Before now I thought life is fate, whatever comes your way JUST live with it. I thought it’s not in my control to shape how my tomorrow will look like, believing in the popular saying nobody knows tomorrow.
We think we don’t have control over our tomorrow, that the life we are living today has already been designed by God, so we can’t do anything about it than just live it the way it plays out for us.
But there is more to life, God or whatever you identify with – has done His part by making us in his own image, meaning we are part of the universe.
If He is omnipotent, it also means we have that omnipotent ability, we have the ability to do all things, because we have thinking mind because we are human.
The Mind, the source of everything that has been created and that will be created. A very powerful tool.
If we understand how our mind works it might become easy to maximize it and make the best out of our self on this our earthly pilgrimage.
I don’t know about everything, but I know for true that we all have great potentials.
Ok. Is like I’m deviating, this post was supposed to be what I wish knew when I was 18 right? I actually didn’t know how best to start it, so I started with the thoughts in my mind.
But let get to it. Here are things I wish I knew when I was 18 if I had known about them I would have made better decisions.
I wish I knew that…
1. You don’t have to please everybody
Do you know that most people out there don’t care about you? humans are selfish being. Out of the over 7.5 billion people living on this planet earth, it’s rare to find someone who is really selfless, selfless like Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, willing to give up gains for others, it’s rare.
So, we all have a list of an endless needs which we wish to satisfy, regardless of what you have had about someone saying about changing the world, there is an interest, it can be in different ways. The thing is anyone you see out there is expecting you to act according to a certain way in other to meet their needs.
Imagine trying to meet the endless needs of everyone you meet.
The thing is, you can’t please everybody even your own parent, husband, Boss, Children… understanding this will help us in two major ways,
First, to stop outsourcing our happiness
Secondly, to cut down our expectations from people.
2. Perfect is pure fiction
We are living in an imperfect world, even the world itself is undergoing changes every second, there is no perfect state in the world, expecting to be perfect in the world where everything is imperfect is like a journey in the wrong direction.
The key to living in an imperfect world is to always start as bad as you can and see how better you can become.
Aim for growth, not perfect.
Perfection is an enemy to progress.
3. You don’t need to compete.
We are all living a different version of life, different experience, different upbringing, with a different inherited gene from a parent, different chromosomes and even different physical appearance.
No one can beat me in my own “game of life”, you can’t beat anyone in his or her own game of life.
Competing with anyone is a waste of time and energy. The best person to compete with is yourself, compete with your yesterday, the question should always be how can I be better than I was yesterday?
Every day I feed my mind on writing, blogging, digital marketing, Self-improvement, Relationships, Entrepreneurship, these are areas I want to grow the goal is to be better than my yesterday in all aspect.
I can’t tell if I have made reasonable improvements, but it’s better than competing with someone who is busy leading his or her own life.
4. You don’t need to go to college to become educated
I think the best way to determine if most people really want college education is to get rid of the certificate that is offered at the finishing of a program in higher institutions, trust me if that is done most people won’t even add going to College to there to-do list.
Why? because most people are there for the certificate.
If we all understand that we can learn anything we want from anywhere in the world, we might really rethink our education plan, we might just hold onto our primary and secondary education or stop complaining of not being opportune to go to College.
The thing is, if we are not opportune to go to college or university, that doesn’t mean we should not be educated. There is a vast database of knowledge on the internet, every information we need can be accessed by a click of a button, most of this information is created by people who have had first-hand experience.
The internet can be our college or university, where we can learn with sincerity, with purpose and with pleasure.
5. Without self-esteem and self-confidence forget about living your dreams.
Self- esteem is the belief you have about yourself, the belief you have that you can do all things, it’s the belief you have that you have a powerful tool residing in you in the form of a “mind”, that you have great potential that lies within you.
On the other hand,
Self-confidence is the belief you have that you can do something, like the belief you have about yourself that you can become a writer, that you can get yourself into a good shape, that you can speak to a large audience standing on your toes.
If we lack these two things life will be frustrating.
6. You can’t grow more than your knowledge.
At 18 or 25, I will try to look into the future, I will ask how will all these big dreams come to pass. To be honest, I wasn’t seeing any possibilities even though I seem to be positive about everything, or maybe it’s that positivity that is leading me towards the direction of my destiny.
But the thing is, being positive is not enough, we live by what we know, what we don’t know becomes our limitations. Our lack is based on what we don’t know. There are ways to finding happiness, building a better relationship, building a thriving business, improving in writing, become a good cook, inventing new technology and many other things.
If we are lacking in any of this areas, it simply means we haven’t sought, because seekers always find.
The knowledge is out there, for the fact that someone is already living the kind of life you dream to live simply shows that it’s achievable, we just need to find the way to it, we just need to keep searching, keep finding, keep learning and keep moving.
7. Always give thanks
Gratitude is everything.
Sometimes I’m worried why haven’t I achieved my dreams, why does it seem like everybody is ahead of me, then I forgot that one of my buddies that we used to hustle together somewhere at Lagos Island some years ago has gone.
But here I am still breathing, with great families around, great friends and with a burning desire and commitment to becoming the best version of myself.
Here is a tip on how to practice gratitude, every day think out one or two things you are grateful for, there are many of them, but just focus on two and then see how happy, energized and confidence you will be, especially towards your goals.
I didn’t know all these things at 18 and even at 25, but I believe it’s not too late to know about them now that I’m 28. The most important thing in life is to find the truth, the truth is one of the prices we have to pay for freedom.
“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
What truth have you found out later in life that has interested you? Please share in the comments section.
Also, share this post with friends, they might love it and i will be greatful.
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