To please everyone – Be careful not to give so much of yourself to others that you end up completely losing yourself. When you go around pleasing everyone but yourself, you are the one that gets hurt in the end. The late and great Herbert Bayard Swope said it like this: “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” That is spot on advice if you ask me. Because truthfully, you are never going to please everyone anyway. At some point you will hold an unpopular opinion – one that gives you meaning and makes you feel alive. And when you do, you ought to hold on tight, tune out the noise, and make it count.

Make the NOW the primary focus of your life. – Now is the moment.  The past is just a memory.  The future is a mental projection.  You can choose to dwell back in the past for learning and joyous reflection.  You can choose to dwell in the future for visualization and practical planning.  However, any time your awareness floats away to the past or future frequently for negative purposes, you are suffocating your ability to thrive in the only moment you ever have… the NOW.  Past and future literally do not exist right now – feel the freedom in this truth.

Life, it’s been said – has different phases. In those phases are different people. The ancient proverbs states: ‘He that walks with the wise shall be wise, but a companion of fools should be destroyed.’ Choose your relationships wisely. Being alone will never cause as much loneliness as the wrong relationships. Be with people who know your worth. You don’t need lots of friends to be happy; just a few real ones who appreciate you for who you are. Oftentimes walking away has nothing to do with weakness, and everything to do with strength. We walk away not because we want others to realize our worth, but because we finally realize our own worth.

I try to be the best I can, but it could be challenging when you can’t perfect your dreams. Giving up sometimes should not be the option. In the above photo, I tried doing what I’ve never done. Although, I’m not perfect in it, I still gave it a shot.

When your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from comparing yourself to others, you are no longer the master of your own destiny. Although it’s impossible to turn off your reactions to what others think of you, you don’t have to hold up your accomplishments to anyone else’s, and you can always take people’s opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no matter what other people are thinking or doing, your self-worth comes from within.

This photo was from one of my trips in California. We were on our way to Brentwood from San Francisco. The photo reminds me about what I would title, “avoid them and set the limit. ” According to an impressive article this week, the author use the word success and explained that life won’t always go the way we want it to, but when it comes down to it, we have the same 24 hours as everyone else.”

It reminds me of this truth that Successful people make their time count. Instead of complaining about how things could have been or should have been, they reflect on everything they have to be grateful for. Then they find the best solution available, tackle the problem and move on.
When the negativity comes from someone else, successful people avoid it by setting limits and distancing themselves from it. Think of it this way: If the complainer were smoking, would you sit there all afternoon inhaling the secondhand smoke? Of course not. You’d distance yourself, and you should do the same with all negative people.
A great way to stop complainers in their tracks is to ask them how they intend to fix the problem they’re complaining about. They will either quiet down or redirect the conversation in a productive direction.

I was the same age with one of my professors at Webster University. I felt life cheated me then. Then I read this article that clearly state what I’ve struggled with and it read “Age really is just a number. Successful people don’t let their age define who they are and what they are capable of. Just ask Betty White or any young, thriving entrepreneur.
I remember a professor in graduate school who told our class that we were all too young and inexperienced to do consulting work. He said we had to go work for another company for several years before we could hope to succeed as independent consultants. I was the youngest person in the class, and I sat there doing work for my consulting clients while he droned on.
Without fail, people feel compelled to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do because of your age. Don’t listen to them. Successful people certainly don’t. They follow their heart and allow their passion—not the body they’re living in—to be their guide.”

While reading Success Magazine this afternoon, I decided to lift this from the page, below it read as follows:

“Successful people believe in a simple notion: You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
Think about it: Some of the most successful companies in recent history were founded by brilliant pairs. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple lived in the same neighborhood, Bill Gates and Paul Allen of Microsoft met in prep school, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google met at Stanford.
Just as great people help you to reach your full potential, toxic people drag you down with them. Whether it’s negativity, cruelty, the victim syndrome or just plain craziness, toxic people create stress and strife that should be avoided at all costs.
If you’re unhappy with where you are in your life, take a look around. More often than not, the people you’ve surrounded yourself with are the root of your problems.
You’ll never reach your peak until you surround yourself with the right people.”

When you romanticize about the past to escape the present. – Ask yourself why you’re afraid to look at the present, and take steps to create a more positive path for yourself. Create the positive change you need.