Entries from June 2009 ↓

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People can strive for success for years and do everything it takes to realize their ambitions. Yet when they succeed, they stop doing what they have to to keep their achievements and often lose everything. That’s why many have 15 minutes of fame and few have a lifetime of popularity. That’s why loads of companies go bankrupt.

Never stop doing what you can to be successful. Because once you stop, you’re grinding to a halt just like a train on a steep hill. Sooner or later, if you don’t do something about it, you’ll start going backwards.

Don’t let yourself without ambitions. They are the only stimulus that keeps us going. Even if you’ve realized your ultimate life goal, set a new one. Even if you’ve lost the desired pounds and look sexy, keep on exercising to maintain your body’s fitness.

We never really reach success. It’s simply a word that motivates us to undergo inspired action. But we should always look for success, no matter in what situation we are or how we feel. So let’s keep on the good work!

I’m bringing a new habit into my life. Each time I want to buy something, I’ll be asking myself the question if I really need it. To memorize the question, I’ve placed it as a note on my monitor, so that I can see it all day long.

Do I really need to ask that question?

The idea behind my new initiative is simple. From now on, I’ll be buying only what I really need and what I deeply desire. Only what I will use and enjoy after my purchase.

I really recommend you try the same thing. We often get involved with buying too many items that we don’t really need or even use. So by limiting our own possessions, we focus on what’s important.

Quite a long time ago, I stumbled upon a speech by Guy Kawasaki given in Palo Alto High School in 1995. What he shares is amazingly inspirational and true. One particular part of it, the one on happiness, really impressed me. So let me share his wise thoughts in today’s post:

Pursue joy, not happiness.

This is probably the hardest lesson of all to learn. It probably seems to you that the goal in life is to be “happy.” Oh, you maybe have to sacrifice and study and work hard, but, by and large, happiness should be predictable.

Nice house. Nice car. Nice material things.

Take my word for it, happiness is temporary and fleeting. Joy, by contrast, is unpredictable. It comes from pursuing interests and passions that do not obviously result in happiness.

Pursuing joy, not happiness will translate into one thing over the next few years for you: Study what you love. This may also not be popular with parents. When I went to college, I was “marketing driven.” It’s also an Oriental thing.

I looked at what fields had the greatest job opportunities and prepared myself for them. This was brain dead. There are so many ways to make a living in the world, it doesn’t matter that you’ve taken all the “right” courses. I think only one person on the original Macintosh team had a classic “computer science” degree.

You parents have a responsibility in this area. Don’t force your kids to follow in your footsteps or to live your dreams. My father was a senator in Hawaii. His dream was to be a lawyer, but he only had a high school education. He wanted me to be a lawyer.

For him, I went to law school. For me, I quit after two weeks. I view this a terrific validation of my inherent intelligence.

Thanks for taking the time to read this great quote of Guy Kawasaki. I would really appreciate if you share your thoughts on persuing joy, not happiness.

Your life is in your hands. Your success or happiness depends completely on your own actions. If something has gone wrong, it was your fault that you didn’t take action on time. And you know it well.

So why do you keep slacking off when it’s time to work? Is there really a reason you should be alone right now when you can be with your loved one or your closest friends? Why is it that you feel bad about something when you can simply take the steps towards changing it?

Honestly, I have no idea why. But don’t worry – it’s not only you. I slack off just like any other human being.

But the difference between successful people and slackers is that from time to time, succesfull ones do what they have to. Even if getting that project finished sounds boring, do it! You control your life. You decide whether to be active or not. So, please, make the choice now. It’s for your own good.

Written by Nicole White,
author of the masters of health care degree blog.

Organizing your life can be a tedious task which requires some soul-searching to determine what you can rid yourself of in an effort to cleanse yourself from anything extraneous. Depending on how much you want to change, it becomes a task which few truly ever take on in their lives.  If you own a lot of material possessions, it becomes evident that you need a release from this type of happiness in order to find a peace that does not rely on cluttering your life.  Additionally, plotting out the goals that you wish to accomplish in your life can help you build a structure to the tasks you take on.

Much in the Zen way, a key to beginning to organizing your life is removing the clutter from it; many people save so much of what they have collected over the years, and if you think you will have a use for it, then do so, but if not, then you should rid yourself of it.  While many of these items are bound to be nostalgic, it is important to sift through what you really want to hold on to instead of keeping boxes of mementos stored up in your attic for the rest of your life.  Additionally, increasing your material possessions only adds to this increased amount of clutter; many stores thrive on selling random bits of house wares which you can do without.  No one needs a constant display of “knick-knacks” as it presents a feeling of chaos in your home which does not lead to a very peaceful state of mind.  Relieving yourself of these extra possessions can lead to a new outlook on life which presents you with the motivation to change the way you were living your life.

Setting goals is another way to get your life on track.  Where do you want to be in 5, 10, 20 years?  Once you discover the answers to these questions, you can compile a set list of ways in which to accomplish these goals.  Perhaps you need to change your career, or invest more time in a certain endeavor; writing down your goals assists in determining methods to reach these goals over the span of a few years.  Family goals are also important to many people: do you want to have children in your future, or if you already have children, where do you want them to be in life in the next decade?  Hashing out various methods which will help you reach your goals becomes very life-affirming and once you begin to reach the earliest goals (maybe ones you set for within the year) your life becomes even more rewarding.  Setting up a structure for life can be a difficult task to get started on, but it requires a peaceful state of mind and the will to strive to do these goals you set.

Nicole welcomes your feedback at
nicole.White222 (at) gmail.com