How i’ve found it:
1. Do everything possible to take care of your mental and physical health.
Sleep well. Eat healthy. Really healthy. Work out. Be active. Do things that are challenging to you every single day. Read books. Educate yourself. Scare yourself. Grow from that. Work out more. Climb mountains. Hike long trails.
Take away ALL instant-gratification out of your life. All of it. Call people more than you text. Delete social media off of your phone. Leave your phone at home when you go on walks or out to eat with friends. Do not ever, ever take your phone into the bathroom or the bedroom. You need that time to think.
The literature on this is crystal clear: People that have less stimulus in their lives tend to use the significant majority of their attention to think about the future (28%+). The next bigger chunk of that attention goes to the present. The smallest percentage of that attention is given to the past. Just think about how crucial this is.
Be honest, at all times. Make no mistake about this - people will hate you at times for being honest. Be honest anyways. Rather to be hated for telling the truth than deemed as not being trustworthy. If you are deemed as not trustworthy, it can take you years (or never) to ever get another chance. Say what you mean and DO what you say. I don’t care if you haven’t slept in a week and are hungover - If you said you will be somewhere or do something, do it. People need to know that they can trust you. And when they can, they will open up to your forever. There is nothing more damaging to human conversation these days than passive aggression. If you are passive-aggressive, people that are paying attention will not trust your words candidly but rather realize they need to mind-read or decode what you are actually saying. This takes away from progressive conversation.
Allow yourself to be close to people. Allow yourself to be vulnerable and authentic. To be human. To be emotional. To be messy. To say what you mean and do what you say.
You must find all of these things within yourself - for no one will ever be able to give them to you, if you don’t work hard to find it individually.
Pay attention to the world around you. Help others every single time you notice it. Say hello and look people in the eyes when talking to them. Call them by their name if possible. People will not forget these small gestures of kindness and they will remember you even years later, on the simplest of interactions. THAT is how rare it is. And THAT is how much it is needed today.
Live a life that allows your creativity and imagination to exist, and grow at that. Working 12 hours a day? Work on a creative pursuit that serves as an outlet for you in the one hour you have before going to bed. Do this instead of looking at a computer or a phone. And remember - nothing will be scarier than putting your art out there. Because when you do, you allow it to be torn apart. But if you do, you’ll end up noticing that 80-90% of people support you with tremendous vigor just because you’re putting yourself out there. the 10-20% that don’t like your art are just as wonderful, for they keep you humble and working hard.
If you’re young, don’t own a TV. There just simply isn’t enough time in the day, if you’re really trying to pursue the things that are most meaningful to you. TV can absorb hours and hours of your thoughts daily and take away from the focus you fundamentally MUST have to make sure you are leading your life in the direction you would like it to be. If you must have a TV, only use it for movies - things that allow your attention span to be long, not short. Read more books than watch TV though, please.
Be an individual. Say what you mean. Listen more than you talk. When you think and are truly unique, you will risk offending people. That is okay. As long as what you said was honest and true, and not given with the agenda of hurting someone - you simply can’t try to structure your speech in a way that is always safe. When you stand up for what you believe in, or what matters most to you, you will ALWAYS have people that disagree. That is okay. Let them. It’s not their journey.
Lastly, do not ever make the goal about more money. That has never been the goal and never should be the goal. Make your goal to do things that you are passionate about, that make you feel alive, and that foster your own happiness. Make the goal to feel fulfilled. Money will come as a bi-product of those things, always, but that way, you will treat money as a tool to helping you live your best life… Not a tool to making you happy. If you are searching for money to make you happy, I can promise you one thing: You will never find enough to do so.
No matter what you believe happens after you die… Make no mistake, this is the only opportunity at this life you will ever get. Remind yourself of that every single day and live a life dedicated to knowing that.
Today is the youngest you will ever be again.
Love you all.
Adam