The act of trying to be normal is a form of approval-seeking. It’s a sign of being so concerned with what others think that you conform your behavior & looks to meet a subjective standard. It means regularly comparing yourself to others to ensure that you’re not doing anything out of the ordinary.

While there are certain accepted standards in every culture that are beneficial to abide to, being so concerned with what others think that you forfeit the things that make you unique & bring you pleasure, is to forfeit authenticity for conformity and personal power for approval.

Reminder:

One person’s preferences are not representative of everyone’s preferences.

One person’s opinion is not representative of everyone’s opinion.

One person’s values are not representative of everyone’s values.

One person’s priorities are not representative of everyone’s priorities.

One person’s beliefs are not representative of everyone’s beliefs.

Carry on accordingly.

Be mindful of how you feel while or after you do things regularly. The things you do that are good for you will often make you feel better. Those that are not good for you will often make you feel worse – or simply use up your time without providing value.

Many people continue doing things that no longer add value to their lives because those things have become part of a routine that is acted upon without thinking.

Always be mindful of the things you do regularly and how those things make you feel – and be sure to discard those that no longer serve you.

Just because it’s a habit you’ve worked into your life doesn’t mean it makes you happy. Always strive to seek new habits that do.

The number of opportunities in your life expand or contract based on how you think and the actions you take as a result of that thinking.

Always keep in mind that optimism & positivity build pathways to places you want to go. Whereas, the winding paths of pessimism & negativity will – more often than not – lead to dark destinations and dead end roads.

Pessimism is particularly problematic for those prone to depression because darkness & dead ends can create feelings of being trapped. And it is very difficult to escape from places you don’t want to be when your frame of mind doesn’t allow you to see the exit.

Whether it’s your relationships, career, goals, or something else entirely, changing the results you get from life is largely a matter of changing how you think about where you are and where you want to be and taking positive action as a result of that new way of thinking.

Exits and opportunities reveal themselves to those whose attitude & vision make them visible. In the same way that the more you close your eyes, the less you can see, the more one closes their mind to possibilities, the less apparent those possibilities will be.

Always be mindful of your mindset and the attitude you harbor when seeking ways to change the results you get from life. Harboring the belief that what you want is possible and taking action to get it is far more likely to lead to getting it than sitting in the dark convinced that you won’t.

If you’re convinced that the awful things you’re doing are justified because you’re doing them “for good reasons”, you’re not alone. Some of the most despicable and infamous people in history thought the same thing.

I woke up to a 1 star book review from someone who states they didn’t read it, but were offended by the book’s description. Rather than let it get to me, I genuinely laughed (which is in stark contrast to the first 1 star review I ever received). And then I wrote this…

Far too many people have been fooled into believing that their negative actions are producing positive results. And that by trying to hurt people, they’re making the world better.

There is a saying, “Hurt people hurt people.” – and the world is full of people who are hurting right now. So there are also a lot of people lashing out in an attempt to inflict damage on others. And in many cases, they do.

But hurting people is a choice. Because hurt people can also help people – and the act of doing so will likely lead to far more rewarding feelings than the rush of seratonin that comes from feeling like you just “beat” someone. Because when the sense of impacting someone else in a negative way is over, there’s really nothing to feel proud of.

If you find yourself going about your days looking for ways to inflict damage on others, take a moment to consider ways in which you could help someone instead.

A world of people behaving badly doesn’t reduce bad behavior, it perpetuates it. If you truly want to make a positive difference in the world, lead with love & kindness, not hate & anger. Even if you’re hurting.