Sometimes in life you have to trip over and stumble through a few things you don’t like or aren’t into in order to find some of the things you like and enjoy. The primary areas this idea relates to are within your career, relationships, and hobbies (which can turn into careers). There are certain things that you will come across in life that will simply make your soul sing. These people, places, occupations or things will resonate with you from a deep place within your heart and soul. When you get that feeling, follow it. This is something of the divine, helping guide you to places a better part of you knows you want to go. The key is to follow that...

Your boss yelled at you today, you just had a fight with someone close to you, you recently had a bad breakup, you just received some harsh feedback by a colleague or higher up, you just lost some sort of investment money, or any of the infinite amount of things that could go wrong with your day, things didn’t go as planned. Your initial reaction will undoubtedly be the most emotional based; anger may cause you to take out that frustration on someone who didn’t deserve it. Anxiety may cause you to freeze up and not take action, and fear may cause you to just shut down completely and cause you to tailspin even further into the negative...

I am sure that at some point in your life you have had the opportunity to observe kids playing. If not, make a point to do so because it really is a remarkable thing. It is an amusing, educational and self-reflective experience watching young ones play because they are essentially human beings in raw form; fresh, unscathed and un-scarred by life’s inescapable ills and harsh lessons we learn along the way. Kids are still largely unexposed and unaware of many if not all negative ideas, systems, ways of behaviors and ideals marketed to us, which allows them to live and act freely, not yet knowing fear or limitations...

Monday morning rolls around, you wake up at an exact, random time (something like 6:48am), so that you can do the least amount possible to get ready for work and your day ahead. You sort of brush your teeth, whip the comforter over the bed to cover everything up the scrambled mess of blankets and sheets. You then eat something quick or maybe nothing at all, and if you do eat, you don’t take the time nor have it to clean up your mess, then you’re out the door so you can make it to work in just enough time to not be late. Does this routine look vaguely familiar? It possibly does now or might take you back to a time in your earlier years to a similar fashion in which you operated. Does this morning routine look like that of someone who has their act together...

Humans are always looking for that ever evasive final completion of items in our life, especially when it comes to work. We say to ourselves “After I do that or finish this thing, everything will be ok, I will be done and I can just relax”. But then what happens after that? We hold this sense of a Disney like ending where once we accomplish or complete something, the screen fades to black, not having to worry about anything after the curtain closes. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sure the chapter ends, the project ends, or the goal is accomplished, but there will always be more to aim for, more to accomplish and get better at. To be more straightforward, there will always be more work to do. That is where the beauty lies...

Your phone and laptop ping every few minutes with a new notification vying for your attention. More traditional media and advertising also reach for a slot of time and attention out of your life at every angle. And with the new emergence and popularity of podcasts and various streaming services as more outlets looking to snatch your attention, when was the last time you had a true 5 minutes to yourself? And I mean just yourself, with yourself; no tv, no phone, no big party or gathering, just you, hanging out by yourself collecting your thoughts, maybe even staring off thinking about nothing (which it turns out is good for you)...

Our concept and value of time seems to get overlooked and undervalued, but it is hands down our most precious resource as once time is spent, it can never be recovered. Every time I pressed a key to type this book up, that was a piece of my life being whisked away, moments of time I cannot get back. This along with every other action or activity I take part in (or don’t) on a daily basis is a block of time compounded on others that essentially build out what my life consists of, as does yours. Every time you do something you don’t like, every time you complain, every time you waste away sulking or doing anything of negative value, you are giving up precious moments of time. Why do we take it so for granted...

You scroll through all of your social media accounts, you look at your friends, maybe some family members, celebrities, a bunch of random people you don’t know, and you compare. How do I measure up to these other people? This person is better than me in this area. That person has more money than me. This person had a better upbringing than me and the list goes on and on. We naturally compare ourselves to other people as it establishes where we are in the pecking order, which translates into how well equipped we are to survive on a social and biological level...

Within our digitally hyper-connected society today, we are bombarded with all sorts of “gurus, experts, and professionals” telling us how to live the best life, what we should do to be successful, what a successful life looks like, ways to be happy, and the list is endless. From overexposure to information everywhere and of every type imaginable, we have people telling you where to live, what makes a successful individual, what it definitively takes to be happy, and all of the other things marketed to you through these various outlets of information; social media, traditional media, podcasts, blogs, friends, family and acquaintances. Most of it has quite the tinge of personal biases and bullshit to it. Or they more than likely just want to sell you on something to grease their own pockets. End of story...