Perspective

Last week, I found that an acquaintance of mine ended his own life. He was only in his mid 30's.

I do not know the circumstances that lead him to commit suicide, but I know what it's like to want to give up.

I never have considered doing what he did, and never would, because when ever things get really rough, God would show me, or bring to mind others who were worse off, which would help me to gain perspective.

Here's more on the subject from the DLM Blog:

10 Critical Things You Have to Consider in Life

Posted: 10 Dec 2009 10:30 AM PST

I have read hundreds of books and articles on personal development. Through it all I've digested and considered thousands of ideas, so-called best practices, and the always popular lifehacks. While there is no way to distill all of these books, your life, your job, or happiness into a simple list of tips, I am going to pick a handful that I personally view as the most important.

While everyone is clearly different and dealing with their own set of unique circumstances, I really believe that at some level each of these ideas can be applied to just about anyone. Take a look, consider them, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

1. Life isn't smooth sailing.
   You will need to accept that there are bound to be some hiccups in your life. We can't control everything in the world and there will be times when things are not going in the direction that we want. This should not be a reason to make you feel depressed about life. Instead, accept that not everything will turn out in your favor and learn from it.
   


2. Live a life without excuses
   If you live a life full of excuses, you will find yourself stuck in misery. Excuses tend to deny you of success and results because whenever you think of doing something that is in alignment to your goals (quit your job to run a business, start your new exercise routine, etc.) an excuse prevents it. How many times have you 'had no time', 'been too busy', 'been too tired'. Decide to stop excuses from ruling your life and take control of the steering wheel of your life.


3. Stop thinking about life's purpose.
   I used to spend so much time pondering about my life's purpose. Now that I think of it, I find that I had wasted too much time thinking about this question. I thought so much and did little to act on anything. Know that there are no destined paths that we should take, instead we should create our own path, do things that we enjoy doing, and charge ahead aggressively.
   


4. Failure is your best mentor
   I once heard a saying that if you want success in life, you will need to fail more and fail fast. Failure is a better mentor compared to success. Failures allow you to learn from your mistakes and move on to find ways that work. Instead of fearing of failure, embrace it. As Thomas Edison said, "I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward."


5. Those who persevere will reach the finishing line.
   Life is not a sprint, it is a marathon; only those who persevere will reach their goal. Sure, we've all heard these things before but giving up seems all too common. The most common mistake that people made is that they quit too fast. If you want to reach the finishing line in the race, all you need is to keep on going. It doesn't matter if you finish first or last, you are going to reach your goal if you just keep on going. Consider that before throwing in the towel.
   


6. Those who fail to change are bound to fail.
   It is insane when people try to do things the same way over and over again and expect to get different results. Life is going to throw you the same challenges over and over again until you are able to change and over come it. For example, if you find yourself constantly broke, you will remain broke until you change your bad spending habits. Even if you go earn a ton more money, you problems aren't solved because you'll simply spend on a grander scale. Study the core of the problem and solve that!
   


7. Positive people are hot favorites.
   It pays to be positive. Positive people see a bottle half full instead of half empty, which means they have a higher tendency to pick up opportunities or lucky breaks. They are the ones who are able to see opportunities in a crisis. Those who are negative are only able to focus on the crisis and thus failed to see any opportunities lying in it.


8. There are enough for everyone
   If you want to be prosperous, you will need to have an abundance mindset. If you work in a scarcity mindset and think that there are not enough for everyone, you tend to suffer from scarcity. You see rich people donating money away and they remain prosperous or bloggers giving away free content yet they are still able to keep on writing great content. So if you want more of something in your life, give some of it away first and you will receive more of it. Life works this way.


9. Live life without regrets
   I was admitted into the hospital last year and during that time I was reminded that we only live once. To some people this means 'do it all' or 'take more risk'. To me, it's larger. It means what we do today cannot be undone. This minute right now is your last chance to impact the next minute. Remember this, you only have a single lifetime and how you are going to live is totally up to you.
   


10. Live your life outside your comfort zone
    Most of us are stuck in our comfort zones. This means that our growth is limited because we are always running in the same circles: fearing change, fearing pressure, fearing success, fearing work. Personal growth means that one must learn, excel and expand. If you truly want growth, you will need to move out of your comfort zone every now and then. We're not talking daily, but periodically take a plunge into something that you typically wouldn't.

Written on 12/10/2009 by Vincent Tan. Vincent writes about personal development at HealthMoneySuccess.com. His site's main aim is to help others to break out of mediocrity and unleash their maximum potential. You can follow him on Twitter over here.

Photo Credit: ˙·▪•● Peyman ●•▪·˙