Being human is bloody hard work. When you’re born, no one gives you a rulebook.

There’s no manual for life or the body and mind you’ve been given. For the first twenty to thirty years of your life, you have no clue about anything. For those of us who are a bit older, we have plenty of wisdom to pass down.

These are the only rules for being human that I’ve see in my own life and in others:

You’re beautiful

No one ever tells you this. Deep down you know it subconsciously, but until it’s pointed out, life seems to be missing something. Until you come to this realization, everything doesn’t quite make sense. It’s like you have the jigsaw puzzle of life and are missing three out of the nine hundred pieces. It’s not enough to stuff up the end picture, but it’s enough to create a void.

When I say beautiful, I mean that in the physical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual sense. Compared to other animals, you have it all. Abundance is all around you and best of all you get to live a long life compared to other species. Do you ever stop to ponder this fact?

Does anyone ever tell you that life is freaking amazing and you should stop and think about that for a second? No, they don’t. They tell you to “Keep hustling baby!” and “Keep looking for your passion.”

What if the fact you’re beautiful outweighed all of this other nonsense? Every single one of us is mind blowing. We’re beautiful when we solve problems together. We’re beautiful when we’re home alone pondering life. We’re beautiful 100% of the time. That’s how we were created. Believe it!

The world owes you jack

Just having oxygen in your lungs is a miracle. The fact you were the successful sperm that survived amongst all the others is phenomenal. Being born into this world is already enough and everything that happens after that is a privilege.

You’re not entitled to anything. No one is going to give you anything. Everything you get is a direct result of what action you take. Even taking action is not enough. If your actions don’t follow this formula you’re screwed:

– Your actions must reflect the truth
– Your actions must serve all of us on some level
– Most of all, your actions must be aligned with who you are

Not following this formula will see you take action towards goals that never get fulfilled. This turns into a cup full of your hopes and dreams that at the same time is leaking all over the floor. The world is not going to block those leaks for you, or stop your leaky cup – you have to. It’s all you.

Your mind starts as a blank canvas

You’re not born with anything. Everything that happens in your life after you’re born is painted in your mind. So if you start with a blank canvas, then it’s up to you to create the artwork. Only you can turn that artwork into a masterpiece.

How do you do that? You’ve got to intentionally fill your mind with inputs that are going to help you break through the negativity that exists everywhere. Unless you take control, your blank canvas will be painted by the world around you.

That world is negative as hell. If you let that be the result then instead of ending up with a Picasso, you’ll end up with misspelled graffiti that’s created by a delinquent child who refuses to grow up.

Painting this canvas, by the way, will be your fulltime job.

Your body is as magnificent as you think it is

That body you’ve been given doesn’t need to change; you need to change the way you think about it. It’s already pure perfection so don’t let society tell you that you must change it.

You’ve been given two arms to hug those you care about. You’ve been given two legs to walk you through life’s biggest challenges. You’ve been given a heart capable of loving anyone and anything. You’ve been given two eyes to see your vision come to life for real. You’ve been given lips to kiss the one that captures your heart.

“Don’t be scared of the body you do have; be scared of what the body you have been given can achieve when you decide never to give up and pursue your dreams with all you’ve got”

You can only learn

Every mishap is nothing more than an experiment. Failure doesn’t exist only lessons. You’ve heard this cliché so many times before and that’s only because it’s true. When you hear something over and over, you must listen to what that message is trying to tell you. Life is nothing but learning.

“The truth is you never reach mastery”

You’re a fulltime student for your entire life and the results of your experiments are determined by you. See your experiments as necessary and magical, and you’ll get the lesson about lifelong learning.

I’ve learned to take time for myself, be compassionate, be kind to myself and to inspire others. What will your experiments teach you?

Right now is already your best moment

There is no future moment when you will have arrived. Only when you realize you have arrived right now, will the future be what you want. It’s right now that has to change. Right now has to be the best time of your life.

It’s this whole idea of “One day in the future” that tears down everything we have worked hard for. YOU HAVE TO LOVE RIGHT NOW! NOW IS THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE!

Will you even get a chance in the future to have your best moment? Maybe not. Then you will have died never knowing how insanely cool life can be.

Your perception of others is a reflection of you

All those harsh remarks you make about people’s weight, their intelligence, and how they act, is a direct reflection of you. It was only when I personally tried to reframe from judging others so much that I saw who I could really be.

Judging others forms a roadblock to the life you’ve always dreamt of. The way you perceive others is the way you perceive yourself. Treat others nicely and you’ll treat yourself the same way. I know this advice seems confusing at first, but it will make sense when you try it.

Replace your judgment for compassion towards others. Supercharge your results by going that extra mile and inspiring people at the same time. I’m not sure why, but when you do this, everything starts to change. There’s no going back once you reach this level in your life.

From this point, you can go on to do whatever you want. People will conspire in your favor. Money starts to become irrelevant. You’ll discover a side to you that you never thought could ever exist. You’ll see a reflection in the mirror that makes you so proud. This moment could also make you cry. That’s okay too.

Your life is the result of what you make of it

The word “Life” should have it’s meaning replaced with one sentence: A list of decisions. Your life is just one big decision list. The more fear and vulnerability you use in each decision you make, the more you make of your life.

As you get better at making decisions, your life get’s better too. Every decision you have to make comes with an intuitive response from within. Let’s not get all spiritual though. That intuitive response is the decision you must make. It just comes down to whether you have the guts to do what is right.

“There are no external forces that will control what your life becomes. All of your results come from within”

When there’s no answer, it’s love

Each of us reaches a point where we become stuck. We look everywhere and can’t find the answer sometimes. When you become lost and feel like the compass is lying to you, understand that the answer is always love.

It means you must give more love and find ways to bring more love into your life. Love is a very powerful weapon that can help you get through anything.

It’s also a word that scares the pants off people because they think it makes them weird or not like everyone else. Love can sometimes be seen as very “Woo Woo.”

If you have no other answer, then it’s worth a shot, right? What’s the worst that can happen? You spread love and nothing comes back? You already know that’s still a pretty good result. Nothing has been wasted in this experiment.

You have every answer already

Every answer exists in your mind already. It always has. Your mind is like a maze and when you learn to navigate through it, you find the answers that were there all along.

Forgive yourself

You do some dumb stuff sometimes. Be kind to yourself and realize that no one is perfect. You can be the average of the five greatest people in the entire world and still make huge mistakes. You can read every self-help book on Amazon and still mess up.

You can quit alcohol for five years and still go backward again. You can decide never to cheat again and still end up giving in to temptation. All of these situations are entirely possible. When they happen, forgive yourself. Sometimes you will go backward, but that’s only so you can move forward even faster.

Feel emotion every single day

That means you must laugh, take time to use your mind to think and let emotion overwhelm you in the form of tears every single day you are on this planet.

To not feel the gift of emotion is the ultimate crime. It’s what will give you the motivation, relaxation and inclination to live the best life you possibly can. If your days seem boring it’s because you’ve forgotten these three gifts.

These gifts sound so dumb and can easily be dismissed. Like I always say “Success is ‘stupid smart’ and not rocket science.” All the little things you dismiss are what’s causing you all of your pain.

You will F all of this up

All the rules for being human that I just gave you will be messed up by you at some point.

It’s a money back guarantee and entirely expected. So now that we’ve cleared this up, when you break a rule now and then, realize it’s okay and just go back to the game plan. Adjust, focus, reposition again, and lock and load. Then pull the trigger again and insist on fearing less.

We all f stuff up. It’s part of being human and yet another rule.

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