Insights for living, 1

I’M IN MY 50s, and if I could go back to talk to my younger 20-year-old self and share some brutal truths about life, here are 20 things I would say.

Number 1: Life doesn’t wait for you to be ready.

We can spend so much time waiting for the perfect moment, but life is not a dress rehearsal.

It is happening right now and it won’t pause to give you time to figure everything out.

Truth is, there is no such thing as the perfect moment.

You will never feel 100% ready.

Start anyway and adapt as you make small steps forward.

Otherwise you will very quickly fall into the trap of living as if you are never going to die and then die having never truly lived.

Action is the antidote to anxiety, regret and despair.

Right now someone is out there living the life you want simply because they took action and you haven’t.

Those who go far in life almost always start long before they are “ready”.

So here’s a powerful question for you: How much longer will you avoid what you are capable of doing in order to continue with what you are comfortable doing?

Keep this in mind: You get just 4000 weeks to enjoy life if you’re lucky.

So it is important to live with some urgency.

Death isn’t the greatest loss in life.

The greatest loss is what dies inside of you while you’re still alive.

And this leads nicely onto…

Number 2: Be patient with the process and impatient with taking action.

You must be patient with the process because there is no such thing as an overnight success.

It often takes years before you get to that one year that will completely transform your life for the better.

So don’t underestimate the power of small steps taken on a consistent basis.

Work out every day and you’ll enjoy a healthy life.

Read every day, and you will build a wealth of knowledge.

Bring value to people’s lives every day, and you will be a magnet for opportunities.

The brutal truth is that you will never change your life for the better unless you change something you do daily.

So care less about results and more about your habits.

For extraordinary results automatically follow extraordinary habits, and mastery is the echo of consistency.

Much of success is built by consistently doing the work that others are not willing to do.

So the question here is: if in 12 months’ time you are exactly where you are now, how would you feel?

Now imagine that if instead of avoiding the things you know you should do, you actually did them every day.

Number 3: Stop playing small.

You have no idea how good you can get.

You can get insanely good at something even if you suck right now.

And it begins with being bold and brave with how you show up and the actions you take.

So what are you waiting for?

Life is too short and too precious to not pursue something that makes you feel alive.

If you want to live your best life, you must go out and find it.

If you truly want something to happen, if you want to find what fulfills you, you must be brave enough to leave where you are and get lost until you find where you’re meant to be.

Not all risk takers will be winners, but all winners are risk takers.

So channel your energy towards being the hero of your story, not a minor character in someone else’s.

When you look back on this moment later in life, that future self is going to be grateful for the you of today.

They are going to thank the you of today because you focused your energy and time towards making your dreams happen. (To be continued)/PN