We, human beings, like predictability and we resist to change. Predictability eliminates uncertainty, which in turn makes our lives comfortable and easy. Change, on the other hand, creates uncertainty and fear. Naturally, predictability and change has their own trade offs. Predictability costs us growth and change creates growth. Nothing in life is free.

The nature of life however is change and uncertainty.

Already, there is a conflict. We like predictable, life gives us uncertainty. So, we try to predict life and we try to predict and anticipate change. Throughout human history, we tried to come up with theories, which would predict the ever changing reality. In my opinion, we did not do such a good job at it.

In particular, I am going to discuss economics and finance. Each of those sciences are crucial to the development and prosperity of human life on earth. They both deal with resource allocation, distribution and use. More so, they both try to predict the future and eliminate uncertainty and risk as much possible from our lives. And that is great. However, there flaws, of which the costs are unknown.

Predictability requires structure. Reality is not structured. Yet, both economics and finance repeatedly provide us with theories that are very structured and rigid. They are not dynamic. One reason for that is because they rely on mathematics to prove their theories and observations. Mathematics is, for the most part, the structured and rigid science. That in itself, limits the kinds of assumptions the economists and financiers can make about the reality and resources around us.

That almost forces them to use theories that rely on unrealistic assumptions, which have no basis in reality. For example, the assumption that individuals are rational; or the assumption that we all behave in a uniform fashion. The list could go on. It almost seams that the most brilliant minds try to squeeze a dynamic reality in a structured theory and just come up with various assumptions to make their theories work and fit their mathematical models. And that is all fine, however, the problems begin when policies and laws are put into place, which rely on those unrealistic theories.

And that is a huge problem. If you base policies for a dynamic and ever changing life based on rigid and mathematically based theories, you are headed for a disaster.

The most recent financial crisis has showed us the true effect of that. Are markets self-regulating? Are humans rational? Do we all work in our own interest? Do we make the best decisions for us? Those are just some of the questions that economics and finance try to answer and come with theories to explain.

The worlds brightest minds make mistakes in the pursuit of predictability. But you don’t have to do that. Ultimately it comes down to thinking on your own and just looking around your own reality and deciding if the theories that you have come up with match what is going on.

It is alright to make assumptions, which simply things with a reasonable amount of error, however, beware of making assumptions, which not just simplify, but distort the very phenomenon you are trying to explain. Maybe, if we all just accepted that life is complex and dynamic and not predictable, but ever changing and in flux, we would be living in much different, better world.

Sometimes we just make the wrong decisions. Sometimes we become shortsighted and focus only at the things that are the most convenient and most pleasant at the moment. Some of us even confuse that with “being in the moment”. All of the above simply means that we are discomfort averse individuals.

We seek out pleasure and try to avoid discomfort. Inherently there is nothing wrong with that. However, if you look deeper into that all sorts of problems rise to the surface.

Seeking out pleasure and comfort while avoiding discomfort is a form of procrastination. Procrastination is like robbing yourself in the future. It is like taking a credit on your future and your goals and never really working to pay it off. It is like cheating yourself.

If we continuously borrow against our future, then eventually we will have to pay the price as we cannot postpone discomfort forever. More importantly, discomfort forces us to grow and change and progress. Comfort in a sense kills progress and joy of learning in life.

But the real question is why we act like that? One possible answer, as it is proposed by Joseph Stiglitz, is that we lack vision in our lives. We do not know where we are going, we never think of our or others future beyond today. Without vision, our values are useless. If we do not know where we are going, even the best compass in the world will not help us get there.

Without a vision our lives become bland and boring. We lose interest in life. Vision is not simply a goal to achieve. Vision is desire to change, it is a vision of positive change for yourself and those around you. If you do not have a vision to guide your life, your daily actions will lack direction, passion and drive.

But how do we “get” vision? I think it starts with curiosity and a  desire to overcome a challenge. Vision starts with a desire to become a positive role model for others. Visions starts with a desire to do good and change the world for the better. If we do nothing to contribute to the well being of others, then what is the purpose of us living on this earth?

No, we are not mean to merely exist on this planet. Our life only has meaning in the context of other individuals, human beings. Without others, there would be no reason for us to exist. Yet, over and over again, individualism is drilled into our heads.

Then we become so overly concerned with ourselves, that our life loses meaning because we forget that our life alone is meaningless. Others give meaning to our life. Maybe it is about time, for America and the world to stop focusing on individualism as much and promote social values that bind and bring people together as one unit.

Indeed house divided falls. But what happens when the house is divided into hundreds of millions of individual pieces? It is even surprising that some parts of the world have not fallen apart just yet.

Having a vision means being concerned not only for yourself but for those around you. Having a vision will cure you of the disease of the shortsightedness. It will help you make the right decisions, and stop robbing yourself and others of a bright future.

What is your vision? What is your drive?

Did you ever think that there just a few real lessons to be learned in life? Just a few. No more no less, but a few simple lessons. No matter how many more of personal development books you are going to read, no matter how many articles that will promise you to change your life you are going to read, the messages that you will come across are going to be the same.

I realized and I was relieved and so should you. It simply means that you can cut out all the BS that you see on the market today and save yourself time and money. Today’s personal development, self-help, psychology, leadership and change market is filled with the same message that just packaged differently.

So I will share just a couple of things that I think are consistent across the board.

• Figure out what you want in life
• Go get it
• Be consistent
  
• Action beats inaction
• It’s been done before

That’s all that there is to it. Each of our own life has a purpose that we need to define. There is no right way to figure it out, so it means that you will not find the answer in any of the books. That answer will come from within. Once you figure out your purpose and what you want to do, what drives you; you go for it.

If you want to get there, you have to be consistent in your effort. Along the way, you might feel like giving up, but just keep going and you will discover other options along the way. At the very worst, if you are stuck and don’t know what to do, just do something. Any small action will help you move forward. It will give you a new stimulus and you will learn something new about yourself.

The last and not the least – it’s all been done before. Do not be afraid. No one road is more or less traveled that any other one. Your problems have been solved a thousand years ago, your goals have been accomplished by millions. Do not be afraid and just go for it.

After this, there is nothing much to it. I’ve tried, I’ve read books and watched movies and so on. But in the end, it all rests within you to have the life that you want to have. Learn those few important lessons in life and move into doing, into action instead of just infinite contemplation of infinite choices.

It’s All About Stress

Stress is not created equal. Some is good, some is bad. Yet, in the end it is all just stimulus, which we respond to. Some of us respond to it consciously, some of us just go with the flow. It is very important to understand how you react to stress if you want to learn how to better manage it. Like everything in life, change and progress begins with awareness.

There is no better way to learn how you respond to stress than by engaging in physical exercise. If you observe how you react to stress (weight) in physical exercise, you will be able to become more aware of how you handle stress in other situations. There are plenty other parallels between life and lifting that I would like to discuss. You will observe the following lessons yourself if you just take the time to go to the gym.

There. Now you have another reason to go workout instead of just getting in shape.

Lifting For Life

Stress is necessary for growth. When you lift, you place your body under stress – a stimulus that your body is not used to. Your body responds with pain. It will tell you that it hurts, that it is heavy, sweaty and uncomfortable. Yet, that pain is necessary for muscle growth. That is the ONLY way, that our bodies will become stronger. The phrase, use it or lose it, is as true as ever. Same thing is true for life. If there is no stress in our life, then there is no new stimulus being introduced and we began to stagnate and digress. Only through exposing ourselves to new and unique situations you will be able to lead a progressive life.

Not all stress is created equal. If you life, then you know that there is good pain and bad pain. Same way there is good stress and bad stress in life. The good pain in lifting is the one that stimulates growth. It is by no means comfortable, yet it is very motivating because you know are achieving your goals. The bad pain is the one that causes injury, fatigue, and unhappiness when you lift. It is important to learn how to interpret those two signals. Good pain or stress should motivate you to keep pushing yourself to achieve your goals. Bad pain should be a signal to slow down, rest and recover and figure out what you are doing wrong. Life works in the same way. We need to understand when to push ourselves and when to pull back.

Strong get stronger. Weak get weaker. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Rich get richer? Poor get poorer? And it is true as always. Once you start lifting and becoming stronger, you will only be able to do more and more, push yourself further and further. Those that chose to never start lifting, will increasingly get weaker as they will fail to expose themselves to the stress required to build strength. The difference between the strong and the weak is the ability and desire to get through the temporary growing pains. I am talking about that time when you are trying to get back in gym after a year of no lifting. At first, it will feel as if you have destroyed every single muscle tissue in your body. Yet, if you are able to push on, you will soon start reaping the reward of progress and growth. The only question is this: “Are you able to push yourself through the growing pains?”

Variety is key for progress. If you have lifted for a while, then at some point you will hit a plateau. It is a point at which your positive gains seems to have stopped. No matter what you seem to be doing, it almost seems like you are stuck. However, before you give up, consider a couple of things. Sometimes, all that is needed to move beyond that “stuck point” is some variety. It might in the from of lighter weight, more repetitions, different exercises all together or maybe some help from a friend. Stagnation comes from exposure to the exact sames stress over long periods of time. After a while our bodies simply adapt to it and that same stimulus just does not have the same effect as it did before. Similarly in life, we sometimes feel stuck because we have been doing the same routine over and over again. Just a little bit of variety might be needed to brighten things up.

Don’t do it alone. Weight lifting is a stress inducing activity on its own. Doing it all by yourself can be very discouraging as you might not have anybody to share your joys and your downfalls with. Finding a partner who will be there to spot you, to motivate you, to encourage you is crucial to success and progress. Another added benefit of a partner is that you will have somebody to compete with, which will further advance your growth. Find a proper partner is not that easy as many people are flaky, not committed, negative or just not focused. It is a great lesson to carry forward with you on to any other activity in life. When starting a new activity, be sure to look for the right person to come along, otherwise you might take a step back instead of a step forward. Moreover, be prepared to start alone and find somebody else along the way.

Build proper foundation. Nothing will set you back more than an injury. Injury can take you out for days, weeks, months or ever years. I have experienced it myself. Most of the injuries come from improper technique or form. It is crucial to do things that right way. You might be inclined to add more and more weight as soon as possible without understand the fundamentals. In that case, you would be just cheating yourself and heading towards a serious injury. It is better to take things slow and learn how to do the exercises properly than to rush into things only to suffer a major set back later. I am sure many of you, have experienced this in other areas of life. Sometimes you are so eager to get things started that you forget to set up a proper foundation.

Attitude matters. Some might describe lifting and exercising as boring, repetitive, sweaty, hard, painful and so on. And they would be right. It is all of those things. But at the same time, it is challenging, rewarding, fun, energizing, empowering and confidence creating activity. It is only a matter of which side you choose. All of these different words can describe the same exact activity. The ones that you will choose to describe your exercises will make you either love it or hate it. Likewise, we all are living the same life, how do you choose to look at it?

Consistency results in lasting gains. Many people lift for short periods of time and then quit. Then they start over. By doing that, they never move beyond the starting point. It might be even more discouraging that doing nothing. Only those that stick with the activity for extended periods of time without major breaks will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. After a while, your body will require you to exercise and stay active. Eventually, you might be able to change the way you feel about being active and you will not have to think twice about going to the gym. Same is true for any other area in life. Lasting results will come from persistent purposeful actions.

The truth is that the list could go on and on. I could easily twenty other things that I have learned about life from just exercising. But then you all would have no reason to exercise! Just kidding. Indeed, working out is a rewarding activity that will teach you not only about your body, but about how you handle stress and life all together. Look for clues in your own behavior and you might learn valuable insights in other areas of your life.

So what are you waiting for? The secrets of life are waiting to reveal themselves at your local gym!

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Image: jontunn

I never want to retire. I never thought I would even think these words. But here I am, sharing them with the rest of the world.

I guess I can be thankful to the economy for making me understand that I do not ever want to retire. I graduated in 2008 December and I am still searching for work. Until October I was immersed in my CPA studies. However, right after that, I retired. At the very least, I experienced what it is like to be retired.

Most people associate retirement with not working anymore and engaging in activities that you really like. On top of that, by the time you are retired you do not have to worry about paying a mortgage,or  a car loan. It seems that all there is left is to receive your pension and social security payments and enjoy life. Seems like a pretty good deal, right?

For a long time, I thought that it was great. Why wouldn’t you want to retire? Many reasons why.

Since October, I did not have to worry about paying for my housing, for the car or for food. I was and still am living with my parents. So far so good.

Somewhat.

The only problem was that I had very limited income. I would get an allowance from my parents for each month, but it was just enough to go out to a couple of movies or go to the city, not much else. In a sense, my financial situation mimics that of those who are actually retired.

Most of retired individuals depend on fixed income coming either from social security payments, pension or both. Fixed income means that over time they will be able to purchase less and less because of inflation. That fixed income would have to cover food, traveling and leisure expenses. Oh, and don’t forget health care expenses. In reality, it might mean that you would have only enough money to buy food and get around the city. Trips and vacations might be completely out of picture.

On top of the financial issues, you have to figure out what to do with your time. When I was done studying for my CPA exam, it felt like freedom was awaiting for me. I had no worries (except finding a job) and no other commitments. I could read, watch TV, play computer games, watch movies and hang out with my friends and family. I did that. I did that for about a month.After a month, all of the above became extremely boring. I got to the point, where I was literately sick just of the idea of watching TV, movies, reading books, playing games or even hanging out with friends. I just had enough – in one month.

Can you image if you had 20 years ahead of you?

Sure, if I had money, I could travel the world, go out, engage in hobbies, learn new things and so on. Yet, you have to remember that when you are retired you are living on fixed source of income and chances are that you might not have enough money coming in to cover all that you want to do. Plus, I am sure that living just for your own pleasure would get to you and you’d get bored of that too. I am just grateful that I do not have worry about any health issues unlike those in the retirement age group.

One interesting thing started happening naturally. I wanted to go and work towards a goal. I wanted to work with other people. I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to create. Of course, along the way, I was looking for work and it was becoming increasingly frustrating not being able to find anything.

It occurred to me that action and purpose driven life is what our lives are about.

There is absolutely no reason to want to retire because retirement will probably bring nothing more than extreme boredom and might cause you to be depressed. So instead of working to retire and then having a life of leisure and boredom, let us all find something that drives us, something that we are passionate about. Let us work towards our dreams and goals while we are still physically and mentally capable.

Let us travel the world while have the strength and the clarity to enjoy it. Let us not wait until we are 70 to do that. Life is meant to be lived, not wasted away. Do you really want to wait 50, 40, 30 years until you can do what you really want to do? Why defer life until you cannot enjoy it to its fullest? Life is meant to be active, life is meant to be moving and kicking, it is not mean to be lived to retire.

So go figure out what it is that you really want to do NOW. Otherwise, you will end being retired and trying to figure out what your life is really all about with limited health, limited money, limited mental capacity. Don’t wait! There is nothing glorious or comforting about retirement, it is not a goal to be achieved. Think about it. Now you know, why I never want to retire, ever again.

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Image: Oberazzi

I deleted my facebook account. Pretty much sums it up. It is pretty simple to do, once you find the link that you need.

I deleted my facebook account and I feel great. One simple reason: I realized I had no use for it. I realized that as I was talking to my brother. It just suddenly dawned upon me that I was just mindlessly wasting my time on this social network. I realized that I never really needed facebook. Many people quote that in “this increasingly busy” world it is harder and harder to stay connected with people. That is what they say. They also say that it is almost a necessity to have facebook.

I disagree.

Facebook is and always was a cheap substitute to real communication. Instead of calling somebody and saying “Hi” we stalk them on facebook and leave a 5 second comment here and there. Instead of meeting our “friends” in person and sharing the experience of a journey, we just put the pictures up on facebook and let others click through them. Instead of sending a personal invite or an actual gift, we send electronic invites and electronic gifts (which costs money!). Instead of asking a girl/guy out in person or over the phone, we instead “poke” them on facebook. Instead of calling somebody to wish a Happy Birthday we just leave a wall post. Instead …

This could on forever. The point is this: facebook encourages superficial and insincere communication. So what that we have hundreds of friends on facebook. Do we really keep in touch with them all? Do our “friends” just become another news feed item that gets lost amongst a hundred others? In the end, you are just cheating yourself.

What about the emotional energy that you spend over facebook: the privacy settings, the changing user interface, the dislike button and so on. Is it really worth spending your time and energy being upset about those things? And what about reading those overly negative status updates of people you barely know? What about people fighting over their relationship status on facebook? What about losing jobs over something you did or said over facebook? What about the possiblity of you being harassed by a criminal?

I had enough of that and that is why I decided to delete my account.

Now, I do not have to worry about either of those things. Now, I will know who my true friends are because they will call me or send me an e-mail if they will want to meet up. It’s a great way to eliminate dead-weight from your life. People have and always will appreciate a call, a sincere letter or an e-mail. Sure, we can all say that we are “increasingly busy”, but to me that’s bunch of nonsense.

If you do not have enough time to stay in touch with your friends through a phone call or an in person meeting, then you might have you priorities all wrong in your life. Think about it. Since when did relationships were pushed back into the background of our “busy” lives? It’s time to change that and remember what matters and ditch the deceptively “useful” technological tools.

If you want to establish a presence online and still keep your private life private, then there are plenty of other tools to consider. For your professional career, you might want to consider joining LinkedIn and as a tool for your personal expression and creativity consider blogging. Using only those two powerful tools, you will be able to create a strong and powerful image of yourself online, while keeping your private life private and your relationships deep.

I am sure some of you find facebook extremely useful and that is fine. The point here is to become aware of how the use of technology is affecting your life and really deciding if it is right for you.

Question: Do you have a facebook?

America is going downhill for one very simple reason: people seem to not be able to tell the difference between the disease and its symptoms. It almost seems to be common wisdom for people to think that treating a symptom of a disease is the same as treating a disease. In short, if the symptoms do not longer show up, the disease is gone. It’s a mental dis-ease, but nobody seems to think much of it. It almost seems like people are brainwashed into believing into the above truth.

It works so well because of one reason – convenience. America is obsessed with convenience and comfort. The more of it – the better. And for every obsession there are those that cater to it. Except there is one simple thing that is wrong with comfort – it makes you weak. One person at a time it makes a nation weak. We can already see the results of this destructive thinking.

PROBLEM: America is getting increasingly dumb. This is a tough one to swallow, but it is the truth. Instead of increasing the education standards and making students study and think, we lower those standards. Everybody seems to get higher GPAs, pass tests with highers scores and everybody seems to do better.

All of that at the cost of learning and knowing less.

More and more people are going to college with lower quality education. Educational institutions are more concerned about taking a dollar from you or the government than about admitting quality students, which are increasingly rear.In the process, the schools get paid, the private loan companies get paid and the students get screwed.

In the end, you have college graduates who know and do less than high school graduates in less developed countries than the USA. Everybody is so focused on satisfying people’s egos and avoiding hurting their feelings in the short term that they forget that they are hurting not only the individual, but the nation as whole in the long term.

SOLUTION: Increase the standards of education on all levels and let kids fail. We just have to understand that the purpose of an education system is to teach, and not to give passing grades for kids who don’t try. Only by failing you learn. In a sense, we need to deflate the educational system. So what if that students will be getting lower grades? That is not the purpose of education. Education is supposed to be challenging and difficult so that when we come out of school we are actually know a thing or two. Overtime, the students would get used to higher education standards and everybody would be fine. If you ask for more you get for more, if you ask for less then you get less.

PROBLEM: America is getting increasingly unhealthy. It is the results of people reaching out for the pill, falling prey to false advertising about quick weight loss diets and constantly looking for the easy way out. Instead of making the life long choices about their nutrition and exercise, people focus on the quick fix. Even in this day and age where information is abundant, advertising and the dream of the shortcuts seems to get the best of us.

It is convenient.

It is convenient for the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the fitness industry, the health-care industry, the insurance industry. Finally, it is convenient for the consumer. Yet, the consumers are the ones who end up complaining about increasing health-case costs. If you haven’t lived under a rock, then you should have heard about the health care reform that is trying to take place. Yet, it is all BS. Reforming the health care system for an unhealthy nation is the same as lowering taxes for the poor.

SOLUTION:Education. Teach people about nutrition and exercise from an early age. Make fitness classes mandatory and physically challenging. Teach people from young age about how to make the right choices about their nutrition and exercise. That is all there is needed to create a healthier and happier America.

That will automatically lower the cost of health-care.

The health care right now is expensive for a reason: there are tons of unhealthy people. That automatically raises the insurance costs because more and more people are falling in the increased risk group. The focus should on prevention of disease, rather than the superficial treatment of it later. It’s no rocket science, and it bothers me seeing people not solving the problem the right way.

In the end, it is all about making the right decisions. However, it is hard to learn how to make the right decisions when nobody around you is making the right decisions.

So in the end, it all comes down to education, experience and values.

The state where America is today is reflective of it’s education, experience and values. That is the real disease – lack of all three. If we were only focused on helping people make the right choices and showing them how to make the right choices, we would not have nearly as many problems as we do today. It is funny, how a nation with so many resources and so much potential can end up in state like this.

What about you? Are you taking care of yourself? Are you treating the disease instead of the symptoms? Answer that go ahead; you might be surprised with what you find. Remember, one person at a time, a nation can become stronger or weaker. It is up to you.

“Be The Change You Want To See In The World” – Gandhi

Yes, it is more of the same old “be the change you want to see in the world”. Yet, no matter how old it is, it never gets old. It is probably one of the most overused phrases in the world that joins that ranks of “Just Do it!”, “Impossible is nothing” and so on.

It is one of the most used, but one of the least practiced ideas in the world.

Everybody is quick to throw it out there: “Be The Change You Want To see In The World” and then they turn around and complain about how unfair life is. At the very best it is hypocrisy, and the very worst it is the attitude that creates the overworked, unhappy and unfulfilled world.

We as people create that world. Our collective choices and attitudes create the world that we live in. We collectively created the 9-5 nation (should I say 9-9 and get paid for 9-5?), the always rushing, never stopping, always miserable and complaining nation. We did that together.

And, yet we have the audacity to complain.

How dare you complain about the something that you are part of yourself? If you do everything that makes this world as it is, then you have no right to complain about it. Really. You don’t. Matter of fact, you never have the right to complain. Complaining is a different way of not taking the responsibility for your life.

Do you think you are the only one who feels trapped? I don’t think so. There are millions upon millions of people out there who feel just like you, and do nothing just like you. They feel helpless and powerless. But do you really understand, that we together, as people, have made the world what it is today?

That means that we can all change it – together. We can do it together, if we only choose so. If all us made conscious choices to give in to the routine less, if all of us stood up for ourselves and our values, if all of us together decided that we had enough of this overly materialistic and celebrity run world, then we could do it.

We can do it.

Why hasn’t it happened yet? If everybody is so fed up, why isn’t anybody doing anything?

I know why. Everybody else is waiting. They are all waiting for somebody else to do it first. They are waiting for somebody to take the responsibility of being the first one to stand up from them. They are waiting.

Are you waiting too?

Have you every really thought that you could be that person that “they” are waiting for? I think they are waiting for you to stand up and become the change that you (and they) want to see in the world.

Now you know. Everybody else feels just like you. It’s just like school all over again. Remember when you were afraid to ask a “dumb” question only to realize later that everybody else was wondering the same? Well, this is kind of like that. Except this time, it is a fact that everybody DOES want to change the world for the better and once again, it is the time for you to make a fool out of yourself and stand up for the values that matter to you.

You don’t have to do anything big. Start at home, with your family and your friends, then at work and so on. Before you know it, your attitude will have changed the world. Sometimes people just need an example, a leader to see that change is really possible and that it is not just in their heads.

You can do it! You can be the leader in your own way. You can start the change by changing yourself and leading by example. We have created the rules that we hate, we can just as easily destroy them and create new ones.

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Image: the-tml

We are all fully aware after we eat too much, drink too much, sleep too much, work too much and so on. We know because our body tells us so.

However, our body never really sends us a signal to stop consuming information. We are bombarded with information from the time we get up until the time when we go to sleep. Information comes in a variety of flavors: news, movies, TV shows, blogs, magazines, weather, YouTube videos, advertising, e-mail and so on. Our brain is constantly stimulated with information throughout the day and rarely, if ever, it will tell us that it has had enough.

That is exactly why we have to become aware of how much information we are consuming.

Information Obesity

Chances are you never really sit down and think about consuming too much information. Do you really need to watch those TV shows; read, watch or listen to news; read and track every single blog out there? Probably not. Many of us are just information consuming machines, just like some people are food consuming machines: it’s just important to eat, does not really matter what. You could call the phenomenon of people consuming too much information the information obesity.

It is time to trim the fat!

Trim The Fat

The process is really simple and pain free if you answer the following questions:

• Does this information add any value to me?
• Can I use this information to achieve my goals?
• Is this information relevant to my life?
• Does this information help me make decisions in my life?
• Does this information have any long-term lasting value?

You could add a couple of additional questions, but you get the idea. You can do away with most of the information that you are currently consuming in your life. You have to become selective with what information you consume and eliminate the information that is irrelevant to you.

Why Do It?

There are a couple of reasons to limit your information consumption. First, the more information you consume the more value it losses. Your brain can only process so much information without starting to selectively ignore it. Moreover, think about the opportunity cost of mindlessly consuming the information you don’t need. You could instead be absorbing that what really matters to you. Also, over-consumption of information will cost you a lot of emotional energy because you will react to information that has little to do with your life. Over time that will cause you to become insensitive to the information that you see around yourself essentially numbing your brain.

Sure, many of you will say, but I need to know! I need to know what is going on the world, I need to know how the celebrities are doing, I must know about all the technology that is coming out, I must watch the favorite show and so on and so forth. However, if you really sit down ask yourself the questions listed above, you will realize that you only need so much information to get you closer to accomplishing your goals in life.

If you are able to do this and limit the information to what only matters to you, then many changes will take place in your life. You will have more time and energy. You will be able to focus more. Your day will seem less busy and much more calm. You will stop worrying about the things that you can do nothing about. You will feel happier. More importantly, you will free up your brain power so that you can use it towards things that matter and achieve results faster. Trust me! I have done it myself.

I did it!

I have not watched TV in months. Matter of fact, I do not even have cable TV at my home. I barely read news (if ever). I have blocked websites using LeechBlock which were sucking up a ton of my time: Hulu, Gmail, Facebook and so on. I have limited my access to those sites to only certain times and hours within the week. I read only the books and blogs that matter to me and that will help me accomplish my goals in life: become a financial planner/advisor, become independent, improve my spiritual well being and many others.

It’s easy – JUST TURN IT OFF.

What do you do over the weekends?

Are you one of those people who cannot wait for Friday to come around? Do you hate Mondays? Do you actually relax during the weekend?

Many people do not think twice about what to do over the weekends. It’s Friday. That means happy hour right after work, then going out with friends, spending tons of money during the night at the bars, then waking up in the morning feeling like crap trying to get better throughout the rest of the weekend. And so it repeats itself over and over again. And it is the norm to most of the population.

For the most part it starts in college and it never really stops after that. I used to be one of these drunk faces on Friday or Saturday nights, wasting my money and life away. I am glad I stopped before it was too late.

Time is precious and we ought to spend it wisely.

Many people lead lives they do not like, having jobs that they hate and the weekend seems like the perfect escape into the drunken illusion with friends where the pain and the worries seem to fade away. Yet, in the long run it accomplishes nothing. Well it accomplishes couple of things: it ruins your health, ruins your finances and it gets you nowhere. Sure, it is fun to hang out with friends and catch up. Yet, for most people it becomes a destructive habit, a routine, a fake escape from unwanted life.

Well, for better or worse I have spend a large portion of my college career just like that. Matter of fact, my weekends would start on Thursday nights and end up on Saturday nights. Every weekend. I did not think twice of it. It seemed fine. I was sucked in and stuck. Yet, I found myself more and more doing it because everybody else was doing it. It sucked. I had to stop and think. Something was wrong. Is this all there is to do over the weekends? Is his all I am here to do on this earth?

The answer was no. The life has so much more to offer and it is a waste of time to be engaged in such activities! This made me reconsider my priorities and my goals in life. I realized I did not have any and that was part of the reason why I was going through college days so blindly – I lacked purpose. Now, I have purpose, I have things that I want to do and accomplish. All of those things take time and money to accomplish, so I’d rather focus my energy on doing things that take me somewhere as opposed to those that keep me stuck in a destructive routine.

If you find yourself in this lifestyle, then there are many things that you should consider. Am I happy with my life? Am I happy with my job? Am I happy with where I am going? Am I working towards fulfilling my life purpose? Chances are that you will find yourself answering now to most of those questions. That is why exactly those are the reasons why you are engaging in destructive weekends.

I am not saying that you should never do this or that you should eliminate hanging out with friends or having some fun once in a while. No. What I am saying is to become mindful of what you are doing. Every action has an opportunity cost to it. So think about what you are missing out by spending those weekends going out, playing beer pong, watching football  and spending money while developing a drinking habit?

I can think of at least a couple of things that you can do with that time and money. You could save the money for an awesome trip, a car, a house, a book or you could simply invest it towards your retirement. You could spend that money on theaters, plays, performances, martial art lessons, great food, a romantic dinner with a date, learning how to scuba dive, picking up a yoga class and so on! You could spend the time on meditation, on developing yourself, finding for a better job, developing or finding a passion of yours, changing your life and rediscovering your life purpose!

Are you sleeping? I want you to wake up and smell the roses and find your own purpose in life and lead others to finding theirs! Think about it. Just think about it.