Some people wait, sometimes their whole life, to take their first step towards following their own ambitions (dreams).
I love nature which is both savage and fair. Watch the crossing of the wildebeest in Masai Mara in Africa and you’ll have a glimpse how nature is savage for those who don’t take action. The firsts beasts to cross the river are usually the bravest ones. They know crocodiles infest the waters, but they have to get across the river. The first to venture into the water, are often the one who gets to live another day, where the grass is greener.
The laggards, waiting behind, scared to blaze their own path, usually follow the path of those brave leaders, and always seem to get eaten alive.
My point being is: don’t be a scary wildebeest, waiting to cross the crocodile-infested river (life) until it’s too late.
Stop following the path that belongs to others, create your own magic. This will too be tough, filled with difficulties, happy and sad moments, infested with the proverbial crocodiles trying to eat you alive, in other words, people who dim your dreams, and have you realise theirs instead.
If you keep moving forward and never give up, nothing can beat you. So follow your dreams passionately, your intuition, whatever you want to call it, cross past fiercely, even amongst the scariest crocodiles. You will win.
Don’t fear giving it a go at what you believe is your greatness. Never mind people to judge when you’re blazing your own path. They are the ones scared to follow their own dreams; they stay behind, ready to judge others for going after it. Too afraid to play the field themselves, they boo from the cheapest seats in the arena.
2020 has been a crocodile-infested river for most of us, what’s holding you back or what’s given you the push to cross the river?
What dreams are you holding on? Are you fearing action or you’re moving forward towards your greatness?
20 advices I’d tell my younger self if I could
It started with 10, then 15 to 20, could easily be 100…
20 advices I’d tell my younger self if I could. If only I could. Would avoid a lot of pain and suffering in hindsight, it wouldn’t have made me who I am today.
1- Shortcuts are a trap, a recipe for disaster. It’s living in denial, at its finest.
2- Own your mistakes. Admit you’re wrong when you’re wrong. It’s better to make mistakes and learn from it than to stall and never progress. There’s nobility in admitting you’ve made a mistake
3- People lie, in fact 99% of us do. Try to be part of the 1% every day. And those who said they never lie are the world’s biggest Pinocchio.
4- Create a habit of gratitude. It’s hard to accomplish, but liberating when you are grateful, despite the pain and suffering. Nothing can stop you when you are grateful for all you have.
5- Learn to meditate
6- Small steps forward are better than racing. Consistency is a gift. Life is a journey, not a destination.
7- Learn about your taxes. You can’t run away from them and the earlier you understand your moral obligations as a citizen, your life will be a lot easier to handle.
8- Live every second of your life as if it was your last. Memento mori - "Remember that you must die."
9- Don’t be so tough on yourself, life already endures that upon you
10- silence is golden
11- Learn to appreciate the small things in life, they become more meaningful as you get older.
12- Learn to love your family as they are, not as you’d like them to be. God’s given you the one you have for a reason.
13- Find someone who understands life better than you think you do and learn from them things you never knew about yourself
14- Discover new things as often as possible
15- Surround yourself with people who want to win, including you.
16- We’re all trying to make it. Sometimes, what you see is all there is.
17- Some people will hurt you, deceive you, and take things away from you. It’s part of life’s learning experience. The sooner you learn to forgive, the better for you. The burden they carry is a lot heavier than you think. Always forgive, never forget, learn from it.
18- Everyone deserves a second chance.
19- Enjoy solitude. After all, you’re stuck with yourself for the rest of your life.
20- Ingrain a set of core values to your life, be relentless with them.
“It is better to start as a fool and learn from your mistakes than to fake being a genius and ignore your errors.”
Reviewed but my good friend and writing machine Kaj.
Gratitude is just so Gangster 🖖🏾
Entitlement suffocates gratitude. An attitude of entitlement doesn’t increase the chances you’ll get what you want.
And it ruins the joy of the things you do get.
Win or lose, you lose.
From Seth Godin
To lockdown & beyond...
My annual retreats in the Bahamas were supposed to be happening now but, the English countryside will do for me this year.
Am I the only one appalled at what’s going on in the world? I see everything has turned upside down, at least for most of us. It’s difficult to wrap my head around the negativity, and to find a silver lining. Sometimes, the price we pay for change is often high and in most cases, painful.
Violence, racism, pettiness, Covid, hatred and deceit seems to dominate everything at the moment. It makes me wonder what kind of world I’m bringing my son to. It’s come to a point where people would kill one another for just thinking differently rather than support and love each other.
The worse in humanity is on display and we can’t turn a blind-eye on it.
Are there any positives to take from this 2020?
2020 was just not exactly what we thought it would be and we’ve reached the point of no return. If we think we’ll be back living like 2019, we’re fooling ourselves.
We are facing unprecedented challenges, and there is no other option than to adapt and overcome. It’s definitely a chance to do things differently and better. It is hard, but we can grow, find new passions, talents, and acquire knowledge.
Whether we like it or not, we are learning to deal with loss, anxiety, and heartbreak. So we might as well take this time to re-evaluate what is important and what is for show. Nourish true connections and sever the old ones which led nowhere.
I look back and I feel resentment towards the things I took for granted. The time wasted trying to please idiots, doing things without purpose and I’m eager to travel the world more. To experience different cultures, meet amazing people and, not to let any opportunities to create a better world for me and others around me pass by, because of fear of what others might think or say because we have indoctrinated ourselves to do what everyone is doing.
One thing is sure, this pandemic has made me appreciate life more than ever. It has made me learn not to waste any minute doing things I don’t want to or pleasing people who don’t deserve my attention.
I enter this second lockdown with fewer expectations and a greater sense of gratitude towards everything I’ve accomplished. Grateful for every experience and appreciation towards what is coming. And a hope, that more decent humans with a higher moral compass will take charge of this world.
New Year same goals? Try this instead!
As we approach the New Year we are bound to repeat the same usual things in the hope that the next year will be better than the one we are about to finish.
We look to achieve better health, save more money, read more, find a soulmate and so on.
Whilst determining goals is a great way to look forward to the future, there is one thing that has been proved to work against you.
And that is to let the world know about your goals.
That's right, the moment you tell your friends or post it on social media what your goals are, you're more likely to fail at them.
Psychologists have found that when you tell your goals to a friend, that moment of satisfaction tricks the brain into believing you already achieved your goals, making you less likely to achieving it.
Best way to do it? Resist the temptation of plastering your goals on social media or delay the announcements by keeping your goals to yourself is key to your success.
When I'm training clients for body transformation, I always ask them to keep it low profile, I keep them from telling their friends about it until we're seeing visible results. The ones that keep it quiet, usually finish the 12-week program with the best results.
There is this interesting short video from one of my favourite authors, Derek Sivers on TED Talks, that explains in 3 mins why you should zip it.
So for next year, I don't want to hear about your goals, show me that you have achieved them. Make it worthwhile.
Happy 2017.