30 Thoughts For 30 Years

As you grow older, they say you grow wiser.

You have to grow though, which means there needs to be energy and effort.

Every realization and lesson was borne out of experience and moments, and being in the moment.

Too many moments gone, too many lessons lost.

Here are some reminders to myself, and reminders for everybody.  Quick-hit pointers, Cliff notes, if you will.

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Age is just a number. It’s up to you to do whatever you want, no matter how old you are.  Make your years and moments count, instead of counting your years and moments.

It’s never too late to work for your dreams.  Never too late to turn them into reality.  Time is ticking down, though.

Choose great, true, honest friends.  Friends who will support you, yet call you out on your bullshit.  Get away from small-thinking, poisonous people.

It’s never too late to change.  For the better.  Keep getting better.  If how or where you are right now isn’t helping you get anywhere, or making you happy, do something about it.

Put in the work.  There is value in working hard, and getting better.  Start now.

Keep smiling.  Through tough and bad times.  Especially during happy times.  Roll with the punches, ride the waves.

Get curious, ask questions.  Listen well.  People’s stories are like gold mines.  Get as much treasure as you can.

Work hard to create tangible results.  Just dreaming, thinking, and planning, won’t get you anywhere.  The strongest paths to success is built built with work and forged in the fires of reality.

Be kind to yourself. Forgive yourself.  Care for yourself.  Don’t be your own worst enemy. Make yourself, an ally to yourself.

Perfectionism kills dreams.  It also robs energy.  Start now, and learn and improve along the way.  Use perfectionism as a tool for polishing the product, and not to prime the pump.

Get real, quickly.  The sooner you accept who you are, what you’re feeling, and where you are, The better your days will be.  Maybe even easier.  Take off your masks.

It’s not a sin to take a break.  Just don’t give up.  Take time to recharge.

Be a student of life.  Learn all that life has to offer.  Don’t stop learning.  And learn the rules.  Life gets easier that way.

Love others.  People forget what we do to them, but they will never forget how we made them feel.  People are emotional and irrational.  We all want to be loved.

Seek what is life-giving for you.  That which inspires, energizes, pushes you.  Get to living.

Read.  Read what interests you.  Read to learn.  Read to better yourself.  Read to imagine.  People leave a lot of tips, shortcuts, and lessons in what they write.  All you’ve got to do is read.

Life is a lot like taking pictures.  What do you want in it? What do you want to keep in it? What do you want out?  What message do you want to get across?

Take a long term view.  In what you do.  Life is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.  Go the distance.

You’ve only got so many hours in you.  Send your time wisely, effectively, with purpose and intent.  Don’t be aimless, we’ve got a lot of zombies already.

Building great, effective, and unbreakable habits is key.  These are like automatic improvement systems, with the benefits compounding over time.

Knowing is different from doing.  And doing is the fastest way to learn and improve.  Knowing is good, doing is better.

Don’t eat too much.  the Japanese have a saying: “Hara hachi bu,” which roughly translates to “eat until 80% full.”  Keep everything in moderation.  Not only what you eat, but what you watch, read, do, and listen to.

Write it down.  On paper.  Your mind remembers better when you write it down.  Your heart forgets easier when you write it down.

Share.  Share what you’ve got, and share what you’ve learned.  There’s more than enough to go around.  The world breeds abundance.  Scarcity only lives in hearts and minds.

Look for your avenues of creative expression.  Create, not criticize.  Keep coming up with ideas, and respect your muse, or she’ll leave you.

Plan for the long term, but do in the daily.  How you spend your days, is how you live your life.  Take it a day at a time.

Focus.  Mind, Body, and Spirit.  Extraordinary results come from extraordinary effort guided by extraordinary focus.  Learn to say no to what matter not.  Focus on what matters most.

Recognize and realize the power you have in your life.  Control what you can, let go of what you cannot.  You always have a choice.

Be grateful.  At all times, for all things.  Thank you.

Happiness starts now.  It’s a view, a decision.  You can always choose to be happy in the moment, no matter what else is going on.  Allow yourself to be vulnerable.  Sometimes, being happy is also making way for sadness and the other feelings.

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30 years down, and hopefully, still a long way to go.

For all that has been, thank you.

For all that will be, yes.

 

P.S. Here’s two bonus tips for you:

Use affirmations as your passwords.  Allow yourself the experience of awkwardness, to acceptance, to awesome.

Everything seems like a failure in the middle.  Things usually work out in the end.