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Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s fine. It’s not their journey to make sense of. It’s yours.

Zero Dean

Author | Photographer | CG Artist | Filmmaker

Personal goals

Living life to the fullest means…

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Excerpt from: What it means to “live life to the fullest”

Living life to the fullest means continually reaching out for newer, richer, deeper, life-changing experiences. It means using those experiences as a means for personal growth and pushing the boundaries of yourself mentally, spirituality, and intellectually for the betterment of yourself and the world at large.

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There will always be someone better at something than you are

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We are often unaware of the struggles that others must face in order to achieve success. As Lee Honda put it, “Success is 99% failure.”

Know that whatever it is you wish to accomplish, no two people, businesses, or ventures are exactly the same. You can’t help but bring a unique perspective to your endeavors and a unique combination of talents and skills.

So even if the field is crowded, understand that you can succeed, too, but in order to do so, it is essential that you put in the effort and take action to achieve your goals.

Getting discouraged at others’ accomplishments and giving up because you feel you can’t compete gets you nowhere.

Constantly comparing yourself to others is waste of energy. There will always be someone better at something than you are.

A wise person once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

Don’t let the success of others discourage you from your own endeavors or make you bitter. If someone has done or is doing something you would like to do, let it inspire you and be an indicator that you, too, can achieve great things.

Achieving personal goals series:

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Don’t let your life goals fall victim to the allure of comfortable routines.

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Don’t let your life goals fall victim to the allure of comfortable routines.

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Always be working towards what you want in life

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Don’t squander your potential living a life that amounts to far less than the one you are capable of living.

Prioritize your long-term goals over your short-term comfort and commit to doing that which is hard and necessary instead of what is quick and easy.

Don’t let your life goals fall victim to the allure of comfortable routines.

Always be working towards what you want.

Refuse to be an extraordinary person trapped in an ordinary life.

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Fueling one’s fire from within

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Excerpt from: Motivation & achievement

When one’s motivation is dependent on external sources, the moment those sources are absent is the moment one’s motivation begins to fade. This is because motivation is a state of mind.

And if a particular state of one’s mind is dependent on the availability of things it doesn’t always have control over, it can be difficult to attain the state of mind associated with those things when they’re unavailable.

This is why it’s important to learn how to develop the mental discipline necessary to be one’s own source of motivation.

When one is able to motivate themselves, they light a kind of fire that can burn indefinitely.

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Every little step you take towards a goal, no matter how small, is progress.

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Every little step you take towards a goal — no matter how small — is progress.

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Steering the rudder of your own life

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Excerpt from: What it means to “live life to the fullest”

Living life to the fullest means taking an active role in your own development. It means steering the rudder of your own life and taking advantage of your unique and powerful potential as a person.

It’s about how the things you do in your life motivate & inspire others to do something motivating & inspiring in theirs — and, if you’re lucky, leave a legacy that long outlasts you.

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If the results of your habits don’t make you better…

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Excerpt from: The strength in tolerance and kindness

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If the results of your habits don’t make you a better, stronger, or healthier person, it’s time to consider new habits that do.

“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” — Carlos Castaneda

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What are your weaknesses?

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This post has a follow-up here: Weaknesses are a leaky boat

What are your weaknesses? Have you thought about this?

Knowing what your weaknesses are is a major step towards gaining power over various aspects of your life that may often seem beyond your control.

Whether your weaknesses are exploited by others or simply ways in which you unwittingly sabotage your ambitions, your relationships or yourself, your weaknesses will continue to have power over you until you gain power over them.

Many of a person’s weaknesses are disguised as bad habits. They manifest themselves in actions we often perform without thinking.

The good news is that because they’re habits, we can choose to replace them with better behaviors.

Bad habits can be difficult to break, but if you plan on living a long, healthy, and prosperous life, don’t you owe it to yourself to make a conscious effort to improve the things in your life that you have the power to control?

When you make improving yourself in meaningful ways a priority in your life, you not only improve your life as a result of those priorities, you begin to make a positive difference in the lives of those around you.

Good behavior inspires good behavior.

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What are your weaknesses?

What are the triggers that cause you to act in ways that are contrary to the person you want to be?

What are the things you do without thinking that are having a negative impact on your life, your health, your career, or your relationships?

If you’ve never given these questions any thought, you not only leave yourself open to self-sabotaging behavior, you are vulnerable to being exploited by others.

Common self-defeating behaviors:

  • Quick to anger
  • Easily frustrated
  • Feelings of self-pity
  • Low self-esteem
  • Oversensitive
  • Lack of self-awareness
  • Lack of self-discipline
  • Lack of knowledge
  • Lack of motivation
  • Lack of focus
  • Apathy
  • Vanity
  • Insecurity
  • Selfishness
  • Bigoted views
  • Feelings of superiority
  • An inflated sense of importance
  • Poor social skills
  • Habitual quitting

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(Timing of) results may vary

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I remember sitting in my car, wallowing in self-doubt a few years ago, and wondering if anything I was doing was making any kind of difference.

Because if it was, I couldn’t see it.

I felt so small. Invisible, even.

I contemplated giving up. Withdrawing and disappearing.

Because if I was doing everything I was capable — at the time — of doing (and I felt — and still feel — like I was), and it still wasn’t yielding results, then what was the point of doing anything at all?

And just now I received an email from someone who stated that something I wrote back then played an integral part in a fork in their life.

In short, it changed their life. Changed. Their. Life.

And seriously, the contrast of knowing what I was feeling back then and reading this email now makes my eyes water.

So please understand a lesson that’s taken me a fair amount of time to learn, just because you may feel invisible at times doesn’t mean you aren’t being seen.

It may just be that acknowledgment of whatever positive contribution you are making to the world may take a while to get back to you.

They say that all goals should be measurable, but sometimes we try looking for results too soon — and because we don’t see them, we give up thinking we haven’t gotten any.

I’m here to say again that not everything of value can be measured.

Don’t give up on something you really want to do just because you don’t see immediate results.

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