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Every snow flake is different.

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But once in a while, a similar snow flake comes along.

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Stick with that snow flake.

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And that is why you shouldn’t suppress your emotions. Giant monsters breaking out isn’t a good thing.

It’s finally 2010!! It’s time to get down to business.

And when I say “business”, I mean your (our) resolutions.

After a long break during the holidays, I am back…not necessarily new nor improved, but just with 2010 resolutions…and a mind that wants to accomplish them all!

So, what did you put down [...]]]> Updated – view my resolutions here

It’s finally 2010!! It’s time to get down to business.

And when I say “business”, I mean your (our) resolutions.

After a long break during the holidays, I am back…not necessarily new nor improved, but just with 2010 resolutions…and a mind that wants to accomplish them all!

So, what did you put down for your resolutions? Actually, don’t tell me, because I’m not interested. I’m not interested at what you think you should accomplish in 2010, I am very interested however, in how you will persist and keep up with your goals.

Everyone has goals at the start of the year, but it doesn’t matter what goals you have for this year, it will never work out if you don’t act on it and keep up with it.

In other words, if having self-discipline is a goal for you in 2010, change it into a must.

But you know what? I’m not going to bore you with commonsensical lectures on tips with persisting at your goals, because all you are going to read are things you have probably heard of a million times from your teachers, family, friends, or even that little conscientious voice in your head.

I’m not going to treat any of my readers like children, but I am going to treat my readers like people who just might need a little push sometimes.

The Project

Therefore I’m going to start a one year long project with other bloggers specifically designed to help us and hopefully you at persisting 2010 resolutions and ultimately a healthy and happy lifestyle.

Instead of telling you all to persist and keep going directly with written text, we (me and other various bloggers) will persist our own personal goals of 2010 and hopefully produce a wave of momentum that will ultimately affect the readers (you) to keep on improving your lifestyles.

I shall call this project…”Accomplishing The Mission : 2010” – Creds goes to Armen ( The power of Twitter can be great)

This is what I will do with the project:

• Every month (until the end of 2010) starting at January 31^st, I will post a progress report of my own resolutions. I will post the struggles I had, the successes I had, and the failures I inevitably will encounter.

• I will share any tips and knowledge that I gained through this exercise that helped me persist with my goals. Trust me I will never hold back on any “secret” to successful persistence and accomplishments.

• Since this is a group project, my fellow involved bloggers will also post similar updates every two weeks on their blogs. I will post updates of their progress on my blog as well, so that a variety of tips and inspirational progresses may be injected into your heads.

• You can also get involved by commenting about your goals and your progress with them. However, if you would like to actually participate within this project along with me and the other bloggers, just send me an e-mail and I will discuss the details with you.

Why do I want to start this project? Because I know what it feels like to lack motivation and momentum in life; therefore I want to start this project in dedication to anyone who might need a little push and inspiration in life at the moment. And the start of 2010 is a perfect time to set your goals in place and start building results bit by bit.

If you want to achieve them, why not do it together?

My history with motivation

Personally, I’ve always lacked motivation. Why? Because I learned to receive things in life without much effort.

It’s a rather juvenile reason, I know. Normally speaking, most people lack the motivation because they fear the result of their futures. However, for me, I just simply didn’t equate hard work with success.

Of course I understood it factually, however intuitively; I always felt that the world would give me what I wanted if I simply was patient enough to wait for it.

Sounds quite ridiculous right?

I don’t hate myself for experiencing years of inaction and constant idiotic waiting for results; in fact I need to thank that frame of progress. Because if it wasn’t for the tremendous amount of misery I experienced with the lack of action in life, I would have never learned that waiting for something good to happen to me just really isn’t realistic.

Now that I finally understood the clichéd concept of “action = results” whole heartedly, I can finally start to make changes in my life and gain the momentum that I’ve always wanted.

Lessons from Inactions

Now I’m no expert on motivation, but I am an expert with my own experiences with the lack of it. Personally speaking, I’ve learned that during the past few years, the majority of my free times were spent on activities that would make me avoid feeling bad.

Instead of doing something productive and spending time on things that would actually produce results that were beneficial to my life, I spent them on things like video games and other pointless “hobbies” of mine.

I was stuck in a vicious unmotivated cycle. Since I developed a habit to simply wait for great results in life to come instead of working towards it, I began to utilize addictive entertainments (video games) to kill the time.

As time passed, my life became drier and drier; I became more negative and felt badly about myself. As I felt more negative, I began to focus my attention more towards distractive activities such as video games.

Time after time, the cycle would endlessly trap me in a state of complete misery – where I feel incapable of achieving change and results in my life and I have to run away from my low self-esteem with pointless and ultimately detrimental activities.

So what happens to me when I trap myself in that cycle for a few years? Well first of all, absolutely nothing happens. And second of all, I’ve finally woken up to the fact that I need to start doing something “damn it”.

So I said to myself that enough is enough, I can’t live a life style like this anymore, I felt like an 18 year old who lived like an 80 year old person who simply waits for his end.

Finally I made a decision. I made a powerful decision that encompasses all of my unmotivated flaws. I decided I will not live for its consequences anymore, and that I will keep this journey of action going with all of my will.

Choose to Live Life

I decided to live and savor every moment of life that is available to me. I decided to make use of my precious life to no longer waste in pointless doubts, fears and anxiousness. I will take this opportunity to connect, love and share, and to create, learn and to improve.

I am not willing myself to have any regrets of not giving it my best in all aspects of my life during the reflective years of my later life.

To those of you who fear the fear in your life, anxious about the anxieties, and doubt your uncertainties, stop for a second and realize that you are so blessed with the opportunity of life.

You are so blessed with all of your mental and physical capacities, there are wonderful people for you to befriend and to connect with, an infinite amount of resources of knowledge that you can absorb, and boundless possibilities on how your life will turn out…yet sometimes you spend the hour, the days, the weeks, the months, or even the years wasting it away in unproductive thoughts, emotions and activities.

It is as if you have a winning lottery ticket at hand, yet you never want to cash it in…simply because your mind is telling you how you lost already.

Your winning lottery ticket is your ability to live. Don’t forget to actually use it.

Start using it in every moment you have from now on – that’s how you start 2010, with a winning lottery ticket in your hand!

My resolutions

I don’t have a lot of resolutions, I simply have what I think are “foundational” resolutions. They are the goals that primarily make life a lot healthier and easier. Things like exercise, sleeping early, and eating healthy.

These will be the  I will keep up for this whole year. Like I’ve mentioned before, I will make an update on my progress with my resolutions every month. I will be talking about my struggles, failures and successes, as well as any useful tips that I believe worked best for my experience.

To view my resolutions, go here.

To Sum Up

For the whole year of 2010, I will dedicate myself on accomplishing my goals and improving various aspects of my life. During the process, I hope to post monthly updates on my progress along with other various bloggers through the project “Accomplishing The Mission : 2010″.

Hopefully, this project will inspire and motivate the readers as well as ourselves.

So, what do you think of this project? Would you like to be involved in it? Please comment below.

Thank you all for reading, and I wish you all have a wonderful year this year. You will have ups and downs, but the most important of it all is that you will pay attention to the things that really matter to you in 2010.

Continued below

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I approve this message

want to read more? Visit the Comics Page for more life lessons from stick-figures.

I’ve learned a lot from starting this blog.

I’ve learned that there are a tremendous amount of good-hearted people who are no longer stuck behind the protections of their egos.

I’ve learned a lot about myself during the process as well.

The biggest lesson that I received is that I am…still very young. Compared to many people [...]]]> The blog

I’ve learned a lot from starting this blog.

I’ve learned that there are a tremendous amount of good-hearted people who are no longer stuck behind the protections of their egos.

I’ve learned a lot about myself during the process as well.

The biggest lesson that I received is that I am…still very young. Compared to many people out there, I lack the experience as well as the knowledge on how to really live a happy life.

Sometimes it is hard being sedated by the delusions of the mind, sometimes it is absolutely blissful to be liberated from my stream of mental madness, but I’ve learned that the inconsistency of our mental states are nothing but the unfortunate evolved habits of the human mind.

I’m glad to have the abilities to analyze, interpret, worry and dwell. For without the chaos, there cannot be liberation from it, therefore there cannot be peace in comparison.

I’ve learned to appreciate and embrace the feelings of anger, sadness, anxiousness, joy and peace. I have never lived my life in complete bliss, and I never want to. I want to experience every edges of this world; I want to live through the emotions that our fascinating mind can provide for us.

I want to live a life filled with profound meanings.

I used to wish I could live like a mindless being, emotionally affected and driven only by his primary needs.

Now I’m glad to be human, I am glad for these chaotic movements within my life and my mind.

That is how much I can learn simply from blogging. You may think I am semi-serious on the topic of personal growth simply because of my ridiculous comics and stick-figures…you might be right.

But I can say that I am completely more dedicated and focused on personal growth than ever before. The comics and the stick-figures are what I call “releases”. They are holes within the personal development realm where you can escape and take a breath of fresh air.

You don’t have to complicate things and wonder how to think better or how to live better, you’d just have to sit back and enjoy what is drawn and what is already said.

I do them for one word only – simplicity.

The readers/bloggers

Aside from my blog, there are also many other bloggers that helped contribute to this blog. The readers and the fellow bloggers are what help this blog grow and gain momentum.

These are all wonderful people, each with a unique sense of mind and heart, and each of whom just wants to help.

Lori – janebenimble.com

Armen – timelessinformation.com

Annabel – getinthehotspot.com

Zeenat – zeenatsyal.wordpress.com

Josh – worldsstrongestlibrarian.com

John –hilife2b.com

Lisis – questforbalance.com

Jonny – thelifething.com

Brett – daretoexpress.com

Erien – elvenspider.com/blog

Thanks to all of you who commented, read, understood, e-mailed, and interacted with me.

Hope you all have a great year next year.

Steven

PS: My next post will be at the start of the next year. The posts of 2010 will all be tremendous.

See you all again next year!

That makes sense, [...]]]> Imagine yourself feeling lazy, in fact you feel so lazy that you actually have trouble starting things. We’ve all been there, we’ve all been stuck in a point in life where we have no motivation or direction in life. You think to yourself: “I should learn something about how to get more motivated.”

That makes sense, so you proceed to read all that there is needed to know to increase motivation, to set goals, to persist and to consistently practice what it is that you should preach.

All of the books’ information is now permanently transferred into your observing mind. However, even after the countless words and recitals of common sense, you still wonder to yourself – “how come I still don’t feel like taking action?”

That is an example of the dilemma between intellectual understanding and intuitive connection. You intellectually understand that you need motivation and it is a good thing, but intuitively you seriously just feel like slacking off. For the love of God…WHY IS THAT?!?!?

What I’m trying to get here is that mere intellectual understanding is never as powerful as personal experience. Personal experience is what shapes our intuition, personal experiences are what gives us the reason for genuine motivation.

You are far more likely to be afraid of being bitten by a wolf if you’ve actually been bit by one in real life, as opposed to reading on how they can bite people.

Intuitive connection is essential for motivation and action

What is the point of this post? The point of this post is me telling you (the reader) that absorbing as much knowledge as you can from a textual medium isn’t necessarily the best way to learn about life/people and how to live happily in it.

Wait…then aren’t I basically dissing my own blog, as well as kazillions of other self-help blogs out there? Well, yea maybe, but that isn’t the main intention here. The main intention of this post is saying that nobody can give you motivation to do a certain thing other than the reason to do it for yourself.

Think about it, you read a blog post about how to increase motivation, do you sincerely feel motivated because of that single post? Well, you might feel the hype and inspiration for a few minutes or even a few days, but in the long-run you’ll need something much much more than that ( other than simple textual advice).

This is where intuitive connection comes in. As an example, I recently listened to a interview podcast from the skool of life on Bud Hennekes (fellow personal development blogger from A Boundless World).

Within the interview, I was surprised to find out that one of the major motivations that keeps Bud to stay positive and to cherish life isn’t because he had read about and intellectually understood that being positive is a good thing, but because one of his best friend had died.

That experience, as morbid and devastating as it was for Bud, it ultimately allowed him to learn to cherish every bit of life he has within himself on a level that far surpasses anything that can be written on a book, on a blog post, or even in a crazed Tony Robbins seminar.

In other words, his personal experience allowed him to establish a powerful intuitive connection to cherish life to the fullest. He didn’t just think he should cherish life by then, he now sincerely wants to.

So what am I saying?

So what am I saying? I’m saying that you are much more likely to have a superb motivation to gain money, have great relationships, appreciate life, and have a healthy lifestyle if you have already experienced or directly witnessed the consequence of their lacking.

I’m not saying that the only way to gain motivation is to experience the slumps of life before-hand, I am saying that the motivation do to great things within us can be unlocked through a powerful intuitive connection.

Bud intuitively connected with cherishing life when he witnessed a loss of a life, I intuitively connected with hard work when I experienced the misery without it (long story). There are so many other brilliant people in the world who has powerful motivations to change the world and help its people simply because they are intuitively connected to their purpose.

Many people have started groups against drunk driving because people close to them lost their lives due to drinking. People have started groups to support poverty because they have experienced poverty themselves.

Nobody goes around does amazing things in life because they read it in a book and they intellectually think that it is the “great” thing to do. They have the motivation to change their lives and change other peoples’ lives because they intuitively believe they can.

“Don’t become a doctor because you think you should, become one because you cherish life so much that you want to help save them.” ~ Counter argument for an Asian tradition.

Knowledge doesn’t change your life, experience does. So go get some!

It doesn’t matter how many personal development blogs you read on how to talk to people, how to be confident, how to be positive, or how to be awesome, you are never going to fully change your bad life style or your detrimental mindsets unless you have powerful personal experiences associated with wanting to change them.

Lessons from people are never as powerful as lessons from life itself. You will learn to pick yourself up when you fall down because you’ve intrinsically and intuitively experienced that you need to and not because other people/books told you that you should because of “blah” text reasons.

So after all these texts, how do you unlock the intuitive connection that allows free and powerful motivation to flow?

Well, first welcome the experiences in life and let it form the intuitive connections that are necessary for you to produce a healthier lifestyle.

To experience life, you need to take actions in life. To take actions in life you need to have enough motivations to to start them. To have powerful motivations to start you need to have an intuitive connection of a personal experience in life. See how it just goes in circles?

If you are extremely miserable in an area of life right now, let that be the intuitive connection that forms your powerful motivation. If someone close to you had passed away (like Bud), then your intuitive connection is (I will cherish what is left of my life from this point on). If you are depressed (like I was), your intuitive connection is (depressed no more!) If you are doing poorly in finance, your intuitive connection is (I will find every possible way to stabilize my income). If you have poor relationships with people, your intuitive connection is (I will regain connection and establish meaningful relationships)

If you aren’t necessarily miserable however still want to make a change, then make a choice and stick with it (for the thousandth time). Nobody is responsible but you if you don’t keep it up. Blame only yourself when you give-up, blame yourself when you are lazy, blame yourself when you have some stupid excuse for not going after the things you want in life.

You have complete control over you actions. And if you keep doing the same thing for a long time, you might just get what it is that you wanted.

Don’t ever think what you want cannot be achievable (unless it’s something that involves magics and impossible laws of physics). Because if you put your mind to it, have a powerful enough motivation, then I swear you are going to get what you want.

Remember, It’s up to you.

Your Views

What is your main intuitive connection in life? What personal experiences gave you powerful motivation to lead the life or want to lead a life that you want?

Feel free to comment below

I’m telling you all, I absolutely love doing these interviews. It’s great fun to draw each interviewee as a stick-figure representation, and it’s also fascinating to learn each of their unique perceptions of life.

These interviews has taught me (hopefully you): diversity rests within the core of our similarities.

Without further ado, it is my [...]]]>

I’m telling you all, I absolutely love doing these interviews. It’s great fun to draw each interviewee as a stick-figure representation, and it’s also fascinating to learn each of their unique perceptions of life.

These interviews has taught me (hopefully you): diversity rests within the core of our similarities.

Without further ado, it is my pleasure today to present to you all my four new awesome guests – each with their insightful and unique answers to life.

The guests will appear in the following order!

1. John – www.hilife2b.com

2. Jonny – www.thelifething.com

3. Lisa Mae – www.lisamae.net

4. Michelle – www.moxiemomma.com

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Guest 1

John Anyasor is the creator of HiLife2B, where life lessons are simplified and drinking lemonade is strongly encouraged . Currently a second-year undergrad in college, John seeks to make a difference by providing inspiration, self-help, and motivation to the masses through his blog. Find out more about him.

What would you like to do or what are you doing with your opportunity of life?

I would like to travel the world before I settle down to have a family and (quote, unquote) “normal life”.

There are so many things I want to do: learn to surf, perform the martial arts, play the guitar, play the drums, go to Brazil, go to London, go to Japan – the list goes on and on.

During these adventures, I’d like to inspire people along the way, either with my writing or just by encouraging them to stay focused on their goals.

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What do you think the most important aspect of life is?

Your personal definition of “happiness”.

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Happiness is a state of contentment present when we are creating something pleasurable to ourselves.

What we create depends on us – poetry, music, art, memories, and experiences.

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What sort of ideas would you like to leave for this world and it’s people after you’ve passed on?

When I pass on? (Hopefully, that’ll be a while from now.)

The legacy I want leave for this world one of progressive change, inspiration, and leadership.I want to let people know that they don’t have to live a conventional life, wherever you may be.

I want to at least bring relief to those in the world struggling to survive. Maybe this is a dream a naive idealist like me will chase, but I can live for nothing else.

I can’t leave this world without changing at least one person’s life.

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What would you say to someone who is unhappy with themselves and their lives right now?

It’s never too late to change, but don’t think just because that’s true, you should wait until the right moment for it to happen.

There is never a “right time” for anything. You should have to make your best guess and go for it.

Be grateful for the life you have now, but be smart enough to decide for yourself whether you want things to remain as they are or not.

Then make a decision and take action.

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Guest 2

Jonny writes for love of Helping People, Inspiring People and Katie Holmes. He honed his unique writing style through his refusal to read for fear the words would attack him and borrowed his life philosophies from the local stray terrier but plans to give aspects of them back. Check him out.

What would you like to do or what are you doing with your opportunity of life?

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Trying to suck the very marrow out of it.

Life is two things, an incredible gift and very short.

I want to honor the incredible gift of life by grabbing every opportunity and living fearlessly and not letting this short period of time slip away.

That and eat a vast quantity of chocolate.

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What do you think the most important aspect of life is?

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Your personal definition of “happiness”.

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Happiness (Hap-ee-nis) NOUN.

To understanding that life is a balance. There are good times and there are bad times, people come and people go, there are successes and there are failures.

It is the highs and lows of life that make it worth living.

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What sort of ideas would you like to leave for this world and it’s people after you’ve passed on?

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I hope that after I am go, no man will have reason to say that I did not give it my all and played the game  as hard as I could and as well as I could and for as long as I could until I could give no more.

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What would you say to someone who is unhappy with themselves and their lives right now?

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If you are reading this answer you are already in the luckiest top 10% of people in the world.

If all you have right now is a roof over your head, food in your stomach and a computer you have better off than 90% of people in the world.

You have won the genetic lottery.

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Guest 3

Lisa Mae Brunson is an Author, Writer, Award winning documentary actress and ‘Inspirationalist’ dedicated to empowering individuals to step outside their comfort zone and Be Extraordinary. She is the founder of the Love, Hugs and Inspiration campaign and the creator of the 21 Days of Fearlessness program™. Check her out.

What would you like to do or what are you doing with your opportunity of life?

I’d love to contribute to the well-being of others and empower people to liberate themselves and live their very best life through my poetry, books, workshops and humanitarian projects.

My goal is to inspire people to not only love themselves unconditionally, but to also demonstrate that love to the world. I step out of my comfort zone daily to challenge myself to reach greater heights and live a life that is Extraordinary.

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What do you think the most important aspect of life is?

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Your personal definition of “happiness”.

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Happiness is the manifestation of achieving a state of Nirvana through witnessing the Divine within ourselves and within every living creature, person and creation of the Universe.
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What sort of ideas would you like to leave for this world and it’s people after you’ve passed on?

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My legacy would leave behind the truth that anyone, no matter what state of being they are in, has the power to create their own happiness and construct a solid foundation from which their dreams and personal desires can blossom.

My poetry and words would live on to inspire people to believe in love, in dreams and in living Extraordinary.

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What would you say to someone who is unhappy with themselves and their lives right now?

Stop. Take a deep breath and concentrate on the many blessings that are in your life right now.

Acknowledge even the little things with gratitude. Don’t be afraid to confront your fears because once these are released, you can truly allow yourself to shine brighter than you could ever imagine.

Abandon the regrets and the ’should haves’ and focus on what you can do to contribute to your happiness right now.

Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and let yourself fly.

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Guest 4

My blog is www.moxiemomma.com – Takin’ names and kickin’ sass.  I’m currently working on my first novel, a memoir about being the mother of a son with Tourette Syndrome and OCD.  I also write Op-Ed pieces for The Savannah New Press www.savannahnow.com.

What would you like to do or what are you doing with your opportunity of life?

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I am a writer who enjoys sharing my view of the world (which is sometimes twisted) with those who are interested.

I am also passionately involved in raising awareness about Tourette Syndrome and teaching others that being different can be a beautiful thing depending on your perspective.

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What do you think the most important aspect of life is?

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Your personal definition of “happiness”.

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Happiness is finally understanding the things that really matter like family and friends and being able to ask myself over any given stressor, “Does this really matter in the big picture?”

That’s not to say that I am always able to let those things go, but I am constantly trying to reach that point.

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What sort of ideas would you like to leave for this world and it’s people after you’ve passed on?

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My legacy is my children.

I work very hard to teach them how to live with excitement and wonder because that will be the foundation that will keep them afloat throughout their lives.

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What would you say to someone who is unhappy with themselves and their lives right now?

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I’ve been there.  If you believe things will get better, they will.

It’s all about perspective, and if you don’t like your perspective then work to change it.  Amazing things can happen when you start expecting them to.

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(END) GIVING MY THANKS TO YOU ALL

I give my thanks to John, Jonny, Lisa Mae, and Michelle for wanting to contribute to my interviews! Hope you all enjoyed your stick-figure selves. I’m sorry to Jonny’s, Lisa Mae’s and Michelle’s stick-figures for letting them walking around so freely without drawing them a warm jacket. I guess John won the jacket (and the mittens) when he e-mailed me first…:D

PS: you are all welcome for your presents.

Hope you all have a great holiday!

Steven

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DO YOU WANT AN INTERVIEW?

I would be absolutely delighted to learn different answers and philosophies from many more unique individuals!

Therefore, if you have a blog and want to be interviewed and see what you look like as a stick-figure too (BEST REASON!  ), don’t hesitate to contact me.

Want to see more interviews?

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Spread the message of this post by tweeting it to non-stick figures, and by sharing it in anyway you like (to your non-stick figure friends!).

WHAT DID HE REALIZE?

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RIP- “Man who was attached to his things and ignored the parts of his life that REALLY mattered.”

want to read more? Visit the Comics Page for more life lessons from stick-figures.

The thing about our minds is that they are absolutely brilliant with the process of [...]]]> I’ve learned a lot about life, people and the world over the past few years. I’ve come to realize that there is absolutely nothing wrong with life itself, however, the only thing that can make something appear “wrong” is our minds.

The thing about our minds is that they are absolutely brilliant with the process of analysis and interpretations of the world. The complex functions and processes of our minds never cease to amaze me.

However, while it is so powerful at processing reality, it is just as powerful at creating realities and misconceptions that could trap us within the misery of negative emotions/thoughts.

There are several misconceptions about life that many people tend to live by everyday. To the many of them, these life philosophies may appear to be the norm, however, underneath it all, many of these misconceptions have the potential of bringing the worst emotional sufferings in life.

Therefore, this post will highlight the some of the misconceptions that I think is necessary to remind many of us that they are indeed simply misconceptions.

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Misconception #1

Happiness is the end product of the linear progress of your accomplishments.

This is obviously false. Many people have spent their life-time achieving everything that they’ve ever wanted, however, still end up feeling empty and lost inside. Why? Because they’ve got the whole happiness concept wrong.

Happiness is not a stage in life, nor can it be acquired through external materialistic mediums. It is an ability and a wisdom within you that you can unlock everyday if you just simply and sincerely choose to.

I’m not saying that it is simple as that; it involves a consistent commitment to accept situations and people in your life. It involves appreciating your existence and what is important to you. It involves having a wide range of deep and profound emotions that makes life meaningful.

You are happy when you are attentive to the depth of your life, not the price of it.

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Misconception #2

You should be happy normally; if not then you aren’t doing something right/something is wrong with you.

This is absolutely false. This is a serious misconception, because of this false belief; many people will end up feeling unhappier that they are unhappy.

The human mind is evolved in a way to analyze and to interpret realities for protective reasons. It is a brilliant however ancient mechanism that keeps us alert of potential troubles and dangers.

Those dangers used to be getting killed by sabre-tooths, but now our mind keeps that attention somewhere else such as exams, dates, career, income, relationships, and everything else that can create anxiety, worries, depression and fear within us. In other words, this ancient evolved mechanism creates irrational fears and other negative emotions.

All in all, being unhappy is not an abnormality. We only feel that way because our society likes to promote that image, thus making the average folk feeling flawed – which ironically makes us unhappy.

Many people also think that other people are naturally happier than they are, making them feel like the odd on out. However, everybody is merely the same, we all have problems that we do not wish to share with the public therefore we put on a strong and happy facade…but really who knows how happy everyone is?

So, it’s alright to feel unhappy, because it’s absolutely normal, and you should be glad or even happy that you feel can unhappy…as it is the unhappiness in life that really makes you appreciate the truly happy and important moments you have experienced.

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Misconception #3

The future always holds a happier place than the one you are in now.

Nope, in the conceived reality (not including alternate universes), there is no such thing as the future. You cannot see, hear or experience the future in any way. If you think you are, you are experiencing your mental concept of the future during the present moment.

The problem with this misconception is that most people are used to seeing the present as a mere “stepping-stone” into their salvation of a future. By having that belief, they treat the only source of life (the present) as a tool and not as an experience or a window of satisfaction.

By believing that you shall experience more joy in the future, you divert your focus away from actually having the desire to experience joy right now.

Realize that the only time in life that you can take action and feel emotions is right now, therefore, take the only opportunity you have of the present and start the lifestyle you’ve always desired.

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Misconception #4

Your happiness depends on the behaviors of others’ and the outcome of your life situations.

Your mood, actions, thoughts, emotions, behaviors, whatever, is all your responsibility alone. Some people and situation may direct you down that path of negativity, but it is completely your doing if you continued and worsened it.

While I do believe that it is impossible for us to completely control our thought patterns and emotions, we could however, still choose to pay attention to what goes on in our heads. We may not have the control of how we could get pissed when someone acts like an a**hole, but we can make a decision to whether we should focus and direct our energies towards the negativity that are present in our lives.

Therefore, bad situations and a**holes can potentially introduce to you to the path of negativity, however, it is still ultimately up to you to whether if you want to continue down that path or not.

I don’t know about you, but the path of appreciation and acceptance seems a bit better than the one that says frustration and grudge on the road-sign.

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Misconception #5

Happiness only happens when you have no negative thoughts in your head.

False. Because having no negative thoughts in our heads permanently is simply…pretty impossible. You might be able to experience momentary freedom of negative thoughts, for a few seconds some days, or even a few minutes some other days, but the truth is – Human beings are naturally paranoid and attracted to negative things, it is the way we have evolved to think and to emote.

Not even a Zen master who spent years practicing mindfulness can permanently turn off his negativity switch in his head. So what does that mean? It means there is no point trying to fight the negative thoughts in your head, nor is there any point to avoid it, because they will always be there.

The key is to stop fighting and avoiding the negativity, and to just accept that there is negativity in you. It also matters to where you direct your attention to, if you choose to pay attention to the negative thoughts in your head while you are having a conversation, then of course you aren’t going to enjoy the conversation.

When you focus on things that aren’t truly necessary for you in life – then you aren’t happy.

Happiness happens when you realize what is truly important and meaningful in your life. It happens when you start to pay attention to the things that genuinely matters to you.

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Misconception #6

Death will not interfere with your “pursuit” of happiness.

This one always gets me. Because I always intuitively believe that I will live for at least another 50 years. But guess what? I have no idea what will happen in the future.

The truth is…who knows? My life could end in the next 2 hours, the next 2 weeks, the next 2 months, or the next 50 years. Certainly feels scary and odd when you think it like that huh?

What I’m trying to say is that, we take for granted for the amount of time that we think we will have on this planet. We constantly waste countless days and months because we had subconsciously planned out how long it will take us to be content and happy.

Most of us never really do feel like we are ready to be satisfied and happy yet…”just a little more going on in our lives and we will be happy”.

Take the chance you have now while you are still living, be appreciative of what you have, let the people you care about know that you do, and treat every day as an opportunity to enjoy what’s in store for us in this huge realm of possibilities.

Most important of all, pay attention to what’s important, not what’s simply there.

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Misconception #7

Self-help books, personal development programs, and this blog post will solve your problems and worries.

Nothing else is the solution but you. You can read hundreds of self-help books, read every post on this blog or any other personal development blogs, but if you don’t take action to actually improve your life-style then only one thing will happen – NOTHING.

Different things work for different people. Some people prefer the step by step programs where they follow the structural presentations and understanding of success. Some people might prefer a more philosophical approach in order to achieve a deeper understanding to human nature and spirit. Others might just prefer consistent conditioning and training of their minds in order to produce better habits for a healthier lifestyle.

The bottom line is that you are never going to make any progress on improving your life unless you take action. If you consistently learn knowledge about a healthy lifestyle however rarely or even never practicing it, and you wonder why your life hasn’t gotten better?…well…why do you think that’s even the case then?

So, let me ask you a very important question: what are you going to do?

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One of the major reasons why people fail to succeed is self-doubt. You may have [...]]]>

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One of the major reasons why people fail to succeed is self-doubt. You may have a brilliant idea, but once you start to direct your focus on second guessing yourself, then all you are going to get is what you focused on – doubt.

If you want to do something, then do it. If you have an idea then use it. If you have a voice then speak it out.

Doubt exists because we are afraid of failures. But without failure, there is not a single chance of real success.

Have no doubt and embrace whatever comes to your way, because life is too precious to waste in doubts.

I SAY “GO FOR IT!”

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Just in case you weren’t clear on the little plot in the comic (because my drawing is…pretty confusing here…):

• The first cave-man tells the second one how he discovered the use of fire.
• He then runs off to show everyone.
• Then the second cave-man is hesitant to do the same because he is doubting if HIS DISCOVERY is good enough.
• However, it turns out that his discovery is an invention of an electricity generator powered by solar panels attached to wheels.

want to read more? Visit the Comics Page for more life lessons from stick-figures.