Don’t Take Things Too Seriously

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BY Brett

The rest of the world, including me, takes things way too seriously.

So what if you fail at implementing self-improvement advice? I’ve failed countless times in my fight to get organized and acquire laser-like focus.

So whut if you make a couple of speling errors or typos? It doesn’t change the person that you are and it’s not that big of a deal because people understand you 90% of the time when you make a mistake anyways. And this is coming from a person who’s a total grammar Nazi. Do typos bug me? Yeah. But do they matter, in the grand scheme of things? Not really.

For all the serious stuff we preach — like getting your life into order, figuring out how to live “well”, cultivating good habits — we hardly ever take a step back and laugh at ourselves, at the absurdity that we feel like we need to absorb all these self-improvement concepts in order to live a good life.

You don’t, guys. Life isn’t that serious. It’s a tragicomedy,...

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Greatness Requires Consistency

BY Brett

I know, I know – I should be the last one to talk about consistency. I’m not the most consistent man on the planet, that’s for sure.

However, I’ve achieved a fair amount of success. And I know that, in order to be successful, consistently doing the right thing is the key. I’m consistent in my study habits. I’m consistent in how I work out. I’m consistent in how I do my work (an hour and a half of work, followed by a 15 minute break). I’m consistent in how I do just about everything – and, yet, somehow, I haven’t become consistent in my work on this site, even though I’ve been “working on it” for a long time.

Sidenote: even though I know what the right thing to do is, oftentimes, I don’t do it. That’s how hard implementing ANY advice is. So if you’re struggling with implementing self-improvement advice, don’t worry. You’re not alone.

You can’t take days off from practice. You can’t use excuses to get...

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Where Has All the Passion Gone?

BY Brett

Note from Brett: this post is as much for me as it is for you, the reader. Enjoy!

Where has all the passion gone, man?

Where did it go?

Odds are – it hasn’t gone anywhere. You just choose not to feel it, because you’re scared.

Scared? Yep. You’re scared. You’re scared of showing your passion to the outside world, scared to show that you’re passionate about anything, because you’re too “cool” and “understated” and “minimal” and “stoic” to show how passionate you are about things. Things like this blog, self-development, your health, living a good life, giving yourself the tools to build a business in the future, and, yes – just having fun.

Why are you scared? Because no one else around you (in real life) is clearly passionate and you’re afraid of attracting attention?

You need to show your passion precisely because no one else will. It’s an act of defying the status quo – and...

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Open Your Mind: Anything Can Happen

BY Brett

A huge part of the beauty of life is its randomness.

When you wake up in the morning, are you ever even close to 100% of exactly what is going to happen in your day? Probably not – and if you are, then you should read on.

Life is incredibly dynamic – so dynamic, so unpredictable, that we can never know exactly what’s going to happen in a given day before it happens. Sure, we have schedules that dictate when and where we’ll be for large parts of our days, but our schedules don’t tell us what will actually happen while we’re at our doctor’s appointment, having coffee with a friend, or sitting at home alone. Maybe your doctor will tell you that you have a debilitating disease, maybe your friend will tell you that they are thinking of starting a business based on a really cool idea and they want you to help, and maybe you’ll come up with a really cool idea of your own while you’re watching the football game on TV.

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Lessons From an Emotional Breakdown

BY Brett

I have to admit – a few days ago, I had something close to a complete emotional breakdown.

The world felt like a hostile, dark place. I felt like I didn’t deserve success, I felt like I was being stretched thin since my energy is being spent in so many different ways, and I felt like there was no way out of the darkness and sadness that I felt for myself and the world.

The breakdown started when I couldn’t bring myself to do any work. I was paralyzed by anxiety. Did I try to fight it and push through? No. I’ve learned the signs of an impending breakdown over the years, and I’ve also learned that the best approach is not to fight the breakdown, but to welcome it with open arms and be swallowed whole by it. Resisting does no good. Only by embracing all emotions can we feel their impermanence and let them go.

I’m sure you all are thinking – “As a personal development junkie/blogger, you still have emotional...

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Total Self-Improvement: How to Become a Complete Human

BY Brett

I’ve always tried to be great at everything I’ve put my mind to. School, athletics, even writing this blog – I’ve always tried to reach my best, in every facet of my life.

Why? I believe in becoming a complete human being. One that has strengths in every area, and weaknesses in as few as possible.

Becoming a complete human is the end of all self-improvement. It is the goal that we are always striving for – to become a balanced, good person across every aspect of our lives. A true jack-of-all-trades or the archetypal Renaissance man is what I’ve tried to become – and I think everyone in the self-improvement game will trend towards becoming one themselves. It’s part of the natural process.

Becoming a complete human being requires being very good in every ‘sphere’ of life – it requires having integrity and being an honest person; having diverse knowledge of a wide range of subjects; being...

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Trust the Process – You’re Going to Be Okay

BY Brett

Oftentimes, I write a lot of these blog posts as a way to remind myself of certain truths to living that I’ve neglected or have forgotten as I’ve moved forward in life.

This isn’t one of them. This is a post made purely to help you – because I know of the things that you might be going through right now, or might be going through in the future.

This isn’t a post that I want to go viral (actually, I never really care if my posts do go viral), nor do I care if a billion people on the internet read it and link back to me.

My goal? To help one person out. That’s it.

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Harnessing the Butterfly Effect: Will You Change the World?

BY Brett

I’m no chaos theorist, but I’m a big believer in the Butterfly Effect – and how it can be harnessed to do nothing short of change the world.

For the uninitiated, the butterfly effect is essentially this: decisions or actions we take now, no matter how small they are, can play a massive role in determining the outcome of our lives and the lives of others. We have no idea what our impact can have on others – just taking actions may start a personal revolution for some people. You can do the same – and affect more than just yourself.

This is why Gandhi’s famous quote “Be the change you want to see in the world,” is so effective. It shows how one decision to change our personal world can end up inspiring others to do the same. That’s why I’m writing for you today. This is a call to action.

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Stop Taking (Most) Advice

BY Brett

This post is going to be a bit counter-intuitive, since it’s a post containing advice on why you should stop listening to advice. Proceed with caution. I’m fully aware of the apparent contradiction, but bear with me.

Most advice is given based on people’s past experiences with things and is based on a ton of assumptions – assumptions that are often not true. In fact, most people, when giving advice, make one fatal error: they believe that they are exactly like you. All their advice is based on what they would do if they were in your shoes – but not if they actually were you, if that makes any sense.

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6 Musts In Communicating Effectively

BY Bud

We all want to lead. We all want to make things happen. But in the process many of us forget to listen. Instead of hearing, we direct. Instead of understanding, we command. Yet true leadership and meaningful relationships require that you do more then listen, they require that you actually hear what’s being said.

Learning to listen is perhaps one of the greatest skills we can posses, because the more we listen the better we can understand the world around us. I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t been the greatest listener at times, but I’ve put a great effort into becoming a better communicator.

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