to fall apart. 
It can handle a lot of uncertainty, and so can you.

Why We Fight
We don't just fight for survival, we fight for meaning and self-worth. 
We want to know why we're here, and we want to know that we matter. Life is a quest for truth. 
We're all waiting for life (or death) to reveal something to us. 
We're waiting for the truth to reveal itself.
Even if you believe that Jesus is the truth or that a particular religion represents the truth, your knowledge of truth is still incomplete. 
Questions remain. 
The ultimate truth is a mystery. 
Life teaches us more about it, if we remain open, but it's still just a shadow. 
Like Plato's cave or Paul's "dim mirror".
Our disagreements are a way of trying to call forth the truth, and a way of expressing our frustrations about it. 
Sometimes we express it in constructive ways and sometimes in destructive ways. 
The destructive way, is a result of lying to ourselves about the best way to express it.

Listening
"Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care." ~ Teddy Roosevelt.
Letting someone know you're listening to their concerns, is often more important than your ability to solve their problems.
Chances are you won't be able to solve their problems anyway. 
Nor will they expect you to. 
But knowing that you care enough to listen, can sometimes help.

Identity, Ideology, and Independent Thinking
Identity is very important to us. 
This is one of the reasons we can become ideological. 
A particular religious or political group lays out a set of ideals that seem true and we feel tempted to align ourselves with the group. 
We have a deep desire to belong to a group of like-minded people.
We tend to consider ourselves independent thinkers, but much of the time this really just means we've adopted one set of ideals over another. True independent thinking doesn't align itself with a particular ideology. 
Instead, it takes the best ideas from various schools of thought.
True independent thinking requires objectivity. 
To be willing to change your mind, based on new information. 
It’s easy to be wrong when you don’t have all the facts, and it’s hard to have all the facts.
There's value in identifying with a particular group, but we must continue to keep our eyes and ears open to things outside the group. 
Our search for truth is never complete in this life. 
No group, no movement, no doctrine, no manifesto, has a complete grasp of the truth. 
The best any of them can do is provide a glimpse.

On Meaningful Work
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. 
The second best time is now." ~ Chinese proverb.
A job that teaches you nothing, is just a job. 
And because it teaches you nothing, you'll remain stuck there. 
Unless you do something about it.
Most employers don't care about what you think. 
They care about your labor. 
You become a more valuable asset when people care about what you think. 
If all you're selling is your labor, you're selling yourself short. 
The modern economy is built on ideas.
You have something valuable to give to the world, and it's easier than ever to do it. 
Give the world your best and see where it leads. 
The creative person you were as a child is still part of who you are now. 
You are a vault filled with ideas waiting to be unlocked from within.
It's not a lack of ideas that holds us back, it's usually a lack of execution. 
We tend to wait for someone else to give us permission. 
Give yourself permission.
Whatever makes you unique, is what makes you remarkable. 
Whatever makes you remarkable, is what makes you marketable. There's room in the world for your individual uniqueness. 
It just might take awhile to find the people who will value it.
It's a beautiful thing to be able to do what you love. 
It starts by being bold enough to try. 
You have to start somewhere to get where you want to be. And if you're fortunate enough to do the things you love, you should be grateful. 
Be grateful for the opportunities you've been given.

What We Truly Need
"The essential work of every human life is to prepare for union with the ultimate reality." ~ Thomas Keating
Life isn't about what you can gain for yourself. 
It's about connection with God.
You don't need to create a kingdom of your own. 
The Kingdom of God is within you and it's all you truly need. Go there, and lead others there. 
This is what the world needs.

Children Of Heaven
What if we treated all people as lost children who are destined for heaven?
Would this make us less fearful of others?
Would we have a greater sense of peace?
Would we help each other become less lost?
I think so.
We can choose to live as though certain things are true, even if we can’t prove they are true. 
So why not? Why not live as though God loves everyone? Why not treat everyone as though they’re destined for heaven?
Aren’t the alternatives worse?

Going With The Flow
Going with the flow doesn't mean doing what everyone wants you to do, or accepting everything as it is.
It means not fighting against everything.
It means not having everything planned out.
It means following your intrigues.
It means focusing on your strengths, rather than trying to be great at everything.
It means trusting, instead of living in fear.

When Success Means Nothing
"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." ~ Albert Einstein
A "survival of the fittest" mentality may sometimes lead to worldly success, but it's ultimately worthless. Because if life isn't about love, it's about nothing. 
And if life means nothing, "success" means nothing.
You came into this world with nothing and you're going to leave with nothing. 
All you really have is what you give of yourself.

Prayer Is
Prayer is an act of letting go, not a wish list. 
God already knows what you need.
Prayer is an out-flow of our desire to be close to God.
Prayer is recognition that we can't figure this life out on our own.
Prayer takes the burden off our shoulders and puts it on a much bigger set of shoulders.
Everyone prays, whether they consciously realize it or not. 
The peace and love our hearts long for is our unspoken prayer.

Looking In The Mirror
Nobody's perfect.
This is why we need to be humble.
This is why we need to be forgiving.
This is why we need to look in the mirror at our own faults before we point our finger at the faults of others.
This "looking in the mirror", is a time of self-reflection. 
An honest account of our motives and behaviors. 
We need to do this often.

What's Your One Thing?
"The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time." ~ Samuel Smiles
You may not have the time or the resources to do everything you want to do in life, but you probably have enough to do at least one. 
So, do what you can. 
Even if you can only do a little at a time.
Be honest with yourself about what you want to do with your time. 
Don't spread yourself too thin. 
Focus on what's most important.

This Is What You Need Instead of Goals and To-Do Lists
If you have a to-do list, you probably have too much to do.
If you have to write down your goals, you probably have too many.
You get more done by becoming more efficient. 
You become more efficient by saying no more often.
You don't need a list to remind yourself of what's important to you. 
What you need is focus.

Authentic Living
We work like robots and slaves in order to buy things we don't need. 
We've forgotten where we came from. 
We've forgotten what a natural life is. 
We live artificially and mindlessly.
We chase money, and possessions, and popularity, and pride. 
All as a way of feeling better about ourselves. 
As a way of feeling more secure. 
(Though real security is found within.)
The wilderness is our natural habitat. 
We can’t completely remove it from our life without losing a part of ourselves. 
We all need to return to nature often. 
The modern life is a marvelous thing, but there are some things it can’t provide.
Many of us are unhappy because we live such unnatural lives. 
We yearn for something more authentic and meaningful, but don't know where to find it. Living a more simple lifestyle, especially one close to nature, can help us rediscover ourselves.

Small Miracles
The whole world is a series of miracles, but we're so used to them we call them ordinary things. 
~ Hans Christian Andersen
Keep an eye out for small miracles. 
They're all around us.
The biblical type probably don't exist, but there are plenty others that we ignore, daily.
Our very existence is a miracle.

Find Your Peace
Worrying about what other people think about you, will prevent you from being your best.
It will prevent you from being real.
It will prevent you from doing the right thing.
It will prevent you from being what others need you to be (which isn't always the same as what they want you to be).
It will prevent you from being at peace.
Do what brings you peace. 
Not only will you be more satisfied, but you'll be what the world truly needs you to be. A peaceful mind creates peace in the world.

Expect Great Things
Don't assume your future isn't bright. 
A lot of positive things will happen in your future that you're not yet aware of. Some of the best things in life happen unexpectedly, and in spite of our failed plans (and sometimes because of them).
Instead of worrying about the future, do now what is likely to make for a better future. 
Start planting the right seeds. 99% of the things we fear don't come true.
Great things will happen unexpectedly. 
Expect it.

Golden Rule Reminder
Don't just do what's good for yourself, do what's good for others. 
Treat others as you would have them treat you. 
The golden rule, it's fundamental.
When making decisions about how you should relate to other people, always come back to the golden rule.

It's Okay To Be Different
Don't worry about being misunderstood. 
You'll always be misunderstood by someone. 
Especially when you follow your heart instead of the crowd. One of the lessons of history is that following your heart can invite persecution from those who are too afraid to follow their own.
Your job isn't to be understood or to impress others. 
It's to be at peace with God and treat others as yourself, regardless of what they think of you. If you spend your life trying to impress others, you'll die having never really lived.
Do good things and let your reputation take care of itself.
Besides, you inspire people by being different. 
Not by being the same as them.

The Attitude Of Faith
"The attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be." ~ Alan Watts
Faith is not something we create. 
It's something we say yes to.
We have to look beyond what we can see and touch, and leave room for mystery in our lives. Part of seeing life more clearly, is realizing that there's little actual clarity, and being okay with that.
Transcend your limited intellectual understanding and go to the depths of your being, where peace, love, and truth speak without words.

Sleep: An Investment
Sleep is an investment in your physical and mental health.
It's also an investment in your relationships, because it improves your mood.
It's an investment in your personal development, because it makes learning easier.
And it's an investment in your financial earning power, because it helps you make better decisions.
Don't sacrifice sleep. 
Sacrifice the habit of not doing things at your optimal level.

Challenging Our View of God
Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man. 
~ Thomas Paine
What we believe about God, has an impact on how we treat people. 
If we see God as punitive and merciless, we'll likely be the same.
Our perception of God is largely influenced by our relationship with our parents, and other authority figures. 
Including the religious leaders we listen to.
It's hard to supplant early beliefs. 
It's especially difficult after those beliefs have been reinforced by years of repetition and confirmation bias. 
But we have to decide for ourselves if what we've been taught is true.
You’ll never feel like you're good enough, until you start believing you're good in God’s eyes.

Acceptance
Very few things will happen the way you want them to or when you want them to. Your happiness is directly correlated to your willingness to accept the things you can't change.
Have fewer preferences. 
Learn to accept more.
Make the changes that are yours to make, but accept the things you can't change.

Making Big Decisions
If you have time to wait on a big decision, wait. 
When it comes to big life decisions, the answer should almost always be no, until it's yes.
Remember, one of the things life is trying to teach you is patience.
Does the big thing you're about to do agree with your spirit? Are you at peace with it?

The Real Miracles
God doesn't literally part seas or turn water into wine. 
God give us the tools we need. 
God gives us the opportunities, and the intelligence, and the ideas, and the resources to do what we feel called to do.
Faith is not about pushing those tools aside and waiting for a miracle. 
The opportunity is the miracle. 
Your ability to make it happen with the tools availiable is the miracle. 
The ability to create new and better tools and come up with better ideas is the miracle.
It's about using the tools available, and recognizing that they are gifts. 
It's a partnership between us and God.

Perspective
Your life is being sustained by forces right now that you’re not even aware of. 
There are things going on in your body right now that would scare you.
What control do we really have? What we have, is the illusion of control. 
Our very existence is a miracle, and we had nothing to do with it. And we will die, no matter how well we take care of ourselves.
Be thankful and humble.

Can You Do Better?
"I'm not as bad as other people", means slightly above average.
Is that really what you want to aim for?
If you're talking about your golf game or something of that nature, it doesn't really matter. 
But if you're talking about being a parent or spouse, "not as bad" is probably not good enough.

Be Humble About What You Know
Don't be over-confident about what you know. 
It's not yours. 
You learned it from someone else. And any intellectual talents you may have, are gifts. 
Any inherent wisdom you have is also a gift. Instead of patting yourself on the back, be thankful.
Each of us is missing a lot, in terms of our understanding of most issues. 
You can't be an expert on everything. 
And even if you are an expert on something, there's still a lot you're missing.
Being an expert doesn't mean you know everything about a particular subject. 
It just means you know more than most do about it. 
You don't have all the pieces to the puzzle, and some of the ones you have don't fit as neatly as you think they do.
There's so much about this life we don't understand. 
Be humble.

Human Nature
"There is no way to peace, peace is the way." ~ A.J. 
Muste
It's best to appeal to a person's better nature. 
Even those who we think are "evil", have a better side to them.
If you treat people like you’re in competition with them, they’ll compete with you. If you treat them like a friend, they’ll be friendly.
This is generally true, but not absolute. 
Few things are absolute when discussing how humans will behave.
But no one is born evil. 
Everyone is born with a capacity for good and for evil. 
Evil happens when we forget we are good.

When You Go To Bed
Enjoy the quiet of the night. 
Reflect on your day. 
Breathe deeply and consciously. 
This is a time when your mistakes from the day will visit you. 
Treat them as teachers.
The answer to "what could I have done better", is often to simply not do some of the things you did.

Are You In Or Out?
In fundamentalist Christianity, the basic premise is that some are in and some are out. 
And the only way to get in, is to believe in doctrines derived from books written anonymously thousands of years ago in a culture foreign to our own.
You don't have to be a bad person to be excluded either. 
You're excluded if you don't believe exactly what those who are in believe. It's not about whether you've placed your trust in a loving God, it's about whether you've placed your trust in the beliefs of others. 
That's one of the reasons I don't go to church anymore. 
It's full of people who think that way.
The truth is, if your religious beliefs cause you to have inner peace and treat others as yourself, you're probably on the right track.

Don't Throw The Baby Out With The Bath Water
"A waiting person is a patient person. 
The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us." ~ Henri Nouwen
Marriage is an example of something you don't want to be quick to throw away. 
There might still be something in it worth hanging on to.
And the things that bother you now about the person you're married to may not bother you in the future. 
You might find a way of dealing with those issues or you might realize there's something about yourself that needs to change.
Don't assume you have the entire picture now. 
You only have part of it. 
Be patient. 
And in the meantime, focus on the good parts of the situation you're in. 
You'll look back one day and miss those parts.

Fix Yourself First
And as you're fixing yourself, you can encourage others to fix themselves too. 
Fixing yourself first, gives you the credibility to suggest that others do the same. This doesn't mean you have to be totally fixed first, but you need to have at least begun.
It's not about being better than others. 
You're not interested in defeating people. 
That's not your aim. 
Your aim is to be a better version of yourself and inspire others to be a better version of themselves.
This requires confronting the truth. 
You have to face who you really are. 
You can't change what you're not willing to confront, and you can't give what you don't have.

Tolerance
Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment. 
~ Rumi
What we experience as "reality", is actually a manifestation of a hidden reality. 
The true nature of reality is a mystery that not even modern science can solve.
There's no way we can objectively know what the nature of reality truly is, because we can't separate ourselves from it. 
We're part of it.
We're forced to live with many unanswerable questions. 
We're left to fill in the blanks through our intuition.
For this reason, we must make allowances for one another about what we believe about the unknown. 
Both science and religion can take us only so far.

Continuous Learning
Continuous learning is not all about acquiring new information. 
It's also about reflection. 
We need time to process the information we consume.
Like most things in life, learning requires balance. 
This includes the number of books we read, at what speed we read them, how many conflicting messages we're exposing ourselves to in a given time period, etc.
Keep learning, but don't over-consume. 
It's not good for digestion, and the excess calories will slow you down.
P.S. 
You can't teach an old dog new tricks, but it's never too late for a human being. 
And what you learn about yourself, is more important than anything else you learn.

Stubbornness and Leadership
Being a leader means being flexible, but it also means being stubborn (resolute) at times.
Stubbornness is often perceived as a negative trait. 
A lack of humility. But what matters is why you're being stubborn.
Stubbornness is important, because if you weren't stubborn you'd have no convictions. 
You'd be unreliable and easily lead astray.

Listen To Your Body
Fitness legend Jack Lalanne once said there's no such thing as too much exercise. 
In his case, that seemed to be true. 
When he turned 70 years old, he swam 1-mile pulling 70 people aboard 70 boats, while handcuffed and shackled.
But just because something doesn't hurt you doesn't mean it won't hurt someone else. 
We know that over-training does exist. 
Many people (including me) have experienced negative health effects from it.
You can make your body do things it doesn't want to do, but there's a price to pay for going too far. 
Your body knows what it needs more than your ego does. 
We need to listen to our body.
Your body does things on its own that you're not even aware of. 
It does more for your physical well-being than you are consciously capable of doing. 
Think of it as a highly efficient system that basically runs on its own, and your job is just to keep an eye on it to make sure things are running smoothly. If it needs to eat, it will tell you. 
If it needs to sleep, it will tell you. 
If you're pushing yourself too hard, it will tell you. 
Don't override the system too often.

Do You Underestimate God's Love?
"There is no fear in love. 
But perfect love drives out fear . 
. 
."  ~ 1 John 4:18
If you fear hell, you underestimate God's love.
God is big enough to handle your sin. 
But you're not. 
So take it to God. 
Don't hide.
There's freedom in confession. 
And no condemnation.

A Law Of Life That We Usually Forget
Things aren't going to go exactly the way you want them to. 
Because things aren't supposed to go the way you want them to.
Most things are actually inclined to fall apart. 
It's generally much easier to break something than it is to fix something. You have to work hard to build things, but it's usually easier to tear things down. 
Etc.
This isn't only true in a scientific sense, it's also true in our relationships.
That's just the way this world is. 
So we have to learn to live with it.
Be adaptable, and be grateful for the things that do go your way.

Don't Forget . 
. 
.
That you're going to die soon. 
Maybe tonight. 
Maybe sixty years from now. 
Either way, that's soon.
So live with purpose.
Live with love.
Live with honesty.
Try to have some fun.
And be useful.

What Makes You Original
Don't ignore what makes you original.
The tendency is to suppress it, in order to fit in and not be judged.
But what makes you original, is what makes you a leader.
What makes you original, is what the world needs (even if it doesn't realize it).
What makes you original, is your key to avoiding what others want for you. As Joseph Campbell once said, "other people have a lot of plans for you."

Why We Need To Focus On The Good
There's a lot of good things about life. 
And there's a lot of disappointing things. 
But we know what happens when we focus on the disappointing things. 
Life becomes even more disappointing.
This is why we have to focus on the good.
It's important to acknowledge the negative. 
Pretending it doesn't exist, doesn't help. 
But neither does dwelling on it.
Sometimes life seems like it's about how much shit you can put up with, without losing hope. 
Without losing sight of the good. It may not be quite that extreme, but we're certainly here to learn something. 
And it's about the good.

How To Avoid An Argument
Be more of a listener than a talker. 
Be more of a teacher than an arguer.
Instead of becoming defensive, accept that the other person might not know any better.
Don't assume that what you know is obvious to others. 
It wasn't always obvious to you.
Challenging a person's beliefs can be perceived as an attack on their self-worth. 
Give them a way to save face.
Remember that part of you is in everyone and part of everyone is in you.

Unpopular Decisions
Don't expect that the right decision will always be well received by other people. 
Instead, it might make you very unpopular.
The right decision will sometimes be totally at odds with what others expect.
The right decision is sometimes painful. 
Especially when it's a decision to reverse course on an idea you once held dear. 
But this is how you grow, and lead.
If you choose to do the right thing, sometimes you'll face tremendous pressure to compromise. 
But the time to compromise is when you realize you're doing the wrong thing, not when you're doing the right thing. 
The key is knowing the difference.

Can You Be More Like This?
Can you be more about love?
Can you be more about grace?
Can you be more about forgiveness?
Can you be more like Jesus?
Wouldn't that be a good thing?

What Faith Really Is
We need to be open to uncertainty. 
What are you going to do the next time God doesn't give you what you want? What are you going to do if you end up with the exact opposite of what you prayed for? This is the type of uncertainty I mean.
People of faith tend to live as though God will give them what they want if they pray enough. 
And that God certainly won't allow the opposite to occur. 
But this is a fantasy. 
Wishful thinking.
Real faith is about uncertainty. 
It's about acceptance. 
And it's about trust. 
Trusting that even if things don't go the way you want them to, there's a purpose to your existence (a positive one). 
That God is not malevolent or indifferent.
Faith is trusting without fully understanding. 
Faith is trusting that love is stronger than hate and that love will win in the end.

Being The Best
There's only room for a few in the category of "the best".
You need to work at it consistently over a long period of time. You need to be smart about how you manage your time. You need to take advantage of good opportunities. 
You need some natural ability. 
And you need some luck.
Being the best at something is not for everyone. 
But being the best version of yourself is obtainable for everyone.

Living With Less
If you can learn to live with less, you'll be less prone to the desires of others. 
Minimalism is freedom.
Society provides various escapes, but many of these escapes are actually traps. 
In other words, consumerism offers solutions to many of our problems, but it also creates new problems. Learning to live with less can eliminate many problems.
The life of a monk proves that we don’t need many of the things we think we need. 
Monks show us that we have our minds focused on the wrong things most of the time. 
Monks show us that there’s another way to live.

Don't Let The News Drag You Down
"Random violence makes the news precisely because it's so rare; routine kindness doesn't make the news because it's so common." ~ Matt Ridley
We tune into the news to see what's going on. 
But what we get from those sources is a narrow interpretation of select events, rather than an accurate representation of reality.
Reality happens when we turn the T.V. 
off.
The more you watch the news, the more fearful and negative you'll likely be. 
There's more good than bad going on in the world, but you'll pretty much only hear about bad stuff in the news. 
It's useful in small doses only. 
And non-essential.

Knowing God Through Personal Experience
When you study God according to "scripture", you're studying someone else's experience of God. 
This can still be useful, but ultimately we have to turn within. 
We have to let go of preconceived notions of God and be honest with ourselves about what we truly believe.
This is heresy to a religious person. 
And that's why it's difficult for a religious person to know God, as ironic as that sounds.
The Pharisees were a prime example. 
The Crusaders of the Middle Ages also were. 
And so are today's fundamentalist Christians and Islamic extremists.
Contrast their behavior with Jesus. 
Wasn't he the ultimate heretic?

Give Yourself These Two Major Advantages
Read and think.
Most people don't do enough of these two very important things.
Thinking includes non-thinking. 
Otherwise known as mindfulness or contemplative prayer. 
Non-thought provides true insight.
And reading may not do you much good unless you read widely. 
This is because there are no guaranties you'll read the right things. 
The more widely you read, the more likely you'll read the right things and be able to spot the wrong things.

Focus On Your Best Idea
To paraphrase something Warren Buffett once wrote, it's better to invest more into your first best idea than your tenth best idea. 
This is true for investing, it's true for business, it's true for relationships, it's true for writers and artists, it's true for so many things in life.
Stick to what works best for you and put more of your time, energy and resources into those things, rather than chasing after something new.
Generate lots of ideas. 
Experiment with the ones that seem most promising. 
Commit to the ones that work best.

Who Is God?
Every person's concept of God is too small. 
~ John Templeton
I don't know who God is. 
I think I know. 
I think God is good. 
I think God forgives us of our sins. 
But my view of God is constantly evolving, because God is mysterious.
What do I know, really? What do any of us know? The answer is, not much.
We're all trying to find our way. 
We're all trying to understand why we're here and how we should be living while we're here. 
It's okay to not know, and it's okay to admit you don't know. 
That's really the only way to start knowing.
And it's a continuous renewal. We have to keep letting go of what we think we know about God and let our understanding be renewed.

Finding The Right Leaders
Good leaders don't just have followers, they help their followers become leaders.
Terrible leaders are great teachers. 
They give you live demonstrations of what not to do.
If you can't find a leader you want to follow, be the leader you would want to follow.

Keeping Money In Check
"They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold, and I deem them mad because they think my days have a price." ~ Kahlil Gibran
Be purpose focused, instead of money focused. 
Don't do things just for the money. 
Do it because it's important and because it suits you. 
Don't take the highest paying opportunity just because it's the highest paying opportunity.
Work toward financial security, but don't obsess over it. 
Life is too short to be obsessed with money. Time is more valuable. Do important things with your time, while working toward financial freedom.
Build financial security for the sake of freedom, not for the sake of buying more stuff. 
Real wealth starts with being thankful for what you already have.

Don't Be A One-Legged Man In An Ass Kicking Contest
Charlie Munger has said that when you know a little about a lot of different things, you can avoid being a "one-legged man in an ass kicking contest".
I think he's right.
I've been following this philosophy for years and I've seen how people can be totally oblivious to things that should seem obvious to them (myself included). 
I think to myself, "if only they would read some books and learn from the knowledge others have accumulated." (And if only I had started sooner.)
You don't realize how valuable this is (learning widely) until you've done it. It's also frustrating at times, because some of the things you'll learn you'll have to repeat over and over to other people, and they still might not get it.
You might even start questioning yourself and wonder if you've been led astray.
But that's okay, because it causes you to re-examine the facts. 
And if you're wrong, you'll likely realize it eventually, because of your willingness to question yourself and your sources.

Give Yourself A Fresh Start
Every day is a chance to experience life in a fresh way. 
We can carry around yesterday's baggage or we can let it go and treat today like a new beginning.
Everyday is a chance to learn what you didn't know yesterday. 
Every day is a chance to learn how to do things better than you did before.
Everyday is a new day to start making wise decisions. 
You may have lost a lot, but you still have a lot and you still have an opportunity to do good things.
Don't get sidetracked by thinking about what could have been. 
Think about what is now. 
What can you do today?

How Sleep Is Like Death, and Necessary For A Good Life
Sleep is a big part of life. 
We spend about 1/3 of our life sleeping. 
Forcing ourselves to stay awake and treating sleep like it's a problem that must be overcome, is very unnatural. 
We're meant to sleep, a lot.
Some people say they'll sleep when they're dead. 
But if you aren't getting enough sleep, you're half dead already.
There are a lot of important things that happen during sleep. 
It improves our physical health. 
It helps prevent depression and PTSD. 
And it's also where a lot of our learning takes place (when sleeping, our brain processes the day's experiences). We also sometimes have vivid and transcendental dreams that help us view life in a bigger way.
Falling asleep is a form of surrender. 
It requires us to let go. 
We can fight it, but eventually we get so tired that we fall asleep whether we want to or not. 
In this way, sleep is a bit like death. 
We fight it, but inevitably it comes.
Taking that analogy a bit further: We sometimes hear people say they're going to fight against their illnesses (ie; "Cancer is not going to beat me."). 
It's admirable that they want to stick around for their family and do more good things in the world. 
If I was terminally ill I would want that too. 
(Though maybe it would be better to surrender to whatever path God chooses for us. 
Death now, or death later).
That's sort of what it's like sometimes when we're tired. 
We fight against it, because there's more we want to do. 
But eventually we're forced to surrender.

God Probably Exists
Concluding that nothing is true until it's proven true, is a silly way to think. 
It's better to think in terms of probability, ie: This is probably true. 
That is probably not true. 
Atheists will say there's no God because there's "no evidence". 
But there is evidence. 
The problem is they ignore it. 
They'll come up with nonsensical arguments such as, "believing in God is like believing in the Easter Bunny." As though the probability of God existing is the same as the probability of the Easter Bunny existing.
I know of many people who call themselves atheists, but none who call themselves non-Easter Bunny believers. 
If believing in God is the same as believing in the Easter Bunny, then it would be ridiculous to label yourself as a non-God believer. 
It would be a non-issue. 
Something not even worth talking about.
It's not logical to conclude that there's no possible way God exists. 
But it is logical to believe that God probably does exist.

How To Prevent Yourself From Being Devastated
Prepare yourself mentally and spiritually for future loss. 
It will occur.
You'll still be deeply disappointed and hurt when it occurs, but you won't be devastated.
Every positive thing in your life should be treated as a bonus. 
You didn't give yourself life and you won't be able to prevent your eventual death. 
All the good you experience in between is a bonus.
It's cliche, but it's true, things can always get worse. 
They really can. 
You must prepare yourself for that. 
You prepare yourself by finding the smallest things to be thankful for.

A Short Reflection On My Education
For most of my school years I did the bare minimum to pass. 
Especially in high school. 
I wasn't shooting for straight A's. 
I just wanted to make sure I graduated on time.
There were some subjects I found interesting, and because I found them interesting I paid more attention in those classes and studied more. 
But even my best effort in those classes didn't result in A's.
I realized early on that school wasn't going to be my thing. 
That for me to excel in school it would take just about every free moment I had (and that still might not be enough). 
But I had other interests and other things I was good at, outside school. 
I figured I'd be better off focusing more on those pursuits than I would by focusing more on school.
It turns out that twenty years after graduating from high school (barely) I have no regrets about my scholastic performance. 
I still think doing the minimum to graduate was the right way to go. 
Because even if I had excelled in school I wouldn't have become a doctor or an engineer or anything like that. 
I've never been interested in professions like that. 
Everything I've ever wanted to do was potentially doable without a university degree.
My main regret from my school years isn't that I didn't pay more attention in class or study more. 
It's that I didn't spend more time learning on my own, like I do now. 
I wish I had read more books about things I was interested in. 
I wish I had looked for answers to my big questions and followed my intrigues. 
This is what I've been doing for the past 10-years and it has lead to some success. 
Including a self-education that I couldn't have gotten in school.
If I had learned in my teens what I know now about investing, I would likely be a millionaire at this point (or very close to it). 
If I had read books about the origins of the bible or the doctrine of grace I might have avoided a decade of binge drinking, and started my blog much earlier.
But that's all hindsight of course, and even hindsight is not 20/20, because we can't know for certain how changes to past decisions would have played out. 
If I had done things differently, I might have missed out on something important that I have now. 
Maybe things are meant to be the way they are?

What Bruce Lee's Words Can Teach Us About Religion
"Absorb what is useful and discard what is useless." ~ Bruce Lee
Lee said this in reference to martial arts, as martial arts in his day were separated quite rigidly by styles. 
This was before the days of "mixed martial arts".
He was a pioneer in taking what worked from various martial art styles and adding them to his own skill set. 
He took what was effective and discarded what wasn't.
This principle applies to virtually everything in life. 
Including religion.
Religions tend to be separated according to very specific and inflexible doctrines, and followers tend to discard all other doctrines as false. 
But in reality there's a little truth and a little error in all religions. 
What if we were to just take what is useful and discard the rest?
BTW: Bruce Lee Striking Thoughts is full of great aphorisms like the one above.

Don't Let The Other Monkeys Pull You Down
If you want to fit in with a bunch of mediocre people, be mediocre. 
But if you want to rise above that, rise above it.
Fear of what others think of you, will be the biggest obstacle to overcome.
One of the best things you can do for yourself is to separate yourself from cultural influences as much as possible. 
Be "in the world, but not of the world."
Don't let the other monkeys pull you down.

Is There A Better Way?
We have a tendency to do things the complicated way. 
We think the complicated way is the best way merely because it's complicated. 
But there's usually a simpler way. It takes some discipline and open-mindedness to find it though.
If you find yourself struggling and frustrated, it may be a sign that you're trying to do something the complicated way (which may not be a way at all. 
It might be a dead end). 
Take a step back and look at the situation. 
What can you do differently? What will give you more peace?

Status Quo Predicaments
Fitting in isn't all it's cracked up to be. 
It's good to a degree, but there's a point at which it can be dangerous.
You shouldn't be contrary just for the sake of being contrary though. 
You should be contrary when you know the status quo is wrong.
If you're going to go against the grain, do it for the better, not merely to be difficult. 
Stubbornness is good when it's for the right reason, but self-destructive when it's for the wrong reason.
Supporting the status quo, and creating change, both require sacrifice. 
Both take time and effort, and both can affect your reputation in a negative way. 
Sometimes it's right to be on the side of change and sometimes it's right to support the status quo. 
Just don't kid yourself about what it will cost you either way.

Emotions In Decision Making
Don't make decisions based purely on emotion.
Emotion is still important. 
If you didn't have it you wouldn't care about people. But we shouldn’t be guided by emotion alone.
You wouldn't want a doctor who cries all the time and can't keep it together. 
Nor would you want one who doesn't empathize with you.

Action and Inaction
In the world, we're taught that inaction is inherently lazy and that we prove our worth by how much we do.
We admire sleep deprived workaholics. 
We feel bad when we say no to party invitations. 
We feel guilty if we're not available to take someone's call. 
We think we're being lazy when we sleep in or spend the day indoors (unless we're cleaning something).
We've bought into the idea that we should always be busy, and that whenever we're not busy we should be socializing or catching up on the news.
Our biggest problem is not that we don't do enough. 
It's that we do too much of the wrong things and not enough of the right things.
We need to live a more contemplative life. A contemplative life is not a life of inaction though. 
It's a life of being mindful of the right actions to take.
Inaction should be our default mode. 
This is where we should remain until the right action becomes apparent.

How To Be Unsuccessful
Here are a few ideas that come to mind:
Be Impulsive: Allow emotions to control your thinking and behavior. 
Don't think things through or look at things from different angles.
Have a Negative Attitude: Blame other people for your problems. 
Especially problems you created. 
And feel sorry for yourself.
Be Over-Confident: Believe that you know things you don't actually know and be sure about it. 
Jump to conclusions. Believe you're better at things than you really are.
Be Unreliable: Always be thinking about yourself. 
Don't show up. 
Do a poor job.
Stop Learning: Don't read. 
Don't continuously educate yourself.
Don't Choose Your Friends Wisely: Hang around negative, under-educated people and take their advice to heart.
Always Try To Fit In: Make decisions based primarily on what other people will think about you.
These traits should ensure that you'll make foolish decisions that will cost you a lot of money, relationship problems, and trouble with the law.

A Different Way To Think About Criticism
Critics will exaggerate their importance in your life. 
Especially strangers who offer you unsolicited criticism.
Sometimes criticism is a cry for help, or a request to be enlightened. 
But you might not be able to break down their wall, no matter how hard you try.
But what you can do, is plant a seed, which future circumstances may water on your behalf.
You plant a seed in everyone you interact with. 
Even the ones that seem totally closed off.

Forget Goals, Be Present
We tend to think of life in terms of accomplishments, rather than experiences. 
But life is meant to be live with the "goal" of being present in the moment.
This is how to live a meaningful life. 
Not by having goals and doing things merely to reach those goals, but to live in awareness.
For the most part, society is distracted from this principle. 
Society tries to derive meaning through status, material wealth, and arbitrary goals.
Take the pressure off. 
Forget about your goals and plans and just be in the moment. 
Let each moment guide you.
This isn't about being undisciplined. 
That's a different type of letting go. 
This is about not trying to control everything. 
It's about allowing inner wisdom to guide you.
Goals and plans are often disrupted by reality anyway. 
Having a general direction makes sense, but details written in stone don't.

A Spiritual Person
A spiritual person is a patient person. 
Not trying to be an over-night success. 
Not even trying to be a "success" by worldly standards. 
Not trying to take all matters into his own hands, but recognizing that most things are out of his hands.
If you want to control something, start by letting go of control and see if things start to take care of themselves. 
Letting go also gives you the wisdom to know what actions to take.
You don't need a master plan for your life. 
Nor do you need to fight for everything you want. 
We must persevere and do certain things in order to survive, but life isn't about mere survival. 
It's about learning who we are in God's image and living out that path one moment at a time.

Life Changing Events
It doesn't always take a big event or a lot of money to change the direction of your life. 
Sometimes it can be just a comment someone made, or a free book you got from the library.
Life changing events don't have to come in big packages, and they don't have to cost you an arm and a leg.
All the more reason to take your time, and be frugal.

Suffering And Surrender
Suffering seems to be a means to an end. 
A way of peeking behind the veil and realizing that there's more to our existence than meets the eye.
Suffering is meant to make us surrender. 
To let go of our narrow view of the world and surrender to the unknown. 
In this surrender we find a greater sense of purpose and peace.
Life is not going to go the way we want it to. 
There will be many surprises. 
Including some terrible ones. We can’t measure our lives based on how well things go in accordance with our desires. 
The meaning of life transcends circumstances. 
Everything is a chance to draw closer to God.

Avoiding The Herd And Finding Your Niche
What "everyone else" is doing is not relevant. 
Unless they're all doing the right thing. 
The fact that everyone is doing it is not evidence that it's the right thing, because people often mimic one another without thinking things through.
If you do what average people are doing, you'll get average results. 
If you want extraordinary results you have to do extraordinary things. 
You have to do what hardly anyone else is doing. 
If you're going to copy, copy what extraordinary people do, not what average people do.
It's also important to stick to what you can understand, while continuing to expand that circle where possible. 
What do you understand that most people would disagree with you on? That's your extraordinary niche.
It doesn't have to be one thing, it can be a few things. 
But it's not going to be fifty things. 
If it's a lot of things, you probably think you know more than you actually do, or people may not disagree with you as much as you think they do.
What are five things you understand that very few others do?
If you don't think this way, you're average — you're a follower.

Doing The Right Thing
It's better to lose friends and supporters for doing the right thing than it is to lose them for doing the wrong thing.
Either way you're going to lose a few.
If you're losing them for doing the right thing, were they really your friends?

Finding Your Spirit
The spirit is quiet, so the mind should be quiet.
But the spirit isn't empty. 
It's vibrant, it's awake, it's serene, and it thinks without words.
The chatter in our mind is the result of a faulty mindset. 
It comes from desire. 
It comes from not living from our spirit. When we don't live from our spirit we seek fulfillment through other means.
Stop talking to yourself so much, so you can get in touch with your spirit. Stop telling yourself things and just be one with your true self:
The you beyond mere words.
The you beyond desire.
The you that is peace.
The you that transcends worldly circumstances.
The you that is one with everything.

Focus On The Process
You don't have to set big goals to accomplish big things. 
But you do have to focus on the process. 
The day to day stuff.
If you're living a good life, doing good things and continuously learning, big things will likely happen as a result.
If you focus on a prize-an end result, it may actually distract you from the process. 
You might do things that damage your chances of reaching that goal.
And your goal may be wrong. 
Goals are a product of the imagination. 
We imagine what would make us happier, then we go after it, but we're often wrong about what will make us happier.
If we focus on being happy in the moment, and on living a good life and developing good habits, we'll be more likely to accomplish big things. 
The right big things.

To Love Is To Know God
In fundamentalist Christianity you're taught that being a good person doesn't matter unless you have a "relationship with Christ". 
And that if you don't have a relationship with Christ, as defined by church doctrine, you're likely going to hell.
But that is the opposite of the truth. 
What matters isn't what you believe about a historical figure (though Jesus is someone to be admired and emulated). 
What matters is love. 
What matters is how you treat others.
If you love others, you know God. 
Period.

Live On Less Now So You'll Have More To Live On Later
When we're young, we spend money on things we think will make us happy. 
But we find out later that many of these things don't matter.
When we're young, we live as though we'll never get old. In some ways this is good, because it gives us things to look back on. 
But in other ways it's not good, because it leaves us with fewer resources in our later years.
You have to save something for the old you, because the old you will likely have fewer options. 
If the old you could go back and give advice to the young you, the old you would probably say something like this: "experience life, but remember that your young years aren't necessarily your best years, and what you do in those young years will have an impact on your later years. 
"

Finding Peace In Silence
Many of our desires come from the fact that we're unfamiliar with the peace that can be found in silence. 
Many of our desires are a way of making up for our feeling of being lost and inadequate. 
But when we connect with our true self, we realize that we already have much of what we need.
We have our flaws, but silence helps us confront them in an understanding way, without beating ourselves up. 
Sometimes the feeling of inadequacy is just that, a feeling. 
We may not necessarily beat ourselves up about it, but we have this feeling that we're not doing the right things in life, or that we aren't as good as other people, or that God is not pleased with us. 
When we embrace silence, we're able to confront this feeling and work on getting past it.

Assessing Ignorance
It's usually folly to believe you're better than you actually are. 
But there may be times when it's not. 
It depends on the subject or activity, and it depends on what's at stake.
If the cost of being ignorant is high, then it's better to be totally honest with yourself. 
If the cost is low or non-existent, then the bliss of ignorance may be worth it.
For instance: In sports, thinking you're a champion before you're a champion may actually help you become one. 
But thinking you're a world-class poker player when you're not could lead to ruin.

Let Go To Get Back On Track
If you've lost your way, remember to go back to prayer.
Prayer is an act of letting go. 
Letting go is the key to everything.
Let go of the false narrative in your mind.
Let go of fear and greed.
Let go of the belief that you're capable of figuring everything out.
Give everything to God and trust that the right answers will come at the right time.

Education and Reflection
There are some basic truths we can count on. 
They don't tell us everything and they're only partial truths, but if followed they can do us a lot of good. 
This is the purpose of education.
But we shouldn't pretend that education is everything. 
It's a useful tool, but we still need time for personal reflection. 
We need time to connect with mystery — with something bigger than ourselves, with God.

Let Inner Peace Guide Your Decisions
If you have a choice, choose what gives you less anxiety.
This doesn't mean there will never be fear or that anxiety will be totally absent. 
But if the alternative choice makes you feel worse, then the decision should be obvious.
Generally, we should have peace about our decisions. 
Let inner peace guide you, rather than emotion or ambition.
Ambition is a tricky thing. 
It can disguise itself as a calling, making you feel like you're on an important mission. 
If you're not careful, this can lead to taking foolish risks. 
Wise decisions are made by letting go of ambition and surrendering to prudence and inner peace.
For example, you may feel like your calling is to be wealthy so you can be a philanthropist. 
But that doesn't mean you should latch on to the first exciting investment opportunity you find. 
The means for accomplishing your goal may still be hidden.
You'll have to take it one step at a time and trust that God will lead you. 
You shouldn't make finite assumptions and take huge risks. 
Nor should you try to knock over every wall in your way. 
Some of them are there to prevent you from taking the wrong path.

I Don't Care What The Expert Said
Did he have all the information? Did she think it through? Does his conclusion make sense?
It's not about the person, it's about the information the person is providing. 
Is the information accurate or not?
Experts sometimes step outside their circle of competence to comment on things they're not well informed about. 
They may sound just as confident and articulate as they do when speaking about their own specialty, but this means nothing. 
Only the information matters, not the way one speaks, or one's credentials in other areas of study.

Adjusting To Reality
When reality refuses to agree with our worldview it can be very dangerous to our psyche.
We have to adjust our thinking to match reality.
The idea that you're capable of doing anything you set your mind to is totally false. 
There are things you can't do, no matter how hard you try. 
And there are times when circumstances will block you.
The main thing is that you don't talk yourself out of doing something important just because it's difficult to do. 
There are times to keep pushing and there are times to surrender.

How To Make Yourself More Valuable
Learn new things. 
Things that interest you.
Seek answers to your deepest questions. 
Follow the rabbit holes and see where they lead.
Do things that are important to you.
Do things that bring out the best in you.
Spend time in silence and solitude. 
Get to know yourself.
Confront your demons and find refuge in prayer.
Invest your time wisely in these ways and you'll be a better you. 
You'll be a better you for you, and for others. Be valued because of who you are and the intangibles you have to offer, instead of being valued merely for your labor or your obedience.

Finding The Real You
When you quiet the mind, the ego goes to sleep. 
The ego can switch on in an instant once another person comes into the picture. 
Even the thought of another person can awaken the ego. 
That's when the pretending and gamesmanship begins.
The ego is the person that you and society have created. 
It's the mask you wear when others are around. 
And it's the voice you reason with in your mind. 
This is not the real you. 
This is the you that you think you need for survival. 
The real you is more laid back, less-defensive, more generous, and more humble.
Let go of your outer identity and search for your inner identity. 
The you beneath the persona you've created. 
Not only the one you show to others, but also the one you imagine yourself to be. 
There's a you beyond those identities. 
A you that is love, joy, and peace.

The Bible Is Not God's Word, But It Contains Valuable Insights
It took awhile, but I finally realized that the bible is not God's word. 
It contains valuable insights, but it's not the only way we can learn about and connect with God.
It's only a guide, and not always a very good one. 
You have to be careful not to take everything in it literally. 
Some of it's not true, and much of it is metaphorical.
It was, after-all, written by human beings. 
Human beings we've never met, and who's words were passed on by scribes for thousands of years before the printing press was invented. 
Nor do we have any original manuscripts. 
And we know, through biblical scholarship, that some of the books in the bible are forgeries.
The people who wrote the various books of the bible were writing what they believed about God. 
And in some cases, what they wanted others to believe about God. 
The bible is not a place to go for objective truth, but you'll find some profound statements and stories in it. 
This makes it worth studying.

How Much Is Your Time Worth?
If you were terminally ill, you would be willing to sell everything you own to keep living.
Yet how much time do we waste accumulating possessions?
How many good years of health do we trade away for things we would gladly give up for more time?

Ignore The Devil
I no longer believe in the devil. 
But even if the devil does exist, to marginalize him is to disarm him. 
If the devil exists, he has no power other than to try to convince you that he has power.
Some people believe that being a spiritual person requires a staunch belief in the devil, on par with belief in God. 
Their fear is that if they ignore the devil, he'll be able to get a foothold in their life. 
But the truth is there's almost certainly no devil. 
It's just a metaphor for a side of ourselves that we don't understand. We are our own enemy.

Finding The Missing Pieces
When making important decisions, always look for the missing pieces. 
You may think you have the whole picture, but you'll almost certainly be missing part of it.
This doesn't mean you need to know every variable before taking action, but you need to know that you've cross-examined your ideas thoroughly and honestly.
Even after you've made your decision and embarked on a particular path, you should always remain open to new evidence.
The most honest thing you can say is, "I don't know." Because there's so little that we do know. 
And much of what we know, we only know in part. 
Humility is the key to understanding.

Invest In Yourself
Start by carving out more time for yourself. 
Time is the most valuable thing we have.
Aside from that, our mind is the most valuable thing we have. 
So give yourself more time to just sit and think.
Or better yet, just sit and be quiet. 
This is the best investment you can make. 
Your best decisions will come from such valuable uses of time.
This is totally underappreciated in society.

Making Wise Decisions
We have to make decisions based on wisdom. 
This includes inner wisdom and the things we've learned from people smarter than us.
We shouldn't make decisions based on what other people will think of us. 
There will always be people who won't understand you, no matter what you do. 
Just make wise decisions and let the chips fall where they may.
Think of it in terms of being the leader of a country. 
If you were the president of your country your job wouldn't be to please everyone. 
Because you can't. 
Your job would be to make wise decisions, even if people hate you for your decisions. 
If you've done the right thing, it will benefit a lot of people and history will vindicate you. 
Wise people are often ahead of their time and aren't honored until after they're gone.
Just do the right thing and let people think what they want. 
You can't change a mind that doesn't want to be changed. 
It will likely have to happen through events that are out of your control. 
Sometimes all you can do is plant a seed and hope that other voices or circumstances will water it.

Waiting To Be Happy
Many of us live in total ignorance of our abundance. 
We're still waiting to be happy. 
And it's always based on what we don't have — on how our life is not yet perfect.
But it will never be perfect. 
It can be better, but it can't be perfect. 
We can never be totally content and unflappable in all situations, but most of us can be more content than we have been.
We need to start counting our blessings. 
I mean really do it — we literally need to think about what we have and be thankful.

We Can Do Better
The world needs more mindfulness. 
We need to be more quiet and more thoughtful. 
We've become too robotic and dull-minded, and we've become entertainment junkies.
Everyone needs to have a spiritual life. 
We need to find contentment within and stop searching for it through the empty promises of clever marketers. 
We need to think for ourselves, and live a life we're proud of. 
One that's about doing good in the world, rather than the world doing good for us.
We need more honesty, more maturity, and more compassion. 
We haven't grown up yet. 
There's a lot of good people doing good things and this is a sustaining force in the world, but we're still far from where we're capable of being.
Our goal should be to bring heaven a little closer to earth.

Thinking Like An Original
Your mind can do more than your body. 
Why give so much attention to what you can do with your body and so little to what you can do with your mind? This is very counter-intuitive in our culture, but this is how advancements in society and advancements in personal growth are made.
If you want to be different, you have to think different. 
If you want to be more than a cog in a wheel you need to be different. 
The world needs originals. 
Originals who produce value. 
Originals who bring out our better nature. 
Originals who connect us with something bigger than ourselves.
The great originals of the ages didn't labor or merely take orders. 
They thought. 
They dared. 
They peeked behind the curtain and told us what they saw.
We go to school primarily to learn how to be good workers, not good thinkers. 
You have to fight conventional wisdom and social pressure if you want to be your true self and follow your true purpose. 
You have to check your ego at the door — not worrying about what people think about you. 
It's not easy, but it's necessary.
This doesn't mean we should shun all social constructs. 
Many of them are good. 
But there is much to shun.

What Thinking For Yourself Means
When we do what everyone else does, we're following conventional wisdom. 
Conventional wisdom is a double-edged sword. 
For instance, conventional wisdom tells us that we shouldn't steal. 
This principle works in humanity’s favor. 
But sometimes laws are unlawful. 
Slavery, for example. 
It was legal, but insane!
This is the type of outcome we can end up with when we don’t think for ourselves. 
When we don’t question the status quo. 
When we’re focused on fitting in.
Thinking for yourself doesn’t mean never listening to others. 
It means holding those ideas in your mind without losing sight of your own ideas. 
It means learning from others, but not merely parroting them. 
It means listening, but not automatically accepting.

On Trusting What People Say
We aren't always honest about what we think. 
We lie for various reasons. 
We even lie to ourselves. 
And we don't always think things through before making a statement.
Also, our opinions can be quite fluid because of new experiences and sometimes because of our mood.
The truth is deep down, beneath the masks we wear, beneath our emotions, and beneath all the noise we take in on a daily basis.
Don't expect people to be perfect. 
Expect some inconsistency. 
But beware of those who are chronically inconsistent.

Where To Find God
You don't need a book, or a course, or a church, or anything else to find God. 
You can find God right where you are, with nothing at all. 
It's simply a matter of surrendering.
Simple doesn't mean easy though. 
It's not easy to surrender to God. 
We're stubborn. 
But there's no substitute for the peace we seek.
Let go, and keep letting go every time you notice yourself resisting. 
We are our own enemy. 
There's no devil, it's just us.

When Working Hard Is A Dumb Idea
Working hard is dumb, if working hard means:
You're coming home unhappy most nights.
Your family is unhappy with your dedication to work.
You're ruining your physical or mental health.
What you're doing is harmful to others.
You're working long hours when you could get more done in fewer hours.
Over the long run, everyone who accomplishes anything important will have to put in lots of time and effort. 
But on a day to day basis, it's better to think in terms of working smart, rather than working "hard".
Are you happy with what you've dedicated your time and efforts to? Are you using your time and energy in the smartest way possible?

Meditation Is Empty Without Prayer
I tried meditation before I understood prayer, but it was empty. 
Prayer changed everything. 
Prayer helped me understand meditation.
For me, mediation has become "listening prayer". 
It's about listening for the quiet voice of God within. 
A voice that speaks without words. 
An inner presence of peace and love.
The point of mediation is to connect with something bigger than ourselves. 
If you haven't experienced that yet, then you haven't gone deep enough. 
Prayer will get you there.

How Not To Be Fooled By "Experts"
The term expert has become synonymous with popularity. 
The truth is there are many experts whom you'll never hear about.
The "experts" we should take seriously are the ones who are objective. 
The ones who think things through and don't jump to conclusion based on what they want to be true. 
They accept truth as it is, whether they like it or not.
Even the experts don't always know what they're talking about. 
Don't simply take the expert's word for it, and don't be guided by emotional appeals. 
Also pay attention to whether they're telling the whole story, or being selective.
Treat it like a police investigation: weigh all the evidence and decide whether there's enough to believe beyond a reasonable doubt that what that person has said is true. 
Re-open your case if new evidence comes to light.

Beware Of Extreme Rationality
All of us are irrational at times. 
Sometimes a lot of us become irrational together and this leads to extreme group behavior.
What would be nice to see is a contagion of rationality. 
But it has to be rationality tempered by empathy and compassion. 
Otherwise, even rationality can cause extreme negative behavior. 
Extreme rationality is itself irrational.

Think About Your Habits
Re-evaluate your daily routine. 
Instead of getting up and doing everything you normally do, think about what you're doing and decide if that's something you really need to be doing.
So much of what we do is automatic — habitual. 
There are good habits and there are bad habits, find out what yours are.

The "Kingdom" Of God Has Many Kings
"Seek first the kingdom of God", because what we seek in the world is meaningless without the inner life. 
The inner life is where the kingdom of God resides.
When we think of a "kingdom", we normally think of a monarchy. 
But the "kingdom" of God is a different kind of kingdom, where everyone is a king. 
 
Or to paraphrase something Alan Watts once said, in the world, everyone is considered equally inferior, but from the standpoint of God all people are divine.



Taking A Stand
Life is a continuous learning experience. 
Learning to surrender, and learning to take a stand. 
Decide what's important to you and take a stand. 
Be flexible when new information comes to light.
Sometimes you have to tell the world and those around you how it's going to be. 
It's up to you to put your foot down and say what your boundaries are. 
Some people will respect you for it, some will fear you for it, and some will be pissed off. 
So be it .
You can't force other people to do what you want, but you can tell them what you are going to do or not do, and let them decide how they're going to react.

On Influencing Others
You don't have time to fight against stupidity. 
When someone wants to believe something, it can be next to impossible to change their mind, no matter how crazy their beliefs are or how reasonable your argument is.
You'll have a much better chance with people who are open-minded. 
Especially if it's someone who already has a lot of respect for you. 
Bring them over to your side, and maybe they can convince some of their friends.

You Still Have Choices
As an individual, you can't change who your president/prime minister is, or what he/she will do. 
But you can decide what you are going to do to be a positive force in your own life and in the lives of those around you.
You still have choices. 
Now more than ever, you have choices.
You can't fix the world, but you can begin to change the world by beginning to change yourself.
You can't make yourself perfect, but you can begin to remake yourself for the better.
You can't persuade others to do the same until you persuade yourself. 
Then, maybe your actions will speak loud enough to inspire change in others.

If You Really Want To Work, Stop Working
Sometimes you can find inspirational quotes in unlikely places. 
Like this one from the acknowledgments section of Pure Drivel by Steve Martin:
"At the time of this writing, I have not worked in a movie for three years. 
During these years, in which I vowed to do nothing and leave myself alone about it, I accidentally produced several plays, a handful of sketches, two screenplays, and a reorganization of my entire self. 
The pieces in this book, these essays — I'm not sure what to call them — are little candy kisses, after dinner mints to the big meal of literature, but to me they represent something very special. 
They are the offspring of an intense retrospection that enabled me to get back in contact with my work, to receive pleasure from my work, and to bring joy to my work. 
They also enabled me to repeat the phrase "my work" three times in one sentence, which brought me a lot of joy, pleasure, and contact. 
I suppose what I'm saying is, if you really want to work, stop working."

How To Create A Better Future
One way is to answer these two questions for yourself truthfully:
What am I not doing now that one day I'll wish I had started earlier?
What am I doing now that one day I'll wish I had done less of?

What God Is Like
When I say we should connect with God, I'm talking about a God who is good to everyone.
Not a Calvinist God. 
Not a Jihadist God. 
Not a Satanic God. 
Not a Greek God. 
Not even the God most evangelical Christians believe in. 
You know, the one who's going to send you to hell for not believing that everything in the bible is literally true.
Jesus is a wonderful reflection of what I think God is like. 
And if I'm right, that truly is "good news".

A Few Reminders
We're only here for a brief time. 
Don't get bogged down in the details of your life. 
Keep the big picture in mind. 
A few reminders:
Don't consider yourself more important than you really are.
Don't pity yourself.
Don't live in anger and fear.
Don't fritter away your time on trivial matters.
Be present.
Do something important.
Connect with your true self and with God.
Treat other people as yourself.
Be patient.

The Folly Of Wanting An "Exciting" Life
You don't need an exciting life. 
There's plenty to explore within you and within the hearts and minds of others. 
We seek adventure and excitement as a way of trying to find meaning, but we're actually running away from meaning. 

The Real Way To Get Things Done
You don't need to write down your goals or your to-do list. 
You already know the important things that need to be done. 
You just need to learn to be present. 
When we're not present, that's when we lose sight of what's important.
Make room for silence and solitude in your life. 
Make more time for doing nothing. 
That's how you get more done.
If there's something we don't do enough of, it's sitting alone in silence. 
It's easy to forget how productive this can be. 
It yields wisdom, peace, love, patience, understanding, and many other good things that we often go looking for in the wrong places.

The Person You Decide To Be
We can't control all of life's circumstances, but we do have some say over how we react. 
We have some say over what we choose to do and not do. 
We can choose to be people of peace, people of love, people who don't give up on doing the right thing, and people who never stop learning.
You are not confined to the limits you've place on yourself. 
You are free to stretch those boundaries. 
You are more capable of being the person you want to be than you realize. 
You are not confined to the labels others have given you. 
You know yourself better than they know you.
Search your soul for what you really want. 
By God's grace you can be the person you decide to be.

Worrying
Worrying never got me anywhere before. 
So why should it now? There were many times when I could have died, but didn't. 
There were many times when I made plans, but they didn't work out. 
And there were many times when I said to hell with it, but things worked out anyway.
We think we have control, but our control is very limited. 
We can control our attitude and behavior to an extent, but we have far less control of outcomes. 
Of what other people will do, what nature will do, what opportunities will be available to us, etc.
Our insecurity comes from fear. 
Fear that our needs won't be met. 
Fear that we don't matter. 
Fear that things aren't as we think they are. 
We're insecure because we care. 
We're insecure because we're not able to let go and be present in the moment.
But how often do our fears come true? Not very often, right? Go with the odds. 
Odds are that the vast majority of your fears won't come true. 
And the ones that do, may not be as bad as you imagine them to be.
Allow one day's problems to be enough. 
Worrying about tomorrow won't make it better. 
And you might ruin your last day worrying about a day that's not going to come. We should consider each day as possibly our last, because one day it will be. 
Ask yourself: If today was my last day, what are some things I would want to do? And what are some things I should avoid?

Real Happiness
We can find happiness through what we do for a living and through relationships with people, but where will we find it if those things are taken from us?
We'll have to go deeper.
Happiness is mainly about what happens to us. 
What we need more than happiness, is inner peace. 
We need a connection with our true self. 
We need a connection with God.
This transcends circumstances and human relationships.

The Little Big Things
We tend to idealize life. 
We're not happy with reality as it is, so we create alternative realities. 
Often because we're not able to appreciate the little things in life. 
Which are actually not little at all.
What are you thankful for right now in this moment? Are you warm? Are you fed? Can you breathe on your own? There's nothing little about those things.
We're never satisfied, because we want more than mere survival. 
We want meaning and significance. 
But if we're willing to take stock of what we have and ask ourselves some hard questions about life, we can begin to find some meaning right where we are in the here and now.

Close To Nature
Man in his/her natural habitat — the wilderness, doesn't need endless entertainment. 
We only "need" it now, because we've become accustomed to it. 
As a result, we've lost touch with our true self.
There are many advantages to modern life. 
It has improved our lives in many ways. 
But it has also taken something very important away from us. 
Living in a concrete jungle is an unnatural existence. 
As is sitting at a cubicle or standing on an assembly line all day.
Whenever possible, turn off your entertainment devices. 
Whenever possible, get away from people and be close to nature. 
And if your job bores you stiff or stresses you out, start laying the groundwork for something else.
Nature offers us the best opportunity to be ourselves. 
Nature doesn’t tell itself a story, the way people do. 
Nature doesn’t have an opinion. 
Nature allows us to be ourselves. 
Nature leaves room for us to hear our true self. 
Nature makes it possible for us to be closer to God.

Being Thankful For Choices
The desire to attach our identity to a job, is a cultural phenomenon. 
You are not your job. 
"Jobs" are about survival. 
Your identity and self-worth have to come from within. 
But it is possible to find a job that's an important expression of who we are. 
One that improves our life beyond mere survival. 
One of the advantages of modern life is that it enables us to try different paths and find one that's best for us. 
 One of the drawbacks is that it can also give us an escape route, even when the last thing we should be doing is trying to escape. In other words, it's more difficult to pay the dues necessary to get where we want to be, because it's so easy to move on to something else. 
It's a double-edged sword. 
But for the most part we're better off with choices than we are with a path of no escape. 
In other words, be thankful you're not a blacksmith just because your father was a blacksmith. 

Faith Is Surrender
Surrender to God. 
He will lead you. 
He will keep you from falling into traps. 
(many of the traps we fall into are of our own making)
Let all your concerns go to God. 
The road you should take will be shown to you. You have very few decisions to make on your own. 
When you're surrendered to God's will, he will think and act for you.
Some people see this as anti-intellectualism. 
And it is, to an extent. 
The truth is that faith, as defined by surrender to God, will lead you to the answers you seek. 
It will make you a deeper thinker and more curious about things you don't understand.
It's "anti-intellectual" in the sense that you shouldn't try to figure everything out on your own. 
It's about starting from a position of surrender and allowing God to lead you to the knowledge you seek.

No, You Are Not Evil For Having Those Thoughts
We all have thoughts that could be considered "evil". 
But what's more important is our actions.
An example: If you have sexual thoughts about someone who's not your spouse, it doesn't mean you're evil. 
It's probably just biology. The most important thing is that you choose not to act on those urges. 
Betraying someone you've made a commitment to is the wrong thing to do.
Another one: If you have thoughts about harming someone, you're not evil. 
But acting on those thoughts is not the right thing to do. 
You probably see that person as a threat to yourself or to someone else you care about. 
There are times when it's justifiable to use force against someone to protect ourselves or others. 
But often we misjudge the situation and have to talk some sense into ourselves before we do the wrong thing.
It's possible that some of these thoughts originate from an evil influence, such as a "devil". 
But I think it's more about human weakness and biology than anything else. 
We may not be evil, but we're certainly weak.
We need to find our strength in a higher power. 
This makes it easier for us to turn our attention away from such thoughts and make better judgments on how to act. 
To not live in survival mode and procreation mode.
If you treat such thoughts as evil, you'll want to fight against them head on. 
That doesn't work, because you'll be giving those thoughts more attention. 
And you'll become frustrated with yourself about your inability to defeat them. 
Or you'll become angry with God and wonder why he won't take them away.
What we need to do is stop fighting with ourselves, and choose to do the right thing, in-spite of such thoughts. 
Choose love.

Thinking Outside The Box
Thinking outside the box is great. 
It's necessary. 
But there's such a thing as too far outside the box. 
In other words, there's a box, but we have a hard time figuring out where the edges of it are.
For instance: It took outside-the-box thinking to create machines that defy gravity. 
But gravity still exists. 
If you jump from an airplane without a parachute you'll die. 
That's one of the edges.
Think outside the box. 
The artificial box others have put you in. 
But keep an eye out for the real edges.

Is The "Devil" A Metaphor For The Ego?
Is the devil really our enemy, or is our ego the real enemy? What better way to massage our ego than to believe the devil is responsible for our bad behavior? What we call the "devil" may very well just be us.
The devil is more likely metaphorical than literal. 
The devil is likely a construct of our mind to explain why bad things happen. 
We have inherent weaknesses, so why shouldn't we be prone to doing bad things, without there being a devil to blame.
The ego is the real enemy. 
The ego, as in the part of us that's quick to take offence. 
The part of us willing to cheat others for our own gain. 
The part of us that we argue with. 
The part of us that tells us we're not good enough. 
The part of us that tells us we're better than we really are.
It's all motivated by fear. 
Fear of death. 
Fear of not being loved. 
Fear of not mattering.

Improving Your Mood
One way to improve your mood and the mood in your home is to turn off the T.V, turn off the radio, and put the computers and smart phones away. 
The messages we bring into our home can have a negative effect on us. 
Consciously and unconsciously.
Your home is your castle and your sanctuary. 
Guard it from outside influences. 
You have better things to do than being continuously entertained and marketed to.
Find a hobby. 
Educate yourself with books and courses. 
Spend time in prayer and meditation. 
Write. 
Exercise. 
Take a nap. 
All these things are better than the alternative.

Let Go Of Your Detailed Plans
We don’t write our own story in life. 
Life writes a story for us. 
We make decisions and those decisions tend to have consequences, but much of what happens to us happens to us.
We have some say over what happens in our life. 
But we have no control over where we were born, how our genes or cultural setting will affect us, or what economic opportunities will be available to us, etc.
All we can do is take it one step at a time and hope that some good opportunities will be available to us. 
And that we’ll be wise enough to recognize them and take advantage of them.
In the meantime, it’s okay to let go of our detailed plans. 
Our detailed plans are usually based on a desired outcome that will require us to change our plans anyway.
Keep learning, keep growing, and focus on having the right inner life. 
Other things will fall into place.

If This Were My Last Post This Is What I Would Say
I recently asked myself what message I would want to leave to the world if I could write only one more post. 
This is what came to me:
Spend more time by yourself, in silence, close to nature.
Be thankful for what you have.
Search for answers to your deepest questions.
Do your best to treat everyone with respect.
Don't get attached to objects, status, or traditions. 
All these can be lost. Regard what cannot be lost as the most important: the spirit.
Take care of yourself. 
You'll feel better and be more useful. 
Sleep, eat moderately, and exercise.
Be present. 
Return to your breath often.
Make your life a living prayer. 
Have an underlying trust that God will lead you and that you have nothing to worry about.
Return to these words when you feel disconnected.

How To Go For It
Do what you're good at. 
Do what you enjoy. 
Do what you think will make a positive difference in the world. 
And let it be motivated by what you'd want others to do for you.
Some guidance: where do your values, talents, interests, and opportunities intersect? What change do you want to see in the world? How can you be that change? How can you use your values, talents, interests and opportunities to help make that change?
Values: Things and people you care about. 
The way you conduct yourself. 
Your integrity. 
Your level of optimism. 
What you believe in.
Talents: Things you're naturally good at. 
And the skills you've acquired.
Interests: Things you enjoy doing the most. 
Things that intrigue you the most. What your ideal day looks like.
Opportunities: Your connections. 
Time, money, and other resources available to you.

Enlightenment
In ancient Rome, legions were sent out to destroy the "Barbarians". 
In the middle ages, Crusaders went out to conquer "savages" in the name of "civilization" and God. 
But were such campaigns any less barbaric or savage than the people they labeled as such?
Later came a period known as the "enlightenment". 
It helped form the framework for a more civilized world. 
It was an intellectual movement, which helped dispel many myths. 
It opened minds.
But there's also another type of enlightenment. 
The kind that Buddhists often refer to. 
Enlightenment in this context is not the same as education. 
Education can lead to greater civility, but it can also re-enforce savagery. 
There have been many well-educated dictators and murderers.
True enlightenment is seeing others as yourself. Enlightenment is compassion for all. 
And no one is more "civilized" than those who are compassionate toward all.

Optimism Is The Only Option
Fill your life with optimism. 
Optimism will keep you going and make life more enjoyable. 
This doesn't mean everything that happens is good. 
It's more about keeping the big picture in mind, having faith that good things will happen. 
And recognizing that many good things are happening right now.
We have to ignore the setbacks and keep moving forward, expecting that good things will happen. 
Counting our loses and obsessing over why certain things happen will prevent us from seeing good things that are right under our nose.
We're capable of creating a positive state of mind for ourselves. 
But we have to stay away from negative influences. When we're around other people we are entering their world — their perception of reality. 
That perception may be quite different from our own.
We have no choice but to be optimistic. 
The alternative offers us no advantage. 
Pessimism is not a viable option. 
There's plenty of reason to be pessimistic. 
But there's also plenty of reason to be optimistic. 
Being optimistic starts with appreciating what you have. 
Everyone has something to be grateful for.
P.S. 
I'm not talking about down-side risk. 
It's important to consider the potential down-side to decisions we make. 
But our overall outlook on life should be optimistic.

How To Stay Balanced
Finding balance in life is not about perfection. 
Or making sure everything receives equal attention. 
It's about avoiding extremes. 
Trying to strike a perfect balance in life is itself extreme. 
It can't be done. 
We'll either convince ourselves we've done it and not realize we've missed something. 
Or we'll realize how difficult it is and drive ourselves crazy trying to make it happen.
Chasing perfection is likely to cause us to be even less perfect. 
Pushing us further away from our ideal self. 
It's an unobtainable goal. But what is obtainable is peace. 
Peace will get you closer to perfection than years of personal development ever will.
We don't have to have life all figured out, we just have to be at peace. 
And having all the answers to life is not a prerequisite for peace. 
The pieces of life's puzzle tend to come together over time. The sooner we let go, the sooner we free ourselves up for the right answers to come.
Peace is about letting go. 
It's also about environment. 
Don't spend time with people who take away your peace, whether they mean to or not. 
Some people are too caught-up in drama. 
You don't need to get caught-up in other people's drama. 
You don't need to think about what they think about or worry about what they worry about.
Slow down the pace of your life. 
Find moments of silence and solitude. 
Remember what brings you peace. 
Unplug yourself from the world more often.
Everyone needs times of silence and solitude. 
We need it to put life into perspective. 
We need it to connect with our true self. 
We need it to connect with God. 
We need it to untangle the webs we create in our mind. 
We need it to cleans ourselves from negative influences. We need it to stay balance.

Push The Reset Button
Let go of what's bothering you. 
Write it down if you have to, to get it out. 
It's mostly an illusion anyway. 
It's keeping you from experiencing inner peace and blocking you from discovering your inner wisdom.
Repeating our troubles over and over in our mind doesn't help us. 
It only creates more anxiety. 
Let go of everything and start with a clean slate. 
Constantly push the rest button if necessary. 
Anytime you go down a rabbit hole of thoughts, you can bring yourself back. 
In fact, you'll have to do it many times.
The biggest challenge we face is our own thoughts. Let go of the stories you tell yourself and spend some time in the moment. 
Be formless. 
Turnoff the monkey mind and get in touch with your true self.

The Doctrine Of The Heart
Many Christians like to talk about Jesus, but they don't want to be Jesus. 
As Gandhi once said "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. 
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Gandhi himself was more like Jesus than most Christians I've met. 
Gandhi even carried quotes by Jesus with him and read them everyday, and tried to live them everyday. Christians can learn a lot from the example of Gandhi.
Christians tend to be too wrapped up in doctrine. 
To the point of worshiping doctrine, rather than God. 
And it's usually doctrine based on observance of rules, rather than love.
Christianity was not founded by Jesus Christ. 
People founded Christianity based on Jesus and the bible. 
Jesus himself created no religious institutions and gave no name to his teachings. 
And what we know about him is only partial. 
The bible we read is not in its original form. 
It was written after many years of oral tradition, and contains many forgeries.
If we're going to follow a doctrine, let's follow the doctrine of the heart. 
Isn't that what Jesus really taught?

Let Go And Trust God
Live simply.
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Be optimistic about the future.
Do what you're most meant to do.
This can all be summed up with one statement: let go and trust God. If you do that, everything else will fall into place. 
Allow God to lead you from moment to moment. 
Be a seeker of God's wisdom and guidance.

A Meditation On The Nature Of Reality
Everything is a belief. 
Even facts. 
Facts are representatives of reality, rather than reality itself. The universe itself may be an illusion and it's laws only applicable to our experience of them. 
What exactly the universe is, and what exactly reality is, is not known. All we know is our interpretation of it.
Fact: I'm writing this right now. 
Actually, I, whoever I am, is experiencing the act of writing. 
Which is itself an indeterminate thing. And "right now" is a subjective term, because time is relative, as Einstein pointed out in his theory. 
But there's one fact that can't be disputed: something exists. 
Something is being experienced.
What I'm experiencing in this moment seems very real. 
Even my experience of self. 
For that reason I know that experience itself exists. 
Even if it turns out that this is all an illusion, something was still experienced.
Our experience of reality is more than just our five senses. 
If a child was born without those senses it wouldn't be able to experience "physical" reality, but it wouldn't be brain dead. 
It would still experience something. There's something more intuitive. 
Something "spiritual." One could argue that it's only neurons creating that inner experience, but what are neurons? At the quantum level, what are they? We don't know.
We're not able to define reality, we can only define our experience of it. We can't define it, because we can't detach ourselves from it. 
We're part of it. 
We're entangle with it. 
If we were to somehow detach ourselves from it, who would that "we" be? The nature of reality isn't something that will ever be defined by us. 
Our mind is not able to comprehend it, let alone able to put it into words.

What Is Your True Purpose In The World?
Part of our purpose is to be messengers to one another (in words and in actions). Now is the time to put your message out to the world. 
Now is the time to make your mark. 
Search your soul and share your message.
Own your story. 
It's yours. 
Don't pretend to be something you're not. 
Don't make your story fit what you think others want to hear. 
Worrying about what people think of you will prevent you from being your true self and pursuing your true calling.
You are unique and your story is unique. It's also more likely to resonate with others when it's genuine. 
Being real leads to trust, because everyone already knows you're flawed. 
They need to know that you know it too.
We normally act out of fear, greed, and ignorance. 
We act as though life is about getting. 
Getting for the sake of survival and self-aggrandizement. 
We need to regularly distance ourselves from those influences and embrace times of silence and solitude so we can hear our true voice. 
This is when we come to understand our true purpose in the world.

Why You Need To Focus
We have a tendency to allow ourselves to get pulled in different directions. 
To get involved in too many activities and causes. 
But we're more effective when we focus. 
Especially when we focus on our strengths. 
And use whatever unique leverage or resources we have available to us.
It’s easy to get caught up in the details and forget about the big picture. 
Focus on the big picture and many of the detail won’t matter. 
This doesn’t mean putting our head in the sand and neglecting the details that do matter. 
It means focusing on what’s most important.
Figure out what gives you the best return on your time. 
Don’t divide your time up into too many different activities, unless that’s how you want to spend it. 
But if you're trying to accomplish something specific, you need to focus.
You don’t need to be great at everything. 
Just be great at your thing. 
Let others be great at what they do. 
And don’t do something merely to be great. 
Do it because you enjoy it, and because it’s important to you. 
Let the greatness take care of itself.

Why We Get Bored
We get bored because we don't look at things deeply enough. 
A bored person sees the familiar as mundane and doesn't see the beauty in it. We don't contemplate how amazing the simplest things are. We should be able to sit in a room alone all day without getting bored.
When we don't see things deeply we ignore their significance. 
We start imagining things as they "should" be. 
We imagine how much better things would be if only reality conformed to our will.
The fact that we're even here is a miracle. 
The fact that anything is here is a miracle. 
We overlook almost all miracles and take them for granted. 
Most of us are not awake most of the time. 
Most of us are sleepwalking through life. 
Just trying to get through one day so we can get through the next day, and so on.
We have to go deeper. 
Deeper within ourselves, and connect with God. 
This is where real life starts. 
This is where we'll find contentment.

What Are You Really Missing Out On?
Not watching the news, not checking your email several times per day, not going to that party. 
These are hard things to not do. 
We wonder what we're missing out on.
But what are we missing out on by avoiding silence? What are we missing out on by being constantly distracted? Is the news making your life better? Is checking your email 20 times a day better than checking it once or twice? Is having shallow conversations better than getting to know yourself in a deeper way?
Most of the time the answer is no.
We're afraid of silence and solitude, because we're afraid of the truth. 
We know if we go there we'll find the truth. 
We also think that time will be boring and lonely. 
It's so much easier to let ourselves be distracted and let others do our thinking for us.
It's definitely a discipline. It requires some focus. 
But it's worth it.

Why Opinions Are Overrated (even "expert" opinions)
The job of a pundit is to always have an opinion. 
When the camera comes on they can't just sit there and be quiet, they have to say something. 
And that's why you can't trust their judgment. 
When someone is forced to talk that much they're likely to say a lot of things that aren't true.
Nate Silver did a study of nearly 1,000 predictions given by political pundits on a popular T.V. 
show. 
He found that they would have done just as good if they were flipping coins.
Silver also cited a 15-year study done by a professor at Berkeley. 
The experts in his survey had only done a little better than random chance. 
He also found that the worse performers were the ones most often featured in the media.
I'm a former hockey player and I've been following the game of hockey for almost 30 years. 
Most of the pundits on T.V. 
who comment about hockey are former professional players. 
They should be more knowledgeable about the game than me. 
Yet I often hear them say ridiculous things. 
It's because they have to say something. 
They don't have time to think it through. 
And when you talk as much as they do you're going to be wrong a lot.
Don't feel bad if sometimes you don't have much say. 
Most people say too much. 
And don't ignore your own judgment in favor of someone else's just because that person talks a lot. 
Or because they sound confident. 
Qualifications don't matter either. 
Advantage goes to the listener, not the talker. 
Listeners are learners. 
Talkers tend to be entertainers.

Religious Doesn't Mean Righteous
Being pious (devoutly religious) does not equal righteousness. 
The Crusaders were pious, Islamic terrorists are pious, many dictators are pious. 
But they behave(d) in unrighteous ways, often using piety as a justification for their actions.
What matters isn't whether one believes in God, but what kind of God? Even many Christians get it wrong. 
Their example is Jesus. 
Yet Christian behavior is often totally at odds with how Jesus behaved (as far as we know).
If you believe that God is angry and punitive you'll treat people that way. 
If you believe God is merciful and gracious you'll treat people that way. 
This doesn't mean people should get away with murder. 
But it does mean they should be treated like brothers and sisters who need help. 
Hate the action, but not the person.
This means addressing the behavior, but being compassionate toward the person. 
You can end a relationship without hatred. 
Without holding someone by the throat. 
You can defend yourself without hatred also. 
And you can correct children without breaking them, or destroying trust.
The same spirit applies to the law, and to international relations. 
Everyone should be treated as sons and daughters of a loving God. 
Law, and national defense, are not about punishing the "wicked". 
Or discarding some people to protect others. 
Survival means nothing without love. 
Even survival of an entire nation.
It's not okay to let destructive behavior reign. 
But neither is it okay to dehumanize perpetrators. 
We must exercise restraint. 
And choose to see others as ourselves when making judicial decisions in our personal lives, in the justice system, and in international relations.

What Is Faith?
It's not about convincing God that you believe in him. 
It's about surrendering your life to God because you trust in his love.
God is the one who is faithful. 
God is the one who first loved us. 
God is the one who shows us that he can be trusted. 
Our role in all this is to accept that love. 
We have it backwards when we think we have to earn God's love. 
God's love is unearned.
Faith is trust. 
Trust requires letting go. 
Trust also requires hanging on. 
Hanging on to the One who can be trusted.

What Is This Blog About?
And why the name Living With Confidence? 
It’s about helping people break free from religious oppression and find peace within themselves. 
To have a different view of God. One related to grace, rather rules. 
Also to help people be more accepting of themselves. 
To live a more meaningful life. 
And to be more optimistic about the future. 

This is all based on my own experience, my own struggles, and some of the solutions I’ve been able to find. 
Or that have found me by God’s grace.
I’m looking for readers who are willing to come on a journey with me. 
If you're looking for me to say all the right things you're coming to the wrong place. But if you're looking for nuggets of truth to help you live with more confidence, you've come to the right place. 
I will give you my best.

A Different Take On How To Be Happy
If you want to be happy figure out what you don't need.
There's a level at which things can add to our happiness, but more things do not necessarily mean more happiness. 
You'd probably be happier living in a small house than you would in a cardboard box. 
But you wouldn't necessarily be happier in a mansion than you would in a small house.
It also depends on what you're willing to give up to get that mansion: time, health, relationships, integrity. 
It matters.
There's also something to be said for living modestly as a way of not becoming detached from reality.
The question is: how much do you really need? What is the minimum amount? If you're trying to exceed that minimum what is it that you're trying to compensate for? What's missing within you?

What Good Is Envy?
We might envy another person's life, but we probably only envy parts of it. 
If we knew everything going on in that person's life or everything they've gone through in the past, we likely wouldn't envy them anymore.
Often we only see the parts that look good and we are unaware of other parts that are not so good.
And as Charlie Munger has said, "envy is a really stupid sin because it's the only one you could never possibly have any fun at."

Learn From Others, But Be You
We usually don't realize that we mimic one another. 
Even non-conformists, who deliberately stray from the norms of society, seeking to be unique, actually mimic one another (think of skaters, bikers, and the like).
We don't realize that many of our desires are desires we've adopted from one another. 
We want what others want, and we want to be more like others, because we want to feel like we belong. 
We want to feel accepted, and connected, and worthy of respect.
When we do foolish things it often has something to do with our concern for what other people think of us. 
Many of our troubles are created out of a desire to be liked by our peers. 
Especially when we are younger.
But most of the time we are better off doing the opposite of what other people are doing or suggest. 
Especially if they haven't done what you are trying to do.
Follow the example of those you admire. 
Follow the example of those who have been where you want to be. Experiment with what worked for them. 
But be you. 
Explore your strengths.

Building A Life On The Foundation Of Faith
Don't live by to-do lists, goal programs, and life hacks. 
These things will make you feel busy, and productive, and important, but they are distractions. Live by faith. 
Live by letting go of your monkey mind and your inner taskmaster.

 

Living by faith doesn't mean doing nothing. 
It means focusing on the most important thing first. 
It's about being in the moment, taking it one step at a time, allowing things to fall into place. 
And taking action when you feel lead to.

 

Living by faith involves less action, less thinking, and less self-induced stress. 
It involves more going with the flow. 
More trusting that things will work out, and that you'll know the right thing to do at the right time. 
It's about acceptance of the fact that not everything is supposed to go your way.

 

In a way, it's counter-intuitive. 
Because we have been trained by our culture to be as busy as possible. 
And to work as hard as possible. 
And to fight for everything. 
If you have a parent who is not easy to impress, it's worse.

 

I can't tell you how many times I've tried to take things into my own hands and failed. 
And how many times I've succeeded by letting things go. 


 

Trust that God will give you wisdom in the moment. 
Rather than having everything planned out and trying to force things to come to fruition.

 

It works. 
Whether it makes sense or not, it works. 

Face Fear By Doing Things That Matter
Fear can be your friend. 
It can keep you from doing something destructive. 
It can keep you alive. 
But it can also prevent you from doing what you need to do.
How do you know when you should listen to fear or when you should act in spite of it? The question is whether the thing you fear is something you feel called to do. 
Not to impress others, but because it matters.
Example: I don't bungee jump, because of fear. 
Fear of a pointless death. 
But I'm willing to die doing something that matters. 
I'm also willing to murder my reputation for something that matters. I won't bungee jump just because someone will think I'm chicken for not doing it.
Is there value in doing things like bungee jumping? Sure. 
But does it really outweigh the potential cost? What if it were a game of Russian roulette, but with a lot more chambers in the gun? That's what it actually is.
If you want to overcome fear why not do something that's actually going to make a difference in someone's life. 
Something that you feel lead to do, but have been putting off because you're afraid of what others will think of you. 
That takes real guts. 
And it matters.

10 Books That Changed My Perspective And That Could Change Yours In 2017
Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life 

A great book which will bring you instant peace. 
It’s written by Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. 
Hanh was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King. 
Hanh guides the reader to be more mindful . 
To quiet the mind and the emotions and live more in the present moment and to find compassion for others. 
It’s the ultimate light read.
The Misunderstood God: The Lies Religion Tells Us About God 

Written by a former pastor who became disillusioned with institutional church. 
He came to the realization that at the heart of true spirituality is love. 
That God is love. 
This book, which is part autobiographical, is unmistakably written from the heart. 
It will help you find a more freeing relationship with God.

Tao Te Ching

This book is accredited to a legendary Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu. 
His words will help you untangle your thoughts and look at life from a distance. 
To see that much of what we fret over is a creation of our own imagination.
Man’s Search For Meaning

This book really puts the fragility of life into perspective. 
It’s a hard dose of reality and will leave you feeling pretty silly about the things we normally complain about. 
It was written by a Psychotherapist who was a prisoner at Auschwitz. 
This book is about his experiences as a holocaust survivor. 
And the importance of finding meaning in life, especially during times of suffering.
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

Neuroscientist David Eagleman gives a rundown on how our mind seems to operate on its own. 
It raises a lot of question about free-will. 
And our perception of reality (which is deeply flawed and incomplete). 
Filled with lots of interesting research, real-life examples, and experiments. 
An eye-opening book.

 

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

It seems clear that this world is going to hell in a hand basket, right? It seems like it’s getting more and more violent. 
But could this perception be the result of increased media exposure? Steven Pinker makes a convincing case that the world has been getting less violent. 
And is a much better place to live than ever before.
Sapiens: A Brief History Of Human Kind 

A very interesting journey through human history. 
Filled with all kinds of details I didn’t know. 
This book will help expand your world view. 
And cause you to ask yourself many questions about who we are and why we are here. 
This is no boring history book.
All Quiet On The Western Front

Like Man’s Search For Meaning, this is a serious dose of reality. 
It was written by a former German soldier who fought in WWI. 
It’s a fictional story, based on the author’s personal experiences. 
It shows how fragile life is and how sobering war can be. 
A soldier home from war says, “I prefer to be alone, so that no one troubles me. 
They have worries, aims, desires, that I cannot comprehend. 
I often sit with one of them in the little beer garden and try to explain to him that this is really the only thing: just to sit quietly, like this."
Terry Fox: His Story

Terry Fox is a Canadian hero. 
This book chronicles his battle with cancer, which caused him to lose his leg at age 19. 
And his quest to run across Canada on a prosthetic leg. 
Another book that will give you less to complain about. 
And inspire you to achieve more than you think you are capable of.

The New Buffettology 

An important book on how to invest your money wisely for the long run. 
A great companion to this book is Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements. 
Both of these books will give you the tools necessary to make better investment decisions. 
They've helped me a lot.
P.S. 
Here is last year's list if you missed it: 10 Books That Changed My Perspective And That Could Change Yours In 2016

Confronting Reality Without Dogma
After you strip away all your religious dogma, what is left? What is essential? The truth is you would just take life as it comes and you wouldn't get so wrapped up in particular beliefs.
We need food, water, shelter, sleep, medicine, some human interaction, and that's about it. 
And of course none of it matters without some sort of connection with God. 
But it doesn't have to be religious. 
It doesn't have to be dogmatic. 
It's very personal.
We tend to make stuff up and push those beliefs onto others as facts. 
But all we're doing is leading people away from their true self and toward a caricature of reality and of God.

How To Really Change The World
"We're not on our journey to save the world but to save our selves. 
But in doing that you save the world. 
The influence of a vital person vitalizes." ~ Joseph Campbell
Think less about how you can change the world and more about how you can change yourself. 
As Gandhi said, "be the change you want to see in the world."
It's not your responsibility to fix everyone's problems. 
But it is your responsibility to get to know yourself. This doesn't mean we should never help anyone. 
It just means don't put the weight of the world on your shoulders.
And changing the world is not all about coming up with a big idea. 
Some people will come up with big ideas and be very successful with them. 
Maybe you'll be one of them. 
But if not, there are plenty of "ordinary" things you can do to make a difference. 
The things we do have a ripple effect. Change the world by working on your little corner of it.

Letting Go
Letting go is where my best ideas come from.
Letting go keeps me from doing too many dumb things.
Letting go leads to opportunities.
Letting go keeps the path clear. 
Clear from distractions and self-sabotage.
Letting go leaves no room for negativity or the false stories we tell ourselves.
Letting go brings us back to the present moment.
Letting go brings peace.

What If This World Is An Illusion?
Dreams sometimes seem more real than reality. 
This may be because there is more in our unconscious mind than there is in our conscious mind. 
In other words, the brain remembers everything it has even seen and heard, but in any given moment we're only aware of a small portion of those events. 

 

But we also seem to have access to things we've never experienced. 
Carl Jung called it the "collective unconscious". 
In religion it's called the spiritual realm. 

 

For instance, sometimes we dream of things before they happen. 
Specific events which could not have been predicted otherwise. 
Or sometimes the phone rings and it's the person we were just thinking about. 
This has been studied and it turns out that it's more than mere chance. 
Check out Rupert Sheldrake's research page (scroll down to "Scientific Papers on Telepathy"). 

 

And then there's non-locality/entanglement. The phenomenon of one thing effecting something else instantaneously, regardless of distance between them. 
The unconscious mind is even less understood than this.
We are all connected in a mysterious way. 
And what we call reality may turn out to be the ultimate illusion.

4 Simple Reminders For Future Success
Sometimes we need to be reminded of the basics. 
The simple things.
After awhile you'll probably already know everything you need to know to be successful in a particular field. 
The rest will be a matter of temperament (self-control). 
Success has a lot to do with self-control, and self-control has a lot to do with how well you know yourself. This requires moments of silence and solitude so you can reflect. This "down-time" is when we are able to put things into perspective. 
Without it we become like robots programmed by our social environment. 
We receive a lot of information, but we don't always have a lot of understanding.
If you find a sensible strategy that works, stick with it. 
Don't change it unless you are sure it no longer works, or you're sure you have found one that works better. 
"Short-cuts" often lead to dead-ends, or the long way around. 
Be sure the short-cut is actually a short-cut, otherwise stick with the path that's more likely to work. 
Even if it takes you longer than you'd like.
Warren Buffett has said that successful people say no to almost everything. 
This is wise. 
It's also wise to say no to most of our own ideas. 
We have a tendency to get bored with what we are doing, or insecure, or greedy, and we start chasing things we should be saying no to.
Time is the friend of the committed. 
Keep showing up, and time will reward you.

How To Ensure You Are Learning The Right Thing
How do we know if we're learning the right thing? The most important thing is to be critical. 
Weigh the evidence. 
Don't be too quick to take one side of an issue. 
Be willing to look at things from different angles.
Objectivity might be a better term to describe this way of thinking than open-mindedness. 
Open-mindedness can be confused with an "anything goes" attitude. An objective person is open-minded for the sake of discovering the truth. 
An objective person is careful to weigh the evidence and is skeptical even of his or her own biases.
No individual knows as much as all humanity. Collectively, humanity knows a lot. 
But what humanity knows is still only a fraction of what there is to be known. 
Too often we act as if this isn't true. 
We think we know far more than we actually do. 
A wise person knows that they don't know. If you're not sure, admit to yourself you are not sure.
And the most important thing we can learn is to let go. 
Then, true learning can begin.

What You Are Meant To Do May Seem Risky . 
. 
. 
Do It Anyway
It’s easier to accept the consequences of an action if you have thought it through and you are willing to accept the outcome. 
Good or bad. 
It’s okay to accept the reality that you might fail. 
Especially if it seems clear that your odds of success are low.
Faith is not about pretending that your odds are good even when they're not. 
Accept that your odds aren’t good and do it anyway, as long as it’s important enough to do.
Faith is not about certainty. 
Faith is in the willingness to accept the outcome. 
Trusting that you're doing the right thing for the right reasons.
Your risk assessment might be wrong also. 
Your likelihood of success might be better than you think. 
Especially if you feel called to do what you're about to do. 
It may be that you are more likely to succeed than someone else doing the same activity.
Even if you don’t succeed there may be an important lesson that can only be learned by you taking that particular journey. 
It may also be that the lessons are for others who will come after you, who will build on the foundation you laid.
Do something that is worth doing for the sake of doing it. 
Don’t just focus on money. 
We need money, but we also need purpose. 
And money without purpose is pointless. 
Your life is part of a much bigger story. 
Take the role you are meant to play.

Advice To My Younger Self (and any young people who might be reading this)
Start getting to know yourself now.
Start looking for answers to your big questions.
Start separating yourself from the crowd, instead of trying to impress others.
Make a difference in someone's life.
Start learning about the things you are most interested in, instead of what others have said you should be interested in.
Get out of the bars and pubs, and get yourself in front of books and people who inspire you to be the best version of yourself.
Your true expertise will probably be in an area where you are most troubled. Your mission is to learn how to deal with your struggles so you can be a light for others.

Where To Find Real Confidence
By confidence, I don't mean the ability to project confidence. 
And I'm not talking about trying to build confidence through positive thinking. 
I'm talking about real confidence. 
A better term would be inner peace.
Without inner peace, we don't possess real confidence — we're only acting confident, as a way of masking our insecurities. 
When we think of confidence we tend to think of someone who doesn't have insecurities, but the truth is we all have insecurities. We cannot have real confidence until we are willing to admit to ourselves that those insecurities exist.
Confidence is not about winning battles over our insecurities ie; ignoring them, pretending they don't exist, doing macho things in order to silence them or to show others how fearless we are.
Even confidence obtained through skill is fleeting. 
We can become very confident in our abilities at work, in sports, etc., but this doesn't necessarily carryover into all other parts of life and we might still lack inner peace. 
We can all think of highly skilled people who are great at what they do and who are very confident in their abilities, but struggle with confidence in other parts of their life.
Confidence can certainly be built through skill and experience, but it is not transcendent. 
That type of confidence is dependent on familiarity with a particular activity or environment. We can certainly find things that can give us a feeling of confidence and security, but these things can do nothing for us if they are taken away or not available to us.
Real confidence has to be found within. 
There are resources that can aid us in finding that inner confidence (hopefully my words help), but ultimately each of us has to turn within and make peace with ourselves and with God.

I Call B.S. 
On Atheism
I have a theory that there are no true atheists. 
That everyone, somewhere deep inside, believes that God exists. Somewhere in all of us is a flame of hope — hoping that this life is not the whole story. 
That when we die we will continue to exist as something more than just atoms and a memory in the minds of those we leave behind.
There's nothing to be lost by acknowledging to ourselves that we know very little about the nature of reality. 
It's perfectly reasonable to accept the possibility God exists in some way — in a way that's hard for us to comprehend. 
It's perfectly reasonable to believe the order and intelligence of this universe are no accident. 
The chances of it being an accident are so low that no one would take that bet if there were consequences for being wrong. 
If you had to bet your life's savings on it you wouldn't.
As Robert Lanza has said:
"The laws of physics seem to be exactly balanced for life to exist. 
For example, if the Big Bang had been one-part-in-a-million more powerful, the cosmos would have rushed out too fast for the galaxies and stars to have developed. 
There are over 200 physical parameters like this that could have any value but happen to be exactly right for us to be here. 
These fundamental constants of the universe aren’t predicted by any theory — all seem to be carefully chosen to allow for the existence of life and consciousness."
The Big Bang Theory may very well be true (though even this is shrouded in doubt: one example here), but what happened before the Big Bang? Where did the matter come from that caused the Big Bang? How was there once nothing and then there was something? It's about as easy to comprehend as being attracted to a frog. 
As neuroscientist David Eagleman has said "there are thoughts you cannot think".
Everything is a miracle. 
The mere fact that we're here, in all our complexity, is a miracle. 
If it's all by chance why does chance exist in the first place? Why does Natural Selection exist? Where did that intelligence come from? Why should there be any natural "laws" at all? Why aren't they random and subject to constant change?
As Einstein once said (about quantum mechanics), "God does not play dice with the universe." Einstein may have meant that metaphorically, but if God doesn't exist why doesn't nature play dice?

How Remembering Past Sins Can Help You
We shouldn't punish ourselves for our past sins, but we shouldn't forget them either. 
Remembering past sins can help us stay humble. 
And staying humble can help us avoid future sins.
Remembering how foolish we've been in the past reminds us not to be a fool now. 
It also makes us grateful for what we have and less likely to have a sense of entitlement.
If we forget about our past sins or pretend they never happened we may be more likely to have a self-righteous attitude — slow to forgive the sins of others, while blind to our own. 
We should forgive ourselves, but we should never forget that there was much to be forgiven.
Live strong, but be humble.

Jesus And A Different Way To Think About Perfection
The message of Jesus was on the one hand to be perfect, and on the other hand not to condemn yourself or others for not being perfect, but to exercise extreme mercy and grace as a way of helping yourself and others attain perfection.
That forgiveness — that act of love, itself, is an expression of the perfection we should want to attain.
That perfection, is not realized through strict observance of rules, but through radical trust in God and radical love for ourselves and others.
Only this can produce and sustain the type of behavior religion often tries to enforce through rules.

Being Fully Present
Quiet the voice in your head. 
Notice what's going on around you, but without talking to yourself about it. 
Spend some time letting everything be what it is without making conscious judgments. 
This is how to be mindful. 
This is how to be fully present. 
It's not easy. 
It's a discipline.
We don't have to be that way all of the time. 
I'm certainly not. 
But the more time we spend practicing this exercise, the better. 
It will take care of a lot of our concerns. 
It will eliminate a lot of stress. 
It also gives us access to our inner wisdom, which is often drowned out by our inner dialogue.
This is where you'll find the "Kingdom of God". 
It's not coming down from the clouds. 
It's already in you. 
You just have to access it by letting go of your own nonsense.

The Purpose Of Suffering
God allows suffering to occur so that we'll draw closer to him. 
On the surface, that sounds selfish. 
But I think the message is that we're capable of transcending suffering. 
That suffering is a window into a different world. 
That suffering is minor compared to the ultimate reality. 
That this life is nothing compared to eternity.
We basically live in a dream world. 
We don't see all there is to see and we make our judgments based on a narrow view of life. 
We judge ourselves and each other based on superficial standards because we often operate as though we are experiencing reality in full. 
Most of the time we're not able to peek behind the veil to see that this is all really an illusion, a metaphor, a learning experience, a gradual awakening.
Suffering also fosters compassion. 
Compassion is an expression of love, and ultimately this life is about love. 
No answer to the question of suffering is totally satisfactory. 
Suffering reveals part of the mystery of life, but also keeps part of it hidden. 
Part of our journey, part of what we're here in this state of consciousness to learn, is to learn to let go and trust God. 
That includes letting go of the need to have a complete answer for everything.

Watch Out For This Trap
What other people think of us is important to us, because we're all connected. 
And we're more alike than our egos would have us believe. 
We want to be respected by others — we want to belong. 
We feel pressure to conform, because we don't want to be left out. 
It's easier to fit in than to be a trail blazer and get people to follow you.
But we all offer a different perspective on life. 
On the one hand if we spend a lot of time around others we're likely to feel pressure to conform. 
And on the other hand if we don't spend time with others we won't learn from their insights. 
Balance is important in virtually all areas of life, including human contact.
We need to learn from one another, but if we don't spend time alone we'll have less individual insights and therefore less to offer each other. 
This brings to mind the phenomenon of "Groupthink". 
When people get together they start to conform to the group consensus and it becomes difficult to inject new ideas.
People working together and sharing ideas can be a very powerful force for good. 
But it can also be a force for evil, even without the group realizing it. 
Evil in the sense of reinforcing unproductive or destructive ideas.
We need to come together in awareness of the potential for us to fall into the Groupthink trap. 
Awareness of it can go along way toward preventing it from happening.
Be careful of what group you are part of. 
And don't spend too much time with one group. 
Especially one that doesn't listen to your ideas. 
Constructive criticism is fine, but closed ears are not.

Your Life Matters
Your time is limited. 
Use it wisely. 
Don't take your message, or your love, to the grave with you. 
Spread your message to those who want to hear it. 
And love the people God has put in your life to love.
Everyone's life tells a story, and everyone matters. 
Everything is meant to bring us closer to God. 
Love, humility, inspiration, are all pathways to God. 
They even show up in tragedy.
Life is fragile for a reason. 
It's supposed to make us thoughtful - mindful of how precious and fleeting life is, and to reach out to God for meaning and purpose.
A story is being told, and we're all part of it. 
We don't fully know what our part is, or where this is all leading, but we are capable of having some sense of it. 
And that's all we really need. 
We just need to know that life matters, and that we matter, and that what we've experienced so far is not the whole story.

A Starting Place For Being More Constructive
Do what you can to let go of your ego and be a listener (to others, without snapping to judgment). 
The ego is the voice you have inner dialogue with. 
Don't engage it. 
Don't talk back to it. 
And don't let it become your identity.
When you stop listening to this voice you'll become better acquainted with a different voice within. 
It's not really a voice, it's an awareness — a deep knowing — a deep peace. 
That's the real you. 
The you beyond the ego. 
The you that doesn't get defensive or need to have an answer for everything. 
The you that is the observer.
Take a deep breath and let go of your need to be in control of everything and to have an opinion on everything. 
Be present in the moment and see yourself as part of everything, rather than judge of everything. 
And let go of what you think others think about you.
Your inner dialogue is a distraction. 
It prevents you from being more at peace and more constructive with your time. I like the term constructive more than the term productive. Sometimes what we think is productive is actually a waste of time, even destructive. 
Conversely, constructive means "serving a useful purpose; tending to build up."

Are You Pursuing Your Passion?
We grow up in a system that trains us to be cogs in an industrial wheel. 
There are many positives to this, but there are also drawbacks. And those who don't want to be part of the wheel either become rebellious in a positive way or rebellious in a negative way.
The negative ones end up in habitual trouble with the law and the positive ones end up being leaders (which can also get you in trouble). 
Not managers, but leaders. 
Managers keep people inline — good cogs in the machine. 
Leaders present new paradigms — new ways of thinking. 
And they go after their life's purpose. 
Without them, innovation suffers. 
Without them, social justice breaks down. 
Without them, it requires even more courage for the rest of us to do what we're meant to do.
Anyone can be a leader. 
You don't need to be in an official position of authority. 
You can build authority through your reputation. 
Now more than ever we have the tools to be leaders in our own unique way.
Everyone has value to add to the world. 
In what way are you most gifted and most inclined to add value to the lives of others?  Unfortunately, some people aren't able to make that choice for themselves, but more and more are.
This doesn't mean we should quit our day job today, but it does mean we can begin making it possible. 
If you resign from your vocation before you even start it, you'll never be able to resign from your occupation. 
An occupation merely occupies our time, but a vocation is something that occupies our heart.
Most people resign from their vocation before they even start. 
Most people choose an occupation to pay the bills and never take the first step to creating something more valuable for themselves. 
For many of us, this is a choice, not inevitability.
What problems do you find easy to solve? In what way are you most creative? This is where your personal genius resides. 
This is where you'll identify your strengths and what you can offer to the world. 
We tend to focus on the things we're not good at, when we should be focusing on our inherent strengths.
If you want to be more than a human robot in service of someone else's ideas you'll have to start sharing your own. 
They may not gain much traction, but you have to try in order to find out. 
And it's not always a matter of thinking of something no one else has ever thought of. 
Sometimes it's about doing something more consistently or efficiently than others.
You can begin training yourself anytime. 
You can start by spending some time alone, somewhere quiet where you can read books, think, and write down your thoughts. Be short-term focused in terms of getting started, but be long-term focused in terms of getting the results you want. 
Like a good business, it takes time to build equity. 
Like a good investment, it takes time to start seeing great returns.
We're not able to do everything we want in life, but we are able to do more than we realize, if we're willing. Are you doing something you're proud of? Or are you doing what others have said you should do?
If you're doing what you love it will probably feel like you're cheating. 
Do it anyway. 
Society has convinced us that we should only do jobs we hate.
Your time here is finite. 
Do what is most important to you. 
Don't wait.

I Surrender
The best things in life happen after we let go. 
When we give it all to God and trust that things will work out the way they should — that we'll be in the right place at the right time, and that we'll have the wisdom necessary to do the right thing at the right time.
None of this is dependent upon religious doctrine. 
It has nothing to do with church or baptism either. 
All that matters is surrender.
There is a deep knowing available in all of us. 
But it requires surrender. 
That's what faith is. 
It's not "I believe, I believe, I believe." It's "okay God, take my life and make it what you want it to be. 
And help me keep surrendering along the way, because I know I'll forget and sometimes I'll be stubborn."

The Chase
Life can't always be about getting somewhere. 
At some point it has to be about now. 
At some point now has to be okay. 
Otherwise it never will be — we'll just keep chasing a fantasy — an ideal version of life — an imaginary place in the future where everything is the way we want it to be.
The truth is that as we get older we're going to lose more and more of the things that are truly important: health, family members, time, etc. 
At some point we have to decide that now is okay. 
Who knows how many more we are going to have?
We're all trying to get somewhere. 
To a place where all of our needs and desires are met. 
We all just want to be okay — to have meaning, to be valued, to be at peace, to be happy, and to have fun. 
This is what we all chase. 
But most of the time we don't have any of that because we chase.
The chase clouds the moment. 
The chase blinds us to what we already have, and to the availability of peace in the here and now. 
The chase is a way of running from ourselves.
We can't have everything we want, but we can have peace. 
Not just on the weekends, or when we retire, but right now. 
Not at the bottom of a bottle, or through a pay check, but within you. It's available to all of us, right now.

The One Thing We All Need To Be Better At
Negative things will happen in your life, but don't live them multiple times in your mind. What's stressing you, is killing you. 
What you're angry about, is killing you. 
Negative thoughts can produce a state of crises in our body and this can be damaging over time. 
If there's one thing we probably all need to be better at, it's letting go of negative thoughts. 
This one thing, which can be so hard to do, could be the single most important thing we can do.
We all have negative thoughts. 
But trying to kick them out just puts us in a battle with ourselves — one part of yourself trying to overcome another. 
This actually gives the undesirable thoughts more power.
What we need is more mindfulness — turning our attention away from the negative thoughts. The potential effects of a world-wide revolution of people becoming more mindful is immeasurable. 
Peace in the world has to be won by individuals choosing to be more peaceful within themselves.
Life is best lived from a state of surrender. 
All the planning and striving in the world cannot match the peace experienced from an inner disposition of surrender. 
And the clarity of thought and humble attitude it produces can create unexpected opportunities.

Bravery
It's okay to admit you're afraid. 
We're all afraid of many things. 
Others may not be afraid of what you're afraid of, but they're probably afraid of something you're not afraid of.
Bravery is not the ability to not be afraid. 
Bravery is the ability to do it afraid. 
Whether you do it afraid or not afraid, the right thing needs to be done. 
Fear holds us back from the life we're meant to live. 
Fear prevents us from stepping out of line and starting a new line, or walking to the front of one that needs us as its leader. 
Fear keeps us afraid of what others think of us. 

But fear can be overcome by action. 
And it can be overcome by education. 
It will never be completely gone, but it can't hold you back if you're determined to not let it. 

A Few Credos To Live By
Everything is meant to bring us closer to God. Some people say that everything happens for a reason. 
But no one ever seems to know what the reason is. 
I think the purpose for everything, good or bad, is to draw us closer to God.
God isn't necessarily orchestrating it all, as there are certain laws that govern this life. 
Cause and effect is real. 
And we do have free will, to a certain degree (It's not absolute. 
Advances in neuroscience have shown that if you alter parts of a person's brain it can change their personality and behavior). 

But I think God has made the rules of this life in a way that necessitates humility. 
The fragility of our bodies, our short life span, our reliance on one another, the harshness of mother nature, all conspire to make us humble and rely on God. 
Even if we hold out until the end, death will take us down, no matter how strong or wealthy we are. 
If it doesn't flow, it doesn't go. I mainly apply this to writing, but it applies to just about everything in life. 
My best writing happens when I just let the words flow, with no premeditation or inner dialogue. 
The pencil seems to have a life of its own. 

The same goes for other decisions in life. 
If you're stressed about getting a mortgage, don't get one. 
Let inner peace guide you. 
If you're meant to own a house, it will happen in its own time.
It's about dropping all of our detailed plans, being present in the moment, and doing what gives us the most peace. 
 
Quality over quantity, in almost everything. How we spend our time is more important than how much time we have. 
The number of books we read is not as important as what books we read, and how present we are when we read them.
The number of partners you have is not as important as what partner you have. 
And a monogamous relationship will bring you closer to someone than a non-monogamous one will.
The number of companies you invest in is not as important as what companies you invest in. 
Investing in too many will reduce your returns, because you won't have time to know them all well enough to make a superior decision about them. 

The number of reps you do in the gym is not as important as how focused you are on getting the most out of each one. 
The list goes on . 
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On Rational Thinking, EQ, and Leaders
Sometimes our fate is in the hands of others. 
And unfortunately those people don't always make rational decisions. 
There are various reasons why we might be included or excluded from something, but whether or not we're talented enough is not always important to decision makers. 

And sometimes it is. 
Sometimes that's the only thing taken into consideration. 
Which means sometimes talented people with little to no integrity get opportunities that should go to the right person, rather than the "best" person. 
People are not always rational. 
This is why those who are the most rational belong in leadership positions. 
But being rational also includes emotional intelligence (self-awareness, empathy, and compassion). 
This is often missing from the equation. 

What we call "rational thinking" is often an oxymoron — it's so rational that it's actually irrational. 
In other words, a leader needs to have a head and a heart. 
 

Deal With One Problem At A Time
It's too much to hold all of our problems in our mind at once. 
We can only deal with one issue at a time.
Mentally running ourselves through a long list of problems and concerns, does nothing to get us closer to solving them. 
We have to let it all go and be in the moment. 
Then, we'll be more able to deal with one of those issues. 
And then another, and so on. 
We have a mind equipped to deal with problems, but it must be harnessed.

Know Your Self
The biggest problem the world has is not a lack of scholars, but a lack of people who are self-aware, possessing "emotional intelligence" (to borrow a term from Daniel Goleman). Peace is essential to prosperity, and the biggest threat to peace is misunderstandings — not understanding ourselves and not understanding others. The better you know yourself, the better you can know others. 
Blaise Pascal was right, "all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." Inner wisdom is discovered in such moments. 
We spend much of our time running from ourselves, when we should be running toward ourselves. 
Self-discovery is connected to our relationship with others, but it's also connected to our relationship with God. What we believe about God and his expectations for us is vital to what we believe about ourselves. 
Self-discovery is about becoming aware of who you really are, rather than what culture has told you that you should be. 
Self-discovery is about no longer striving to be what you think others will admire.
Listening to others is important. 
We learn from their perspectives. 
But equally important is spending time alone, in peaceful surroundings. 
Peaceful surroundings doesn't mean absolute silence. 
It means the absence of distractions and outside influences. 
If you're always listening to others, you'll just become the sum of everyone else's ideas.
Your deepest thoughts cannot be heard unless you make space for them to be heard. 
Without time to think, you will have difficulty developing a personal philosophy. 
Without time to yourself, you won't have anything to keep you grounded. 
You'll fall into all sorts of traps, and you'll find it difficult to resist the negative influences of others.
You have to guard your quiet time and really make use of it. 
This is our time with God. 
This is sacred time. 
This is when you connect with your true self. 
This is when you are reminded how to be at peace in the storm, and the importance of love. 
This is where you'll find comfort and guidance.

The Value of Minimalism
The less you own, the less you have to take care of. 

The less you own, the less you have to replace. 

The less you own, the less money you need to earn. 

The less you own, the more time you have for other things (and people). 

The less you own, the less things you need to protect. 
It's not always easy to want less, but we are capable of doing it. 
It starts with appreciating what we already have. 
While we're thinking about what we don't have, we're forgetting about what we do have. 
We have more than we usually realize. 
And we don't need many of the things we think we need. 
It's part of human psychology to gain something and shortly thereafter start thinking about what else we can get. It's also our nature to vehemently protect what we have (even blessings that come our way unexpectedly, and unearned).  The way to combat this is to regularly be thankful for what you have. 
Minimalism is not about depriving yourself of comfort. 
It's not about having a poverty mindset. 
It's about removing distractions from your life. 
Having fewer wants can greatly uncomplicate your life.
It doesn't mean we can't be wealthy (if we have everything we need, we are wealthy). 
It's about not pursuing wealth as a way of fulfilling yourself spiritually. 
It's about not allowing what you own to own you. 
It's about not allowing your possessions to blind you from the things that are most important in life. 
We all want to be comfortable and not have to worry about money. 
There's nothing wrong with that. 
I wish we could all have that. 
Maybe one day everyone will. 
But don't think that the more you have, the happier you'll be. 
This is only true to a certain extent. 
 
Part of having more, is wanting less. 
Being content with less, is itself an increase.
P.S. 
Some people shop a lot because it makes them feel good. 
But saving money feels pretty good too. 
Putting that money to work through investments is even better. 
Here are two books that have helped me: Total Money Makeover, and Warren Buffett and The Interpretation of Financial Statements. 

There Is No Self-Improvement
Up to a certain point, trying to upgrade your lifestyle is a way of running away from yourself — false compensation for what you lack internally.
Up to a certain point, trying to improve yourself is a way of avoiding reality. 

Often the best way to improve your life and improve yourself is to recognize what you already have, and to recognize your personal strengths.
There is no self-improvement, only self-awakening. 
Experience helps, the words of others can help, and prayer helps.

One Step At A Time
Though life is relatively short, we need to operate with a long-term outlook. 
By long-term, I mean having an appreciation for the fact that great things almost always take a long-time to come to fruition. 

It's important to be urgent in terms of beginning the process and continuing to do the things that are important to us, but we shouldn't try to rush the process or look for short-cuts. 
(Unless we know for sure those short-cuts are not just an excuse to be impatient.) 
Even real short-cuts are usually not all that short. 
If you want to build a house, write a book, prepare for an exam, etc., it will have to be done in parts. 
And those many parts eventually make a whole. One step at a time is how we get to where we want to be. 
(And we don't need to see the whole picture before we start painting it.) 
If you focus on the process, you're more likely to get the results. 
But if you focus too much on the results, you're likely to skip the necessary process and miss out on the desired results. 
We're almost always ready to start something that's important to us, but we're rarely as ready as we think we are for the end result. 
In other words, we're almost always ready to begin the journey, but rarely ready for the level of success we desire. Progress starts with a single step. 
Begin, but don't get ahead of yourself. 

What Is Religion?
By religion, I mean true religion.
It's about two things. 
Both of which are related. 
It's about letting go, and love.
Objection #1: But isn't it about pleasing God? 
No, pleasing God is a by-product of letting go, and love.
Objection #2: But isn't it about following certain rules in order to make sure we do the right thing? 
No, the rules are: let go, and love. 
That's what will cause us to do the right thing.
How are letting go and love related? Letting go makes it easier for us to love, and love makes it easier to let go. 
Think about it and you'll realize that it's true. 
And what more would God want from us than to trust him and love each other?

Putting Life Into Perspective
Most of our problems would mean nothing if today was our last day. 
Today could be that day. 
One day it will be. 
How would you want to spend that day? 
Whether today is our last day or not, we still need to deal with problems as they arise, but maybe some of them aren't as important as we think they are. 
Maybe some of them can wait. 
Maybe some of them aren't actually problems. 

When we consider that today could be our last day it becomes easier to recognize what really matters. 
Having said that, we can't live as though today is, for sure, our last day. 
Because if we knew for sure today was our last day we probably wouldn't go to work, and a few other things we probably should do. 
We can't live each day as though we know for sure it's our last, but we can consider that it might be. 
This will alter our decisions in a positive way.
Don't forget to enjoy your life. 
This one isn't going to last long. And don't just live for yourself, do something important. 
We're supposed to do more than just exist.

When Words Don't Convey Meaning
Meditation is not about thinking.
Quiet time is not about silence. 
Prayer is not about begging.
Sometimes what we associate with a word is actually the exact opposite of the meaning, or at least the meaning intended by the one using it.
“Words exist because of meaning. 
Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. 
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him.” ~ Chuang Tzu 

Keep Doing Your Thing
Don't waste time trying to win over your detractors. 
Use that time to keep doing your thing.
Sometimes criticism is justified. 
And sometimes it's envy, ignorance, or fear. 
Criticism often comes from not seeing the whole picture. 
We are often convinced that we see the whole picture, but usually we see very little.
Don't expect people who have never done what you do to understand it. 
Go ahead and continue doing what others have said can't be done. No matter what you do, there will always be someone who will challenge the validity of your mission and your intent. 
Don't be surprised.
Even the people closest to you are capable of underestimating you. 
They may try to keep you where they think you belong. 
They may even do it as a way of protecting you. 
They might underestimate you because they underestimate themselves. 
And since they see you as essentially an extension of themselves, they may not believe you can do better than them. 
Sometimes we need others to talk some sense into us and prevent us from doing something stupid. 
They will hold you back when you need to be held back. 
But they will also hold you back when they should be pushing you forward. 

At the end of the day, you have to make your own decisions.

How To Know If You Know God
How do you know if you know God? 
You know God when you understand this: "love your enemies and do good to those who curse you."
Knowing this doesn't mean we'll always do it. 
We aren't perfect. 
And loving our enemies is about as close as we can get to being perfect. 
We'll make mistakes and we'll forget sometimes what it means to know God. 
But if you've ever understood the meaning of those words, you've known God.

What To Do When Life Seems Terrible
When life seems terrible and unfair it's best not to think about why it might be that way. 
Nothing good comes out of it. 
It's best not to think about it, because whatever explanation you come up with in that moment is going to be very gloomy.
Every time you've gone down the road of despair you've been wrong. 
Wrong about what the future holds — wrong that there won't be better days and new opportunities. 
Your hopelessness was unwarranted. 
Your perception of reality was wrong. 
And if you ever end up in that state of mind again you will be wrong again. 
Hold onto that. 
Remember how wrong you've been about this before.

Anger
Anger is a departure from your true-self. 
Unjustified, out of control anger, that is. Justified doesn't mean creating an excuse. 
It means there was no better option. 
Objectively no better option. 

Anger will ruin your focus and prevent you from being productive. 
You have to let go of your anger so you can stay focused on what's important. 
Your time is limited, don't waste it thinking about things you can't control and which make you feel terrible.
You will have moments of anger and frustration, but you can always come back to your true-self. 
The main thing, is you don't allow it to ruin your day or someone else's day. 
The key is to get over it quickly, before you cause too much havoc. 
There is a legitimate purpose for anger. 
If someone attacked your child you would get angry, as you probably should. 
Your child needs you to get angry in such a situation. 
And there are other times when you need to be angry also. 
The problem is we get angry too often and we sometimes allow it to cause too much damage. 
I think this is the meaning of "be angry and sin not."

Making The Commitment To Succeed
When we are not good enough or when we are not willing to do the work, we find all sorts of excuses for why we haven't succeeded. 
The most common excuse is that it's someone else's fault — someone else is holding us back, someone else is sabotaging our chances of success, someone else didn't do the work for us.
Sometimes, some of these things are true, but often they are not. 
Sometimes other people erect obstacles to make it difficult for us (sometimes they don't realize it's an obstacle — they might think they are helping). 
And sometimes we erect our own obstacles, because we are a) afraid, or b) lazy:
a) Afraid of failure. 
Afraid of success. 
Afraid of what others will think.
b) Too lazy to do the work or to persevere when things get tough. 
Sometimes the obstacles are not man-made. 
Sometimes nature doesn't permit it. 
We are capable of more than we realize, but we cannot do anything we set our mind to. 
There are limitations. 
Sometimes we invent limitations and sometimes we are blind to the limitations that are really there. The bottom line is, don't make excuses when there are none and don't lie to yourself about who you are and what you are capable of.
The things we "commit" to will test our commitment. 
We may start out with lots of zeal, but eventually it wears off. 
It's better to commit to only a few things than to commit to too many. 
If we want to do a good job, at anything, we have to focus. 
Focus = caring. 
That's true commitment.

Eleven Of My Favorite Resources For Personal Growth
The ones I find myself referring to the most. 
In no particular order . 
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CBC Tapestry - A radio show featuring discussions about what it means to be human, why we are here, and how to live while we are here. 
The host, Mary Hynes, features a new guest every week and tries to learn from their experiences and expertise. 
My favorite episode is an interview with Father Laurence Freeman, about Finding The Time To Not Be Busy. 
Star Talk Radio - This is astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's podcast. 
With a slice of humor, Tyson and a rotating cast of co-host/comedians (and occasionally Bill Nye the Science Guy) talk about the mysteries of the universe and other topics of science. 
Tyson regularly answers questions from listeners, with no preparation. 
There's always something to learn when listening to this show. 
It often opens my eyes to the vastness of the universe and how small we are in it. 
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations - The blog of Franciscan friar Richard Rohr, who writes a lot about non-dualism and contemplation. 
His words help lead me to quiet my mind and reconnect with my true self — the me that is beyond the chatter in my mind. 
The me that is one with God in spirit. 
Rohr is a rare clergyman who actually understands what Jesus really taught. 
 
Seth's Blog - A daily blog by marketing expert Seth Godin. 
Seth is more than a marketer. 
He possesses keen insight into human psychology and his words often contain a message of authenticity, simplicity, and optimism for the future. 
Seth often writes abstractly and metaphorically and has an ability to say a lot with as few words as possible. 
Here is a recent favorite of mine. 
I also enjoyed this interview.
Zen Habits - A blog started by a government employee living on the tiny island of Guam. 
Like Seth's blog, it has become one of the most read in the world. 
The writer, Leo Babauta, writes about mindfulness, minimalism, compassion, and simple daily habits to help readers accomplish more with the time they have. 
One of my favorite posts from this blog: The Parent I Aspire to Be. 
The Rational Optimist - A blog by journalist and author Matt Ridley. 
It's based on his book by the same name. 
Ridley regularly writes about how the world is not getting worse, as many people believe it is, but is actually getting a lot better. 
Steve Maxwell - Maxwell, in his 60's, is one of the top fitness and lifestyle coaches in the U.S. 
He's a minimalist and a BJJ black belt, who lives out of his backpack while traveling the world doing fitness and self-defense seminars year round. 
There's always something to learn from his unique perspective and experiences, which he shares in his blog, on YouTube, and as a guest on various podcasts. 
Warren Buffett's Shareholder Letters - I respect Buffett for his contrarian approach to investing. 
His letters to company shareholders are packed with decades of wisdom. 
Letters dating back to 1977 can be read on Berkshire Hathaway's website, for free. 
He has also done a lot of interviews and other speaking engagements. Here is the one I've listened to the most (this way of thinking applies to more than just investing). 
Buffett's business partner Charlie Munger is also a good source for words of wisdom. 
Peace Is Every Step - a great  book which will bring you instant peace. 
It's written by Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. 
Hanh was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King. 
Hanh guides the reader to be more mindful — to quiet the mind and the emotions and live more in the present moment and to find compassion for others. 
It's the ultimate light read. 
The Bible - Mainly Jesus and the Apostle Paul. 
There's a lot in the Bible to confuse you and some of it is not true, as biblical scholar Bart Ehrman has written about in his book Forged. But I cannot deny that the Bible contains a lot of truth. 
Jesus and Paul implore others to live humbly, to love others as yourself and to be at peace. 
They do this by pointing you toward God's presence within you. 
Steve McVey wrote a good book about what he thinks the New Testament is about in Grace Walk. 
Tao Te Ching - This book is accredited to a legendary Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu. 
His words will help you untangle your thoughts and look at life from a distance and see that much of what we fret over is a creation of our own imagination.

The Problem With Being A True Believer
In fundamentalist religion, the other believers will have your back as long as you continue to believe what they believe. 
But once you stop believing what they believe, they will no longer have your back. 
You will become an outcast. 
No longer one of the chosen few. 

It doesn't even matter if your behavior has changed. 
Because it's not about whether or not you are a person of peace and love. 
It's about what you believe philosophically, abstractly and historically. 
It's a made up world based on partial-truths, metaphors, and falsehoods. As long as you remain ignorant, you can remain part of the family, but once you start to use the brain God gave you, you become an enemy to their ignorance. 

All religions require true believers. 
Whether it's Christianity, Islam, Communism, Capitalism, Veganism, CrossFit, or even Atheism. 
Any philosophy with passionate people who think their system is the one true system. 
Religion does not have to include belief in a deity. 
It just has to include belief in the one true way and shun all others as enemies of the truth. 
The belief, itself, is the god. 
It's a belief in the superiority of one's own beliefs. 
And one's own self-worth becomes attached to those beliefs. 
That's why true believers argue so passionately. 
Not because they are defenders of the truth, but because they are defending their own self-worth.
 There's really no such thing as a true believer. 
Only people in search of the truth. 
We are all searching for the truth. 
The difference with the religious mind is that it searches within a smaller bubble. 

Sometimes It's Right To Be A Heretic
Establishments view anyone who disagrees with them as a heretic. Establishments fear change. 
Heretics are messengers of change. 
Someone has to be. 
Because establishments don't change on their own. 
It takes a heretic to change them. 

Not all outsiders are correct though. 
Some of them actually are heretics. 
But establishments can't tell the difference — they view all outsiders as heretics. If you are not considered a heretic, you are probably part of an establishment. 
If you are not an outsider, you are an insider. 
If you are an outsider, count yourself lucky, because you are on the side of truth. 
But only if you truly are one of the ones on the side of truth. 
Being on the side of truth requires objective thinking. 
You need to be impartial and consider the facts. 
And you must not be too emotional, nor have an us vs them mentality. 

If you are on the side of truth, you are not against people, you are for all people, because the truth is for all people. If you know the truth, you already know this and these words are only a reminder. 
P.S. 
- Establishment, in this context, means any idea or set of ideas (institutional or non-institutional) that are outdated and the proponents of those ideas refuse to change.

How The Grace Of God Led To Me Becoming A Blogger
For many years I ran from God. 
I believed that God was unfair — that he would send me to hell because I couldn't measure up to what he expected of me. 
So I hid. 
For many years I searched for peace, but couldn't find it. 
But one day I realized that the only way I would have peace was to make peace with God. 
So I did. 
And I immediately realized that God did not expect the things I had thought he expected of me. 
I realized that he just wanted me to put my life in his hands. 
That's all he ever wanted. 
From that day on my attitude and behavior changed. 
I was less angry, I stopped binge drinking, and I cared more about others. 
I had a deep interest in learning — a thirst for books. 
I enjoyed spending time alone in deep introspection. 
And I was able to find peace. 
Sometimes I lost it (still do), but I knew where to find it and I knew it was okay to go there without guilt or shame. 

With these changes came wisdom. 
I discovered that there was an innate wisdom within me — epiphany type thoughts would come to me regularly. 
They still do. 
So I write them down. 
This has become the basis for my blog. 
It turns out that many of those thoughts resonate with others. 
Sometimes at just the right time (some of you have told me this). 
None of this ever would have been possible if not for the revelation of God's grace (unmerited favor) all those years ago. 

Perception
Reality is not out there, apart from our mind. 
Our mind is part of reality. 
And what we observe as reality is in some sense an illusion, because it is subjectively interpreted by us. 
We are like reality observing itself, but only one interpretation of reality. 
Our perception is not all that there is. 
Our perception is only a tiny fraction of all that there is. Any interpretation we might have of reality can only be partial. We are prone to error and there is a barrier between our subjective experience of reality and the nature of reality itself. 
To some extent, we can make our own reality. 
But there is also an objective reality which imposes boundaries on what we can do. 
We have a hard time judging where those boundaries are. 
Science, mathematics, logic, and history give us an idea, but not an absolute one. 
This universe and the human mind are deeply complex and mysterious.
The greater truths tend to be counter-intuitive and tend to contradict the status quo. 
The truth can be very uncomfortable and inconvenient. 
It can burst a lot of bubbles and threaten egos. 
Humanity has not finished pushing the boundaries of what we know about ourselves and our universe. 
Many more bubbles will be burst. 
Many more egos will be bruised.
P.S. 
For more in-depth thinking and research on this, check out Biocentrism and Incognito.

Fear
Sometimes the only way to deal with fear is action — doing whatever needs to be done, regardless of the fear. 
I'm not talking about thrill-seeking, but about doing what's important, even if we are afraid to do it.
Instead of giving in to your fears or pretending they don't exist, acknowledge that they exist and obstinately do what needs to be done anyway. 
The statement "anger is more useful than despair" is certainly true when applied to our fears. 
Sometimes we need to angerly defy our fears.
And sometimes we need to laugh at fear. 
Fear, worry, doubt, are mostly lies and they will rule you if you don't rule them.

A Real Leader
Normally we think of leadership as an appointed position. 
You work for years jumping through hoops until someone with authority gives you an official position of authority of your own. 
With that authority you are given leverage over other people — they must obey you, otherwise there will be consequences. 
This is not leadership. 
This is management.
You may be managing budgets, resources, time and people, but you are not inspiring anyone. 
No one is following you. 
Nobody cares about your opinion. 
They are doing just enough not to get in trouble, or just enough to give them a shot at your position one day. 
Their fate is partially in your hands. 
That's why they do what you say. 
Not because they respect you.
A real leader leads — he sets the example. 
A real leader has followers — people who want to hear from her. 
A real leader earns the respect of others. 
A real leader does what others are afraid to do, and does it with more grace than most would. A real leader treats others the way he would want to be treated. 
A real leader can make a positive difference, regardless of her position. 
A real leader can be anyone. 
That leader can be you. 
You don't need to wait for permission.

Probably The Best Thing We Can Do For Our Mental And Physical Health
"Stop thinking, and end your problems." ~ Lao Tzu 
This may be the best piece of advice I've ever stumbled upon. 

It's true, we invent many of our problems in our mind. 
I'm not sure it's possible to consistently transcend all external problems, but we can certainly make them seem worse than they really are. 
It depends on the story we tell ourselves. 
What we think about and what we tell ourselves determines how we feel and how we interact with the world. 
And what we dwell on is what we will believe, even if it's totally false. 
Our thoughts also affect our physical health. 
The body responds to thoughts the same way it does to actions. 
The same hormonal reactions occur. 
This is what makes breathing so important. 
By focusing on our breathing, we stop thinking about the things that aggravate us and the false narratives we create. 
By doing this, our attention is reverted back to the present moment. 
It also helps in reversing the negative physical affects of our thoughts. 

This can also be combined with prayer. 
Breathing in, you can say to yourself "God be with me," breathing out "I give it all to you." In this way, meditation and prayer can work together. 
There's a fine line between them.

How To Deal With Things That Annoy Us
When dealing with something that annoys us, we have two choices: we can ignore it, or we can try to fix the thing that annoys us. 
The problem with the second option is that most of the things that annoy us can't be fixed by us. The second problem is that we don't have time to fix everything that annoys us. 

Most of the time we have to learn to ignore it, or at least make peace with it. 
Part of making peace with it is recognizing that we are likely powerless to change it and that we probably have better things to do with our time anyway. 

We can run around trying to fix everything that annoys us (and be annoyed by the fact that we can't fix everything we want to fix), or we can create something new — we can add value to the world in our own unique way. 
There are times when the annoyances need to be addressed. 
And there are times when we are capable of doing something about them. 
But most of the time we should learn to let them go and do our own thing. 

Don't Let Religion Get In The Way Of Faith
What matters is not whether Jesus was literally born of a virgin, literally the Son of God, that he literally absorbed the sins of the world, was literally raised from the dead, literally ascended into heaven, or that his spirit literally lives within believers. 
(I never would have said that a few years ago. 
But I still want it all to be true). Religion focuses on these things being literally true. 
But these things are not the point. 
They merely illustrate a point. 

We also must accept that there may have been people who wanted these things to be true, or wanted others to believe they were true. 
These stories were circulated for decades before they were written down and we have no original copy of any of them. 
(here is an eye-opening book on this subject) 
Religion wants it all to be literally true and condemns anyone who does not accept it all as literally true. 
To religion, faith in events which cannot be substantiated trump faith in a loving God. 
Religion is not faith, nor does it speak for faith. 
Religion is fear and ignorance masquerading as an ambassador of faith. 
Religion can get people to believe in God, but not in the grace of God. 
The grace of God (unmerited favor) confounds the religious mind. 

Religion understands mercy, to a degree, but it doesn't understand or accept grace. 
Mercy lets you off the hook (if you ask for forgiveness and believe everything in the bible is literally true). 
But grace lets you off the hook and showers you with favor, no matter what you do.
From the book itself:
"… love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven." ~ Jesus 
In other words, "God loves everyone and blesses everyone. 
You should do the same, so that you are like him."
Religion doesn't accept grace, because grace doesn't seem fair. 
But God's ways are not our ways. 
Religion wants God to inflict pain on those who do not follow the rules. 
But what religion doesn't realize is that we inflict pain on ourselves when we do the wrong thing. 
It's the realization of grace which sets us free and makes us want to do the right thing. 
Don't let religion get in the way of faith. 
Don't let the fear pushed on you by religion cloud your faith in God's love. 
That's what faith is - accepting that God loves you. 
That's what causes real inner transformation. 
That's what produces change that lasts. 

Religion is the way of the past. Faith can be the way of the future. 
PS: Check out The Misunderstood God for more perspective on this.

What Would Your Book Say?
Learn from others, but don't just accept what other people say as fact. 
Remember to seek your own inner wisdom. 
And don't rely on someone else for your inner peace. 
Spend time alone in a calm place, write down your thoughts, listen to the birds, pray. 
This is where you'll find peace. 
It's in you, not out there somewhere.
Nor is it in someone's book. 
A book can only act as a temporary guide — a sign post to where you need to go. 
Eventually you have to put the book away and go there. 
The author too had to put the books away for awhile and write his (her) own book. 
What would your book say?

Live The Life That's Right For You
Don't be afraid of what other people think of you. 
It doesn't mean they are right. 
Life will continue for you, regardless of what others think of you. 
There will always be someone who doesn't like you or doesn't agree with you. 
If you change because of one person's opinion, there will be someone else who won't like the new you. Chances are there are few people who really understand you. 
Live what you know is the right life for you. You don't have to justify to others why  you don't want everything they want. 
Explain, if you think it will help them, but justifying means you need their approval. 
If you know what's right for you, you are ahead of most people. 
Most people don't know what's right for themselves. 
They copy others, and they will try to get you to copy as well. 
It's not about what the majority thinks. 
Majorities have been wrong many times. 
Especially uninformed or misinformed majorities. 
There does not need to be a consensus in order for something to be correct. 
Sometimes the minority is right. 
You really have to know yourself and have a philosophy that you live by if you hope to resist the influence and philosophies of other people. 
Everyday you will encounter people in the flesh or in the media who will try to influence you. 
If you don't have your own inner guidance, you will be misled. 
You don't have to want what others suggest that you should want. 
Chances are they are speaking from their own lack of fulfillment and appreciation. 
You know what you want. 
You know what you need. 
Stay grounded. 

Prayer Helps
Prayer helps us make the right decisions. 
Prayer keeps us calm in the storm. 
Prayer releases us from the burden of trying to figure everything out. 
 
Prayer works, even if we are not sure it will work. 
It works because it's an act of letting go. 
And because it changes the way we interact with others.
Faith does not require absolute belief. 
We will have doubts. 
To doubt is human. 
Faith is a moment of reaching out to God, even if we are not sure he is there. 
We will encounter many situations throughout the day where a moment of prayer will help us stay calm and focused. 
You don't need to be on your knees to do it. 
It can be done anywhere, any time. 
A quiet place alone is best, but if that's not available, pray on the go. 
It's just about releasing our concerns to God. 
It can be done in seconds: "God, I give this situation to you."

Finding Meaning In Life
This life either means nothing or it means something far more important than we realize. 
We will die, and those we've impacted will also die. 
So what is it all for? 
It means nothing or it means something very important. 
It means something that carries itself into a realm of consciousness we haven't yet experienced in full. 
Those who died before us are experiencing it, but it remains mostly a mystery to us. 

We see dimly what one day we will see clearly. And what do we see now? We see that anger, greed, and envy are poisonous. 
We see that what affects others also affects us, and vice versa. 
We see that forgiveness heals souls. 
We see that inner peace prevents conflict and produces love. 
We see that learning to appreciate what we have creates inner peace. 
And many of us have seen that trust in God helps with all of the above. 

Trust in God is the only real cure for hopelessness. 
Trust in God is the only thing that gives life any real meaning. 
This life either means nothing or its meaning has something to do with trusting God and loving people. 
Both of which have something to do with a world we have not yet seen, but will, sooner than we realize. 

Keep It Simple, Stupid
It's counter-intuitive to keep things simple. 
We naturally look for complicated solutions, because problems are often quite complicated. 
But if the problem is complicated and the solution is complicated, we are dealing with two complicated things, instead of just one. 
Simplicity seems too obvious — too simple. But if we hope to solve complicated problems it's best to look for the simplest approach. 
Or, to paraphrase Occam's razor: the simplest answer is usually correct. 
Or Einstein, who said "everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." 
An analogy: The stock market is complicated and the overwhelming majority of investors under-perform the S&P 500 benchmark, by a lot. 
But out-outperforming or matching the benchmark is relatively simple. 
Most investors aren't able to do it, because the way to do it seems too simple (and boring). Another reason is that we prefer complicated strategies, because they make us feel smart. 
Simplicity often works, but it's not easy, because you have to keep your complicated self out of the way. 

Take Advantage Of The Right Opportunities
There is an advantage to taking part in something that has it's own momentum. 
Something that requires very little upkeep or input. 
This is the advantage of investing in a great company, being partnered with the right person, or following a path that is inline with your deepest interests and natural abilities. 

Often, we go after the hard thing. 
The thing we don't understand. 
The thing that's not a good fit for us. 
We do this because we like a challenge. 
And we do this because we take things for granted. 
We overlook what is simple and we go after what is complicated.
That doesn't mean everything worth doing should come easily or that we should never do anything difficult. 
It means we often ignore the true opportunities in front of us. 
Especially if they are not popular. 

Second Chances
Life doesn't always offer us second chances, but often it does. 
Don't assume that you are done just because you've made a mistake. 
Ask yourself where you can go from here. 
If we dwell on what could have been, we will fail to see the potential opportunities that remain in front of us. 
We don't yet know what opportunities will come our way. 
We tend to give more significance to the negative things that happen than we do to the positive things that happen. 
Combine this with a media which also focuses on the negative and you end up with a lot of people locked into a negative worldview and a negative impression of what the future holds.
What choice do we have but to focus on the good? Focusing on the bad makes everything seem bad. 
Don't stay stuck in what could have been. 
Move forward toward what can be.

We Don't Come With An Instruction Manual, But We Are Capable Of Learning
If God wanted us to have a complete manual for living, he would have given us one. 
If the bible were such a manual, it would not be full of contradictions, errors, and forgeries. 
And it would not be available to only a small fraction of mankind. 

Life is difficult and complex and human beings are the most complex thing in the universe. We want to know what to do and we want to know that someone or something out there cares about us and has a purpose for us. 
And we want it put into words. 

But the truth is that such texts were not handed down by God. 
They were written by people who had various purposes for what they wrote. 
Some of what's in those texts is true, but like anything done by humans, they are flawed and incomplete.
Most things done by humans can be improved over time. 
Especially as more people contribute their ideas. 
Many of the flaws can be ironed out. Can religion be improved? Can our understanding of God evolve? I would argue that it can and that it has. 
More and more souls are being added to the planet. 
There are many more souls who are having their own experiences. 
And the tools of science help us better understand the nature of reality (or at least our perception of it). 

Is it rational to believe that our understanding of virtually everything can evolve, but not our understanding of why we are here and how to live while we are here?

The Advantage Of Being Open-Minded
In order to know the difference between what is true and what is false, we have to be willing to think outside the box. 
We need to explore possibilities. 
We need to listen to reason. 
And we need to consider the facts. 
Being open-minded does not mean "anything goes" or that all things are equal. 
Being open-minded means weighing the evidence before reaching a verdict. 
Every day is a new day to learn something new - to contemplate life, to observe the world around us, to learn from others, to imagine new ideas, to experiment, to explore, and to let go of old beliefs. 

You don't have to remain where you are intellectually or spiritually. 
You have room to grow. 
And as you grow on the inside, you increase your chances of not having to remain where you are externally. 
As you open up your worldview, you make it more possible for the world to open up opportunities to you. 

I Am No Saint, But Sometimes I Am, And You Are too
These posts are mostly glimpses of me in my best moments of thought and do not represent how I think all of the time. 
This is not a journal where I bare all of my thoughts — the good, the bad, and the ugly. 
This is where I share my best thoughts. 
The ones I think will benefit others in a positive way. 

I am no saint. 
I am no guru. 
I am no munk. 
Perhaps that will change when I leave this body. 
In the meantime, I will be thankful for the moments when I am those things. 
And I hope these posts will remind you to return to those moments also. 

Negative Thinking Is Inevitable, But We Don't Have To Live In Negative Land
Everyone is going through a battle. 
Often on multiple fronts — the many battles we fight within, the battles we fight with other people, and the battles we fight against nature, including illnesses. Struggle is a major characteristic of life. 
All life forms are in a struggle to survive, but we as humans don't only struggle to survive, we also struggle to be well. 
To be "happy". 
We can have everything we need, but still be unhappy. 
We can have everything we need, but still be a threat to ourselves. 
What other life forms kill themselves because of unhappiness? We have the ability to sabotage our own well-being through the thoughts we think. 
Even if what we think isn't true, it becomes true to us. 
What we believe, is very powerful. 
So powerful that we can convince ourselves that there is no other choice but to be miserable. 
We cannot escape negative thinking entirely. 
Even if you live alone in a cave you still have to live with yourself and the impressions others have left on you. 
Wherever we go, we take our experiences with us. But we can choose what we focus on. 
If we are always focused on the negative, that's what we will see. 
If we are always looking for the negative, that's what we will find. 
It's best to be mostly ignorant of negativity, but not entirely. 
Without some attention to negativity we will be more prone to downside risks and we will be blind to the suffering of others. 
The biggest thing, is don't live in negative land, just be an occasional visitor.

Ignorance And The Future
Many of society's laws, customs, and norms are good for us, but some are oppressive. 
Usually not on purpose. 
Usually because of ignorance. 
Or as Hanlon's razor suggests, "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by carelessness." It takes brave people to make change, especially when the tribe disagrees with you and even wants to punish you for what would actually be better for them.
Some people think the whole world is going to hell in a hand-basket. 
Many people have thought this over the last two thousand years or so. 
The fact that it hasn't and that the world keeps getting better (less major wars, less starvation, better health care, improved social justice, etc.) despite much human stupidity, should make us feel at least a little more optimistic about the future.
Civilization tends to eventually move in the right direction. 
First it's difficult to convince people of the right thing, but eventually it becomes the standard. 
We can't even imagine now owning or segregating people based on their race. 
We can't imagine a time when someone could be arrested for teaching that earth revolves around the sun.
 One day in the future people will look back at some of the things we do now and scratch their head. 
Not only about some of the things we do, but maybe even about our fears about the future. 

The Best Thing We Can Do For Our Health
Health is wealth. 
And the best thing we can do for our health is manage stress. 
Ironically, we chase after wealth by sacrificing our health. 
We neglect the most valuable asset we have and we even abuse it by putting ourselves in stressful situations in order to earn more money. 

We take jobs we don't care about and expose ourselves to lifestyles that we don't want, in order to acquire things we don't really need. 
We need to make a living and we can't always do what we want for a living or make the amount of money we would like to make. 
But we can keep our expenses low and acquire skills that will help us build the life we want. 

Part of it, is wanting less in terms of material wealth and the other part is being determined to find work that we will enjoy. 
It's not easy and it's not without its own stress, but what choice do we have? The alternative is a life that we know we wont enjoy and an invitation to disease. 

You are only going to be here once. 
You don't want to spend your precious time doing a lot things you hate. 
You have to be determined to find an alternative. 
Even if you fail trying. 
It doesn't have to be perfect. 
It will never be perfect. 
But don't just settle for what gives you the best pay check. 

Avoiding Self-Sabotage Through Faith
Self-sabotage is a sneaky thing. 
We often don't realize we are doing it until after the damage is done. Self-sabotage is anti-faith — a surrender to fear. Self-sabotage is when we give up too early. Self-sabotage is the voice of negativity telling us all the reason why our endeavor won't work out. 
You have to look at all the reasons why it will work out. 
Not the silly ones we fantasize about. 
Like winning the lottery. 
But the realistic ones. Faith is not fantasy. 
Faith is about finding the truth within you and holding onto it. 
Even when it seems like the odds are against you. 
How do we know the difference between what is realistic and what is fantasy?  Fantasy often stirs up emotions, but what's realistic tends to come from conviction — a realization of the truth. Fantasy is wishful thinking, while truth is a calm assurance. 
In fantasies we get carried away with future outcomes, but in reality future outcomes are quite murky — we just know we are on the right path. If you are on the right path, you'll probably know it. 
If you have to talk yourself into it, you're probably not. 

Educate Yourself
Just because you hated school and didn't do well, does not mean your ability or opportunity to learn is handicapped. 
According to studies in neuroscience, school (as we know it) is actually one of the worst environments for learning. 

Learning is easiest and most enjoyable when you pursue your own interests. 
You can teach yourself. 
You just have to follow your intrigues. Especially your big questions: 
Why are we here? 
What is love?
How do I find inner peace?
Who is God? 
How should I treat others? 
When you look for answers to these types of questions, you tend to find some of them. 
And you enjoy the process — learning becomes a passion — books and lectures become interesting. 
And as you continue to educate yourself in this way, you open up unexpected opportunities. Education creates opportunities, even if it's the type of education that doesn't come with a diploma or a degree.

A Teacher Instead Of A Critic
Criticism is often harsh and comes from a place of ignorance or fear. 
But a teacher leads the way. 
A teacher provides a path to the truth. 
If you have a choice between being a critic or a teacher, choose teacher. 
In other words, rather than being bashful, try to lead the way.
Everyone is a potential teacher. 
We all have something to teach each other. 
And sometimes this can be achieved without words.
"Be a light, not a judge. 
Be a model, not a critic." ~ Stephen R. 
Covey 

Awakening
We are here temporarily. 
Very temporarily. 

Don't waste that time with negativity. 

Don't waste that time chasing other people's dreams. 

Do what is in your heart to do. 

Be what is in your heart to be. 

Don't keep score. 
Too many people keep score — what they have done, especially in relation to what others have done. 
This life is not a contest, it's an awakening. 

Contemplation
Human beings are social. 
We require contact with one another. 
But we are also contemplative. 
We need time to ourselves to sit and think and reflect.
Human beings are contemplative, but we often live as though we are not. Contemplation requires some measure of discipline and focus, but most of the time we are distracted by other things. 
One of the down-sides to the society we have created is that it requires us to be in almost perpetual contact with one another, and this leaves us very little room to focus on our inner life.  We've created a world that provides all of our material needs, but is seriously lacking in providing for our spiritual needs. 
Sit and be quiet. Turn off the chatter in your mind. 
Listen to the sounds around you. 
All the better if you can do it close to nature. You'll learn a lot about yourself. Have you found a source of peace within you? A source of love? These are the things that matter. 

A Dimly Lit Path
When we gain a little bit of knowledge or a little bit of success we start thinking we are in control of our life. 
But in reality, we have very little to do with the knowledge and success we gain. 
The world and it's opportunities were here long before we were. 
And we had nothing to do with our own birth, our genetic predispositions, or the country or era we were born into. We can't even be certain that all of the decisions we make are entirely our own. 
The best things in my life have fallen into my lap. 
I wanted them, and I had to do something to get some of them, but I didn't draw up any plans. 
There was no road map. 
Whenever I try to orchestrate things on my own it usually ends in disappointment. 

There is a flow to life that we have to go with. 
It's about cooperating with God's path, rather than a path designed on our own. 
It's a kind of partnership. 
I've learned that the best thing I can do is let go and trust that what I need will be provided to me. 
As I do that, a path emerges, a little bit at a time. 
And the things I need to do (my part) become evident along the way. 
This life is a walk on a dimly lit path.
 

Loss And Faith
Loss is part of our inheritance. 
We inherit life, but we also inherit death. 
We inherit good health, but we also inherit poor health. 
Throughout our short life we gain and lose many things.
Loss makes us realize what we have. 
Even the thought of loss can make us realize what we have. 
Most of us have more than we realize. 
The one thing, the only thing, that everyone can have regardless of their circumstances, is a connection with God through faith. 
It's the one thing that we can have no matter what and that cannot be taken from us.
God's plans are a mystery. 
All we can do is seek his guidance from moment to moment. 
Part of faith is not knowing and not understanding. 
Faith is mainly letting go and accepting that we will be lead in the right direction.
There is very little that we actually control. 
Most of what goes on in our body, even in our brain, happens without our conscious knowledge or control. 
Almost everything happening in the universe is out of our control. 
Most of life is acceptance. 
Trying to hold on , we lose. 
Letting go, we gain. 
Nothing is really ours to hold on to. 
If we cannot contemplate the fact that this world is not material, everything that happens to us will seem like a big deal. 
We have to understand that this world is a sort of illusion. 
What we are experiencing now is not all there is. 
We are not nothing and we are not mere atoms. 
We are part of, and an expression of, a greater truth. 

How To Avoid Believing Silly Things
There seems to be no limit to what people will believe. 
No wonder con men succeed. 
No wonder politicians can lie and still increase in popularity. 
We believe what we want to be true and have great difficulty seeing things objectively. 
We let our own self-interest, greed, fear, and ignorance get in the way of the truth. 
Even intelligent people believe silly things. 
Everyone believes something silly. 
Some people can be very rational when it comes to some subjects, but completely irrational when it comes to others. 
This shouldn't be too surprising, considering that there is so much we don't understand and how easily our perception can be fooled. We all fall victim to our own perceptional weaknesses. 
The mystery of life does not fail to fool everyone in one way or another. 
 
9 Ideas On How To Avoid Believing Silly Things 
Study broadly. 
Study a variety of different subjects. 
You don't have to go in depth into every subject, but look for the main themes. 
Don't assume you already know everything. 
Even the brightest people on the planet know very little compared to what there is to be known (and there may be things that are not knowable). 
Our brain has limitations and this universe is vast. 
And the human mind is amazingly complex and mysterious. 
Try understanding the mind of another human being. 
We don't even understand our own mind, let alone the mind of another person. 
Read books by various authors — authors with differing view points. 
I love it when I find a book which changes the way I view the world. 
Sometimes it can be a little troubling in the beginning, but eventually I'm thankful for the new perspective. 
This doesn't just apply to books, this also applies to speakers and anyone else you learn from. 
Spend time alone in thought. 
Allow your mind to process the things it has been taking in. 
The brain remembers everything it has ever seen and everything it has ever heard, even though we don't realize it consciously and are not able to recall everything at will. 
Often these things show up in our dreams or at unexpected times. 
They also show up when we give our mind a break. 
Recognize that you have personal biases and that everyone else does too, even the experts. 
It's unavoidable, but we can minimize the affects of personal bias. 
The first step is recognizing that we have them and that they are probably  worse than we realize. 
Don't think with your emotions. 
This is often how people are manipulated. 
Someone appeals to their emotions and they become vulnerable to disinformation. 
It's especially effective on people who don't do the sort of things I mentioned in the above points. 
You don't want to be an under-educated, heavily biased, emotional person (fear and greed in particular). 
Otherwise you are going to be susceptible to believing a lot of ridiculous things and may even do ridiculous things to defend and promote your point of view. 
Like a good judge or a good investigator, make sure you look at all of the evidence and hear both sides of the story  before you come to a conclusion. 
Even then, you must be willing to re-open the case if new evidence comes to light. 
Change your environment. 
Old, erroneous beliefs can be reinforced in an environment where you are discouraged from changing your views. 
Sometimes we are so worried about what others think of us that we dare not even think about things contrary to conventional wisdom, let alone express them. 
Follow your big questions. 
Follow your intrigues. 
This will lead you to places you never thought you would end up, intellectually at least. 

Where To Find Happiness
A lot of our unhappiness comes from the feeling of not belonging. 
But even when we are accepted, we don't necessarily belong. 
True happiness has to come from outside of the desire to belong.
There is happiness in silence and solitude. 
There is happiness in being thankful for what you have. 
There is happiness in relationship with God. 
This is not always easy to see. 
And for those who are not used to it, it is not easy to understand.
Most of our happiness comes from within. 
This is particularly true after our material needs have been met. 
If you have everything you need but you are still unhappy, the unhappiness is likely from a lack of appreciation for what you have and of what is available to you.
This lack of appreciation comes mainly from a lack of recognition. 
Most of the time we do not recognize how fortune we are, because we are so used to having everything we need.
Learn to appreciate what you have. 
Learn to live with less and still be happy. 
And follow your heart. 
Not your emotions, but what you know in your heart of hearts is the right thing for you. 

Choices
We think we know more about the future and about our future selves than we really do. 
We think our future self will approve of all of today's decisions, even though our present self can't believe some of the decisions we've made in the past. 
When there are a lot of choices available it's natural to think that it's necessary to choose one of them. 
But sometimes the best choice is none of the ones we've thought of. 
Sometimes the best choice is to wait. 
That in itself is a choice, but at least it's not one based on imaginary outcomes. 
It's nice to have choices, but sometimes too many choices can increase our odds of doing the wrong thing. 
If you could have your dream house or your ideal spouse you would probably unknowingly choose some qualities that are not right for you. There is a lot of value in acceptance. 
The more decisions we make, the more often we have to be right. 
We underestimate how often we are wrong. 
And the more complicated the decision, the more likely it is that we'll be wrong. 
Make fewer decisions, take fewer actions, and keep your plans simple. 
Also, stick to your strengths.

Letting It Go Now
So much of what bothers us now, one day won't matter. 
The ability to let things go now and live in the moment can save us years of stress. Our worries are mostly lies anyway. 
Holding onto them does not keep bad things from happening. 
And sometimes holding onto them causes us to take actions which make things worse than if we had just let them go.
How much time are you really  willing to devote to your worries? And do you really believe that thinking about them will make them go away?  Will it improve the quality of your life? Can you let go and be thankful instead?
Murphy's Law says anything that can go wrong will go wrong. 
But not all at once, and not all within your life time. 
Some things will go wrong that we can't do anything about, but it's also true that many things will go right. 
Even things we did not orchestrate. 
Some of them have already happened, including the fact that we are alive in the first place. 
Or the fact that we can read these words right now. 
There was a time when the written word did not exist and there was a time after it did exit that few people could read it. 
You are one of the lucky few in human history who can. 
And you did not come out of your mother's womb planning to read. 
Other people who lived before you had already setup an education system for you to learn it. 
It was not your doing. 
Just like so many other things.
Learn to let go, not so you can do less, but so you can be more. 
We are not fully ourselves if we do not know how to let go. 
Don't put yourself on a treadmill, learn to sit quietly. 
Deal with what is now, let later be later.

Start By Doing Nothing
We don't always have to find something to do. 
Sometimes doing nothing can do a lot for us. 
Staying busy is sometimes a way of running away from something else. 
Usually ourselves. 
And sometimes from doing important things that require focus or the ability to overcome fear.
Doing nothing is the starting point for allowing our inner wisdom to be heard. 
Doing nothing can be a great starting point because it keeps us from doing something stupid or from wasting our time on fruitless endeavors. 
A lot of silly things happen when we are not more willing to sit and think. 
Or better yet, sit and not think.
Doing nothing is not necessarily "doing nothing". 
We can't think if we are busy all of the time. 
We can't read books and learn from other minds if we are busy all of the time. Some of the smartest and most successful people in the world spend large parts of their day doing what many of us would consider nothing:
Warren Buffett spends most of his work day reading, thinking, and talking on the phone. 
At home he does the same thing, and he watches football and plays bridge several hours a week. 
He credits much of his success to the amount of time he spends reading and thinking. 
Stephen Hawking can't move his body, and if it weren't for modern technology we might think he's in a vegetative state. 
But his mind is probably working better than the busiest people we know. 
And look at what he's been able to accomplish by sitting and "doing nothing". 
You have the gift of thought, the gift of wisdom, the gift of ideas. 
Use those gifts. 
Get familiar with them. 
You'll want to distract yourself with other things, because sitting quietly takes some discipline and the world wants you to be busy. 
But that is what we need to do — sit quietly more often. 

If You Can't Trust Yourself, Who Can You Trust?
In Christian fundamentalism you are taught to distrust yourself. 
Instead of trusting yourself, you are taught to trust someone else. 
In particular, you are taught to trust your pastor and dozens of people who lived thousands of years ago (some of whom never revealed their identity). 

In other words, you can't use your own judgement, because it can't be trusted. 
But you can use it to trust the judgement of others, even people you've never met. 
There is no lack of irony in this. 
Nobody ever seems to wonder how it is that they can even recognize the truth by listening to a preacher or reading the Bible if they can't even trust their own judgement in the first place. 
If you can fool yourself, others can fool you too. 
And if you are capable of recognizing truth in the words of others, you are capable of recognizing it in yourself. 
Some people act like God himself wrote the Bible. 
This belief exists because people want to be lead. 
We want life to be laid out in black and white. 
It makes us feel better. 
We don't want to grapple with the uncertainties of life. 
It makes us feel insecure. 
We want something we can anchor ourselves with. 
But the Bible was not written by God. 
It's possible, and likely, that parts of it were written under inspiration. 
But the Bible is not one book, it is many books containing many truths and falsehoods. 
You have to sort it out in your own heart and through education. 
This is how you learn truth. 
If we insist that the entire Bible is literally true and inspired, then we will remain in ignorance and believe a lot of foolish things.
When we read the Bible there is a tendency to believe that it is speaking to us directly, but in reality the various books and letters in the Bible were written to specific people living thousands of years ago, in a culture alien to our own. 
The Bible should be read in that context.
The Bible is not as authoritative as your church or favorite preacher wants you to believe. 
In many cases, they mean well, but are mistaken. 
In other cases, it's in their best interest for you to believe in the absolute authority of the Bible (and the preacher as its messenger). 
It is useful in giving them authority and influence over you.
"Holy Scripture" is only holy insofar as someone says that it's holy. 
And it's only the final word until someone comes along and says it's not. Jesus himself contradicted scripture. 
Jesus and the early Christians came along and totally disrupted what the Jews had been taught from the Torah (Old Testament). 
And right from the beginning, no Christians could totally agree about what it meant to be a follower of Christ. 
Even the two leaders, Peter and Paul did not totally agree, and today Christians are more divided than ever.
If you believe what you read in the Bible, it will become real for you. 
The true parts and the untrue parts. 
Find out what is true and what isn't, otherwise you might be better off without it. 
There are many people who would have been. 
It would have been better for the Crusaders to have never known about it. 
That is, better for their victims. 
You don't have to believe something just because someone with a confident voice says so. 
Let them present you with the evidence that what they are saying is true. 
And read the works of professional historians and real biblical scholars who have provided evidence that much of what is taught in church is not true. 
Listen to both sides before making a judgment. 
We tend to go looking for God outside of ourselves. 
But God is within. 
God is found in peaceful moments, and rarely if ever through the words of fiery preachers. 
What the fiery preacher gives you is not God. 
The fiery preacher excites your emotions, but does not lead you to the quiet inner presence of God. 

There is no evidence that Jesus' sermons were loud and emotionally charged. 
Don't make excuses to yourself for why the preachers's words or tone are not consistent with the Bible. 
And don't make excuses to yourself for why the Bible is inconsistent with itself. 
If you are noticing inconsistencies, you are discovering truth.

On Controlling Our Emotions
Emotions tend to cause irrational decisions. 
Don't allow your emotions to control you. 
Use your emotions as motivation to find a rational solution to your problem. 

Regulate your emotions with rationality. 
In other words, dispatch your rational-self to talk some sense into your emotional-self. 
 The emotional-self tends to focus on the short-term and the rational-self tends to focus on the long-term. 
Be a long-term thinker. 

Our calm decisions are usually the right ones and our emotional decisions are usually the wrong ones. 
(Every thought is connected to emotion in some way, but I'm mainly referring to the obvious ones — when emotion clouds our judgment.)
You have a counselor within you. 
Don't ignore it in favor of things which appeal to your emotions. It's not about blunting our emotions and becoming like a robot, it's just about not allowing our emotions to be in complete control. 

Avoiding What Others Want For You
Many people try to derive satisfaction from what they expect others to do. 
We wield a lot of influence over one another. 
The same people who have expectations for others are also influenced by others.

You can't always being doing what other people want you to do. 
Expose yourself to less of what others want and what others want for you. 
Be selective about who you spend your time with. 
Who we spend time with is who will influence us the most. 
Choose wisely. 

This includes writers and media personalities.

Now more than ever we have the option of who we want to learn from. 

Decide what kind of person you want to be and what you want to learn and seek out the appropriate influencers. 

Decide who your infuencers will be and what part of them and their ideas you will adopt into your life.
"It takes courage to do what you want. 
Other people have a lot of plans for you. 
Nobody wants you to do what you want to do. 
They want you to go on their trip, but you can do what you want. 

 
Escaping The Influence Of Others
Much of our stress is caused by too many thoughts dancing around in our head — worries about the future, regrets about the past, what people think of us, what's going on in the news, etc. 
Stop and listen to the birds for awhile. 
Be selective about what you expose yourself to.
There's a lot out there to confuse us and stress us out if we allow it into our life. 
But very little of what is happening outside of our own home needs to be brought into our thoughts. 
More information does not always make for a more informed person.
Those whose job it is to have an opinion will always have one, even if it is uninformed. 
People who always have to be saying something have little time to listen. 
Listening is where real learning begins. 
The one who can sit and listen, and think, is the one we should want to hear from. 
You can be that person for yourself if you want to be.
The influence of culture has a greater impact on us than we usually realize. 
We identify ourselves too much with the rest of society. 
Especially our peers. 
Once we recognize this, we are able to prevent some of our poorer decisions from taking place. When we stop and ask ourselves what we really want, we realize that we would be better off without many of the things society says we should want. 
Nassim Taleb sums up my thoughts on this quite nicely:
“I believe that I cannot have power over myself as I have an ingrained desire to integrate among people and cultures and would end up resembling them; by withdrawing myself entirely I can have a better control of my fate. 
I am currently enjoying a thrill of the classics I have not felt since childhood. 
I am now thinking of the next step: to recreate a low-information, more deterministic ancient time, say in the nineteenth century, all the while benefiting from some of the technical gains, all of the medical breakthroughs, and all the gains of social justice of our day. 
I would then have the best of everything. 
This is called evolution.”

Some Mental Hygiene Tips
Want to sort out your thoughts? Want to know what you really think? Pick up a pencil and start writing. We don't realize how much we have going on in our mind until we sit down and start writing out some of our thoughts.
Write down what is bothering you. 
Pray about it and give it to God. 

Write down what is important to you and focus on putting your time and energy into those things. 

Write down what you spend your money on and cross off the things you can do without.
Look around your house and start setting aside things you don't need- things that are just clutter or that are a cause of distraction. 

How often do you have the T.V. 
or radio on? Turn them off more often and think, pray, read, write, exercise. 

Write down everything you are grateful for, once per day, and be thankful for each individual thing. 

How To Live The Life You Want
A sure way to waste you life away is to live a lifestyle that requires you to enter a profession you hate. 
We get into professions we hate in order to buy things we don't need, so we can impress people who don't really give a crap about us. We also take jobs we hate because of the social status that comes with the job. 

We sometimes avoid jobs we really want because they are not popular or difficult to enter. 
So we enter a field we don't really care about, because it seems economically and socially safer. 
Keep your expenses low. 
Stay out of debt. 
Don't buy anything to impress people. 
Pursue the things that interest you, even if others don't understand it and even if you can only do it in your spare time. 
If you don't do these things, you will likely end up trapped in a lifestyle you hate. 
There's no guarantee that if you do these things you will have the lifestyle you want, but it will greatly increase your chances. 
Even if you get only a portion of the lifestyle you want, it's better than getting none of it. 
Find your thing and stick with it. 
A lot of things are going to get in your way and give you reasons to do what seems easier or safer. 
Especially if you are going to do something unconventional, there will be all sorts of things standing in your way and you'll want to give up. 
There is nothing wrong with reevaluating the path you have chosen, but only give up if you know for sure that you were wrong about it. 
Even if you were wrong about the destination, that doesn't necessarily mean the journey was a waste of time. 
It may act as a stepping stone to something else. 
The way we image things will workout and the way they will actually workout are two different things. 
Nonetheless we need to keep moving in the direction we think is best. Every day we have a decision to make: we can either do something to move in the direction we truly want or we can choose to move away from it.

What Is Forgiveness?
Forgiveness does not have to include trust. 
Forgiveness does not have to include restoration of relationship. 
Forgiveness does not have to include approval of certain behaviors or attitudes. 
Forgiveness does not have to include forgetfulness or pretending that the past didn't happen or that it doesn't matter. 
Forgiveness is seeing yourself in the other person. 
Forgiveness is recognizing that you have faults too. 
Forgiveness is as much for you as it is for the other person. 
Forgiveness can even apply to whole groups of people. 
Forgiveness is what Paul Young wrote in The Shack: "letting go of another person's throat."

We Don't Know Very Much, And That's Okay
According to quantum mechanics (my limited understanding of it), approximately 96% of the universe is "dark matter" and "dark energy". 
We can't see it and we don't know what it is. 
The remaining 4% is made up of observable atoms, and those atoms appear to be 99.99% empty space. 
Even the tiny particles within the atom (the 0.01%) behave like waves when not observed. In other words, our perception of reality is very different from what reality actually is. 
We want to have all of the answers. 
We want to know what life is all about. 
We should have at least a sense of the purpose of life, but it's supposed to be mostly a mystery (at least for now). As neuroscientist David Eagleman wrote, "your mental life is built to range over a certain territory, and it is restricted from the rest. There are thoughts you cannot think."
The irony is that in our later years we end up knowing less than we did in our younger years. 
In other words, when we are young we think we know everything, but in our later years we realize that we know very little. And that is true Knowing — to know that you don't know, and being okay with that.

The Folly Of Religion And The Value Of Faith
Throughout the ages man has created myths and many of those myths blossomed into religions. 
For thousands of years this was our primary way of trying to make sense of things we didn't understand. 
Myths also make their way into politics and become the basis for ways of organizing society. 
Sometimes a particular ideology takes hold and acts like a religion within politics. 
Religions and political ideologies both seek to implement absolute ways of living and leave very little room for contrary views. 
The latest major religion/ideology seems to be Science. 
Science has greatly increased our understanding of the world and because of its success many people now turn to it exclusively for answers. 
And where it does not provide answers, those gaps are often filled in with speculation. 
The fundamental questions have not been answered, but that does not stop some science worshipers from believing they have been or that it's only a matter of time until science answers those questions. 
The methods of science are an effective way of understanding our world, but it's ultimately just a tool. 
The human nervous system is the means by which we interpret reality. 
It's our lens. 
Scientific discovery happens through it. 
And  ironically the methods of science have discovered that our lens is faulty, distorted, incomplete. 
It's the chink in the armor of the religion of science .
It's also ironic that when almost everyone believed in God (which was most of human history until The Enlightenment), the world was more violent and less prosperous than it is now. Faith in God seems to have little to do with preventing violence, disease, or poverty. 
But it can give people the strength to endure difficult circumstances. Faith didn't even save Jesus. 
But it gave him and many others the strength to endure hardship. 

Faith does not guarantee a peaceful and prosperous life. 
It has been mainly the contributions of scientists, entrepreneurs and social activists, especially over the last few hundred years that provided the extraordinary lifestyle most of us enjoy today. 
Faith provides an inner strength that can enrich our inner experience. 
Whether or not faith saves us from something in the after-life remains to be seen. 
It certainly doesn't save us from hell on earth. 
In other words, it doesn't keep people from doing terrible things. 
It's hard to fathom the number of believers who have murdered, raped, and looted in the name of God. 
Maybe that's the problem. 
Maybe faith is supposed to be something more personal. 
Maybe it's the banding together of people of a riged set of beliefs that perverts faith. 
It's the exclusive nature of religion which causes people to do terrible things in the name of God.
No religion has all of the answers. 
Nobody has a complete picture of what this life is about or who God is. 
So we should all be humble in our beliefs. 
If all people of faith were humble in their beliefs a lot of unfair judgment and persecution could be avoided. 

The Blessings Of The Unknown Unknowns
". 
. 
. 
as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. 
We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. 
But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know. 
. 
. 
it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones." ~ Donald Rumsfeld, speaking as U.S. 
Secretary of Defense 
It's the unknown unknowns that will get you. 
Not just in international politics, which Rumsfeld was referring to, but in other fields as well, and in life in general. 

But it's also the unknown unknowns that will be your biggest blessings. 
The unknown unknowns are those things that you never even imagined would happen to you and those opportunities that you didn't even know existed. 

Our Inner Democracy
Within each of us there are many points of view all competing for a satisfactory result. 
Even the result — the expression of those inner views, can vary from moment to moment. 
Who we are and how we express ourselves an hour from now may be slightly, even vastly different from who we are and how we express ourselves in this moment. 
Or as David Eagleman concluded his book Incognito: The Secret Lives Of The Brain:
". 
. 
. 
this book was written over the course of a few years by several different people, all of whom were named David Eagleman, but who were somewhat different with each passing hour."
We have an inner democracy which acts like a set of checks and balances. 
We have the ability to contemplate different points of view and to even temporarily adopt the arguments of those different points of view. 
We like to think that we have only one point of view and only one way of dealing with certain circumstances. 
This is so prevalent that we can even find ourselves defending opinions and actions we once expressed, but no long support. 
We are generally not comfortable with the fact that we contradict ourselves. 
But this contradictory nature is a reflection of our inner democracy — the many points of view we have contemplated and expressed over the course of many years.
There is a struggle within, and that struggle is normal. 
It becomes a problem though when we deny that it exists and we try to reconcile everything as one. 
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes)." ~ Walt Whitman, Song of Myself (also found in Eagleman's book)

5 Important Things Young People Can Learn From The Elderly
As observed by someone who is now in between young and elderly. 
Elderly people tend to care about saving their money, while young people tend to be more wasteful with their money. 
Elderly people tend to regret not saving more when they were younger. 
The odds of living to an elderly age are heavily in our favor and the odds of being able to work (or wanting to work) as an elderly person are heavily against us. 
Elderly people tend to think about their health every day. 
Young people tend to take their health for granted and assume it will always be fine. 
But if you live long enough, eventually you will have to deal with a serious heath issue. 
And how you live in your younger years will have some impact on what that issue will be and how soon it will happen. 
Elderly people tend to appreciate the people in their life more. 
Young people tend to sacrifice relationships for career goals and recreational activity. 
And young people seldom consider that their friends, family, or co-workers will one day be gone, while the elderly have already experienced such loses and think about it a lot. 
Elderly people tend to be humble. 
They tend not to be as protective of their ego as young people are. 
Young people tend to worry a lot about what other people think of them. 
In general, elderly people have lost too much to be egotistical — life has humbled them and they tend to be more able to empathize with others, because they have been through a lot themselves. 
Elderly people tend to be more spiritually minded than young people. 
Young people tend to think very little about life after death. 
Young people tend to live as though how they live is not important as long as they get what they want. 
Elderly people tend to understand that how you live is more important than what you gain for yourself. 

Finding Inner Peace
Our truest self — the part of us that is peace, love, and wisdom, is often not the self that we present to others. 
It's not even the self we usually identify with. 
The self we normally identify with is the ego self — the chatter box in our mind that doesn't want to shut up and has an opinion about everything. The true self is found when the chatter box shuts up. 
Turn off the voice in your mind that causes you anxiety — the voice that you use for having conversations with yourself. Turn off the volume and listen for the voice that does not speak in words — the one found in silence. 
This is the real you. 
The you that possesses wisdom. 
The you that is humble, yet strong, and knows the meaning of peace. 
Is there anything more desirable than inner peace? Is there anything more important? Nothing else matters without it. 
Nothing can take its place. Taming the battle within is the highest objective. 
It's where we are most weak and where we are potentially most strong.

Getting What We Want
We often ignore what we have, in pursuit of what we don't have. 
We often take for granted what we have and count it as nothing, while fixated on illusory outcomes which we think will make us happier and more secure. But we would be further ahead and less stressed if we focused more on what we already have. 
It's good to leave ourselves a little bit hungry anyway. 
It helps us appreciate what we have and it helps with clarity of thought. 
When you are not focused on getting, you become aware of what you already have and things "taste" better. 
We live in a time (and for most of us in the West, a place) when it should be particularly easy to identify something to be thankful for. 
There's less to want when you really appreciate what you have. If you got everything you wanted, something on that list would likely be the cause of your undoing. 
What seems unfair sometimes conspires in our favor and saves us from ourselves. 
Maybe the 80/20 rule would work well with this: Spend 20% of your time and efforts pursuing what you don't have and 80% appreciating and making the best of what you already have. 

The Things That Drive Us
Fear and greed can lead us to do things that are desperate and out of character. 
When unchecked, they can seduce you into thinking you or your circumstances are worse or better than you/they really are. 
Fear and greed can distort our perception of reality and cause us to do things that are antithetical to the very things we should be doing.
We cannot live without fear or greed entirely, we need a little of each, but we cannot afford to get caught too far out onto the edges of either one. 
Fear is present when protecting your child and greed is present when you accept something from another person (these are simplified examples of acceptable fear and greed).
So much of what we do is motivated by our desire for security. 
Another primary motive is meaning. 
They are equally important, because we are willing to sacrifice security for meaning and meaning for security, depending on our circumstances (though we would prefer to satisfy both). 
Everything we do is meant to satisfy one or both of these goals.
And hope is what keeps us alive. 
Without it no one would care to live another day and would end their life immediately. 
Fear of death may also prevent people from ending their life, but this still involves hope, because we are hoping that being alive for another day, even another second, will at least be better than experiencing death.
It’s worth reminding ourselves that we can only control what we can control. 
You can only do what you are meant to do. 
It does no good to allow ourselves to get caught up in stressing about things that we can’t influence in the slightest way. 
Better to focus more on the things we can influence and take the blessings that life gives us.

5 Big Things I've Learned

Those who appear most confident are often the most insecure and are putting up a front in order to hide/protect themselves. 
They may not even be fully aware they are doing it. 
And sometimes it's a conscious act in order to get what they want — a girl, a job, money, etc. 
But it's all rooted in insecurity. 
It's about taking care of ourselves, because we are all vulnerable, hence we are all insecure to some extent. 
Psychopaths I'm not sure about. 
Things are often not as bad as they seem. 
Emotion often grips our judgement and causes us to jump to premature conclusions and to do foolish things. 
What sounds true can turn out to be completely false. 
You have to do your own research and think for yourself. 
Be critical, not in a negative way, but in a truth seeking way. 
There is a struggle within ourselves between what we are and what we think we ought to be. 
This is an ongoing problem, but can be soothed by learning to let go and also by recognizing that although we are not perfect, our deepest desire is to do the right thing, therefore we are good. 
There is luck (God's grace) and there is hard-work (dedication and determination). 
But there are no short-cuts. 
What looks like a short-cut to success is actually a dead-end and may even result in a major setback. 
An example of this would be investing vs gambling. 


Humility And Finding The Nuggets Of Truth
I have discovered that I'm not smart enough to plan my life out. 
At least not in any great detail. 
There are too many variables and too many unknowns. 
And too many unexpected things have happened to me in my life (many of the best things were unplanned). 
I doubt anyone else is smart enough to do it either, but I'm sure there are many who think they've done it, while completely discounting luck or the grace of God.
The world is too big, too complex, and too integrated for any one person to know much of anything. 
And facts are rarely as factual as we think they are, as mistakes can be made, important components can be missing, biases and preferences can creep in and perceptions can be fooled. 
We know even less about the universe and the nature of reality. 
Even the entire embodiment of the scientific community after centuries of study has only scratched the surface.
There are a lot of things each of us think we know and we may be right about many of them, but there are few things we can know we know. 
The problem is we know we know too often, when in reality we only think we know. We have to be very careful about being too sure of anything, given that we are so good at deceiving ourselves. 
Even our nervous system fools us into thinking that solid objects are really solid, or that the color red is actually red, or that sound actually exists. 
Science has revealed that all of these things are interpretations of something we actually know nothing about ("probability waves").
On top of it all, our thoughts are often very distorted. 
We have to sift through a lot of different thoughts and feelings to discover the nuggets of truth. 
And we seem to be constantly in flux between over-estimation and under-estimation (we have difficulty evaluating things accurately). 
Much of what goes on in our mind is not only observations about our worldly environment and personal experience, but also influences from other people. 
Our thoughts are also influenced by genetic traits we've inherited from our parents and ancestors, and perhaps other forces we know nothing about ie; Jung's "collective unconscious" or a spiritual realm.
Whatever the truth is, we can say for sure that we do experience many conflicting thoughts and we do to some extent have the ability to make prudent choices. Knowing is not just about acquiring information, it's also about processing that information and using it in the right way. 
It takes inner guidance lead by reason, patience, and conviction (faith). 
In other words, it's not just about information, it's also about wisdom. 
Wisdom comes from within — from the soul, in conjunction with personal experience.
The best way to discover the nuggets of truth is to give yourself moments of silence and solitude in order to quiet the busyness of the mind. 
Often the right answers will arise from the silence in a subtle, but profound way.

Who Are You When You Are Alone?
It's easy to forget who you really are and what's truly important to you if you are spending all your time with other people. 
We are not only influenced by the opinions and actions of others, we also to some extent pretend to be something we are not, either to fit in or to dominate. 
Alone time is a way to clean the slate, to wash ourselves from the contamination of the world and to look behind our own mask and see what's really there.
When you temporarily remove yourself from society your ego begins to fade. 
The ego is all about what other people think of you. 
Who are you when there's nobody to impress — when you are all alone and what others think of you is irrelevant because they are not there? Who are you when you are not fantasizing — not creating imaginary scenarios and conversations in your mind? When it's just you and the birds and the wind? This is the real you, unshackled from the opinions of others or the need to dominate others for your own security.
When there's someone else to blame, you are likely to blame them. 
When there's someone else to take advantage of, you are likely to take advantage of them. 
When there's no one else there, it's just you and reality, you and nature, and so you can be honest and take responsibility for yourself.

10 Books That Changed My Perspective And That Could Change Yours In 2016
Grace Walk: What You've Always Wanted In The Christian Life, by Steve McVey: Ideal for Christians who grew up in a legalistic environment. 
It will help set you free from those religious chains and show you a different way to think about Christianity. 
Another good one in this category is The Misunderstood God, by Darin Hufford.
Confessions Of A Bible Thumper: My Homebrewed Quest For A Reasoned Faith, by Michael Camp: If you want to take it another step further in confronting your religious beliefs, particularly if you are a Christian, you will find plenty to chew on in this book. 
Be prepared to have many of your dogmas challenged.
Rich Dad's Conspiracy Of The Rich: The 8 New Rules Of Money, by Robert Kiyosaki: Rich Dad, Poor Dad was also an eye-opener, but Conspiracy of The Rich really blew the doors open for me and gave me a glimpse of how the global financial system really works and what you can do to prosper in it.
No More Dreaded Mondays, by Dan Miller: This is the book that lead me to start a blog. 
It's very inspirational and was the type of book I was thirsting for at that time. 
It will motivate and inspire you to pursue a job and/or lifestyle you are most suited for.
Biocentrism: How Life And Consciousness Are The Keys To The True Nature Of The Universe, by Robert Lanza: This book basically presents a "theory of everything". 
It will turn your understanding of the natural sciences on its head. 
This is a complete paradigm shift on how to think about reality.
The Five Love Languages: How To Express Heartfelt Commitment To Your Mate, by Gary Chapman : This book will help you better understand the needs of others, particularly a spouse, and learn what ways you can better communicate your love for him or her.
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves, by Matt Ridley: The author did a great job making the case that the world is a much better place to live in now than ever before (for most people). 
The world is not necessarily going to hell in a hand-basket after all, it just might be getting better, even a whole lot better. 
A good follow-up to this is Steven Pinker's The Better Angels Of Our Nature, which deals with the decline of violence. 
For those who are eschatological and believe in doomsday I also recommend Last Days Madness, by Gary Demar.
The Revolution: A Manifesto, by Ron Paul: This book changed my view of the role of government, or at least what it ought to be. 
Anyone in public service would be wise to balance their views of the role of government with some of the ideas presented by this former presidential candidate.
Overblown: How Politicians And The Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, And Why We Believe Them, by John Mueller: With so much media attention given to the problem of terrorism, it's easy to get caught-up in the fear and become terrorized as a result. 
This book gives proper perspective to the issue of terrorism and you will certainly feel less terrorized after reading it. 
Fear Of Life: The Wisdom of Failure, by Alexander Lowen: This book written by a psychotherapist will help bring insight into the inner complexities of man and how we struggle with who we really are vs who we think we ought to be. 
The message here is that the answer to most of our inner struggles is to learn to let go. 
It's the not letting go which perpetuates the problem. 
Or in the words of Lao Tzu "stop thinking, and end your problems".

The Ego And The True Self (or, Three Great Quotes About The Inner Life)
In his book Fear of Life: The Wisdom of Failure psychotherapist Alexander Lowen wrote that it is the fate of modern men and women (particularly in western society) to become neurotic.
The Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines Neurosis as “a mild mental illness involving symptoms such as depression, anxiety, or obsessive behavior.”
Lowen had this to say as part of his introduction:
“The neurotic individual is in conflict with himself. 
Part of his being is trying to overcome another part. 
His ego is trying to master his body; his rational mind, to control his feelings; his will, to overcome his fears and anxieties. 
Though this conflict is in large part unconscious, its effect is to deplete the person’s energy and to destroy his peace of mind. 
Neurosis is internal conflict. 
The neurotic character takes many forms, but all of them involve a struggle in the individual between what he is and what he believes he should be. 
Every neurotic individual is caught in this struggle.”
As a way of dealing with this inner struggle we tend to idealize ourselves, rather than see and accept ourselves as we really are. 
Or as another psychoanalyst put it:
“No one dealing with analytic psychology can fail to be struck by the tremendous and unnecessary burdens which man has placed upon himself, and how greatly he has increased the difficulties of adaptation by his rigid intellectual views and moral formulas, and by his inability to admit to himself that he is actually just a human being imperfect, and containing within himself all manner of tendencies, good and bad, all striving for some satisfactory goal. 
Further, that the refusal to see himself in this light instead of as an ideal person in no way alters the actual condition, and that in fact, through the cheap pretense of being able only to consider himself as a very virtuous person, or as shocked and hurt when observing the “sins” of others, he actually is prevented from developing his own character and bringing his own capacities to their fullest expressions.” ~ Beatrice M. 
Hinkle, from the intro to Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl G. 
Jung
The ego keeps us focused on a false self, an actor we create who fulfills a role in society’s play. 
But the true self has no desire or need to do things to improve itself or others, it lacks nothing, it is at perfect rest.
Author Jim Palmer put it this way in one of his blog posts:
“In the depths of our true Self we are peace, freedom, well-being, and contentment. 
On the surface of our lives there is drama because of our preferences, attachments, and not seeing things as they truly are. 
Your true Self is undisturbed and undisturbable. 
But this Self is masked by all the drama we are creating on the surface of our lives as we seek to attain happiness in ways that can never produce it.”

Living By Faith
We came into the world with nothing and we are going to leave with nothing. 
Everything we have or experience along the way is a gift to be appreciated, shared, and lost when it’s time for it to be lost.
If God wants us to have something or to keep something, it will happen. 
If God wants us to do something to ensure that it happens, we’ll be shown the way and given the means. 
There’s nothing to figure out on our own.
Thomas Merton said it this way:

“When he (man) tries to be his own god and insists on keeping his hands on everything, remembering everything and controlling everything, he drives himself to ruin. 
For when man thinks himself powerful, then at every moment he is in desperate need; he is in need of knowledge, strength, control, and he depends on countless instruments. 
But when man remembers the unfailing power of God and realizes that because he is the son of God, this power already belongs to him, then he does not have to think anymore about the things he needs. 
For what he needs will be given him when he needs it, and in this sense, God will think and act for him.”


Stop trying to figure it out — whatever it is that you are struggling with. 
Let it go and keep letting it go. 
Let the answers come to you when the time is right. 
The key to dealing with our struggles is to stop struggling.
Letting go doesn’t mean quitting. 
It means letting go of the wrong method for solving our problems and remaining open to the path that presents itself.
Take it one step at a time. 
Things you never even thought of will come your way. 
Doors will open that were once shut or that you didn’t even know existed.

Thoughts On Religion
It never occurred to me as a teen going to church, or later as an adult who no longer went to church (but still believed many of its doctrines) that it was not necessary to believe everything I was taught. I was under the assumption that the bible was absolutely true, every bit of it, and that the pastors and elders were above reproach as "God's anointed."
I believed these things because that's what I was taught. 
I never questioned it. 
But I should have, because it turns out that it wasn't all true and that some of the books of the bible are actually complete forgeries and some others were written anonymously.
This is something that is taught in many theological schools, yet you'll likely never hear a preacher say a word about it. 
And unless you do your own research and learn to think for yourself, you'll never know the difference. 
You'll go on believing everything you've been taught. (This doesn't just apply to the bible or to church by the way. 
That may not be your world. 
This applies to everything.)
So now I find myself in a place where I have to unlearn many of the things I was taught. 
Now I have to question everything.
Without educating ourselves, or at least the willingness to think deeply, it is quite easy to surrender ourselves to a fallacy. 
Especially if it is said with a lot of confidence or charm. 
We are mostly lazy in our willingness to think things through or do our own due diligence. 
This is why it’s so easy for political and religious leaders to fool the public (and many of them are fools themselves).
It’s okay not to attach your identity to a particular religion. 
You don’t have to call yourself a "Christian" (a derogatory name given by non-followers), or a "Buddhist" or something else. 
You don’t have to identify yourself as any of those things. Jesus did not found the Christian religion or its many doctrines, other people did. 
Buddha did not ask and probably didn’t want anyone to worship him (as some of his contemporary followers do). 
Jesus did not say or imply that we should canonize saints and pray to them as intercessors. 
Other people decided to do that.
You can follow certain religious doctrines if you wish, but you don’t have to. 
The message of any great spiritual teacher is that we need to go inward and find the presence of God within ourselves and from there we will find a peace and a grace that enables us to love others the way God loves us.
As far as Jesus being the “Messiah,” or that there even needs to be savior, is questionable. 
The idea that God became flesh and lived among the Jewish people in first century Judea, though not impossible, should be treated with skepticism. 
Particularly since we are reading about it through a historically unreliable set of documents.
The same goes for the virgin birth, water turning into wine, thousands of people being fed on only a few fish and some bread, and the beloved resurrection and ascension narrative. 
We have no way of knowing if these things actually happened, or if they are just really great stories that illustrate a deeper truth. 
Is it really necessary to believe those things in order to be acceptable to a loving God?
Many religions have been formed based on various different ideas of who or what God is. 
Even within each religion there are various sects and denominations, because we all have such different ideas about God. 
It’s okay to have differing views about God. 
The problems arise when we become so entrenched in our ideas that we believe all others are completely wrong. 
We end up (without realizing it) worshiping our ideas about God.
Who do we pray to when we pray and why do we pray when we pray? Is it our ideas about God that help us or is it God who helps us? When we are in need of help, is it our theological or doctrinal beliefs that we turn to, or do we seek a God of compassion?
In this sense don’t we all pray to the same God? Isn’t it our ideas and beliefs that get in our way and become our Gods when we are not able to get along with each other in matters of religion?

Living With Purpose
Life is too short to be driven by goals alone. 
Live with purpose. 
Goals keep us focused on things that haven’t happened, while purpose keeps us focused on what’s happening right now.
When we become too focused on drafting and following detailed plans in order to reach specific goals we turn life into a system of achievement, rather than a moment to moment experience.
And when we have too many goals we give ourselves too many targets to focus on and are less likely to hit the most important ones. Many of the most important things in life are not things that can be planned, measured, or achieved anyway.
Many people have achieved their goals but still feel empty. 
While many others have set no goals, but lived a full meaningful life.
Goals are not a bad thing, they’re just not necessary. 
Follow your purpose, goals or no goals. Purpose is not out there somewhere. 
Purpose is right here, right now, in this moment.

Take A Time Out
Find some balance in your life. 
Not only in your activities, but also in your thoughts. 
Don't dwell too much on the past, the future, or your problems. 
Remember to set aside time for yourself every day to rest your mind and reconnect with yourself. 
Take a step back and think about what you've been thinking about. 
Try to get to the bottom of why you've been thinking and feeling the way you have been. 
Once you understand what triggers your negative thoughts and emotions you'll be more prepared to cope with them. 

It's tough to deal with problems if you won't admit that they exist. 
It's okay that certain things bother you. 
Not so good if you won't admit to yourself that they do. 
What we resist persists, but so does what we deny. 
Acknowledge it, and let it go.
It's about self-recognition and self-understanding. 
You need moments of silence and solitude in order to reach those moments of recognition and understanding. 
Find moments of silence and solitude and you'll find your inner wisdom. 

Realizing Your Vision
Why not you? Why can't you fulfill the vision you have inside of you? Half the battle is believing that it can happen. 
The other half is doing what you have to do to make it happen. 
Remind yourself of why and how it can be done.
You don't have to do a lot of things well, you only have to do a few things well. 
And the most important thing may be your thinking ability, in terms of your ability to remain positive. 
Sometimes the ability to be positive is just about letting go of the negative. 

Sometimes the best we can do is follow our instincts and trust that the right road will reveal itself little by little as we continue moving forward. 
Follow the road as it becomes more clear, eventually you will get to where you are supposed to be. 

Just keep working toward your goals. 
Something will workout eventually. 
Maybe not exactly the way you envision it, but something positive. 
Work toward your goals, but don't take them too seriously, life is going to have lots of surprises for you.
We worry about not making it — about not working hard enough to create opportunities for ourselves, but if we would just make the most of the opportunities that come our way we would make plenty of progress. 
Patience and diligence will offer more opportunity than we usually realize.


We cannot make our vision a reality in its fullness overnight when it’s likely meant to take years or even a life time. 
So take the actions you need to take, have the long-suffering patience you need to have, and what is meant to be will be.

Do What You Are Meant To Do
Don't give up on trying to find balance in your life. 
Stick to your priorities, remember what's most important to you and do every thing you can to put yourself in a position where you can focus on those priorities, rather than being pulled by the expectations of others. 

It's easy to get caught up in the expectations of others. 
To know what to do sometimes you have to distance yourself from others. 
You need to know how to be alone sometimes in order to know how to be around others. 

The world is mad with a lot of mad people not being themselves and not doing what they are meant to do. 
But you don't have to be like everyone else. 
You don't have to do what everyone else is doing. 
You know what you want. 
You know what's important to you. 
You know the life you are supposed to be living. 
It's up to you to pursue it. 
If you are still not sure, then follow the path of peace and love, and you'll know what you need to be focusing on.
You have the power to set the tone of your day. 
Go to bed early, get up early. 
Pray, meditate, take your time. 
Focus on the big picture stuff. 
You don't need to think about or do as many things as you think you do.
There never seems to be enough time in the day. 
But how much of that time do we waste? There's almost always enough time for the most important things if we can successfully block out or minimize the less important things.


You can spend your whole life doing what you don't want to do, and die. 
Or you can spend your life doing what you do want to do, and die. 
The end result is the same. 
The question is whether or not you are going to enjoy yourself in the meantime.

Finding Truth In Religious Texts
History is a very interesting and important subject. 
It can be helpful to know what others have done and said in the past so we can learn from them. 
But we should not accept something as truth simply because a historical (possibly fictional) figure or historian said something was so.
There are a couple of reasons why. 
The first is that human beings are not always right. 
The second is that historians and historical records are often wrong, incomplete, misinterpreted and even fabricated.


Even if the person existed and the record of what they said has been accurately preserved, aside from the fact that the person might have been wrong, there’s also the problem of interpretation. 
It’s very common for two or more people to view the same statement or story in very different ways and translate it as such.
Anything another person says, including that of historical figures and historical records, should be viewed in light of what your own heart tells you and measured against your own experiences.
And yes, this includes the bible. 
And all other religious texts. 


“Our knowledge of any past event is always incomplete, probably inaccurate, beclouded by ambivalent evidence and biased historians, and perhaps distorted by our own patriotic or religious partisanship. 
Most history is guessing, and the rest is prejudice.”  ~ Will and Arial Durant, The Lessons of History

Forget about the doctrines you've been taught for a moment. 
Do the words on the page speak to your soul or not? And if so, which parts speak truth to you and which parts insult you? These are important questions to ask. 
And it's up to each of us to answer them for ourselves.
It's not up to a preacher, teacher or counselor to tell you what to think and then you simply believe them. 
Either the words on the page speak something to you personally, or they don't. 
Don't pretend they do if they don't. 
And don't pretend they don't if they do.
If religious texts serve any purpose at all, it's not to fill your head with stories or lessons on morality, but to reconnect you with your true self.
What would happen if you decided to discard all the doctrinal beliefs you were taught and simply follow your heart? Do you think you would be okay? Do you think anything bad would happen because you chose not to believe something another human being said? Why should you believe that God can reveal things to other people, but not to you?

10 Ways To Make Your Day More Meaningful
Wake up early. 
Enjoy the sunrise. 
Enjoy the quiet, slow pace of the early morning. 
Use this time to meditate, pray, reflect, write, exercise, etc. 
Prioritize. 
Remember to do the most important things to you and your family. 
Don't get bogged down with all of the things that call for your immediate attention. 
Read books that answer your deepest questions. 
Eat your food more slowly and actually enjoy it instead of just treating it like fuel. 
Don't watch the news and play with your phone while eating. 
Just eat. 
Go for a walk and enjoy nature. 
Sit in a park and listen to the birds. 
Go to the beach and listen to the waves crashing against the shore. 
Watch something funny. 
Not just something mildly funny, like the average sitcom. 
But your favorite episode of your favorite comedy, your favorite late night comedy sketch, or something else that will make you laugh until your eyes water. 
Begin a project or hobby you've been wanting to start, but have been putting off. 
Take the first step. 
Spend time with the people most important to you, not just the activities most important to you. 
Do one thing at a time. 
Whatever is most important to do right now, do it. 
Let everything else wait. 
Don't even think about the next thing. 
Multi-tasking gets things done, but not done as well, and not done as meaningfully. 
Help others. 
And be mindful of the good you have done for others and the good you will continue to do, in your work and in your personal life.
 

How To Start Something New
You can spend a lot of time sitting around thinking about what you'd like to do, or you can just start doing it. 
Every minute you spend thinking about it is another minute you are not doing it.  
If you keep saying that you'll do it someday, but you haven’t even taken the first step, then you probably never will. 
And the more you talk about it, the more likely it is that you won't do it.


Even if you only make one small step today, this is far more valuable than spending another day thinking about it and talking about it. 
Little steps add up to a lot over time. 
Take the little steps. 

Don’t get too far ahead of yourself, and don’t give up. 
Take breaks when you need to, retrace your steps when you need to, but don’t be too long in postponing your next step forward.

That’s how you begin something new, by beginning. 
Even if you aren’t able to do it as well as you’d like to. 
Don’t worry about, you’ll get better with experience. 

Don’t over-think it. 
Just get to work and do your thinking along the way. 
You’ll learn more from experience than you will trying to imagine something you’ve probably never done before.
Don't say you'll start next month or next Monday. 
Stop reading this and start right now. 
Even if starting is something as simple as reading the first page of a book.

The Value Of Silence
Most of us don't like silence, because it forces us to confront ourselves. 
And sometimes what we find staring back is emptiness.


We’re also afraid of silence, because we equate silence with insignificance. 
We want to be heard and seen. 
We want to make ourselves relevant. 
We want to be somebody in the eyes of others. 

The desire to make ourselves feel relevant can be very strong. 
But in our quest to be heard and noticed and thought well of by others we often drown out our inner voice.


We're constantly in search of something we already have. 
We already have everything we truly need, within us. 
The peace we seek is not out there somewhere. 
It's in the here and now, in this moment, within us.
If you want to know yourself, turn off the T.V., the radio, the internet and the running dialogue in your head. 
Go to a quiet place and spend time alone. 
This is where you'll meet yourself. 
This is where you’ll learn what's truly important to you. 

While sitting in silence we can hear and see things we otherwise wouldn’t, and our desires become few and simple. 
We find our inner voice of contentment and realize that we're already everything we need to be. 
Silence helps bring us back to a place of rest and clarity within, away from the noise of the world.

Guard this space in your schedule. 
It’s more important than anything you do, because it’s from there that you'll find the strength, purpose and self-composure to be a better person for yourself and for others.
Like sleeping, brushing your teeth, eating, going to work and exercise, we need time for silence in our day. 
We need time in our day to cultivate silence so we can bring it with us into our daily actions and live with a sense of peace, even in the midst of stressful circumstances.

To An Even Better Future
Imagine if you went back in time to the middle ages or sometime before that and told people that one day we will build machines that will fly to outer space, land on the moon and visit other planets. 
You would be considered a lunatic or a heretic.
Hundreds of years later, people like Copernicus and Galileo would teach that the sun did not revolve around the earth as previously thought, but the other way around. 
Copernicus had to wait until the day before his death to publish a book about it. 
And Galileo’s reward for his forward thinking was permanent house arrest.
Today, people still resist new ideas and new ways of looking at things. 
But if we compare today’s conventional wisdom with the conventional wisdom of past generations it's clear that we've come along way. 
We continue to repeat many mistakes of the past, but we’ve learned many lessons along the way. 

Human nature has likely not changed much over the years, but it’s tough to argue that the world is not a better place to live in today than it was 1000 years ago. 
If you had been born only a little over 100 years ago, even in a “developed” country, your chances of surviving to adulthood would have been much lower than it is today. 
One thousand years ago the survival rate was even less and you probably would never have learned how to read or write and would have spent your entire life in poverty. 
We’re also much less likely today to be made slaves or come under the authority of tyrannous regimes and dictators. 
The list goes on. 
It goes on in-spite of the relatively new realities of nuclear weapons and environmental concerns. 
Though the proliferation of nuclear weapons may be what has prevented a third world war from occurring. 
And steps toward improving the environment seem to be moving in a positive direction.
Even in the best of social settings — the best cities, the best companies, the best institutions, you'll find not only imperfection, but outright corruption. 
That is one of the fundamental realities of the human family — that we are not perfect, and capable of doing many deceitful and damaging things.
But despite this and despite the popular view that the world is becoming a more dangerous place, it may actually be getting better. 
We are more civilized than we once were, much more democratic than we once were, and much less likely to kill each other than we once were. 
Life is now better for a greater number of people than ever before. 
Though it doesn't seem that way via mass media, a study of history reveals that it's true.   
Many people have warned about the darkness of their times. 
Every generation thinks theirs is the most wicked, and doomed. 
There have also been many who have proclaimed that the human race was incapable of learning more than it had already learned and that further scientific discovery and economic progress was impossible. 
Yet in every case, generation after generation, century after century, the doomsdayers and pessimists were wrong. 

Though "the world hangs on a thin thread, and that thread is the psyche of man," as Carl Jung once said, and although there will be periods of stagnation and regression, I suspect that today's and tomorrow's prophets of doom will be proven wrong as well.
Here's to an even better future. 


What We Need The Most (And Where To Find It)
For many of us, we pursue money and possessions as a way of satisfying not only our material needs but also our inner needs. 
We feel like we need certain luxuries before we can have inner peace. 
Or that once we achieve a certain level of financial stability then we can finally relax and start to find the inner peace we desire. 

But beyond our most basic material needs what we need most of all is to learn to be at peace in the here and now. 
We need to learn to be at peace even before we obtain material wealth. 
We need to learn to be at peace above all else. 

It's so important that it's worth sacrificing some material wealth in order to find it. 
This is not to say that it's better to live in poverty. 
But if our attachment to possessions is unfulfilling, it may be time to let some things go.
We spend the greater part of our lives in search of inner peace. 
And we usually go looking in all the wrong places. 
We forget that peace is within us. 
At the deepest level of our being, the very core of who we are, is peace.
Life is short. 
And it’s really easy to waste the very little time that we have. 
The most important thing to remember in life is to keep your peace. 
Remember to breathe, take your time and clear your mind of disturbing thoughts.
This often gets thrown out the window once someone says or does something we don’t like, but those are the moments when it’s most important to “be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.”
Or as Lao Tzu said “stop thinking, and end your problems."
The way to find peace is to stop trying to find it. 
The path to peace is a path of letting go.

Looking For The Positive
There can be many reasons to not be happy. 
But we sometimes forget that there are also many reasons to be happy. 
We have to look for the positive. 
And if we can’t find it, at least refrain from indulging the negative.
Whenever you find yourself frustrated about lost opportunities or uncertainties about the future remember to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. 
Observe where you are at in your life right now. 
There are so many things to be grateful for that we tend to overlook.
What advantages have you been given? What fortunate breaks and opportunities have you had? If we are honest with ourselves we should be able to see that we have been fortunate in many ways.
This kind of “positive thinking” is not about creating a fantasy world where everything is great. 
It’s about focusing on what is positive. 
There’s always something. 
Just the ability to get out of bed in the morning under your own strength is a major positive for some people.

Negative thoughts are mostly the past trying to invade the present (and the future), they do not represent the present reality. 
Let go of negatively, resentment, fear of not being good enough, of being judged, of failure, and realize that right now you are okay.
Recognize that your true identity is one of stillness and peace. 
Antagonistic and dark thoughts are part of the human experience, but not who we really are; it’s who we are when we lose sight of our true identity.

Learning To Go With The Flow
Sometimes we lack the patience needed to let things run their course. 
And by taking action at the wrong times or in the wrong ways we create problems that would not have otherwise occurred. Or as Lao Tzu said, "rushing into action, you fail. 
Trying to grasp things, you lose them. 
Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe.”
And when we try too hard to force a particular outcome, anything or anyone that keeps us from making it happen may seem like an enemy, even loved ones. 
There are times when certain circumstances or people keep us from doing things that need to be done, but many times it’s not circumstances or people who get in the way, it’s our own desire to control a particular outcome that either cannot or doesn’t need to be controlled. 

I’m thankful that I didn’t get all of the things I wanted. 
Many of the things I wanted weren’t right for me and something better usually came along instead. 
Sometimes we have to let go and trust that if it’s meant to be it will workout if we remain patient and allow time to be our ally.
How many times have you wanted something so bad, didn’t get it, and were ultimately better off for not getting it? It happens a lot, doesn’t it? Conversely, how many times has something really cool happened to you when you least expected it? How many important people have come into your life through no real planning of your own? How many times have you ended up with something better than you thought you wanted?
If we stopped striving for the things we want and were willing to be more patient, we would find that things generally workout for the best and with a lot less self-induced stress.
The idea of doing nothing and allowing things to work themselves out or waiting for solutions to present themselves seems unrealistic and passive. 
But this "go with the flow" philosophy is not about accepting everything as it is and refraining from ever trying to change things. 
Going with the flow is not about inaction. 
It’s about recognizing when it’s time to take action and when it’s time to let things be. 
It’s about controlling the things that can and need to be controlled and learning to accept the things that cannot.

On Being Yourself
Somewhere along the way someone probably told you that you were no good. 
And somewhere along the way someone probably had good things to say about you. 
So why should you default to the negative? If you are going to live in the past you might as well make it a good one. 

Better yet, why not stop measuring your worth based on the opinions of others? You are not who other people say you are and you are not who other people say you are going to be. 

If we stopped worrying so much about what other people think of us we would be less likely to do stupid things. 
Because many of the things we do, we do to impress others and that often leads to doing stupid things.
Seeking the approval of others is not always a bad thing. 
It’s natural to want to be liked. 
But it’s important to remember that our greatest strengths are within. 
Regardless of what anyone thinks we must first approve of ourselves. 
What you think of you is more important and more powerful than what anyone else thinks of you.
Accept yourself as you are, with all of your faults. 
Somewhere in that tangled mess is a feeling of peace and of love. 
Embrace those qualities. 
Those are your truest desires. 
That is the real you.
There’s no need to hold yourself to a particular identity that someone else has given you. 
Shed off that phony persona and let the real you come through. You are only going to be here once, when else are you going to do it? Are you going to spend your whole life trying to live up to what others expect of you just to die having never really lived at all?

Peace Is Right Now
You don’t have time to be stressed about things you can’t control. 
You don’t have time to stress about things that have never happened or that are not likely to happen. You only have time for what’s actually happening right now. 
Focus on what is real and necessary in your current situation. Clear your mind of what hasn’t happened.
If we spend our time worrying about what hasn’t happened, when or if it does actually happen we’ll have lived it multiple times. 
Better to live it once when it actually happens than to live it over and over again in your mind. Whatever you are worried about probably won’t happen anyway. 
As for the troubles that will happen you’ll likely find that your peace today will prepare you for them.
Our fears exaggerate themselves in our mind, but in reality they are powerless without our permission. 
Emotions are a powerful signal, they tell us a lot about ourselves, but we shouldn’t let them distort our thinking to such an extent that they bend our sense of reality and create problems that don’t exist or exaggerate the ones that do.
Many of our concerns are manufactured in our mind and when one list of concerns is eliminated another is born. 
It’s as though we are not willing to permit ourselves to be too content. 
It’s as though there always has to be something to worry about or something to work on before we can finally be at peace.
We tend to keep pushing contentment in front of us like something that we’ll get to in the future. 
But contentment is not later, it’s right now. 
Peace will not come until we are willing to open ourselves up to it, right here, right now.

Why You Should Speak Your Truth
We often hold back our ideas because we are afraid of being rejected by others. 
And instead of being rejected by others we end up rejecting ourselves by remaining silent.


Sometimes it's hard to say what we want to say, for fear of being misunderstood, judged, and ultimately rejected. 
It's inevitable that some people will not receive the message you are trying to convey, regardless of the delivery method. 
We often hear what we want to hear, rather than what's being said. 
Throw in language barriers and confusion over meanings of words and the problem is compounded.


It’s unfortunately common for people to be rejected simply for having the guts to speak their mind. 
It takes courage to explore your deepest thoughts and concerns. 
Even more if you plan on sharing them with others.


If ideas and beliefs cannot be discussed openly, a culture of fear will preside. 
It’s one thing to ostracize someone because they are deliberately trying to deceive or harm others, it’s another to do it because you are afraid of having your ideas and beliefs challenged. 
It’s the fearful who tend to reject the brave, not the other way around.
Any idea outside of current norms is likely to be considered strange, even unsafe. 
But the definitions of normal and strange tend to change over time. 
Strange often becomes the new normal and normal the new strange. 
Your ideas may be considered strange right now, but one day they may be the new normal.
You didn’t come into this world to be like everyone else and do what everyone else is doing. 
You have an opportunity to be different, to show those around you and the world a different way. 
You brought with you a divine spark, don’t let the world extinguish it. 
Be who you were created to be, live the life you have been called to live and return Home knowing that your mission is complete.

The Mystery Of Life (And What To Do About It)
There’s a mind beyond the brain which we sometimes call our "consciousness" or our "spirit." From the perspective of the hard sciences it doesn't exist. 
But there are some clues that it does exist. 
What we know of it is much more a matter of personal experience though. 
What we sometimes refer to as intuition, epiphanies and revelations. 
Even psychic and prophetic abilities.
Even what we experience as the physical or material world is actually non-physical and non-material at the quantum level. 
What we regard as “matter” actually only is so according to the perception of the observer. 
Everything otherwise exists as what physicists call “probability waves.” Or as physicist Niels Bohr said “everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real."
Neuroscientists have developed methods to detect and even to some extent observe thought and emotional activity in the brain and can even influence certain thoughts and behaviors. 
But they have not been able to explain how it can also work in reverse — how a person can influence their own brain and control their thoughts. 
Hence the “mind beyond the brain.”
And that is the great mystery of life. 
That we and everything we experience is beyond what it appears to be. 
That we are not just our DNA. 
That we have a higher existence. 
It’s our connection to what or who we call God. 

But we don’t need to fully understand this mystery. 
What’s most important is that we accept it the way that it is. 
If your queries about the nature of reality cause you a lot of stress, let them go for a while. 
Anything you need to know will come to you when the time is right.
Science tells us a lot about how things are, but does little if anything to tell us why things are. 
And the study of metaphysics, as interesting as it is, is peripheral to the art of living in the now and finding peace among the challenges of day-to-day life.
Life is full of tough questions. 
Some of which we can answer, others we can’t. 
We shouldn’t shrink from facing these questions, but after a while it’s okay to let them go — to make peace with them. 
At some point we have to get on with living the life that’s in front of us each day and let some of the mysteries remain mysteries. 
It’s important to contemplate the mysteries of life, but don’t let it make you unhappy. 
If it’s making you unhappy, you are probably over-thinking it. 
Let it go for a while and focus on what you already know and understand.
We can torment ourselves with questions we’ll likely never find answers for or we can let them go and find a reason to appreciate being alive in the moment. 
One thing that we do know is that life is fragile and short and all we really have for sure is this moment.
In his book Ruthless Trust, Brennan Manning cited a story about a man who asked Mother Teresa to pray for him to have greater clarity and how she said to the man “clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.” When he said that she seemed to have the clarity he wanted, she laughed and said “I have never had clarity, what I have always had is trust. 
So I will pray that you trust God.”

The Pursuit of Knowledge
You never know where you’ll find new knowledge. 
It can come at unexpected times, in unexpected places and in unexpected ways. 
It could come through a book, a movie, a trip, even a casual conversation. 
You never know when, where, or how you might find a useful nugget of information that sticks with you or leads you down a new rabbit hole of discovery.
The best is when it causes you to connect new dots. 
Connecting the dots between old knowledge and new knowledge simplifies our understanding of things we used to find confusing.
But knowledge-seeking can also be a slave master, constantly pushing us to acquire more. 
Much of our suffering comes from our desire for and struggle with trying to have everything figured out. 
It’s not that we shouldn’t desire answers or seek them, but that we need to find a place within where we can search for answers and yet be comfortable not finding them.
When we give knowledge-seeking a higher status in our life than it deserves we often end up attaching our identity to the things we think we know. 
We do it in such a way that if anyone, even a loved one, disagrees with us it’s as though they have attacked us personally and we feel compelled to defend our position as though we are defending our own honor and self-worth.
And if the other person presumably doesn’t have the same knowledge we have we begin to feel a sense of superiority. 
Knowledge, when unchecked by love, puffs us up with false pride and blocks our source of true wisdom.

It’s natural to seek knowledge outside of ourselves, but often what we find is not knowledge, but unassimilated information and mixed ideas. 
What we need to know most is already within us. 
If we’ll just quiet our busy mind we’ll be able to connect with it.
We can glean wisdom from other people, but only if it leads us back into ourselves. 
To simply adopt the opinions and views of others as our own is not true understanding. 
Knowing things is different from knowing about things. 
And to truly know something is to know it within you. 
Or as Galileo put it, "you can't teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves."
Let wisdom guide you in your pursuit of knowledge. 
Explore your heart and you’ll find an inherent wisdom. 
Inner wisdom makes its home in silence and humility. 
Embrace these two qualities and you’ll find your inner wisdom.

On Giving Up
There are three ways to “give up”:

Quitting: to give up on something we know we should continue.
Moving on: to give up on something we know we shouldn’t continue.
Acceptance: to give up trying to control things that are beyond our control.

To the outside observer it’s difficult to tell which of these paths another has chosen when they have “given up.” Only the person doing it knows the truth.
Sometimes giving up is the right thing to do. 
But we need to be honest with ourselves about why we’re doing it. 

How To Get To Where You Want To Be
Remember to do what brings you peace. 
Don't chase after the world's nut. 
In the world people chase after the same nut and divide it up amongst themselves, thinking they are rich. 
But most people are poor in spirit, because they are too busy chasing after the world's nut. 
Don't be a slave to your ego, be a slave to contentment. 

In other words, don't sacrifice inner peace in pursuit of money, power, reputation, etc. 
You don't have to be like everyone else or do what everyone else is doing. 
Follow your path, do your thing, and you'll get to where you want to be. 

Sometimes getting to where you want to be is not an ascent. 
Sometimes it's a descent — a path toward greater humility. 
Getting to where you want to be is not always about acquiring or accumulating things, sometimes it's about letting things go, learning to be more content, being a more compassionate person, etc. 

Don't chase after what other people want, no matter how good they make it sound. 
Do what is important to you, even if others don't understand it. 
No matter what it is you won't be alone, you will eventually find others who are like you and who will support you.

Surrender To The Moment
If you are feeling confused, frustrated, and/or depressed, let go of the thoughts that are causing you to feel this way. 
And if you are having trouble "letting go," pray. 
Prayer will help you let go.
Confusion is the result of being pulled in too many different directions. 
The result of conflicting ideas and conflicting desires. 
This can be influenced both externally and internally. 
But even internal conflict is often the result of external influences. 

Often the best way to deal with a state of internal conflict is to cut ourselves off from external influences as much as possible until the mind settles down and becomes more focused again.
Some of our best days are the ones when we don't think too much. 
Not thinking doesn't mean empty-mindedness. 
It just means not over-analyzing everything and not dwelling on things that cause us a lot of anxiety.
Stop searching for answers you already have. 
Even after we find the right answers we have a tendency to keep searching for better ones. 
We're always looking for some well-kept secret or some complicated formula. 
Usually the answer is right under our nose, but we ignore it because it's too obvious or too simple.

If you are stressed out about the future, trying to figure out your next move, constantly searching for answers, then you can be sure you are at that moment not living by faith. 
Faith lets go and deals with each moment as it comes. 
Each moment then becomes preparation for the next.

"Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?" ~ Lao Tzu 

Travel Well
We live with a lot of urgency in our modern times. 
But there's rarely a reason to live with such urgency. 
Many of the important things in life take time to unfold.


We are so focused on arriving in almost everything we do. 
We can't even get 7 or 8 hours of sleep at night because we're so focused on getting things done and preparing to get things done. 

We hurry through meals (or skip them), or buy fast food, because it's fast. 
We create never-ending ‘to do' lists. 
We stay late at work or take it home with us. 
We check emails and respond to them pretty much all day long. 
The list goes on. 

This sense of urgency and lack of balance sucks the peace and joy out of life. 
It's very unnatural.
Remember to enjoy the journey. 
It's better to travel well than to arrive (Buddha). 
Or as Lao Tzu said "a good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving."

What Having Real Guts Looks Like
It's hard to find a real person. 
Most of us are not ourselves most of the time. 
We are very much the collective influence of those we associate with the most. 
We are even the characters we watch on T.V. 

It seems that few people take the time to get to know themselves and even fewer have the fortitude to be themselves in public. 
It's not easy to be your true self when most of the people around you are not being themselves. 
It's not easy to be your true self when most of the people around you expect you to be like them.
 But when we choose to do it, we become mirrors of truth. 
Those around us see that they are not being real. 
And they either admire you or resent you for it. 
And even those who resent you probably hold a secret admiration. 
It's only because they are not willing to be themselves too that they try to make themselves feel better by putting you beneath them.  
How bold are you willing to be? Are you willing to sacrifice your reputation and risk being rejected? Being your true self comes with a certain amount of loneliness. 
But the world needs you to be your true self, even though it acts like it doesn't want you to. 

By "true self" I don't mean speaking without restraint or doing whatever we feel like doing regardless of circumstances. 
I mean the you that is not all about self, and the you that stands up for others in the face of lost reputation.


When we sacrifice our reputation we become invincible, because there's nothing for our opponents to attack. 
All they can attack is your view of yourself — your ego self, which you have already crucified. 
When you make your words and actions about truth, rather than about yourself (your image, your reputation, being right) then you are free and you are powerful. 

And no matter how many times we slip up and make it about ourselves again, we can always crucify that resurrected ego once more. 
  



I've Won The Lottery
I am the beneficiary of the gifts of those who came before me.
The electricity that I use for light, cooking, and entertainment was made possible by the genius, hard work, and sacrifice of many who lived before I was even born. 

As well as many other things:
The hospital I was born in. 
The training of the doctors and nurses. 
The vaccines which kept me from contracting deadly diseases. 

The oil and gas that heated our home in the winter. 
And the home itself, which was the result of the skill of carpenters, electricians, and plumbers. 

The education I received so I could read, write, reason, add, subtract, multiply and divide, etc.


And how about the comfortable shoes I wear. 
Or the tooth-brush and tooth paste I use to keep my teeth from rotting? What about the trucks, air planes, ships and trains that transport all of these things, as well as the food I eat? 
Speaking of food, who was it that learned agricultural practices and passed on those lessons to future generations of farmers, who themselves helped advance the production of food and keep all of the other productive people fed?
Why does clean, drinkable water run from a tap in my house, am I responsible for that?
I am one of the richest people in history. 
Even kings and queens of the past did not have most of the luxuries I have today. 
And compared to the collective thought, energy, and sacrifice of those who came before me and the collective body of people who provide such resources today, I have contributed almost nothing. 

I have won the lottery.

My Imaginary Friend Who Is Not So Imaginary
Some people are probably uncomfortable with saying that they have a "relationship with God," I know I am. 
It kind of sounds like you're saying you have an imaginary friend. 
And in a way you do, because you cannot produce this person or entity you call God anymore than a child can introduce her imaginary friend to her real friends. 

A relationship with God is different though. 
I don't imagine myself sitting in front of God having a dialogue or pretend that God is hanging out with me. 
It's more of a trust, a letting go of myself and trusting that things will workout for the best. 

There's no old man with a white beard or anything like that. 
It's entirely a mystical experience. 
It cannot really be explained and it definitely can't be described, because there's nothing really to describe other than a feeling. 

And in general, that feeling is inner peace. 
My inner peace is God and God is my inner peace. 
God is also the love that I have for others and the love I receive from them.
How about you?

Why It's Okay To Wrestle With The Bible
If you are a student of the bible and you never grapple with it, never question it, never doubt it, you are not a very good student. 

If you were, you would know that it's full of errors and contradictions. 

You would know that many of the books and letters were written anonymously and that some are complete forgeries. 

You would know that the people of Jesus' day, including Jesus himself spoke Aramaic, but the bible was written in Greek and translated from Greek to whatever language you read it in. 
Things always get lost in translation. 

You would know that the first Gospel was not written until approximately 30 to 40 years after the death of Jesus (the others even later). 
Meaning that the stories about him were passed on via oral tradition for an entire generation before anyone wrote them down. 

You would know that most Jews, including Jesus, his followers, and those we believe wrote the books and letters of the New Testament (with the exception of Paul, since he was a scholar) were not likely able to speak or write in Greek, the language they were written in. 

There are plenty of reasons to wrestle with the bible. 
Don't be ashamed if you've been wrestling with it. 
And don't be afraid to continue wrestling with it. 
If you are not wrestling with it you are not learning the truth. 

Having said all this, regardless of what you believe about the historical origins or accuracy of the bible, it is undeniable that this book is filled with truth and wisdom. 
Jesus' teachings about love are the real deal. 
The New Testament draws a compelling image of God's heart for humanity. 
And many of the lessons and analogies about faith are great words to live by. 


How To Restore Lost Hope
What is it that keeps us going if it's not hope? Without hope for a better tomorrow (future) or at least a tomorrow that is as good as today (if today was a good day) most of us would not likely continue living. 

There's a lot of suffering in life, we all suffer, even the free and the rich. 
But we live for the hope of joy. 
What happens to someone who has little or no joy left? Without hope that their joy will return one day, they are likely to end their life, rather than going through many years of suffering just to die anyway. 

The other thing that keeps us going is fear. 
When hope and joy are absent, fear can still keep people alive — fear of the unknown after death, fear of punishment, fear of hell. 
But if fear of hell dissipates and hope is not restored, it's not hard to see why some people kill themselves. 

So how do we restore hope when it is lost — hope for more joy, joy that makes the suffering worth it, or at least durable? 
We have to start by turning off the negative dialogue in our mind and remove ourselves form contaminating influences. 
We have to choose to let go of the negative forces and influences in our environment and in our own mind. 
We have to create space for hope and joy to get in. 

Sometimes hope and joy will push the negativity out on its own, but sometimes we are so resistant and so distracted and self-deluded that it cannot get in. 
So we have to consciously make room. 

That conscious effort, that will to go on, to not give up, is faith. 
Faith is not an act of grabbing onto something and holding it tightly, it's actually the letting go of the illusion of control. 
Once we give up on our ability to solve the problem, we leave room for the problem to begin to work itself out. 

This faith, this letting go of what's disturbing us is the way out, the way out of darkness and leaves room for light to eventually find its way back in.

What To Do When You Have Too Much To Do
When we have too much on our plate it's usually because we have too much on our mind. 
You have to get off the treadmill and start focusing on what's most important and most fruitful. 

Find some quiet time alone, even if all you have available is a few minutes. 
Focus on your breathing, ask yourself what is most important to you. 
Continue paying attention to your in-breaths and out-breaths (in through the nose, out through the mouth). 

Don't try to think of an answer. 
Just keep focusing on your breathing. 
Eventually thoughts of what you value most will come to you. 
If they don't, keep with the breathing for as much time as you have available. 
If time runs out or you get tired just continue on with your day or go to sleep and try again later. 

Eventually answers will come to you. 
Once you have some answers you'll be better equipped to make time for what's most important to you and say no to what's less important. 

Don't be afraid to say no to things that distract you, tempt you, make you feel guilty, make you feel like you aren't good enough or not doing enough. 
Don't be afraid to say no to your self and the voices of people from your past or in your life now that cause you to run a race that's not yours to run.

What's The Price? And Is It Worth It?
We spend a lot of time thinking about our ideal life. 
We spend a lot of time thinking about how we can improve ourselves and our circumstances. 
We spend a lot of time thinking about what we don't have, how we're not good enough, and how unfortunate we are. 

We do this at the expense of realizing the miracle of life and at the expense of appreciating the many good things in our life. 

Guaranteed you have something that someone else desperately wants that you have taken for granted. 
Guaranteed there is something or someone in your life right now that you would miss terribly if it/they were gone. 
Guaranteed that if you developed a terrible illness or suffered a serious injury tomorrow you would wish you could come back to the way things are today. 

Wanting more and wanting to be better does sometimes help us improve our future circumstances, but too often we sacrifice the good things in our life now in our quest for a better future. 
And we do the same thing once we get there.  
If you are going to sacrifice what you have now — your time, your health, your finances, relationships, etc., for what it can bring you in the future, make sure it's worth it, because what you sacrifice now may not be recoverable later. 

There's always a price to be paid for reaching future goals. 
The question of whether or not it's worth the price is something we usually ask ourselves, but we don't always do a good job of determining what that price actually is before it gets paid.

What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do
Take it one day at a time. 
Give your path time to unfold. 

Learn as much as you can from your present situation. 
It may be useful in the future. 
Even a stepping stone to something better. 

Don't think about your life in terms of what other people will think of you. 
Don't imagine ideal scenarios or the perfect future. 
There will always be something about your life that you don't like. 

Remember that you came into this world with nothing and you're going to leave with nothing. 

Take advantage of opportunities to do things you enjoy and are passionate about. 

Remember to be mindful of and thankful for the good things in your life. 
No matter where you end up in the future there'll be something about your life today that you'll miss.

10 Lessons Learned From Studying History
Cooperation does more to improve the quality of human life than isolation or self-sufficiency. 
This is why the standard of living has risen substantially for most people in the world and why we have fewer wars (yes, we really do have fewer wars).
Doomsayers and utopian dreamers always turn out to be wrong. 
Stay balanced, don't get swept away by fear or ideology. 
Violence never creates lasting peace. 
Violence begets more violence. 
Autocracy tends not to be sufficient leadership and its suppression, and sometimes oppression, often lead to rebellion and destruction. 
Empower those you lead (including your children). 
People tend to overestimate their own abilities and underestimate the abilities of others. 
Destroy your ideas of self-supremacy.
If other people scoff and laugh and call you a fool and say it can't been done, then you are probably on the right path. 
The future will likely be one of economic and social progress, as this has been the trend (though there have been many setbacks and there will be more). 
Don't let negative or nostalgic stories from the past cause you to believe that the human story is one of degeneration. 
The truth is that for most of the global population things have been getting better, not worse, in almost every way. 
History is riddled with stories of people (especially those in positions of power) who refused to listen to others, resulting in disastrous consequences for themselves and others. 
Think for yourself, but also learn from others. 
Many of the things you think you know will likely one day be proven wrong or misguided. 
Be humble, keep learning. 
Other people will often do what you don't expect them to. 
People are resilient and hardworking. 
Don't underestimate anyone. 
Human beings are survivalists, we know how to adapt, innovate, and find meaning. 
You have these qualities, and you are not the only one. 


10 Reasons Not To Freak Out About Climate Change
Climate change is a natural phenomenon. 
The earth has been subject to many extreme changes in climate, including warmer and colder periods. 
Changes in solar (the sun) actively are believed to account for many of these past changes. 
Many scientists also believe there is currently a correlation between human activity ie;  increased carbon emissions from the use of fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal) and a mild rise in temperature, but the correlation is not clear.
The carbon in the atmosphere is currently at approximately 400 parts per million. 
There have been periods in history where the number was much higher, even before the use of fossil fuels.
Since the year 1880 the average global temperature (which is not easy to measure with precision) has risen mildly (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit). 
And sea levels have risen approximately 1 foot. 
If these trends continue (which we don't know if they will) it still won't be a major problem 100 years from now.
Increased carbon in the atmosphere has been making the earth greener. 
It's helping crop yields, removing pollutants from the air, and making the earth more habitable for wildlife.
Innovative scientists and entrepreneurs have been working on ways to replace fossil fuels with alternative "green" energy sources. 
They are continuing to make progress and the cost (which is currently much higher than fossil fuels) is coming down and will likely continue to do so as technology advances.
Innovative scientists have been experimenting with ways to counter-act the effects of global warming. 
Eventually, scientists will likely find a reliable and cost-effective way to help reduce the earth's temperature in the event that it gets too hot.
The mainstream media and climate change alarmists make the changes in climate sound much more certain and extreme than they really are. 
The hysteria is so extreme that alternative, including more moderate and balanced views, are vehemently attacked. 
And proponents of those views are persecuted.
In the 1970's, climate scientists were convinced that we were entering a new ice age.
Thousands of scientists, including climate scientists and scientists that have assisted the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) have disputed many of the key claims made by their colleagues on the certainty and severity of  global warming and climate change as a result of burning fossil fuels.
Historically, warnings of extreme dangers, such as nuclear holocausts, global famine & disease, acid rain, Y2K, etc, have proven to be exaggerated. 
History is on our side, and we have a lot of smart people working on this issue, we'll figure this thing out and be fine in the long-run. 
In the mean time lets not freak out.
Sources
Cool It! (documentary)
Freeman Dyson on the Global Warming Hysteria (interview)
The Deniers: The World Renown Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria (book)
Fossil Fuels are not finished, not obsolete, not a bad thing (article)

A Word About Self-Education And Personal Development
Stick to your strengths, explore your intrigues, don't get bogged down with subjects and ideas that easily cause you to become confused and frustrated. 

We are all wired a bit differently and should be more concerned with developing our strongest attributes and less concerned with things that other people suggest that we ought to be interested in. 

How much time do you really want to spend trying to acquire knowledge and skills that you have very little interest in and that do not serve your best interests? 
Focus on what will yield the best return on your time and efforts.

Why It's Okay To Question God
Some people believe that any expression of doubt is a sin. 
They believe that we must always have faith and never waver, never question God, and certainly never criticize God, lest he depart from us or punish us for our insolence or lack of faith. 

The truth is that God often shows up in those moments. 
The moments when we are heartbroken, frustrated, at our wit's end. 
Our expression of doubt and frustration about things in our life and about God are expressions of pain and suffering. 
These are times when God is sometimes most comforting. 

God is compassion, the ultimate empathetic friend, and he understands us and our suffering better than we do. 
The question is: will we allow ourselves to be comforted?

What Can We Take Credit For?
It makes very little sense to be proud of how much you know or of your accomplishments. 
It makes no more sense than taking credit for being born. 

Everything we have, and everything we are, and everything that we accomplish is a gift. 
So the correct attitude is to be grateful. 
Nobody has anything to brag about. 

This is why it also makes very little sense to compare yourself to others. 
Nobody created themselves. 
And even our ability to do the best we can with the cards we've been dealt has to be considered a gift, because there are people in this world who can do nothing for themselves. 

The fact that we can even make a decision to do something is in itself a gift and nothing we can take credit for.

Being Stubborn Is Not Always A Bad Thing
There are two types of stubbornness:

There's the stubbornness that is not willing to change or be flexible, even though it should.
And there's the stubbornness that is not willing to change or be flexible, because it shouldn't. 


Too often we accuse each other of the former and not recognize the latter.


When we call people stubborn, what we really mean is "I know what's best, but you are too hard-headed to realize it." But the person we think is hard-headed may actually be the one who gets it and we may be the one too hard-headed to realize it.

How To Be Prepared For Anything
Planning, or at least the belief that things will workout according to plan, is mostly illusory. 
Preparation, on the other hand, is different from planning.
Planning is about predicting the future. 
Preparation is about being ready for whatever the future may hold, regardless if things workout according to plan.
Planning is about expecting certain outcomes. 
Preparation is about being as ready as one can be for any outcome.
We can do both, or we can do the latter, but planning by itself is sure to lead to disappointment.
Some of the best things in life happen unexpectedly and in spite of our failed plans (sometimes because of them).
Rather than planning — mapping out the future, perhaps it’s better to embrace the moment. 
If we always have the attitude that we’ll do what’s important in the present moment we’ll always be prepared for anything.

Do What's Most Important
We often fantasize about the life we wish we had, while overlooking many of the great parts of our current life. 
We have to learn to appreciate the good parts of our life now before we can appreciate anything that the future may hold.
Instead of trying to imagine what you’d like to do with your life, take account of the things you currently enjoy doing. 
What are the things in your life that are most important to you right now?
We tend to idealize things we’ve never done before. 
We romanticize them. 
That’s because we know almost nothing about them. 
Focus on what you already know, what you’re already familiar with, and find a way to do more of it.
To whatever extent you can choose your lifestyle, choose it. 
You know what’s important to you and you know what is a good use of your time. 
Do whatever you can in your power to devote your time to those things.
What you choose has already chosen you. 
Don’t ignore its call. 
Don’t let fear of failure, fear of success, or the fear of what others will think of you stop you from living the life you’ve been called to live.

Dealing With Criticism
Be careful not to take criticism to heart. The idea of being satisfied with yourself only if other people are satisfied with you is a form of slavery. 
Sometimes criticism is helpful and sometimes it's just a reflection of another person's ignorance, not a deficiency of your own.
Criticism hurts because we want to be understood and accepted. 
But we are at our strongest in the moments when we are content not being understood and accepted. 
There is a place within where we can find this strength, which is really just a place of rest, it's where we meet our true self and realize that we'll be okay regardless of what anyone else thinks of us.



The Folly Of Ambition
Some people are able to achieve great success in their life, they set big goals, they work hard and they become great at something, but for many of these high performers their ambition blinds them from the most important things in life, and they forget to enjoy themselves. 

In a world where so much emphases is put on the importance of performing at a high level, achieving goals, being the best, etc., we forget the importance of doing things just for the enjoyment of it. 

We tend to focus on what we believe are our deficiencies and we try to find ways to overcome them, but we often do this at the expense of making the most of the moment. 
Ironically, that may be our greatest deficiency of all — the inability to fully appreciate the moment, to be one with the task at hand, instead of being so concerned about our "performance" and what we need to do in order to improve.


What we really need is to be less concerned about what we lack and more mindful of the present moment. 
This is the first step in any realistic desire for "self-improvement." This is how we become more fully alive — more fully human. 


Andy Bernard And "The Good Old Days"
In the final episode of the T.V. 
show The Office, the character Andy Bernard says, “I wish there was a way to know when you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”
A profound statement.
What makes it more interesting is that Andy was one of the more tragic characters on the show. 
In the span of eight years he was cheated on, fired from his job, found out that his family was involved in the slave trade, and was dumped by his last girlfriend.
Andy also pursued his life-long dream of being famous and was ultimately successful, but for making a fool of himself on a reality T.V. 
show.
The “good old days” are sometimes riddled with not so good days, but we tend to remember the good parts more than the not so good parts. 
Especially the good parts that are no longer part of our life, usually certain people.
 It always seems like the good old days are in the past, but really they are all (in their own way) the good old days, including today. 
There’s something uniquely special about each of our lives right now that we’ll one day miss.

11 Ideas To Help You Live With More Confidence
Increase your physical strength. 
Go to a gym 3 times per week and follow a specific weightlifting program. 
Learn a martial art or some other self-defense system. 
I recommend Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. 
Learn more about a subject that intimidates you. 
We fear what we don't understand. 
Write down every positive thing you have accomplished in your life. 
It's easy to forget. 
Learn to meditate and be present in the moment. 
Take account of all the good things in your life and remember the things that have worked out for you in the past, especially the things that came unexpectedly. 
Be thankful for all of these things and expect more of the same in the future. 
Associate with people who love and support you, and limit contact with people who tend to bring you down (whether they mean to or not). 
Write down everything that has been bothering you lately. 
It helps to just get it off your chest. 
Think about what changes you can make in your life (and in your thinking). 
Make sure you are getting lots of sleep, consistently. 
It's surprising how even an extra hour of sleep per night can make a huge difference in how we think and feel. 
Find a job where you feel like you are respected and can make a positive contribution to an important cause. 
In other words, find what best suits you, don't just think about the money. 
Eat less grains. 
Gluten can cause inflammation in the brain, contributing to depression. 
Consume more Omega-3 to help reduce inflammation. 
Cashews, and Niacin, may also be beneficial in combating depression.

How To Know You Are Smart
This was written for someone specific, but you might find it true for you also:
Have you ever demonstrated that you are smart? Ever passed a difficult test? Have you ever made good decisions in your life? If the answer is "yes" to any of these, then you are smart. 

We all have our failures — failed dreams, relationships, tests, etc. 
Even the smartest people we know have had such failures. 
We can't measure our intelligence based on our failures or our short-comings. 
We have to base it on our wins — our successes. 

And don't compare yourself to others. 
Otherwise you will always feel like you're not smart enough, because there will always be someone smarter than you, even if just for a brief time. 

You have to look back at your own track record — your own success. 
This way you will be reminded that you are where you are today because of how smart you've been. 
Keep building on the foundation you've laid and don't give up, you are getting better. 

There's no doubt that you are smart. 
The question is: will you keep applying yourself the way that you have been? Part of being smart is continuing to move forward even when you have doubts about your abilities. 
Part of being smart is working hard at the task at hand, willing to put in the time and effort needed to get the results you want. 

Anything that you might lack in natural ability to retain information or understand complexities can be made up for through persistence. 
Keep believing in yourself and the path God has laid out for you.

This Can Help You Learn New Things
It can be helpful to detach ourselves from our point of view. 
You do this by recognizing that your thoughts are not really your own. 
Nobody really knows where their thoughts come from. 
And many of our thoughts seem to conflict with each other. 

This doesn’t mean that we should never come to a conclusion or choose sides, but it does mean that we don’t always have to.
Clinging to an idea can cause us a lot of pain and keep us from learning new things. 
If you think you understand something, you probably only understand it in part, you need to go deeper.

Are They Really Smarter Than You?
No matter how much you learn, you'll never know everything. 
The more you learn the more you realize how much you don't know.
There's no way for you to know everything, even about a single subject. 
You could spend your entire life specializing in one area of study/practice and still not have all of the answers. 

At some point each of us has to let go and accept our deficiencies and put some measure of trust in something outside of ourselves. 
Reality rejects any person who thinks they know everything or is above others because of what they do know.  
 Don't beat yourself up if you feel that you don't know as much as other people, nobody knows as much as they think they do. 
And a person of true knowledge knows that anything he or she does know is a gift.

How To Be Extraordinary (in a good way)
To be extraordinary is to have a way of doing, thinking, and/or communicating that is beyond the ordinary. 
Something unusual. 

On the surface it doesn't sound like it would take much to be extraordinary, but to be truly extraordinary is to be different in such a way that your unusualness sets you apart from the crowd and you become known for the unique qualities that you bring to the table.


Being extraordinary requires a willingness to take risks. 
It requires you to risk being misunderstood and/or rejected, even by those closest to you. 
It might also require you to risk short-term or long-term financial stability. 
Perhaps even death. 

Being extraordinary is your gift to the world. 
But don't expect the world to recognize it right away. 
For this reason, being extraordinary requires you to be humble and patient. 

Being extraordinary may not lead to long-term success in your life-time. 
But if it does, it may take a long time and there may be many ups and downs, detours, and setbacks along the way. 
For this reason, being extraordinary requires perseverance. 

Being extraordinary is not an act, it's not a mask or costume you wear in order to stand out. 
It's about choosing to be yourself and follow what you feel is your purpose in life. 

Being extraordinary is not about seeking admiration, it's not about chasing after fame or fortune. 
It's about being yourself, regardless of the outcome. 

Being extraordinary is not about being different just for the sake of being different. 
Nor does it require you to be a contrarian, though it probably will. 

Being extraordinary is about reconnecting with your true self and helping others do the same, through your example. 
Being extraordinary is an act of service to yourself and to others. 
And in this way you help set the world free from its fears and empower individuals to become their own leaders.

9 Ways To "Stop Thinking, And End Your Problems"
Probably my favorite quote.
Sit alone in a quiet place and listen to your breathing. 
Try to hear your heart beat. 
When thoughts come don't resist them. 
Don't reply to them either. 
Let them come and go on their own. 
Read a book in a quiet place, preferably something that brings you peace. 
Exercise. 
Pick an activity or series of exercises you enjoy. 
Focus on every rep/movement. 
Listen to calming music or nothing at all. 
Focus on your breathing and the muscles at work. 
List ten things you are thankful for. 
Talk to someone about the things on your mind or write them down. 
Go to a park, your backyard, or somewhere you can just listen to the birds and the wind in the trees. 
Go to a beach and listen to the waves. 
Maybe walk down the beach with your feet in the water or go for a swim. 
Go to a swimming pool and tread water on your back with your ears in the water so you can't hear anything and look up at the sky. 
Focus on your breathing. 
Or go under water and hold your breath for as long as you can before it becomes stressful. 
Do it several times. 
Help someone with a problem.

Will Love Win?
Chances are you were raised or have been exposed to a culture that believes a portion of humanity will spend eternity in a place of torment (some version of ever-lasting hell). 

I grew up with that fear.
Though it's possible that there is some sort of painful after-death period or experience, it seems foolish to think that a loving God would create any soul knowing that he or she will spend all of eternity in a place of torment. 

Our fear of inadequacy, our fear of rejection and loneliness, our fear of the judgement of God, all come from a place of misunderstanding. 
We've misunderstood and underestimated the depths of God's heart.
In A Christmas Carol, Dickens has Scrooge face the pain he inflicted on others. 
I think maybe something similar happens to us when we die. 
Particularly for those who die "hard-hearted." What happens to Scrooge? He is confronted with the pain of his actions and is moved with compassion. 

Is the love of God not powerful enough to ultimately melt the hardest of hearts? Will there be anyone strong enough to resist? 
I never read Rob Bell's book, but I think the title is correct Love Wins. 
I think we all give in to love eventually. 

There's nothing my daughter could ever do that would cause me to send her to a place of eternal torment. 
How much less willing is God? 

10 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Health And Well-Being
Our health has a lot to do with managing our level of stress. 
In particular, we tend to spend a lot of time and energy stressing over money and material possessions. 
 We need money in order to survive, and some stress is normal (even healthy), but where we get into trouble is when we spend too much time and energy trying to obtain things that we don't really need. 
We end up sacrificing some of the more important things that we have (health, relationships) in order to obtain things we think will make us happier, but usually don't. 

Our health (physical, mental, and spiritual) is our greatest source of wealth. 
If we have our health and the bills are paid, we are rich. 
We need to take a closer look at what we really need in order to survive and be content. 
Most of us probably need less than we think we do materially and more in the area of overall health and well-being. 

Here are 10 things you can do every day to improve your health and well-being:
Spend time alone in silence ie; meditation/prayer. 
Be thankful for what you have.
Keep a journal of your thoughts. 
Write down whatever comes to mind.
Eat healthy food and drink clean water. 
Get 30 to 60 minutes of exercise. 
Mix it up throughout the week, lots of walking, some strength training, joint mobility exercises, and other activities that you enjoy, such as running, swimming, yoga, etc. 
Go to bed early and try to wake up naturally, without an alarm. 
Most people need around 8 hours. 
Some high-performance people sleep as much as 10 hours a day (Einstein supposedly slept 10 hours). 
Some people only need about 5 or 6 hours, but they are by far the minority, only about 4% of the population is in this category.

Try to live in the moment. 
Don't dwell on the past or the future too much. 
Focus on your breathing, this will help to bring you back to the present. 
Avoid holding conversations in your mind. 
Turn off distractions, especially when talking to people, working, meditating, etc. 
Keep background noise and entertainment to a minimum. 
Read, listen, or watch something funny. 
Or be around people who make you laugh. 
Spend time with someone important to you, your spouse, children, parents, etc.
Read something interesting/educational, preferably a book that makes you see things from a new perspective or causes you to contemplate your purpose in life.

The Recipe For Success
Talent is not enough. 
Talent plus hard work and commitment is the recipe needed to succeed. 

Commitment - a manifestation of your desire to succeed. 
Continuing to show up even when things are tough and the outlook seems bleak. 
One Day You'll Be Dreaming Of Something You Have Now
What we don't yet have we might yet gain, and what we already have we might yet lose. 

Work toward your goals and your dreams, but remember that one day you will be dreaming of something you have now, maybe your youth, or your health, or a lost loved one. 
We will lose things along the way. 

Most of us are already rich, we have more than the majority of humanity has had throughout history and even in certain parts of the world today, in terms of luxuries, life expectancy, personal health, freedom, healthy children, and many other things that we generally take for granted. 

Don't let a lack of appreciation for what you have and a lack of mindfulness for the present moment cause you to be too focused on the future and the things other people have that you don't. 
And don't let the stress of what you don't have destroy what you do have.

What The World Needs More Of
people who know how to think less, and how to think more. 

What do I mean? 
The answer is in how we think and in what we think about. 

It's a common habit to dwell on whatever thoughts pop into our mind. 
We dwell on our problems, we tell ourselves stories that make us feel superior to others, we pretend that we have answers that we don't really have, and when we are not tooting our own horn we are criticizing ourselves over our short-comings and others over theirs. 

A lot of these things are inner conversations we have with ourselves - a running dialogue of praise, criticism, and self-delusion. 
This is the type of thinking we need less of. 
This is what I mean when I say that we need to think less.
The irony is that when we learn to think less in this way, we learn to think more in a different way - a better way. 
We learn to think without thinking. 
Instead of creating dialogue in our mind or replaying fantasies, we learn to quiet the distortions which drown out a much more subtle and profound voice beneath the surface.  

The Paradox Of Growth
In a way, once we get to a certain age life becomes a sequence of progression via deterioration. 
As we get older our body gets weaker, but another part of us gets stronger.


The strength we gain as we get older is not that of a stronger body or stronger mind. 
It's the type of strength that the world often considers weakness. 
In a word, it's humility. 

Age, even life itself, is a humiliating process. 
We gradually lose everything we once relied on, until eventually there's nothing left but what we started with, our very soul. 

For some, this happens at a much earlier age, but the lesson is the same - this life is not the whole story. 
Our hope has to be in something other-worldly, a higher purpose. 

In the meantime lets also take account of and be thankful for the things we've been granted.

The Human Spirit
The spirit is the part of us that understands the importance of patience. 

The spirit is the part of us that understands compassion. 

The spirit is the part of us that recognizes ourselves in others, and them in us. 

The spirit is the part of us that knows this is not the final destination.

It's Okay To Disconnect
In this day and age we tend to feel obligated to make ourselves accessible at all times (maybe it was the same in the past too, I don't know). 
But, it's okay (necessary actually) to have some boundaries in relation to our contact with other people. 

It's okay to leave your cell phone at home sometimes. 
It's okay to unplug your land-line for a while. 
It's okay to not look at your email today. 
It's okay to not answer the door for the Jehovah's Witness. 
It's okay not to go to the party you were invited to. 

It's okay to set these types of boundaries and not feel bad about it or justify it to anyone. 

We learned from a young age not to allow peer pressure to cause us to do things that are not in our best interest and we teach our own children the same thing, yet we tend to think this advice doesn't apply to adult situations. 

The most important person you need to spend time with is yourself, something many folks are afraid to do. 
They are afraid of what they will find inside. 
But we are not ourselves if we don't take the time to get to know ourselves. 
And if we don't know ourselves, we tend to live a life that serves not necessarily the needs, but the demands, of others.

Searching For Answers
Continually telling yourself that you don't know, only reinforces the idea that you don't know, and blocks you from discovering the answer. 

Don't focus on the problem or your lack of solutions to the problem. 
Turn your attention to something positive and trust that the solution will come in due time. 

We tend to search for answers in our mind, even replaying the same thoughts over and over again, but the answers usually come some time after we stop searching for them. 

It's not always about trying to figure things out, sometimes it's about allowing things to reveal themselves. 
And in this way, we master life by not trying to master it.

Let Your World Be Rocked
Though human society possesses more collective knowledge now than ever before, there's also more misinformation than ever before. 
Some of it is disseminated disingenuously by people with personal agendas, but it also happens because of our tendency to make assumptions and draw conclusions prematurely.


We tend to form opinions based on limited information and prop them up with questionable "facts," personal biases, and emotionally charged arguments.
 The explosion of collective knowledge that we've experienced in recent centuries has increased our understanding of nature and the universe, the benefits of trade and innovation, the human mind, and many other important things. 
But it should also tell us how much we still don't know and that we should be careful not to make too many assumptions.


No doubt there will continue to be many paradigm shifts in our understanding, just as there has been throughout history. 
Each generation tends to believe that there's nothing more to learn, until their world gets rocked by brave individuals who refuse to let persecution stop them from showing us a new way.


We should welcome the opportunity to have our worlds rocked by new discoveries and new ways of looking at old issues. 
Few things are more troubling yet more liberating than a total paradigm shift in our understanding of things we thought we had nailed down.



Why Our Lives Are Extraordinary
It's estimated that the total number of people ever born is over 100 billion. 
Many of which probably died at infancy or during early childhood. 
Many of which were born into extreme poverty, disease, abuse, war, and slavery. 
And this doesn't even include the number of human lives that have been aborted or miscarried.
The total number of human life is likely well into the hundreds of billions and most of them likely never saw the light of day, died at an early age, or lived in extremely difficult conditions.
Historically, most people have not lived the type of life that we in modern industrialized economies would consider "normal." We are the minority, you and I. 
We are living extraordinary lives.
This seemingly natural inequality of human existence should tell us something about the meaning of life. 
It should tell us one of two things: either that life itself is meaningless or that life on earth is not the whole story.


My feeling is that we are all part of something much bigger than ourselves. 
If we are still alive and aware in this moment, it's for a reason. 
A story is being told and we are part of it, all of us, from the miscarried child to the oldest person who ever lived. 

I guess in this sense we're all part of something extraordinary.



Different But The Same
It seems to be an inherent trait of the human ego to feel the need to always pick sides or draw conclusions. 
But the failure to look at things from different points of view and find common ground has resulted in centuries of persecution among virtually all races, nationalities, and religions, etc.


It even exists in some of the most innocent parts of society. 
The elementary school playground comes to mind. 
This same juvenile attitude remains with us (some more than others) as we get older.


But few things are absolute. 
We need to look for the connections, the mixtures, the entanglements. 
And from there we can see the larger picture and hopefully find "the middle way." 
In society we have what often appears to be polar opposites. 
In politics we have parties which represent opposing views. 
But we are paradoxical beings. 
We could argue from both sides if we really wanted to. 
The arguments that take place among members of groups are just an extension of the arguments that occur within individuals.

On the surface, people seem to want different things, but below the surface we're really all looking for the same basic things: love, peace, joy, unity, etc. 
We just do it in different ways. 

Even the people we consider the worst in society: murders, rapists, terrorists, etc., want the same things everyone else wants.They just don't know where to find it. 

If they weren't in search of something, they would be content to just sit under a tree somewhere and not harm anyone. 
But they hurt others because they are hurting inside. 
They believe, in a perverse way, consciously or sub-consciously, that they can somehow relieve their pain by hurting others. 
For instance, why would an Islamic terrorist care about going to heaven if there's no suffering to escape from?  
We all suffer and we all try to deal with it in different ways, however misguided those ways might sometimes be. 
And we all want the same basic things, whether we realize it or not. 


The Value of Living In The Moment
We don’t always have what we want, but we usually have what we need. 
Things usually don’t turn out the way we imagine they will, but they usually turn out the way they should.
Take it one day at a time, deal with what’s in front of you right now instead of focusing on what hasn’t (and likely won’t) happened. 
Right now is the only thing happening and this may be where it ends. 
If you make the most of the present you will also make the most of your future.
It’s good to have goals and a vision for the future, but don’t let it cloud the moment. 
Anything worth accomplishing in the future is no more valuable than what you can experience in this present moment.
Death may come before our goals and dreams are accomplished, so don’t forget that life is right now and may only be right now. 
What is worth doing or experiencing right now? What is worth the very little time you have left?

How To Deal With Negative Thoughts
Our thoughts are part of who we are. 
But not all our thoughts are the best expression of who we are.
That’s why it’s so difficult to resist negative thoughts. 
By trying to fight against them we’re fighting against a part of ourselves. 
And that part of us that we’re trying to deny refuses to accept that it doesn’t exist.
It’s best to not deny that these types of thoughts are part of us. 
It’s better to not indulge them, the same way we might avoid an argument. 
By simply not engaging in the argument in the first place.
Although our thoughts are part of who we are they’re not exclusively mine or yours. 
They belong to all of us, because whatever you’ve been tempted to do many others have also. 
We’re all part of something bigger than merely ourselves.
Some people believe that if we don’t aggressively resist negative thoughts we’ll be more likely to act on them. 
But this isn’t necessarily true. 
The way to “resist” negative thoughts is by using a bit of mental/spiritual Jiu-Jitsu. 
Just let the thoughts come and go on their own.
It’s okay to accept negative thoughts as a strange part of who we, but we don’t have to accept that they’re the best way to express ourselves.

3 Things About Taking Advice
1. Take advice from people who are already where you want to be.
2. Beware of advice from people who want to be where you want to be, but aren’t there yet.
3. And don’t ignore the words of a person who is neither there nor will be, because their advice may reveal the right path by first showing you the wrong path.

Examining What It Means To Be "Productive"
Every day does not need to be "productive". 
Many of us measure the value of our days based on productivity, as though life is actually about being productive.
Productivity is often associated with things that are not productive at all. 
Productivity is often thought of as producing results, but producing results is not always what is needed. 
Many times these "results" are actually counter-productive, as they deplete resources, including our most valuable resource — time.
We think that living for the moment is the same as living in the moment. 
Or we try to create a better future by sacrificing the present, not knowing if we will even have a future.
Instead, productivity should be thought of as time well spent. 
In other words, was it a valuable use of my time?
There is nothing more valuable and productive than the appreciation of just being alive in the moment, free from all your battles and thankful for who you are and what you already have. 
A few moments spent this way is far better than a whole day of getting stuff done.

How To Focus
You cannot concentrate more, you can only concentrate less. 
You cannot try harder, you can only try less.
What does this mean?
It means that if you stop thinking about concentrating more, if you stop thinking about trying harder, you’ll do it automatically.
When we set up two targets – the thing we want to do, and the thing we are trying to do to make it happen, we lose focus and become distracted.
In other words, trying to concentrate more, or “trying harder,” actually distracts us from our natural ability to simply be in the moment and do it. 
In this sense, concentrating more equates to concentrating less and trying harder is equivalent to trying to try.
The Need To Win
When an archer is shooting for nothing he has all his skill. If he shoots for a brass buckle he is already nervous. If he shoots for a prize of gold he goes blind or sees two targets— he is out of his mind!
His skill has not changed. 
But the prize divides him. 
He cares. He thinks more of winning than of shooting— and the need to win drains him of power.
~Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu


In Conclusion
Most people struggle with big levels of anxiety and fear. 
It’s uncommon to see high levels of self-confidence; people notice the person who is secure and comfortable in their own skin.
You can be that person. 
Even if you’re not there yet, start by modeling your behaviors around people who already have what you want.
Act while you still feel the fear; it’s not going away, so act anyway. 
Trust me — you’ll feel better after.
Seek problems out. 
Start proving to yourself you can handle problems and you won’t back down.
Remember — most people are full of tremendous anxiety and self-doubt; don’t do what most people do!
If you want to activate extreme self-confidence and eliminate anxiety and fear, then start living a new life with new behaviors that will make that possible.

The Importance of Humility
Humility is an underrated quality that isn’t touched upon often. 
Humility is in fact, one of the most powerful and important attributes of growth, both in and out of the ring. 
Being humble helps to build trust and facilitates learning, which are key aspects of leadership and personal development.

As the revolutionary Nelson Mandela once said “The first thing is to be honest with yourself. 
You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself… Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.”

Let’s talk about the meaning of humility, how you can develop it, and how it can improve your performance both in and out of the ring.

What is Humility?
The definition of humility is the feeling or attitude that you have no special importance that makes you better than others or having a lack of pride. 

At first glance, humility seems like a negative quality, almost like a sign of weakness rather than a strength. 
In reality, humility is a type of modesty that will get you very far in your life as a person, a contender, and a leader. 

Let’s look at it another way. 
A person who lacks humility is arrogant. 
It is a person who only thinks of themselves and sees themselves as higher and better than others. 
There is no room for an arrogant person to improve themselves because they do not recognize their flaws. 

A person who is not humble does not have a growth mindset. 
The best fighter in the world still makes mistakes. 
The best coach in the world still has much to learn about the fight, and should always carry out their duties as not only a teacher but a student as well. 
When a contender or a trainer lacks the ability to see their own weaknesses, they will never be able to reach their full potential, because life is a never-ending journey of growth and learning. 
Pride robs a person of their ability to achieve.

Why Do We Need Humility?
Humble people don't lack pride in their accomplishments. 
Rather, it is knowing the time, place, and tone with which to share their strengths with the world.

Here are some examples of what it means to live with modesty and humbleness.

Saying “good match” to your opponent, whether you’ve won or lost.
Being coachable and allowing criticism to fuel development rather than resentment.

Apologizing after making a mistake.
Wanting the best for others rather than trying to harbor all success for yourself.
Helping others who are below you in skill to improve rather than looking down on them.
Looking towards those above you with an eye of inspiration and not jealousy.
Competing with yourself more so than with others.

Humility is an asset for self-improvement. 
By living a humble life, you recognize the areas of your life that need work. 
If your coach suggests changing a technique to aid your performance in the ring, you must accept that your current technique may not be the best suited for your goals. 
That comes with letting go of your preconceived notions and trusting your coach. 
Only with humility and emotional intelligence can you allow these encounters to fuel your growth and coachability.

We also need humility for inner well-being. 
Becoming frustrated and angry at failure comes with any struggle in life. 
It’s important we understand humility to be able to better navigate those losses and pick ourselves up after the falls. 
It might sound counter-intuitive, but the more humble you are the more resilient you can be. 
If you can admit and recognize your part in the downfall you can work towards changing it. 
If you combine humility with your passion in life, you’ll rise to the top and overcome failure.

5 Key Steps to Becoming More Humble
It’s clear how important a modest mindset is in achieving our goals. 
The next step is to learn how to build that mindset because it doesn’t always come naturally.

Here are five steps to developing humility.

1. Build Confidence
Confidence is the key to living a full life. 
And yes, a humble person can still be confident. 
Remember, humbleness is not about only seeing your weaknesses, but it’s about recognizing your strengths, but not stopping there. 
It’s about using those assets to become bigger and better.

There are many things you can do to build your confidence. 
Try some easy tricks such as dressing up each morning, even if you’re not planning on going anywhere. 
The thought of looking great has a profound effect on our confidence!

Take time to reflect on your accomplishments at the end of each day and remember, success is a series of small wins.

2. Ask Questions
Humble people know that asking questions doesn't make you weak. 
If anything, asking questions makes you a stronger person, both mentally and physically. 
Show your coach your willingness to learn and make them see that you are really trying. 
When learning something new, it takes time for understanding to develop. 
Asking questions can help this process along.

Think back to your school years. 
What if you never asked questions then? Remember that you can only succeed if you seek the motivation to do so. 
If there’s something you don’t understand about your training plan, ask your coach to explain in another way or demonstrate. 
Being afraid to ask for guidance could limit you from achieving your goals.

3. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Anyone who has experience in leadership knows that your comfort zone is a safe place where nothing interesting ever happens. 
Gloveworx owner Leyon Azubuike said it best himself, "You must become comfortable with being uncomfortable, that is when you Become Unstoppable."

No one’s going to believe you’re a boxer if you don’t step out of your comfort zone. 
Try something new every now and again; you’ll thank yourself later. 
What’s on your bucket list? Skydiving? Traveling somewhere new? Meeting new people?

Many of these things are most likely out of your comfort zone, yet you still want to do them. 
Try something new every day, such as a yoga class or visiting an art gallery. 
You might learn something about yourself that you never knew before!

4. Remember Your Goals
Why are you training? Remind yourself every morning why you’re doing what you do, and how you can achieve your goals. 
Doing so just might make you understand the importance of what you’re doing, help you meet your goals, and help you inspire others to pursue their passion.

Try writing down your goals in a journal, and read it every morning after waking up. 
That way, they’re stuck in your head all day. 
Be sure to practice SMART goal-setting for personal growth and success.

5. Reflect on Your Behavior
If you act unfavorably, it will reflect back on your training, not to mention your lifestyle choices. 
Keeping a positive mindset can help you gain and maintain humility.

One of the most successful methods to reflect on your behavior is by writing in a journal alongside your goals. 
Is your behavior helping you you reach those goals or leading you away from them? By documenting what went well and what didn’t during your training, you can learn from your actions. 
Here are some things to consider when reflecting upon your behavior:

Strengths and Weaknesses
It's important to focus on the positive and remind yourself of your strengths. 
What did you do well today? How can you continue to improve? Having pride in your accomplishments doesn't negate the fact that there's always room for growth.

Additionally, it's important to take a look at your weaknesses, because everyone has them. 
What do you need to work on? Is there something that you're not understanding that you need to ask questions about? What are you doing wrong? If you acknowledge your weaknesses and view them as an opportunity to learn, you can cultivate personal growth.

Changing Beliefs
Engaging in pursuing your goals, especially those pertaining to physical activity, can start to change your beliefs. 
Write down your ideas and pay attention to how your way of thinking changes over time. 
Think critically about the reasons for these changes.

Role Models
In our culture, those who we perceive as great are often put on a pedestal. 
That's why it's so important to be a humble leader; ego has no role in a place of power. 
In your journal, write about those in leadership roles that you admire. 
Then take a deeper dive and determine the reasons behind that admiration. 
Why do you look up to them? What traits and characteristics do they possess? How can you carry these virtues into your own life?

How Can Humility be Used to Help in the Ring?
Humility is not something we can just achieve; it is so much more than that. 
We need humility to become better people. 
Therefore, humility is a construct of human behavior. 
If your coach teaches you something new that you struggle with, remember that you’re only doing your best – and practice makes perfect. 
As mentioned before, behavior in the ring reflects humility. 
Keep a positive attitude and make sure you thank your coach after every session.

Remember to Stay Humble!
Humility begins with accepting who we are and what makes us human. 
As a result of this, you gain control over your attitude and outlook on life. 
As A.L. Kennedy puts it, “Have more humility. 
Remember you don't know the limits of your own abilities. 
Successful or not, if you keep pushing beyond yourself, you will enrich your own life--and maybe even please a few strangers.”

Being humble is an important life skill. 
With it, we can choose to live a happier life. 

The Importance of Building a Tribe
We all have goals and desires in life. 
If you’re a Gloveworx Contender, it’s likely that you have some goals centered around improving your health, your body, and your energy levels. 
Maybe you’ve thought out a plan to start reaching those goals. 
Your plan might include things like getting to the studio a few times a week, eating healthy meals, and tracking your progress on a weekly basis.

Those are all noble actions. 
However, there is a critical aspect of goal planning that many people leave out, and that is building a tribe. 
Having a tribe or a social support system behind you will help motivate and push you toward your goals.

Read on to learn about the importance of a social support system and how to build your ideal tribe.

Social Support is Critical to Your Success

Achieving success is hard work. 
It takes determination, risk, resilience, and most of all, consistency. 
All of these things require motivation, but let’s be honest– motivation doesn’t come easy.

One of the best ways to stay motivated is to have a social and emotional support system. 
Your support team will consist of like-minded people who are going to encourage you along the way and help you when you need assistance. 
Having a tribe of supportive people by your side will make your chances of success much higher, as opposed to going at it alone.

A support system serves several important purposes, including:

Accountability. 
Having a tribe of people who know your goals and plans, and are expecting to see your progress, increases the pressure to perform and creates accountability.
Encouragement. No road to success is ever straight. 
Many times you are going to fall and have to pick yourself back up. 
Your support system will be there to help you and encourage you during those hard times.
Assistance. You’re not going to know what to do every step of the way. 
Having a professional figure, such as a coach, as part of your tribe will provide you with a knowledge base. 
When you need assistance, or you have questions, they are your go-to person.

Build a Tribe

In creating a supportive tribe, you need to fill it with the right people. 
Here are some individuals who you’ll want as part of your team:

Close Friends & Family

There’s nothing worse than trying to eat healthily and having your friends shove fried chicken and cake in your face during a lunch date. 
You might mention that you’re trying to eat healthier, but they relentlessly insist “just this once” as they mischievously slide you some of that ooey, gooey, delicious-looking mac and cheese.

Whether your goals are health-related or not, it’s important to let your close friends and family in on it. 
And BE CLEAR! Having an honest talk with them and letting them know how important this is to you will foster their support and encouragement.

Fellow Contenders

Aside from having your best friends back you, you’re going to want to form relationships with fellow contenders. 
You know what they say, “choose your friends wisely.” The people you choose to hang around with influence your own behaviors and beliefs.

The same applies to a fitness setting. 
The exercise habits of close others have a positive influence on your own habits. 
Joining one of the small group sessions at Gloveworx will allow you to mingle with like-minded, goal-oriented individuals who can provide the support and encouragement you need. 
Gym buddies act as a form of social support and are a paramount piece of your tribe.

A Coach

Having friends both in and out of the gym who will encourage you is great, but you also need a professional figure to join your team. 
A coach is imperative to your success and growth as an athlete.

Not only will they provide motivation, but they will help you to grow and become a better version of yourself, both in and out of the ring. 
Your coach is the person who will teach you the nitty-gritty of what you need to know to truly flourish.

Mental Supporter

We all go through tough times. 
Sometimes, we don’t need any advice; we merely need someone to listen to us. 
It’s integral to have someone you can lean on during the hard times, even if it’s just to vent. 
Whether it be your parents, your spouse, your coach, or a mental health professional, your mental supporter should be someone you can trust.

Outside Support

Support can be virtual as well. 
One study showed a positive relationship between the online health communities a person belongs to and their own exercise habits. 
Join a Facebook group, participate in forums, or find other digital communities where you can find people in the same boat as you.

How to Build Your Ideal Tribe

Now that you know how to build an epic tribe, it’s time to put it all together. 
Follow these steps to get the ball rolling and build your ideal support system.

Step 1: Set Clear-Cut Goals

Before you start building your tribe, you need to have goals in mind. 
Otherwise, how will your team help you if you’re not even sure what you want?
A well-known and highly effective method of setting clear-cut goals is by using the acronym SMART. 
SMART goals are:

Specific – Your goals should be clear and specific, rather than ambiguous.
Measurable – You should be able to measure your goals and track your progress.
Attainable – It’s great to set high standards, but make sure they are realistic.
Relevant – Set meaningful goals that are worthwhile and that compliment your lifestyle.
Time-Bound – Every good goal needs an end-date, so be sure to set one.

Step 2: List Your Ideal Tribe

You can now base your tribe members around the goals you’ve created. 
Write out a list of your ideal team. 
Include anyone who you believe can help you reach your maximum potential.

Step 3: Pull Your Tribe Together

It’s time to pull your tribe together. 
Start getting in touch with those whose support you need. 
Talk with your family and friends, join some training sessions to get to know others with similar goals, get yourself a coach, and check out some outside resources that you can use to move forward.

Now you have an amazing tribe, but remember, the hard work is up to you. 
Show up and do your part, but ask for help and support when you need it.

How to Create a Company | Elon Muskss 5 Rules

How I Found My Passion For Technology | Sundar Pichai

Elon Muskss Advice To Entrepreneurs: Work Hard | Elon Musk

My Advice to Students: Donst Drop Out of College | Jack Ma | 馬雲/马云

What Does It Mean To Be Smart?

How I Became An Astronaut | Chris Hadfield

No Matter What Donst Give Up | Stephen Hawking

How I Found My Vision

Why You Wouldnst Want To Be Me | Elon Musk

How I Overcame Failure | Jack Ma | 馬雲/马云

What Is The Single Best Invention of Life? | Steve Jobs

Donst Be Afraid To Dream Big

How I Found What I Loved To Do | Steve Jobs

How I Saved Patagonia From Bankruptcy

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Kennedyss Greatest Speech: A Tiny Ripple of Hope

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Best Motivational Video Speeches Compilation - BEST OF MOTIVATION2STUDY 2018!

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Not Knowing | Inspirational | Goal Quest

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Socrates Greatest Quotes | Goal Quest

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Top Quotes | Ertugrul Bey | Motivational | Goal Quest

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Struggle is a Blessing | Amitabh Bachchan | Motivational |Goal Quest

MS Dhoni Roars | Motivational | Goal Quest

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Cornered Tiger | Motivational Video | Imran Khan | Goal Quest (Urdu/Hindi)

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Be A Miracle! | Nick Vujicic | Goal Quest

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Jack Ma Motivation | Jack Ma | Goal Quest

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