Posts published during October, 2009

16 comments

October 29, 2009

What I’ve Been Reading This Week – Issue 2

Hello, my humble readers! Welcome to Issue 2 in the WIBR Series!

I’ve included in this list many interesting articles: some will inspire you, some will move you, and others will serve to help you.

I recommend reading all of these. For those of you who read some of the same blogs as me, I doubt you’ve read everything I’ve listed here.

So take a look. Kick back and read for a while.

Blogging/Social Media:

For All My Friends Near and Far – Congratulations to your one year blog birthday, Tess!

97 Ways to Build Traffic Without Resorting to Dumbass List Posts

Cloud Jacking: 7 Steps to Dominate Your Niche

Personal Development:

Take a Vacation (or a staycation!) From Your Life

Thou Shalt Not Sell Out

Stars Up in the Sky

Why You Struggle to Connect With Others – a guest post by me

Lifestyle Design:

15 Brilliant Thoughts About Unschooling (And my Own)

If They Hadn’t Been Pushed, They Never Would Have Made the Leap

*Honorable mentions* (in other words, must-reads):

Dear Reader

Inspiration: Nobody Trips Over Mountains

Happy reading, everybody!

Creative Commons License photo credit: Le Seigle Antoine

———–

If you liked this post, share it on Twitter, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, or Facebook. It’ll do the both of us a world of good. Don’t forget to connect with me on Twitter.

Want more articles like this one? Subscribe for FREE email notifications.

25 comments

October 26, 2009

Why We Should Put an End to the “New Year’s Resolution”

“Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits.” – Unknown

Do you remember the last New Year’s Eve? Of course you do. It’s the time when everyone prepared for the ball-to-drop, the clock to strike twelve, and the fireworks to illuminate the night sky.

FIVE!

Families are huddled in front of the TV, watching reporters recap the year’s events, as they give words of wisdom to look forward to the future.

FOUR!

People are holding onto their loved ones in the crowds on the streets of some of the biggest cities (Chicago, New York, Los Angeles just to name a few).

THREE…TWO…ONE…HAPPY NEW YEAR’S!!!!

Everyone screams, shouts, cries, kisses… welcoming in the new year.

January 1st is also the day on which everyone gives birth to their New Years’ resolutions. At this time, everyone sets a certain goal intended to make significant changes in their lives.

And although it varies, everyone’s resolution statement tends to sound a little bit like this:

“Last year, I didn’t (run that marathon, make straight A’s, go back to college, start a blog, etc.), but this year, it’ll be different.”

Let the resolution process begin

We gather information, organize schedules, write lists, make affirmations, tell everyone, and post reminders everywhere. With everything in place, we feel as if we’re ready to tackle our New Year’s resolution.

Yeah, you’re feeling great. This is going to be awesome. You’re not going to be one of those people who quit after a week, a month, or even three months!

You try your absolute hardest for the first day. You see no results. Well that’s okay.

You try your hardest again for the second day. Still, no results. It’s only been two days.

You try again for the rest of the week. Still nothing.

By the end of the month, you have little to show for your efforts (which kept diminishing ever so slowly). Sometimes you skipped required tasks and did double the work the next day, but it still felt like you weren’t making progress.  And the victories you  did get felt sort of hollow.

Sadly, you ultimately quit. Bummer.

It’s depressing… I know

We all understand how it feels when resolutions have to be given up. I myself have gone through many years of unkept vows.

My last New Year’s resolution was to stop complaining. Ha ha, yeah that lasted about a week. Funny thing was, I didn’t know why I stopped. I understood that it was partly because I stopped caring, but I didn’t know why I stopped caring.

The answer was right under my nose the entire time.

Pardon me, but screw your  New Year’s resolution

The culprit was the day we all knew and loved. The day that was supposed to change everything. The day that filled our hearts with joy… but usually ended up with us feeling unfulfilled.

NEW YEAR’S DAY.

I was quite surprised when I learned of this. I mean, that day was supposed to signify new beginnings, right? It was supposed to motivate us to change our lifestyles for the better.

Now you’re probably thinking, “You’ve got to be joking, John. Where’s your proof?”

Well, it’s simple. If you look closely enough, you’ll see that the power of the New Year’s resolution lies in the very thing it evokes: your emotion.

On New Year’s Day, you and everyone else is pumped to start their resolution. Everyone wants to be hopeful they will succeed: it’s only natural that common emotions will energize those that feel them at the same time. As a result, the lights, sounds, and sensations are all instilled within you – for one day.

Fast forward a month later and you’ll find that those emotions won’t be enough to sustain you for an entire year (or depending on how long it takes for you to achieve your resolution).

However, there is another way.

The solution to your resolution

Think of it this way:

New Year’s resolution = goal

They’re the same thing. You set hundreds of these all the time. Don’t treat a resolution as a be-all-end-all type of promise. Take that route, and you’re simply setting yourself up for failure.

Instead treat it like any other type of goal. Work towards it along with all the rest you set everyday, making sure not to fall behind in your efforts for even a second.

If you take nothing else away from this post, take this tip about goal-setting: Re-list, revise, re-think – every week.

See you guys New Year’s Day: I won’t be setting any resolutions, thank you. I’d rather just hope for the best :)

*Note: Thank you, Suzen, for inspiring this post with your comment.*

Creative Commons License photo credit: Michel Filion

———–

If you liked this post, share it on Twitter, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, or Facebook. It’ll do the both of us a world of good. Don’t forget to connect with me on Twitter.

Want more articles like this one? Subscribe for FREE email notifications.

24 comments

October 22, 2009

When Stating Intentions, Be Specific

Okay, I’ve  done something really stupid over the past month, and I’ve just now realized how dumb it was.

As you all know, I’ve stated my goals here on the blog many times. When I was writing them, it felt good, as if I was getting something off of my chest.

But today, I was thinking (for about an hour before writing this) that all I gave you guys to read was the idea instead of the deeply woven story that I created in my head. For an example of some of my bland goals:

“I want to travel overseas.”

“I want to make an online business.”

“I want to blah blah blah.”

Realizing this, I’m really sorry. This isn’t interesting at all. It sounded awesome because I had the images and the experience playing on a mental cinema in my head. All you guys probably visualized was me going on a plane or me sitting at my desk just typing away.

Here are my real goals:

My Goals – A (Very) Short Story

After months of planning, research, late nights, and feeling like crap, my business finally launches. I get 100 members in the first month with a hefty set of money in my bank account. I’m running around screaming that I have a business while in college. I begin to question why I’m still here. I tell my mom I’m quitting and she talks me out of it by saying how stupid I am. I still smile, because over the summer I prepare to go overseas… TO BRAZIL!

I’m getting on a plane headed for Columbia, Brazil. On the plane, I engage in instant death sweat in anticipation for the landing. I keep thinking the plane will crash on my first time on a plane without family. When it lands, I’m basically getting off the plane smiling, adrenaline pumping, and heart-racing. I’m here – in Brazil. On my own!

Soon enough, I realize I don’t know anyone, have no idea where I am, and start nervously freaking out. I ask the security guard for directions to the nearest hostel. 3 minutes later, I forget the directions and proceed to get lost. But through a semi-hilarious progress of trial and error (using the little Spanish I know) I make it to the hostel. I meet a group of housemates and we become good friends over time.

To cut a short story even shorter, by the end of this trip, I’ve learned a lot of Spanish, made plenty of friends, gotten stomach sickness, met a cute foreign girl, and had some laughs along the way.

THE END

Isn’t it funny how I made an entire story out of two boring-sounding goals? I used a lot of detail to describe my intentions. And now, after writing this story, I want to achieve these goals even more.

Here’s my challenge to you.

Write a your own goal story. Pick two or three goals just so you don’t start mechanically listing them in the story. Then just write a short story. You don’t even have to post them in the comments. Write it for yourself.

And don’t write a vague story (it’s no different than simply listing your goals. Write an interesting story that makes you smile, just like mine did for me.

Why I’m asking you to do this

People in general set arbitrary goals that they can’t connect with. I think that’s the main reason we sometimes fall short of reaching them. I mean, setting a goal to “lose 30 pounds” just sounds plain boring. And as a result we get bored and stop trying. Maybe if we wrote our goals as stories, we would connect with them more and actually care about achieving them.

Form an emotional attachment to your goal, and there’s no way you’ll fail. You’ll have a reason to give it your all. It’s not just “lose 30 pounds” anymore. It’s “lose 30 pounds to be comfortable at the beach and play with my family”.

It’s not just “travel overseas”. It’s “travel overseas to make new friends and have fun memories”.

Set your goals. Write them as stories.

Get to work.
Creative Commons License photo credit: helgasms!

———–

If you liked this post, share it on Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, or Facebook. It’ll do the both of us a world of good. Don’t forget to connect with me on Twitter.

Want more articles like this one? Subscribe for FREE email notifications.

43 comments

October 18, 2009

Should I or Should I Not? The Curse of Indecision

Most of us don’t know what we want to be in life. We come into this world thinking anything about everything – our attention spans never really slowing down. So to allay this feeling of overabundance, this feeling that there’s too many options to just pick one, we try them all. And it’s only until we’ve done everything and made a boatload of mistakes do we realize who we really want to become.

It all starts at childhood. At a young age, the first decisions we are presented with have to do with common, menial choices such as “What color do I want to wear today?”, “Which lollipop should I nag Mom to buy from the store?”, or “Which toy do I want for Christmas” – things like that.

And through some miracle, we pick something. We choose to wear red. We decide to get a strawberry lollipop. We wish for a toy car under the tree.

Of course, these choices are simple (as they should be for any child).

But then we get to the ‘messy’ decisions. The ones that few children rarely are able to decide upon.

Most notably for me, our place in the workforce.

As a kid, it wasn’t as easy as picking the biggest cookie in the jar, or picking out what shirt to wear. This type of choice had consequences. But, as kids, we don’t care for the consequences, we wanted the cool experiences that came with each job.

I tell ya, looking back on my job choices now, I’m not sure how much sugar I’d consumed throughout my childhood. I’ll list them here, just in case you’re curious:

- an artist

- a surgeon (to fix people)

- a famous cook who had his own show on local cable

- a firefighter so I could play with the hose (and save lives)

- a policeman so I could be on the hit-tv show “Cops” (and bring in the bad guys)

- a dinosaur from Jurassic Park

- a bull fighter

- Beast from “Beauty and the Beast”

Do you think this is indecisive? It gets worse…

Admittedly, the above list was a little ‘out there’. But when I became a teenager, my mind switched into ‘logic mode’. I soon was under the guise that the world ran on money. And in order to get money, I’d have to pick the job that earned me the most.

My list changed, but more radical ones soon popped up. Here’s my “revised” list:

- surgeon (to make money)

- actor (to make money)

- a basketball player (to make money)

- a rapper (to make money)

- a business owner (to make money)

- a lawyer (to make money)

I think you get the idea. As you can see, my list isn’t really that much shorter, but the focus completely changed. What’s even funnier is the fact that after making this new list, I still hadn’t found a career I really wanted to do.

And while I could’ve simply picked the job that got me the most pay, they each contained varying degrees of difficulty that I didn’t have the patience to put up with. That’s when things got ugly.

My final decision (not really)

My parents assumed that I was incompetent in choosing my profession, so they chose for me.

My final choice was – doctor.

It was at that point that everything made sense again. Well, I am the only son in the family, so I might as well be a doctor, right? And they do make a lot of money, so why not?

So life went on as usual – I made thousands of choices a year, not knowing where they would take me, with the mind that through all these messy decisions I would someday become a doctor.

Yes, life was grand except for one thing – I wasn’t exactly sure I wanted to be a doctor.

This wasn’t because of teenage rebellion, mind you. I liked the human body and it’s awesome abilities. If you really study the human body, you’ll know that it can do some pretty amazing things.

Whether or not it would keep my interest wasn’t the problem, but it was the time I would have to put in (more specifically, the time I would have to keep putting in).

To have no time for anything, but saving lives wasn’t what I wanted to do, no matter how much money was involved. I didn’t want to live my life almost completely for someone else (and I’m not talking about in terms of taking care of a family, I’m talking about being an on -call surgeon putting time I could spend with my future family into a sick person).

I have nothing against those who want to be doctor’s or need help from doctors, it’s just that I didn’t want to do that.

And with that knowledge, I decided to rewrite my list for the last time:

…….

I got squat.

I couldn’t find a single profitable job that didn’t have me sacrifice my time for money. It seemed indecision followed me everywhere I went and laughed at me when I turned my back on the medical field. Until…

My final decision (for real)

It was then that I realized, who said I had to pick one thing? Who said that I had to choose a conventional job? Why was doctor, lawyer, basketball player and other similar jobs the only choices I had?

This became my final list and my final decision:

- Blogger

- Philanthropist

- Presenter

- Future husband/father

- Traveler

- My own personal translator

- Entrepreneur

- Leader

- Learner

In other words… I want to be me.

You could say that I’m still being indecisive. I haven’t picked any one thing. The curse is still with me.

But then again, maybe I have picked one thing, and maybe that one thing should have been what I chose all along. I should have chosen to make a career out of being who I am.

I’ve chosen my path. All I ask now is what did you want to be when you were younger? What are you now? Surprised? Accepting? Happy? Sad? Share your story.

Creative Commons License photo credit: VirtualErn

———–

If you liked this post, share it on Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, or Facebook. It’ll do the both of us a world of good. Don’t forget to connect with me on Twitter.

Want more articles like this one? Subscribe for FREE email notifications.

13 comments

October 15, 2009

What I’ve Been Reading This Week – Issue 1

Hey guys, you’re looking at the first issue of a new bi-weekly recurring series I like to call, What I’ve Been Reading This Week (has a nice ring to it, no?).

I’ve decided to provide links to some of the most notable things I’ve been reading and have had stuck in my brain from the past week. This is by no means a popularity contest to see what can capture my attention the most. These are simply interesting reads and nothing more.

Here they are in no particular order (or, if you like, in the order of what I remembered the most):

David Cain from Raptitude is Going Kiwi. Check out his first post here.

Why I recommend reading it – He’s taking his life overseas to embrace new experiences. This is one of those posts that I think everyone taking a first step to traveling can relate to.

Ever heard of a pumpkin race? Wait, don’t answer that. Lisis from Quest for Balance has and she told us all about it in her post this week. Check it out.

Why I recommend reading it – Do I even have to say it? It’s a pumpkin race! (pics included) But seriously, Lisis just recently made a big change by just getting up and moving to Vermont. And guess what? She has no regrets. Lisis is living her own life the way she wants with her family.

Here’s a great list of quotes on fear from Tess’s blog, The Bold Life. Click here to be amazed.

Why I recommend reading it – Tess is brave and bold: what’s not to like. She always has an interesting personal take on whatever life experiences she’s been having. Plus, I’m a sucker for quotes with extra interpretation. Great read.

Do you guys know Zeenat yet? She’s been away for awhile, but now she’s back! Go greet her on her blog!

Why I recommend reading it – Zeenat is a spiritual kindhearted soul and it’s quite admirable to hear her thoughts on life, blogging, and everything in between.

Well, I supposed I watched how Tim Ferriss and company got scammed in China during their recent romp across China, but it’s still worthy enough to be on here.

Why I recommend watching it - Tim Ferriss is a pretty smart guy and jump started my interest in lifestyle design before I even started the blog. The video is very informative and if you plan on going to China anytime soon, it’s a must-watch.

Matt shares his wisdom and asks an interesting question: Should you love your job?

Why I recommend reading it – Matt gives an insightful take on whether we should love our jobs or not. I really enjoyed it and thought you would too. *Bonus points for him being a fellow Chicagoan ;) *

Of special (random) note:

Roosh (@rooshv) tweeted an article titled: A Cute Baby is the Key to Getting a Lost Wallet Back.

Why I recommend reading it – Getting things lost is a part of life. Just wanted to include a helpful tidbit to think about the next time you get your wallet lost (or stolen).

I hope you liked the first issue of What I’ve Been Reading This Week! Since this is the first post in the series, I’m open to any and all criticisms to be divulged in the comments section.

Later, my friends and happy reading!

Creative Commons License photo credit: Joel Bedford

———–

If you liked this post, share it on Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, or Facebook. It’ll do the both of us a world of good. Don’t forget to connect with me on Twitter.

Want more articles like this one? Subscribe for FREE email notifications.

17 comments

October 12, 2009

Do You Always Need a Plan to Get What You Want?

I’m just going to throw it out there and say everyone is working towards something. Whatever you’re doing right now will always be in the pursuit of a greater goal. If you go to work, I’m sure you don’t plan on staying an employee. You might have dreams of becoming manager or even boss someday. When you first meet someone, I’m sure you don’t want to stay strangers forever. You should want to get to know that person more and actually become friends.

Everything we do has meaning and a purpose. We’re climbing an imaginary ladder that will go on forever until the day we die. But in regards to the rungs on the ladder itself (the stepping stones towards a goal, if you will), should they be planned out?

One could say that they shouldn’t. “Just do it!” they would say.We should just keeping taking action until we get to where we want in life.

I’m beginning to think the act of planning is being taken for granted and is instead being replaced by regular action. While I do encourage action, just acting is not enough for you to something you’re working towards. You’ll need a definite road map in order to achieve the best and thorough results.

Why simply acting is not good enough

Action is the main driving force behind all deeds good and bad. But that’s really all it is. It forces you to produce something of value, but it doesn’t necessarily move in any direction after the initial push.

To explain:

Little Bobby wants a cookie before dinner so he starts crying. His parents, after much deliberation and annoyance, give in and give Bobby his cookie. Okay, he thinks, I think I’ll just keep crying whenever I want a cookie. And for a while, yes, he keeps getting his cookie. What Bobby doesn’t know, however, is that his parents are catching on to his little game. Soon enough, he cries and cries, but to no avail. Result: No more cookies for Bobby before dinner.

Here’s a more relate-able example:

Ted is trying out for the Olympics as a runner, but instead of setting a regimen for when and how to exercise, he just goes about his exercises based on what he is able to do. He doesn’t count how many of anything (pushups, pullups, situps, jumps, etc.) he can do at one point. He has no idea where his limits lie. To cut a very long story short, he drops out of the Olympics because he had no idea how many laps he was supposed to run and his endurance couldn’t hold up. Result: Ted never did anything but exercise, and that was his biggest mistake.

Why plans increase the output of action tenfold

I realize that the above scenarios are a bit ridiculous, but they do have some truth to them. If Little Bobby was a bit smarter, he would’ve planned to take cookies and save them long before dinner, instead of just crying about it. If Ted only planned ahead for the Olympics, he could have been adequately prepared for the distance required, instead of just going out on a whim.

Plans track progress, and that’s what actions can never do. Think of action as the money and the plans as a bank. If you just keep money under your mattress, do you think it will accrue interest? No, of course not. But if you put it in the bank, it will always gain interest, thereby increasing your profit.

Now do you always need a plan? No, not always. Some simple tasks don’t require them.

But if you’re looking to tackle a bigger long-term goal, remember that there’s a difference between performing your best and performing your absolute best – with an effective plan in mind.

“Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you ready or not, to put this plan into action.” – Napoleon Hill

Creative Commons License photo credit: Avolore

———–

If you liked this post, share it on Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, or Facebook. It’ll do the both of us a world of good. Don’t forget to connect with me on Twitter.

Want more thought-provoking articles like this? Subscribe for FREE email notifications.

16 comments

October 5, 2009

Difficulties Maintaining the Balance Between “Online and Offline”

As the internet becomes more and more integrated within our lives, it gets harder and harder to effectively maintain both the online and offline parts of life. Online you may be the go-to vegan girl, with constant tweets, tips, and tricks on the best ways to get organic, meatless nutrition. Offline, however, you may be the girl managing a social life, trying to earn an honest day’s pay, or watching your favorite sitcom.

Maintaining the balance is difficult for most people. It can prove pretty challenging to try and be two people at once. Believe me, I know.

In my case, I’m a student of college (more so of life), and balancing my life and work has proven to be an interesting new experience. I’m on the computer less, but that doesn’t mean I let my online relationships grow stale. I hang out with friends, but I don’t ditch them in order to be the first to comment on another person’s blog.

But this wasn’t the case over the summer.

During  that time, I was usually online from 8 in the morning to around midnight (sometimes until morning) with a few hour’s break spread out over the course of the entire day. And while it was an eye-opening experience to be blogging nearly full-time, I’ve learned that being online all day sucks.

Whenever someone had a new blog post, I’d open it up along with ten other things I wanted to read. It was insane. I turned into one of those guys whose eyes barely blinked and just stared at the screen absorbing information. Little did I know that I would soon absorb a massive headache. (Ouch.)

Although I’ll never do that again in my life, I’ve learned something important.

Being online is now the norm

These days, it seems like everything has the internet on it. Cellphones, PDAs, laptops, you name it. You might have on a puzzled look right about now, but around a decade or so ago, these things didn’t come with Internet.

Our lives are in a sense, starting to come with the internet. It’s going to keep  integrating into our personal lives, and (unless you’re Amish) there’s no way of stopping it.

However, just because we the internet won’t let up in its pursuit of our personal lives, doesn’t mean we have to give them up so easily.

What most of us do

We try and adapt too much. We’re on the phone with our friends while on Twitter and Facebook at the same time. A zillion tabs are open on our web browsers. We decide that the online and offline are and must be two separate things.

What we should do

Integrate them, but not so much that one takes over the other. I’m college right now. I should be too drunk to write anything or too busy having a life to care about the friends I’ve made online, right? (Thankfully, both of these are false).

I once believed that my online and offline lives were separate. I know now both of these lives contain real people (at least I hope they are). As far as I’m concerned, the close relationships I’ve cultivated online are only different from my offline friends in the sense that I’m not speaking to them face to face. Yes, we’re separated by a screen, but does that mean I should value them less or more than my offline buds?

Why not combine the online and offline in a way that which one doesn’t overlap the other? We don’t have to unplug from the internet and miss out on new experiences. And we don’t have to let the internet take over our lives.

What do you do to maintain the balance?

Creative Commons License photo credit: timparkinson

———–

If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, or Facebook. It’ll do the both of us a world of good. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.

Want more thought-provoking articles like this? Subscribe for FREE email notifications.

17 comments

October 1, 2009

Dreaming v. Realism: My Thoughts on Both

I admit that the dreams I have seem unrealistic to the majority of the people that I know. Sometimes I think something’s wrong with me. Why am I thinking on such a different plane than the rest?

Here’s the thought that runs through my head most days:

Dreams aren’t real. They can never be real. All of the amazing stories we’ve been told as children, all of the movies that have depicted superheroes saving lives, and all of the people who dared to fight for a better world – they’re all in our imagination.

These things are meant to inspire, not to create.

We’re supposed to think “Wow, those guys are awesome!” and then come to the realization that we ourselves can never become them.

The most common thing I hear people say is “I wish I could do that”. Why do you keep wishing? Everything you need to change the world is right there in front of you.

Your dreams are what gives you the fodder to become whoever you want to become. Of course, a realist will call you naive and tell you things like, “Get real. Your head’s in the clouds. Dreaming gets you nowhere. If you just work hard enough, things well get better.”

What’s wrong with dreaming? Work hard enough at what? These directions aren’t clear. It seems that when we dream, we have a clear picture of where we want to be. But when we remain skeptical and “normal”, we tend to just go out on a limb and assume that good ol’ hard work will take us to where we want to be.

With dreaming we know our destination, but we don’t know how to get there. With being real, we know the process, but we don’t really know where we’re going.

Here are other thoughts regarding this that I’ve been having in which I pit the realist against the dreamer:

Realist (i.e. a normal person)

Limiting beliefs are set by others – What works for everyone else is bound to work for them. The most common scenario is getting a degree to get a job to support a family to support kids to support education to get a degree, etc. Though this isn’t a one-size-fits-all category (not everyone will end up with a family), it’s the default life plan for most realists.

Doesn’t take their dreams seriously – Dreaming for even a second is death. They should be working for the majority of their lives. Saving the fun and games for when they’re around forty years old is what usually happens.

Instant employee (just add cubicle) - They tend to be so-so leaders, but definitely hardworking. Free-thinking is also off limits, lest they be thought of as a “bad egg” around the office.

Dreamer (i.e. weirdo with a vision)

Their limits are set based on what they believe – Dreamers believe in having the ability to achieve anything they put their mind to. In their minds, there is nothing impossible, only the things that haven’t been done yet.

Takes their dreams very seriously – Dreamers tend to actually try and reach their dreams. They may not always succeed (to be honest more often than not), but they keep trying nonetheless.

They get paid for their passions -Dreamers don’t seek to live a life mostly spent in a cubicle away from their families. Though they may have to deal with it initially while dreaming on the side, they believe that you don’t have to get paid for doing things you don’t enjoy.

So, which am I?

I’ve decided that I am a dreamer. I don’t plan on getting a real job anytime soon, 4 years into the future, or beyond. I’m not planning having kids with someone I met a work, nor do I want to retire from working hoping for a “big payoff”. How is this possible, you may ask? What, you thought I was in college just studying? Things are definitely going on behind the scenes. Only time will tell…

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” – Gail Devers

Which are you? A dreamer or a realist? Do you think my view of dreaming v. realism is askew? Share your thoughts on my thoughts ;)

Creative Commons License photo credit: Joel Bedford

———–

If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, or Facebook. It’ll do the both of us a world of good. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.

Want more thought-provoking articles like this? Subscribe for FREE email notifications.