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Today is my 40th birthday.
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And if I could go back to talk
to my younger 20 year old self
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and give him some advice, here are 40
things that I would say.
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Number one, make sure you are climbing
the right mountain.
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Too many of us are exhausted
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because we are doing too
little of the things that bring us joy
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and are chasing someone else's
definition of success.
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This is why it is far
better to be climbing slowly
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up the right mountain than it is
to be climbing fast up the wrong mountain.
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When you focus on direction over speed,
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you will find greater enjoyment
in the journey.
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Number two.
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Stop making your health a side hustle.
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moment that you sacrifice your health
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is the moment that your overall well-being
begins to deteriorate.
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Your health is the most valuable asset
you have.
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Without it, nothing else matters.
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Life is hard enough as it is.
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Don't make it harder
by not looking after yourself.
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Energy, you see, is earned and not given.
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And it is earned by sleeping more,
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eating better
and exercising on a daily basis.
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So work with your body, not against it.
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If not, you will eventually be faced
with no choice
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but to spend a lot of time
dealing with illness later in life.
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Number three, how you spend
your days is how you spend your life.
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If you are not prioritizing
the daily actions necessary to achieve
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your goals, you will never arrive
at where you would like to be.
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I mean,
how can tomorrow be any better than today
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if you don't do anything different today.
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You will never change your life
for the better
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unless you change something you do daily.
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So care less
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about
results and more about your daily habits.
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Because world class results
automatically follow world class habits.
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And this leads me on to Number four,
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take responsibility for your life.
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No one is coming to save you.
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And this is why you must step up
and become the hero of your own life.
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Taking full ownership of your life
is the most empowering thing
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that you can do Because the pain of doing
nothing with your life
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will always be worse than the pain
of doing something with your life.
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Most people, unfortunately, are allergic
to personal responsibility,
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preferring instead to complain and blame.
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Don't be most people.
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Number five have a bias to action.
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The only real failure in life
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is never trying or taking action
on the things that matter most to you.
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The average human life is short
(right now globally,
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it is at 73 years)
and so you only have one shot at this.
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We all know deep down that life is short
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and we will face death eventually.
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But few of us appreciate this.
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If we did,
we would make very different decisions.
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Losing my mom at just 17 years old
taught me the fragility of life.
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The future is never guaranteed,
and the loss
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taught me the importance
of living in the present.
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Time is something we can't make more of.
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So we must be careful about what we decide
to give up a day of our life for.
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Because once it is gone,
it is gone forever.
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And this leads nicely onto number six.
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Extraordinary results come from repeating
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ordinary actions
over an unordinary amount of time.
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Much of success in life, you see, is built
by consistently doing the work
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that most are not willing to do.
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And if you can't do something
consistently over a long period of time,
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you probably won't succeed at it.
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There is no such thing
as an overnight success,
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only over time success.
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So be patient with the process
and impatient with taking action.
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Number seven,
choose your life partner wisely.
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Ryan Holiday wrote an article in 2015
called “The Perfect Spouse is the Best
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Life Hack No One Told You About.” And I
would have to agree with his thoughts
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because without having my wife, Laurie
by my side,
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I would not be enjoying many of the things
that I get to experience today.
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We have been together
for nearly two decades.
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My success is our success.
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Her success is our success.
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And when faced with challenges
and setbacks,
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we look to overcome
and learn from them as a team.
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When choosing a life partner, therefore,
be with someone who shares the same values
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as you and who is also focused on
being better than who they were yesterday.
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Number eight,
the hardest times in life equip
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you with the wisdom
to create the best moments of your life.
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Just because your past was hard does
not mean your future cannot be amazing.
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It is from life's inevitable challenges
that you enjoy
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your greatest personal growth,
and discover more about who you truly are.
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And the tougher the times,
the more clarity you get
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about what really matters
and what doesn't.
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Number nine,
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public speaking is one of the most
powerful skills that you can develop.
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Your ability to touch people's
hearts and minds by educating
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and inspiring them will open you up
to a world of opportunities.
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So develop your storytelling skills
and watch your career blossom.
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Number ten.
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Speak to yourself in the same way you
would to someone you deeply care about.
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This is because the most powerful dialogue
that happens
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is the one within yourself each day.
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Your mind can be your best friend
or your worst enemy.
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Number 11.
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One of the best ways to advance
your life is to simplify it Less clutter -
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physical, mental and digital - paves
the way
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for clearer
thinking and more focused action
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because nobody performs well when pulled
in a dozen different directions.
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Number 12 be fully present
when spending quality time with people,
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especially your loved ones.
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One of the greatest gifts
that you can give people
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is the feeling that they've been heard,
understood, and appreciated.
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This is because people
do not want your time
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as much as they want
your presence and energy.
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So wherever you are, be there.
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Whether that is having dinner
with a friend, playing
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with your children, or spending quality
time with your partner.
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Number 13.
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The only competition
that matters in life is with yourself.
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Yesterday's you,
last month’s you, last year’s you.
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Focus
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on outdoing your past self
and you will flourish.
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And if you are going to look at others,
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look at them for inspiration,
not comparison.
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Number 14.
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Not everyone will like you.
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And that's okay When you put yourself out
there, you will always have some people
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that will hate
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you whatever you do.
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That's okay. You’re not ice cream.
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You can't please everyone.
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You can't escape being judged.
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So you might as well live a life
true to yourself.
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Not a life lived for others. Number 15.
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Get clear on your priorities
and productivity becomes easy.
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How will you know that
today will have been a productive day?
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Begin with the end in mind, work backwards
and move forwards with purpose.
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Number 16. Be bold and take some risks.
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Not all risk takers will be winners,
but all winners are risk takers.
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If you want to enjoy a life the most
can't, you must do what most won’t.
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So be bold and start stretching yourself
out of your comfort zones.
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Put that ask out there.
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Start on the idea that you've been
thinking about for so long.
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Go to that event.
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Say yes to that opportunity.
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Do this every day
and your life will flourish.
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Number 17.
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You get what you focus your energy on.
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Focus on things to complain about,
and you will attract more things
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into your life to complain about.
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Focus on things to be grateful for
and you will attract more things
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into your life to be grateful for.
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Number 18 Be prepared for
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the best laid plans to not go
the way you expect.
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I wanted to develop a successful career in
finance after graduating from university
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and then the financial crisis happened,
which was actually a blessing in disguise.
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Otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting here
right now talking to you.
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And my friend opened a new restaurant
four months before the COVID pandemic
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Shut everything down.
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Sometimes life doesn't go
according to plan,
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and it ends up being the best thing
that has ever happened to you.
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The harsh reality is that when you commit
to doing something with your life,
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you will face
inevitable setbacks and failures.
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However how you respond to them
will be the difference
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between giving up too early
and bouncing back stronger
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from the wisdom
that you have gained from that experience.
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Which leads me nicely onto Number 19.
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Don't fear failure, fear regret.
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More often than not,
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success is born out of a series
of setbacks, wrong turns and failures.
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So when you avoid taking action
because you are afraid of failure,
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you actually hurt your chances
for success.
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There is a beautiful Japanese
saying that goes: if you feel like
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you are losing everything, remember
this: trees lose their leaves every year.
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Yet they still stand tall,
waiting for better days to come.
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Number 20.
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The purpose of life is a life of purpose.
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You were not born into this world to just
pay bills, scroll aimlessly through
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social media feeds, watch television,
do things you hate, and then die.
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You were born with unique gifts
and talents, and it is life's greatest
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adventure to discover what these are
and to share them with the world.
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Don't go through life
accepting that five out of seven days
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are going to be spent doing something that
does not bring you joy or fulfillment.
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Live each day with intention
so that you own your days
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rather than your days owning
you Number 21.
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Knowing
yourself is the beginning of true wisdom.
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This is because you can't have
self-development without self-awareness.
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For you can't change what you are
not aware of.
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Number 22.
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On the days where it feels like
you will never make progress.
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Just remember how far you have come.
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If you can't be grateful
for what you currently have,
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you will never have enough.
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Appreciate where you are in your journey,
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even if it is not where you want to be.
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For every season serves a purpose.
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Number 23.
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Stop filling your calendar with junk.
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If you want your life to change,
you must make space for it to happen.
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Nothing more can be added
to a full calendar, a calendar
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that can often be filled
with things that you have said yes to,
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just to please other people and activities
that would take you away from
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the very things that will help you make
progress towards where you want to be.
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Number 24.
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If you did the work
that you are currently avoiding,
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you would have the results
that you want At a minimum,
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you will always end up in a better place
by doing the work than avoiding it.
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Overthinking, on the other hand,
is the death of all great ideas and
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opportunities.
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You don't have to have it all figured out
in order to move forward.
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The clarity you seek
will come from the action that you take,
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and the next piece of advice
will help with this.
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Number 25
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get important tasks done early in the day
when your energy is at its highest.
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Once these are done,
whatever else happens later in the day,
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you will have already
had a productive day.
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Number 26.
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Have patience with the journey ahead
To become a success story,
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you must be willing to look stupid
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and like a beginner for a long time
before you start getting things right.
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Too many people ignore their dreams
because they dislike
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the idea
of being a beginner and learning slowly.
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So don't let impatience
and the fear of embarrassment
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become the biggest hurdle to your growth.
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Sometimes it takes ten years
to get that one year
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that will completely change your life.
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Number 27 Act from your future,
not your past.
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Let's fast forward to a year from now
and imagine that your life is the best
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that it has ever been as a result
of your own intentional choices.
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What choices did you make today
and in the coming weeks and months
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that made this reality
a possibility for you?
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Number 28.
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Level up your network.
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The fastest way
to make meaningful progress
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in any area of your life is to design
an environment around you
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that makes it impossible not to succeed
Your circle of friends
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will also change as you grow.
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And this is all part
of the personal development journey.
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It is why your new life will cost you
your old one.
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It is part of your evolution
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and becoming as you move
into the next phase of your growth.
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Not everyone is focused on being better
than who they were yesterday,
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and that's okay.
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Number 29.
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Commit to learning on a daily basis.
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There is this 100 hour rule which states
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that if you spend 100 hours a year
deepening your knowledge
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in your chosen discipline (which is around
18 minutes a day),
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you will be better than 95% of the world
in that discipline.
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So what will you spend
your 18 minutes today learning about?
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Number 30.
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You are the architect of your destiny.
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You are both the sculpture
and the sculptor
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with your thoughts
shaping your entire reality.
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Your thoughts,
therefore, can either be the gateway
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to limitless achievement
or a prison cell for your potential.
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Number 31.
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Focus on making a difference,
not just a living.
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Your value is determined by
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how much more you have given to the world
than you have taken from it.
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Add value to people's each day,
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however small, and watch your life
transform.
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Number 32.
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Unknown paths often
lead to the most rewarding journeys.
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When you surrender to the unknown, you
allow yourself to explore and experiment.
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So be open to new experiences,
constantly meet new people, try stuff
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just because it is interesting and fun,
and do a few things
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that you will be excited
to tell your kids about someday.
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Number 33.
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Spending money on things
you don't need or want
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just to impress
others is the fastest way to go broke.
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Instead, learn how to invest
and then put that money to work for you
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so you can grow your financial wealth over
time.
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This way you are able to tap
into the power of the compound effect.
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The eighth wonder of this world.
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Just look at Warren Buffett,
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one of the most successful investors
the world has seen.
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99% of his current wealth was created
after his 50th birthday.
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Number 34.
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Do stuff that makes you feel alive.
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Focus your energy on things
that make you come alive
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and away
from the things that make you miserable.
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This is key to fulfilling your potential.
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Number 35.
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You will have good seasons
and bad seasons.
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You can't control
the weather, only be prepared for it.
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And this leads me to Number 36.
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Don't tie your emotional well-being
to something in the future
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that may or may not happen.
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Doing so will mean that you will end up
living as if you are never going to die
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and then die having never truly lived.
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And your present will be full of anxiety,
frustration and stress.
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Inner peace comes from accepting
what you can't control
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and focusing your energy
instead on what you can.
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Number 37. Listen to your heart.
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There is a reason why the longest journey
you will make
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are the inches from your head
to your heart.
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Too often
we ignore our intuition and innate wisdom
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and place too much importance
on the opinions of others,
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many of whom have not succeeded in
what you are trying to do with your life.
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In fact... Number 38.
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Don't take advice from those who haven't
done what you are trying to do.
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Everyone has advice to share with you.
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Just make sure you are taking it
from someone who has been in the arena
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and not sitting on the sidelines
as a spectator.
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Number 39.
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Leadership begins with you.
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You cannot be
an effective leader of others
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if you are not powerfully leading yourself
first.
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Lead yourself
by living with intention each day.
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And very soon your life will transform
in the most magical of ways.
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And this begins with taking care
of your physical and mental energy,
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for you can't give what you don't have.
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And finally, number 40,
It is never too late to make a change.
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At some point you have to be honest
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about the gap
between the life you want to live,
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and the life that your daily habits
are currently leading you towards.
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If your habits are causing that gap
to widen, then do something about it.
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It is never too late to make changes
in your life to close that gap
00:17:08
between where you are now
and where you want to be.
00:17:11
I hope you found this video useful.
00:17:13
Choose a few to implement this week
00:17:16
and see how simple adjustments to the way
you operate can create dramatic change.
00:17:21
And make sure to keep this in mind.
00:17:23
You will suck at most things
in the beginning With commitment,
00:17:27
consistency, persistence and patience,
00:17:30
however, anything becomes possible.
00:17:33
if you enjoyed this video,
00:17:35
it would be amazing
00:17:36
if you could subscribe,
leave a comment below and give it a like.
00:17:40
Thank you for watching this far
and I will see you in the next video.
