…but I’m glad it “ended” the way it did.  

Time to RE-FOCUS.

ricardogdavis:

30 things to stop doing to yourself: as maria robinson once said, “nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” nothing could be closer to the truth. but before you can begin this process of transformation you have to stop doing the things that have been holding you back. here are some ideas to get you started:

1. stop spending time with the wrong people. – life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. if someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. you shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. and remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.
2. stop running from your problems. – face them head on. no, it won’t be easy. there is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. we aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. that’s not how we’re made. in fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time. this is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.
3. stop lying to yourself. – you can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves.
4. stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – the most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. yes, help others; but help yourself too. if there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.
5. stop trying to be someone you’re not. – one of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else. someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. don’t change so people will like you. be yourself and the right people will love the real you.
6. stop trying to hold onto the past. – you can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
7. stop being scared to make a mistake. – doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. you end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.
8. stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – we may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. we all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. but you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future. every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.
9. stop trying to buy happiness. – many of the things we desire are expensive. but the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.
10. stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – if you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either. you have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else.
11. stop being idle. – don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. evaluate situations and take decisive action. you cannot change what you refuse to confront. making progress involves risk. period! you can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.
12. stop thinking you’re not ready. – nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.
13. stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – relationships must be chosen wisely. it’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. there’s no need to rush. if something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.
14. stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – in life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. but most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.
15. stop trying to compete against everyone else. – don’t worry about what others doing better than you. concentrate on beating your own records every day. success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.
16. stop being jealous of others. – jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. ask yourself this: “what’s something i have that everyone wants?”
17. stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – life’s curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is meant for you. you may not see or understand everything the moment it happens, and it may be tough. but reflect back on those negative curveballs thrown at you in the past. you’ll often see that eventually they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or situation. so smile! let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.
18. stop holding grudges. – don’t live your life with hate in your heart. you will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate. forgiveness is not saying, “what you did to me is okay.” it is saying, “i’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself! and remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too. if you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better next time.
19. stop letting others bring you down to their level. – refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.
20. stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. just do what you know in your heart is right.
21. stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. – the time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it. if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
22. stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things. the best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you.
23. stop trying to make things perfect. – the real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done.
24. stop following the path of least resistance. – life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. don’t take the easy way out. do something extraordinary.
25. stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. – it’s okay to fall apart for a little while. you don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well. you shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. the sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.
26. stop blaming others for your troubles. – the extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life. when you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your life.
27. stop trying to be everything to everyone. – doing so is impossible, and trying will only burn you out. but making one person smile CAN change the world. maybe not the whole world, but their world. so narrow your focus.
28. stop worrying so much. – worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. one way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “will this matter in one year’s time? three years? five years?” if not, then it’s not worth worrying about.
29. stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – focus on what you do want to happen. positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story. if you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
30. stop being ungrateful. – no matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.

theburiedlife:

1. The world is trying to keep you stupid. From bank fees to interest rates to miracle diets, people who are not educated are easier to get money from and easier to lead. Educate yourself as much as possible for wealth, independence, and happiness.

2. Do not have faith in institutions to educate you. By the time they build the curriculum, it’s likely that the system is outdated– sometimes utterly broken. You both learn and get respect from people worth getting it from by leading and doing, not by following.

3. Read as much as you can. Learn to speed read with high retention. Emerson Spartz taught me this while I was at a Summit Series event. If he reads 2-3 books a week, you can read one.

4. Connect with everyone, all the time. Be genuine about it. Learn to find something you like in each person, and then speak to that thing.

5. Don’t waste time being shy. Shyness is the belief that your emotions should be the arbitrators of your decision making process when the opposite is actually true.

6. If you feel weird about something during a relationship, that’s usually what you end up breaking up over.

7. Have as much contact as possible with older people. Personally, I met people at Podcamps. My friend Greg, at the age of 13, met his first future employer sitting next to him on a plane. The reason this is so valuable is because people your age don’t usually have the decision-making ability to help you very much. Also they know almost everything you will learn later, so ask them.

8. Find people that are cooler than you and hang out with them too. This and the corollary are both important: “don’t attempt to be average inside your group. Continuously attempt to be cooler than them (by doing cooler things, being more laid back, accepting, ambitious, etc.).”

9. You will become more conservative over time. This is just a fact. Those you surround yourself with create a kind of “bubble” that pushes you to support the status quo. For this reason, you need to do your craziest stuff NOW. Later on, you’ll become too afraid. Trust me.

10. Reduce all expenses as much as possible. I mean it. This creates a safety net that will allow you to do the crazier shit I mentioned above.

11. Instead of getting status through objects (which provide only temporary boosts), do it through experiences. In other words, a trip to Paris is a better choice than a new wardrobe. Studies show this also boosts happiness.

12. While you are living on the cheap, solve the money problem. Use the internet, because it’s like a cool little machine that helps you do your bidding. If you are currently living paycheck to paycheck, extend that to three weeks instead of two. Then, as you get better, you can think a month ahead, then three months, then six, and finally a year ahead. (The goal is to get to a point where you are thinking 5 years ahead.)

13. Learn to program.

14. Get a six-pack (or get thin, whatever your goal is) while you are young. Your hormones are in a better place to help you do this at a younger age. Don’t waste this opportunity, trust me.

15. Learn to cook. This will make everything much easier and it turns food from a chore + expensive habit into a pleasant + frugal one. I’m a big Jamie Oliver fan, but whatever you like is fine.

16. Sleep well. This and cooking will help with the six pack. If you think “I can sleep when I’m dead” or “I have too much to do to sleep,” I have news for you: you are INEFFICIENT, and sleep deprivation isn’t helping.

17. Get a reminder app for everything. Do not trust your own brain for your memory. Do not trust it for what you “feel like” you should be doing. Trust only the reminder app. I use RE.minder and Action Method.

18. Choose something huge to do, as well as allowing the waves of opportunity to help you along. If you don’t set goals, some stuff may happen, but if you do choose, lots more will.

19. Get known for one thing. Spend like 5 years doing it instead of flopping around all over the place. If you want to shift afterwards, go ahead. Like I said, choose something.

20. Don’t try to “fix” anyone. Instead, look for someone who isn’t broken.

Written by: Julian Smith inoveryourhead.net

When 2 very different people develop feelings for each other…do you think it can last?