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Why most people don’t succeed – How you can be the exception

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Re: Why most people don’t succeed – How you can be the exception

#2
Super insightful, it's like the quote "you don't know what you've got till it's gone". Humans seem to have to feel pain/hit rock bottom before we can go back up, instead of visually processing what the future holds in store and proactively changing it. It's an interesting cognitive process.

Re: Why most people don’t succeed – How you can be the exception

#5
Maintenance is boring.

Just a few things I don't think are boring:

  - sinking my teeth into some fresh sweet melon
  - a late afternoon jog in the woods
  - hanging out with friends and family
  - an ice cold beer at the football game
  - an all-you-can-eat salad bar
  - curling up with SO (even if it is a chick flick)
  - a hot shower, freshly brushed teeth, and a warm bathrobe
  - a happy dance after a new program runs the first time
If you think of the things you need to do to live well as "maintenance", they would seem boring, and you won't want to do them.

But if you think of them as "living", you'll embrace them and never give the concept of "maintenance" a second thought.

Re: Why most people don’t succeed – How you can be the exception

#6
post #2

Super insightful, it's like the quote "you don't know what you've got till it's gone". Humans seem to have to feel pain/hit rock bottom before we can go back up, instead of visually processing what the future holds in store and proactively changing it. It's an interesting cognitive process.

> Humans seem to have to feel pain/hit rock bottom before we can go back up,

Hence the value of a difficult childhood.

That's only half joking, most of the guys & girls that succeeded rather early in life had some luggage with them.

Re: Why most people don’t succeed – How you can be the exception

#7
Lot of us are obsessed with success. It is probably a good idea to define what success is to yourself, and yourself only.

A good exercise is to take 5 minutes and write the things you want in life. I was surprised to find that my list was much smaller than I thought and to the exception of 1 or 2 items everything I could do/have within a short amount of time.

Re: Why most people don’t succeed – How you can be the exception

#8
post #5

Maintenance is boring. Just a few things I don't think are boring: - sinking my teeth into some fresh sweet melon - a late afternoon jog in the woods - hanging out with friends and family - an ice cold beer at the football game - an all-you-can-eat salad bar - curling up with SO (even if it is a chick flick) - a hot shower, freshly brushed teeth, and a warm bathrobe - a happy dance after a new program runs the first…

Beautiful and true, and so easy to overlook.

Re: Why most people don’t succeed – How you can be the exception

#9

how YOU can be the exception. Because you are. You snow-flake.

Sounds like a Fight Club reference.

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile. ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 17

Pretty bleak.

Related:

You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world. ~Fight Club movie, screenplay by Jim Uhls, directed by David Fincher, novel by Chuck Palahniuk

Re: Why most people don’t succeed – How you can be the exception

#10
post #2

Super insightful, it's like the quote "you don't know what you've got till it's gone". Humans seem to have to feel pain/hit rock bottom before we can go back up, instead of visually processing what the future holds in store and proactively changing it. It's an interesting cognitive process.

I know a woman whose husband died a few years ago, while they were only in in their 50s. They were deeply in love and she feels cheated by his premature passing. When I feel like I'm losing perspective on things, I stop and ask myself: What does she now wish she did more of while her husband was still alive? What does she wish she did less? I find it helps me not to miss opportunities or get caught up in stuff that doesn't really matter.
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