- Being nice to everyone is just smart. The world is run by people, ya know. 

- There is very little worth stressing about and life is intrinsically good. So many things are perceived so just try to relax and let it all happen. 

- In nearly all situations, the world would rather have someone who acts boldly and needs to be told to pull back than have someone who holds back and waits for guidance. 

-Be receptive to new ideas and suggestions, no matter the source.

- Get to know your emotions and get outside of them. Figure out which ones stem from fear (child) and which ones stem from love (adult). 

- Monitor what you put into your body and what you do with it. 

- Your mind naturally relates an emotion to particular places. How you felt while doing things somewhere will linger, so be careful the energy you bring somewhere and don’t be afraid to re-invent it. 

- Don’t sleep with someone if you can’t see yourself with them for the rest of your life (thanks, Grandpa).

- Always have time for people, and never be in a rush.

- You have to be really, really talented at persuasion if you’re going to convince people to help you based on what you’re going to do. Try just doing it yourself. The help you really need will naturally arise. 

- Learn to tame the ego and to listen to the voice inside.

- Respect your ME time. 

- All the tools you’ve picked up and the lessons you’ve learned will magically all add up to what you needed to learn to fulfill your purpose. Don’t worry, okay? Just trust me. Everything plays out like it’s supposed to. 

Simple rule; your attitude towards the world is a direct reflection of your attitude towards yourself!

I don’t care to be remembered in the history books but rather to be a part of something remembered in the history books. 

I strive not so much for a state of constant happiness but more so a state of contentment. Happiness implies no sadness and anybody who says they are always happy is only fooling themselves. We experience a wide range of emotions as human beings. I think the key is to not let these emotions get the best of you; to observe and recognize these emotions without bias and then trying to pinpoint their origins. All I know is how to keep the ego down. At the end of the day there is nothing worth stressing about. It all happens the way it’s supposed to so just relax and enjoy yourself. Don’t put expectations or predictions on anything; be open and stay true to yourself. Be receptive to what the universe is trying to tell you. Conquer your emotions and allow yourself to relax. Just be. Live in the moment and when the time comes - jump!

I was at a friend’s diaper party the other night.

I came with my closer friends who soon left thereafter, evidently not able to handle the concept of a party with only guys. They left for a house party and the promise of women. At a crossroad, I decided to crack a beer and stick around to see what kind of night the boys could make out of it. What ensued that night - a night to remember featuring diapers at the bar and various strangers’ autographs on said diapers - is a classic case of just enjoying the moment and having fun instead of worrying about what happens next.

People often do this at work as well. Getting so caught up in worrying about the future, they forget to appreciate how fortunate they really are to be in that position in the first place. Commit to something for the moment and don’t worry about the future. When the time is right, the professional growth will naturally happen. 

Time does advance rather quickly if we aren’t careful. Maybe the hardest thing to do is meet someone who you become very close with, knowing that you ultimately will probably not end up in the same city. With that said, you never know what kind of future projects you may collaborate on. This world is run by people, ya know.

Why are we holding back?

Why are we selling ourselves short?

Time to stop holding back, stop expecting something from others,

and stop caring what other people will think.

Let go of it all and get focused.

Live the life

we’ve fought to live.

The only person we need be 100%

true with is ourselves.

Let’s do it. 

- Play sports growing up, but don’t train in the off-season.

- Get into a relationship in your late teens, allowing yourself to be complacent with physical activity. Grow in separate directions and break up.

- Pick up running as a way to clear your mind. Notice how people look and talk to you differently after losing a significant amount of weight.

- Pick up a sport from high school and do well. Receive acclamation for achievement. 

- Go on a vacation somewhere warm. Return home and jog less. 

- Say yes to nearly every invite to go out for beer and wings.

- Plan to job three times a week. Jog twice.

- Socialize more, getting shut down not because of your looks but because you act as if you are still overweight.

- Buy healthy food but forget to eat some of it.

- Keep jogging. Realize what your body is really capable of. 

- Figure out the social game and (sadly) realize that you have to play it if you want to win it. Succeed again. 

- Pick up a new sport. Discover that not only can you keep up, but you can actually excel at it.

- Appreciate the feeling of achievement and being proud of yourself without needing to look to others for approval. 

- Stumble upon someone that makes you the best person you can be. Do physical activities together.

- Continue with casual physical activity for no other reason but the sheer joy of it. 

(Originally posted this in response to an article asking who we are when we are drunk.)

I would say that it is only one more version of yourself, though definitely not the sharpest version.

I recently came down with a disease that had me on medication which meant no drinking. This lasted just under a month. In that time period I didn’t change my lifestyle - I would still go out with friends and stay out late.

The discoveries I made were profound. Alcohol is as much a social thing as it is a poison to your mind. With a drink in your hand you are a part of the cult. You can act stupid and dumb and talk to anyone. Our culture is okay with this. A drink represents time for relaxation, time to talk about personal things and tell good stories.

Some people even thrive after a few drinks. In their minds it makes them more fun and more social etc. It’s the classic ‘trying to be happy’ versus just being happy. You really don’t need alcohol to have fun and dance like an idiot, to hit on that girl/guy, or to sing that karaoke song - you just think you do. It would be pathetic if it weren’t so beautiful. Learn to have fun in a sober mindset and you will see alcohol for what it really is. You’ll notice how most people around you approach it.

After the disease had subsided and I was off my medication, I slowly began drinking again. This time I came at it with a new respect for myself and a new understanding of how the alcohol would affect me. Knowing I could kill it sober meant that a drink or two would only add to the experience.

Eventually my goal is to completely eliminate it but as anyone who lives a social lifestyle will tell you, it’s a fairly big part of the culture. It’s just what people do when they go out. In time I believe it will eventually exit my life completely.

It’s also terrible for your body; by far one of the harshest drugs in existence. If you think about it all you are doing is simply poisoning yourself temporarily; dummying yourself down. There is a reason this drug is legal while our government discourages the ones that really make you think. (Though I don’t believe this is the main reason that alcohol is legal. In my opinion people believe they need some sort of vice to get through it all, and the government respects that.)

I recommend you try this experiment, even if just for a week or two. Go out with your friends but don’t drink alcohol. If you have to, come up with an excuse that you gave it up for lent or have the flu or whatever. Still do everything you would normally do. See if you can convince others you are drunk. Enjoy the night and just have fun. You may find something.

The sober mind is the most powerful thing on the planet, bar none. Cherish that.

Pay attention to the small salutations you use when talking to others. We don’t get to automatically bond and have big in-depth heart to hearts with people the first time we meet them. How you get there is by initially communicating so much about yourself when you first meet someone. Are you friendly? Shy? Conceited? Using the right small words when first getting to know someone is how we read whether there’s a potential connection there if you’re on the same level.

Once you’ve made it through the start and figured out you’d be a good fit - as friends, lovers, business partners, whatever - that’s when you can start to build the relationship and become real. 

So remember - it all starts with how you talk to people when you first meet them. That’s the key - take care in what you say and how you say it so that you can say what you really intend to say. 

(This article was developed around February 26th; roughly one week after being diagnosed with Bells Palsy, which sounds a lot more serious than it is.)

- Your smile says so much. It’s a big part of how I communicate, and it took me a while to learn how to come across as happy in conversation without being able to smile.

- Hospitals, for the most part, are sad places with tense and depressing energy. While waiting on a bed for a doctor I fell asleep. I had a dream all my people with positive energy came to visit me - it was so awesome. There’s this smell in hospitals; this look in everyone’s eyes. I realize that what I was dealing with was definitely bearable and manageable compared to what some are up against. Being polite and cheerful in these situations gets you farther than you think.

- Saying no and putting yourself first feels great. I wish I had a cop out to take an afternoon off or not go out with friends more often. It’s a great feeling putting yourself first.

- If you want to get more done in less time, you can. My job is very results-based, which generally means it doesn’t matter how many or how few hours I work as long as I get things done. I would usually go into work planning to stay until five, stretching out my to-do lists to last the entire day. Instead when I got sick I got the list done in half the time and headed home for the afternoon. Imagine the possibilities if we worked that hard all the time.

- It ain’t all about the looks - though I looked like two-face, my confidence never swayed. It really is all in your head. Rather than shying away from how I looked, I used it as a conversation starter.

- People close to you care about your health - being sick makes you see how willing people are to support you and take care of you. Not just family and friends, but bosses, co-workers, roommates, etc.

- Be careful what you wish for. At the start of the year I wanted to give up alcohol. Now with this virus I need to keep my immune system up and don’t want to mess with the steroids. So I won’t be drinking. Maybe the universe is at work here.