The 20 Most Life-Altering Concepts I’ve Ever Embraced

By

The 20 Most Life-Altering Concepts I’ve Ever Embraced


Do you have one life lesson or philosophy that has changed the course of your life?
Sometimes you can read something or have a life experience that hits you over the head with its brilliance and perfection. A huge mind shift takes place, and your life is forever altered for the better.
These can be years in the making or overnight sensations. I've had my share of both, and even the overnight sensations can take years to fully assimilate in my psyche.
But the important thing  is the discovery of these concepts and how you apply them to your life. Once you realize these great truths are out there, it becomes a lifelong quest to discover more of them.
That's what personal development is all about — the ongoing search for the truths that will set us free to be who we are and to live our best possible lives.
Through my adult years, there have been many of these concepts that I've discovered (or that have hit me over the head) along the way. I've chosen 20 to share with you that have impacted me most profoundly. And I've suggested a resource for further reading on the topic.

1. The Power of the Present Moment

It has taken me a long time to fully grasp this one, but the power of now is probably the most life-changing concept I've embraced. Our entire lives are comprised of present moments, so what we do in each moment and how we choose to view our current circumstances is what determines our happiness. Don't fritter them away — make each moment count.

2. Don't Struggle with Reality

What is happening is supposed to happen because it is happening. That sounds simple, but most of us resist our circumstances and argue with reality. As teacher and author Byron Katie reminds, “If you want reality to be different than what it is, you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.” When we stop opposing reality, and accept exactly what is, it frees us for creative thought and action based on truth.

3. Let the Future Unfold

This is a hard one for those of us who are planners and goal-setters. You can still plan and set goals, but hold on to them loosely. Steer your boat in the direction of your dreams, but then let the current and wind carry you forward. Don't worry or fret about what's around the next bend. The future has a way of taking care of itself.

4. Simplify Everything

I spent half of my adult life making things busier and more complicated — only to realize that busyness, things, and complications were sucking the joy out of living. When you do and have few things, you have more time to savor them fully and focus on what affords you the most pleasure and fulfillment.

5. Let Go of Attachments

This goes along with simplifying. And the act of simplifying certainly helps you recognize your attachments. You'll see what I mean when you start to give away a perfectly good suit that you haven't worn in ten years. Suddenly that suit looks really necessary. But once you do let go, you never look back. And suddenly you are lighter and freer than ever before.

6. Don't Believe Your Thoughts

This one was so liberating for me. For the longest time, I believed my thoughts were the definitive truth about reality. If I thought it, it must be the way it is. Now I realize that often my thoughts are completely wrong or just one perspective on truth. It is always good to find evidence to support the opposite of your thoughts, especially negative and limiting thoughts.

7. You Can Train Your Brain

The science of neuroplasticity has changed everything about the way I view my capacity for learning and adapting to new things. Our brains are not rigidly mapped as scientists once assumed. Our brains are capable of rewiring to accommodate new learning and reinforce new behaviors well into old age. Even visualizing alone can strengthen areas in our physical and mental lives.

8. Focus on the Task at Hand

This is the most practical and productive concept I've embraced. I've heard it for years, but my friend Leo Babauta of Zen Habits made it real for me. He showed me how to clear everything off my desk, pick one important thing, and give that one thing the time and attention it deserved for a fixed amount of time. Now I'm not distracted and pulled in other directions.

9. Don't Overthink

Historically I've had  a tendency to let my mind whir off on over-thinking tangents. I believed I could think my way out of a problem or into a great decision. Some amount of thinking might be required for these situations, but at some point you get stuck like a gerbil on a wheel. I've discovered some brain tricks to help me get off that wheel and break free of over-thinking.

 10. Find Your Passion

I went for years thinking I didn't have a passion. Finally, at age 48, I did the work necessary to learn what makes me really happy and how to apply it to my life and work. This work is often ignored or put off, but it is the only way to learn how to create your life by design rather than by reaction.

11. Live Through Your Values

Your core values should be the blueprint for everything else in your life. Until I did the self-work mentioned above, I didn't give my values a lot of thought. But if your life is aligned with your values, then you have a purpose and guide for every decision and action.

12. Stop Pleasing People

If your life is defined by pleasing others, winning their approval, or keeping them from disappointment, you are living a false life. You can't be authentic and live this way. This impossible goal only reinforces low self-esteem and unhappiness. Once liberated from the pleasing addiction, you are free to be yourself and love yourself.

13. Whine Less, Give More

The more I talk about my problems and focus on them, the worse they seem — and the worse I feel. I've discovered when I feel bad about my life, I go do something for someone else. Then I feel better. It's amazing how that works — but only every time.

14. It's Never Too Late

Using age as an excuse just doesn't hold water. We can do most anything we want to well into old age. Why not live every single day learning, growing, and having bold adventures?
Resource: Age Doesn't Matter Unless You're a Cheese, by Kathryn and Ross Petras

15. Focus on Your Top 20%

Rather than trying to do it all, pick what is most important and spend your time and energy on those things. This all ties in with simplifying and focusing on the task at hand, but it's the bigger picture. Look at all areas of your life, and decide the top 20%. Let everything else fall away.

16. Happiness Is (Partly) a Choice

Our genes and circumstances account for half of our happiness levels, but the other half is totally in our control. That allows for a big heap of happiness if we choose it. I learned so much about what can foster happiness from this resource book.

17. There's Nothing to Fear

Unless we are in imminent danger, most fears are projections about a perceived future. By staying the present moment (see #1), you will see there is nothing to fear. Right now, everything is just fine.

18. Create vs. React

Most of us spend our lives in reaction mode. Life throws things at us, and we respond accordingly. But you can flip that around and take control. Once you do that passion and value work mentioned above, you have the tools to create an extraordinary life by your design.
Resource: Shift your Mind: Shift the World, by Steve Chandler

19. Action is the Answer

When you don't know what to do, just do something. When you feel afraid, do something. When you don't want to start, do something. Any action, tiny action, will give you momentum. And that gets the ball rolling forward.
Resource: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey

20. Stay Open to Possibilities

I love author Shakti Gawain's quote, “This or something better now manifests for me in totally satisfying and harmonious ways, for the highest good of all concerned.” When you aren't too attached to outcomes and remain open, you might get something better than you bargained for!
What concepts or life lessons have changed your life for the better? Please share in the comments.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saiba o que significa um prego 17 x 27.

By
Muito interessante pessoal, jamais imaginei como se media isso! abraços, Ivan Saiba o que significa um prego 17 x 27. A nomenclatura dos pregos é algo bastante desconhecido da maioria das pessoas. Isso ocorre porque há muitos padrões no mercado. Existe uma equivalência aproximada entre elas, mas as usuais estão em Polegadas Inglesas x BWG, JP x LPP e ainda o padrão métrico oficial, mm x mm. Entenda o que significam estas siglas: Polegadas Inglesas: multiplique o número correspondente por 25,4 para ter o comprimento em mm. BWG (Birmingham Wire Gauge) e JP (Jauge de Paris): são tabelas próprias que indicam o diâmetro do prego. LPP (Linhas Por Polegadas Portuguesas): multiplique o número correspondente por 2,3 para ter o comprimento em mm. No Brasil usamos mais o seguinte formato: JP x LPP Onde: JP é o diâmetro, em JDP (Jauge de Paris) LPP é o comprimento, em Linhas de Polegada Portuguesa. 1 JDP = ver tabela abaixo 1 Linha de Polegada Portuguesa: 2,30 mm Conversao de Medi
Read more

25 Alan Watts Quotes to Teach You the Transformative Power of InsighsPi

By
Image
25 Alan Watts Quotes to Teach You the Transformative Power of Insighs Pin A prolific author and speaker, Alan Wilson Watts is credited with the interpretation and introduction of Eastern philosophy to the Western audience. As his mother’s students were children of missionaries to Asia, Watts began to be fascinated by Asian art, literature, and philosophy; so in time, he learned Chinese and started to explore the fundamental beliefs and practices of religions and philosophies of India and East Asia. After a rigorous research in Zen Buddhism, Watts published one of the first books on the topic –  The Way of Zen  – introducing the burgeoning youth culture to it. Due to all the wisdom it embodies, Watts even suggested that Buddhism could be presented and taught as a form of psychotherapy, and not only as a religion. Alan Watts is the author of more than 25 books on various topics such as philosophy, Eastern and Western religion, natural history, semantics, cybernetics and the
Read more

Fantastic Video! It's Worth Remembering: Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen

By
Image
This one goes for one of my best friends, since teenagehood, Giovani Chaves that lives in Berlin - Germany and shared with me this great classic that will never be old! It's totally worth seeing for the first time or for the 100th time as it's only 5min long but makes you really realize what it's important in Life! Always remembering... Please Use SUNSCREEN! Enjoy! THIS IS THE ORIGINAL MUSIC VIDEO Great Music video from the nineties ! The lyrics are taken from a famous essay — written in 1997 by Mary Schmich, a columnist with the Chicago Tribune — which gives some amazing advice for life, thoroughly recommend everyone to watch this ! enjoy ! http://tinyurl.com/schmich-sunscreen This is the original tune, and video, as seen on MTV, the other which exists, is a Spanish karaoke version not to be confused with this made by Baz Luhrmann the film director. ________________________________________ Check these links, and do your own research: Sunlight prevents skin cancer as it
Read more

Could Asia really go to war over these?

By
Image
Could Asia really go to war over these? The bickering over islands is a serious threat to the region’s peace and prosperity Sep 22nd 2012 | from the print edition THE countries of Asia do not exactly see the world in a grain of sand, but they have identified grave threats to the national interest in the tiny outcrops and shoals scattered off their coasts. The summer has seen a succession of maritime disputes involving China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines. This week there were more anti-Japanese riots in cities across China because of a dispute over a group of uninhabited islands known to the Japanese as the Senkakus and to the Chinese as the Diaoyus. Toyota and Honda closed down their factories. Amid heated rhetoric on both sides, one Chinese newspaper has helpfully suggested skipping the pointless diplomacy and moving straight to the main course by serving up Japan with an atom bomb. That, thank goodness, is grotesque hyperbole: th
Read more

Aiguille du Midi - France - Needle of the Mid-day (Breathtaking Wonder)

By
Image
 Aiguille du Midi  The Aiguille du Midi is a 3,842-metre-tall mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc. Elevation :  3,842 m Prominence :  310 m English translation :  Needle of the Mid-day Location :  Haute-Savoie ,  Rhône-Alpes ,  France First ascenders :  Jacques Balmat ,  Antoni Malczewski Mountain range :  Alps ,  Mont Blanc massif
Read more

Sumerian religion

By
Image
  Sumerian religion From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Sumerian religion Wall plaque showing libations by devotees and a naked priest, to a seated god and a temple.  Ur , 2500 BCE. [1] [2] Part of  a series  on Ancient Mesopotamian religion Religions of the ancient Near East Anatolia Ancient Egypt Mesopotamia   Babylonia Sumer Persia Semitic   Arabia Canaan show Primordial beings show Seven gods who decree show Other major deities show Minor deities show Demigods and heroes show Spirits and monsters show Tales v t e Part of  a series  on Religions of the ancient Near East Anatolia  Hittite Luwian Egypt Hurrian Mesopotamia   Babylonia Sumer Iranian   Persia Semitic   Arabia   Nabataean Canaan v t e Sumerian religion  was the  religion  practiced by the people of  Sumer , the first  literate  civilization of  ancient Mesopotamia . The Sumerians regarded their  divinities  as responsible for all matters pertaining to the natural and social orders. [3]
Read more

What is the best piece of advice you ever received to earn more money?

By
Image
What is the best piece of advice you ever received to earn more money? Hector Quintanilla , Founder at DigitalAgeEducation.com Updated Jul 25, 2018 I just gave this lesson to my 10-year-old son. “Dad, to make money I will be walking our neighbors’ dogs. How much should I charge?” “How much do you want to make?”  I asked. “I think I could charge $3 dollars per hour.” “Is that all you want to make? Only $3 dollars per hour?” “No!”  he interrupted,  “I would love to make $20 dollars, but how could I do that? Do you think people will pay me $20?” I started to work on his mindset: “What are you selling, Son?” He stopped staring at me thinking,  “I’m not selling anything, Dad. What do you mean?” “Okay,”  I said,  “pretend I’m your customer. Sell to me.” He ran quickly to the computer and printed out a brochure he created that said: I WALK YOUR DOG $3 PER HOUR. CALL ME. “Here, Dad,”  giving me the brochure, “ will you hire
Read more

The Most Important Life Lesson From Andy Dufresne and The Shawshank Redemption

By
Image
The Most Important Life Lesson From Andy Dufresne and The Shawshank Redemption Gen Cruz Stephen King is one of the most prolific novelists of our time. One among his finest works is a novella titled Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. The movie based on this story titled The Shawshank Redemption ended up as King’s most critically acclaimed film adaptation. It is hailed as the greatest film to never win an Oscar best picture award, and regarded as one of the greatest films in history. The novella is about a dispassionate big-shot banker serving life imprisonment in Shawshank Penitentiary, and his seemingly miraculous escape. The Story Andy Dufresne was judged guilty for the murder of his wife and her lover, a crime that at first seemed to the reader a cut and dry case. However, Andy was explicitly revealed to be innocent later on. Despite of this, Andy retained his stoic demeanor. He was angry for his predicament sure, but his feelings dictated neither his actions nor his attitu
Read more

What is a sad truth about life?

By
Image
Imagine yourself in this scenario: She is your wife. This is your car. This is your house. This is your phone. You're a multi-billionaire. You graduated from Harvard. You have a Ph.D. People love you. People hang out with you. People notice you. People take care of you. People treat you with superiority. People invite you to the best parties. Now, take away the wedding; you are single. Substitute the Bugatti with a rusty, broken car, with over 200K miles. Your home is the street. You have a flip phone. You are barely making ends meet. Many days you go without food. You cannot afford to go to college. You have no degree. Your lifestyle is now like this. What do you have? What does society see in you? Nothing. Suddenly, you go from 500 friends to 0. The people you thought cared about you are nowhere to be found. You are alone. You are struggling. And no one cares. The saddest truth about life is that
Read more

AMAZING MUSIC - Ale de Maria - Mamae Maria - Song

By
Image
Música: MAMÃE MARIA_Ale de Maria Heyo hey o heyo heyo yo yo heyo heyooo (2X) Mamãe Maria em seu jardim em flor Mamãe abençou, me ensinou a cantar Sigo rezando essa cançao em louvor Canarinho Beija Flor, do jardim de Mamãe Terra que dança, que balança seu reinado Com o mar sempre ao seu lado e o sol sempre a brilhar Ouça o canto, atenda o chamado, passarinho encantado Com saudade de voar Voar bem longe sobre o mar na maré cheiaOnde a sereia canta pra Mãe Yemanjá Lá na floresta, Santa Verde Amazônia Santa Maria é quem clareia o Mapiá Salve Ayahuasca, Vô Peyote e São Pedro Salve essas flores que Mamãe do Céu nos dá São essas rosas que Mamãe do Céu Cultiva São as estrelas que não param de brilhar E assim honrar o brilho do Fogo Sagrado Do Santo Daime e da Arca da Aliança Honrar o amor, a luz presente na família Caminho ao Céu, onde se reza, busca e dança Heyo hey o heyo heyo yo yo heyo heyooo (2x)Wankantanka Yamauê Tuki Tuki Tuki ê (2X e seca)
Read more