My General Interests :)

Sacrifice of self to self. What does it mean? It means letting go
of the old self for a new and better self. This is a hard thing
to do as we get comfortable with whom and what we are. Our old
self is familiar, seems safe, and is relatively effortless to
maintain.

Change takes us beyond our boundaries, challenges us to what is
not familiar, and forces us to give up well-worn habits. It
requires effort and sacrifice of things we have learned to enjoy.
Those are things that are pleasant but stand in the way of
highest good.

We think we are a mind and a body and do what we can to satisfy
the desires of mind and body. Seldom do we step beyond. Being
stuck in a limited perception, the selfish do not sacrifice.

Do you want to live forever? Well, maybe you do live forever, but
not as you are now. Death means new beginning. Sometimes we are
not ready for it. Other times we feel stagnant and embrace it.

What does it mean to die daily? It means sacrificing your
immediate wants to affect a future result or metamorphosis.
Actually sacrificing of self to self, quite often to the benefit
of others as well. Totally surrender your self and you will find
your true self.

Giving is a virtue. You’ve no doubt heard that it is better to
give than to receive. But oh, how we all like to receive!
Receiving is good too. Exchange cannot take place without both
present. One cannot take place without the other, and it is not
just a one-way exchange.

There is a law of compensation. If you give, you get. We do not
live in a vacuum. Our actions always bring results of one kind or
another, whether we immediately realize it or not.

What I am saying is do not ever feel frustration when trying to
improve your self. Any efforts you make do not go wasted; so do
not think there is such a thing as wasted effort. You are
creating ripples and building a store of experience that will
eventually bear fruit.

Do a big thing, or do any little thing many times toward your
goal. Know that fulfillment will happen through persistence. If
you give up and stop persisting then simply start again.

There may be something you want to have or something you want to
be. That is your goal. You’ve no doubt thought about it and how
to obtain it. Let’s go further and write the goal down on paper
to give you more focus. Put it at the top of the page in pen.

Grab a red marker and draw an arrow pointing up toward your goal.
Now go back to your pen and write along the line of the arrow.
Write things you can do to work toward achieving the goal and how
you can make arrangements to put in the work.

Review this paper often. This is your action plan. It has one
direction and one intention – your goal. You are the archer with
your bow drawn and arrow pointing toward your target. Now let go
the string.

Your new self is the you that has attained the goal. The old self
may try to stand in the way of reaching it. You sacrifice your
old self by keeping discipline, for discipline is what sacrifices
require. Goal achievement often is a process of personal growth.

Sometimes discipline means not trying to get the whole thing at
once. Anxiousness and impatience are not qualities of discipline,
and neither is selfishness. You may have to put in effort a
little at a time over a long period. Don’t worry about it, worry
destroys discipline.

Don’t get angry about it either, but if you do get angry, then be
happy. Why? Because having anger means you have lots of energy.
Channel that energy toward your goal rather than just blowing off
steam and maybe you just might get the whole thing at once.

Discipline makes the difference. It means you have an ideal that
you are willing to sacrifice for.

Got Discipline? Just keep regularity in your efforts and you will
find that discipline builds from there.

Setting and achieving your goals can be one of the most stressful
and sometimes futile things you ever do in your life.

Each new year brings new resolutions. People make unrealistic
promises to themselves knowing that many of them are sure to be
broken. But we do it anyway, because it is a tradition that has
been passed down through many generations.

There are several ways to plan for reaching your goals that can
greatly increases your chances for success and reduce the amount
of stress involved.

First, you must understand that while goals should be written
down, they need not be etched in stone. For instance, say that
you want to lose 20 pounds in the next two months, and two months
later, you have only lost 15 pounds.

Many people would see this as a failure, get depressed, and go
back to their unhealthy habits. The results are predictable. They
gain back the weight they lost (or more) and end up back at
square one.

Achieving a goal is like driving to a different city. You never
travel in a straight line. You make turns, take detours, and
sometimes get lost (although most men would never admit to this).
Do you go back home and start over? Of course not. You just make
adjustments from your current location.

Taking the above example once again, losing 15 pounds instead of
20 is not failure! Absolutely not. You simply need to make the
necessary adjustments in your goal and continue on. Instead of
dwelling on your inability to lose 20 pounds, consider that you
now only need to lose five pounds. Since you just lost 15 pounds
in two months, losing five more in the next month should be a
snap. But if you do not, you simply make the necessary adjusts
once again from that point. Each goal gets easier and easier.

You should also make reasonably achievable goals. If you need to
lose 100 pounds, do not plan to lose it in the next six months.
That is not only unreasonable, it can be dangerous to your
health. However, losing 100 pounds in 12 months breaks down to
slightly less that two pounds per week. That is certainly within
reason.

If your goal is to earn a million dollars in the next year, that
is admirable. But have you thought about how you are going to do
that? If you are starting from scratch, that may not be a
reasonable goal. Perhaps you should start by building a
foundation first and shooting for your first million dollars next
year.

Of course, if you plan on making a million dollars next year and
only make 20 bucks, you only have $999,980 to go.