In my 101 Success Hacks eBook, I shared the importance of self-reflection for personal improvement in one of the hacks. Today, I am going to share with you 5 Biggest Life lessons I’ve learnt from 2015, and hopefully you’ll be able to pick up some golden nuggets from my journey to enrich your own lives.
We are not superman or superwoman. Neither am I. I have “failed” many times in year 2015. All my profits from the beginning of the year were wiped away due to the recent market shocks (China re-valuation of Yuan, US Interest Rates Hike and Oil-Crisis). The markets were volatile and unpredictable, and I ended up from where I first started. Because of that, I “failed” to meet my financial goals I set to achieve this year. I have “failed” to submit a project before the deadline and almost got myself into trouble. I have “failed” to live up to the expectations of others in one way or another. I have made mistakes this year I thought I wouldn’t have already make.
Looking back, I have “failed” in many aspects. But to me, I have never truly failed, but I have truly learned. These “failures” may seem like failures to you, but to me, they are never failures, but feedbacks. They are feedbacks to tell me what is working and what is not, what will produce results and what will not, and what actions I could have taken in future to achieve a better outcome. Without these feedbacks, I’ll never learn and grow into a more successful person, so I am very thankful for my “failures” to mould me to who I am to be.
We all get annoyed at people who does a certain action that pisses us off don’t we? But before you start to make a judgement of someone or pass a rude comment to him/her, think of their intentions, not actions.
My mom is a very family oriented person who loves spending quality family time. For me, I am always busy with work and places work as a priority. Every once in two days, mom will always give me a ring to check up on me and ask me home for dinner at the most ungodly work hour and honestly, I was pretty annoyed by it. I mean, I could do with a simple text message, right? Or so I thought.
One day, I sat back and begin to ponder on the persistence of these calls. I went to dad and just casually complained how mom is being annoying with her calls and what dad shared with me changed my whole perspective. I learned that the reason for the calls are simply because mom is concerned about my health as I usually dine out and indulge myself with not-so-healthy food. That is when I saw my mom’s intentions for me, and not her actions, and that was also when I realised how stupid I was to feel annoyed with her kindness towards me.
Here’s the thing…
People give and expect something back in return. And when they don’t they feel disappointed, frustrated, cheated on or even betrayed. But when you give without expecting anything in return, you’ll never feel this way. Why? Because you don’t expect anything to start with.
Here’s the best part. When you give and not expect anything in return, and when you really do get something in return, you’ll be presented with a pleasant surprise! Will you feel happy? Yes of course! We all love surprises don’t we?
The funny thing about life is when you give wholeheartedly, you’ll always be rewarded in more ways than one. You can call it karma, magic or whatever you call it, this is just how life works and I’ve experienced it firsthand myself.
No one can make you happy. Not your mom, your dad, wife, husband, girlfriend or boyfriend, but YOURSELF. Happiness comes from within. It’s the way you mange your mind and thoughts.
I have seen poor families who are the happiest people around. They have a tight knitted bond and simple meals together are always filled with joy and laughter.
On the other hand, I have seen rich people who are the most miserable and grumpiest people around. Although they seem to have everything on the outside, on the inside, they are empty. It’s like hollowness covered in the most extravagant shell.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that all rich people are miserable, but what I am saying is that happiness is from within ourselves. It is the way we appreciate the little things we have, the way we are thankful for what we are blessed with and the way we cherish the people around us.
Yes we all know that when we invest, we get a return. But let’s be honest, how many of you ever thought that investing in YOURSELF, is the best investment you can ever make? We all want to see tangible results, and thus, instead of investing to learn a skill, investing to upgrade ourselves or investing for education, we invest in tangible items that gratifies us only momentarily.
Think about it, why do you get paid for a job? Think harder… You get paid because of the result you can produce with the knowledge you have! It’s the knowledge you have that defines your results, and for those results, you get paid. So the question is, where do you first attain that knowledge? By investing in YOURSELF!
“Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talent; nobody can tax it or take it away from you. – Warren Buffet”
If you want to drive a car, you invest in driving courses. If you want to trade the stock market, you invest in stock investing courses. If you want to have a manifestation of breakthrough, you invest in personal development resources. Every month, I set aside a set sum of money to invest in personal development resources (to invest in myself). Resources that are on offer are a huge grabs to me, that is why I always recommend and share personal development resources with you that are on value-grabs, because I know the importance of investing in YOURSELF!
If you’re still reading up to this point, congratulations! I’ve just shared with you my 5 biggest takeaways for 2015.
I can’t promise to make you a millionaire or the next Brad Pitt, but if you apply these 5 life lessons, I can assure you that you’ll lead a happier and more fulfilling life!
Type “2016 shall be my best year yet!” in the Comments below to claim your blessings!
(Take this practice as a form of positive affirmation (Law of Attraction) to proclaim goodness over your life!)
I sincerely believe that 2016 shall be your best year yet! God Bless! =)
Rooting For Your Success,
Shawn Josiah
