36 Lessons From 36 Years On Earth

On Mother's Day Back In 1985, (which seems like forever ago) I came into the world.?

?One of my favorite musicians of all time is Eric Church and my favorite album is "The Outsiders."?

?There is a song called, "A Man Who Was Going To Die Young."?

?I remember the first time I heard it and it hit me in a way that is hard to explain and I was 29 at the time in a rough patch of my life, especially physical and in my health.?

?I was going down a bad path because I didn't take care of my body, my mind and wanted to make excuses for everything.?

?I realized that I was going down the path of a man that was going to die young.?

?There is a line that stuck with me:?

?"???????? ?????????????? ?? ???????????? ????, ?? ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ???? ????, ???????????? ?????? ?? ???????????????? ???????? ???? ??????????."?

?36 used to seem so old, but here I am typing this on the approach of 36 years of life on this planet and came out of my depression and got my life back.?

?It wasn't easy and I still battle my demons and struggles each day, but I am better today than I was yesterday.?

?I wanted to share 36 lessons and truths that I formed over the years and hopefully, they can help you as they helped me:

1. Never take anything personally.

2. Be grateful every day.

3. Excuses are like assholes, everyone has one.

4. Get up before the sun comes up.

5. Read every single day.

6. Drink a shit ton of water, every day.

7. Never make assumptions.

8. Give without the expectation of ever receiving back.

9. Your job doesn’t have to be your passion, but you must be passionate about what you do.

10. Nobody cares, work harder.

11. Be skeptical, but always willing to listen.

12. Take a cold-ass shower every day.

13. Meditation really does help.

14. Tell someone why you love them every day.

15. Understand that all you truly control is your thoughts and actions.

16. When you are fearful you are just having a biological reaction.

17. Walk outside every day.

18. You have one mouth and two ears for a reason, so talk less and listen more.

19. If you have haters you must be doing something right.

20. Stand up for what you believe in.

21. Don’t do anything out of obligation.

22. Journal every day.

23. Don’t eat garbage and take care of your body.

24. Never take advice from someone who hasn’t done it yet.

25. If you are angry count to 100 before you say anything, if you are still angry count to 1000!

26. Do your best every day.

27. Have a strict bedtime and stick to it every day, even the weekends!

28. Don’t take yourself so seriously.

29. Be willing to fight like hell for what you believe can help others.

30. Learn from your failures and be willing to take a risk.

31. Don’t spend money on shit you don’t need.

32. As Wim Hof famously says, “just breathe motherfucker.”

33. Don’t get mad when someone drives like a moron and cuts you off, I’m sure they have a lot going on.

34. Never argue with trolls on the internet, it just wastes your time and makes you dumber.

35. Embrace your own mortality and the preciousness that is human life.

36. Be fully present, don’t dwell on the past or worry about the future, it’s called the present for a reason because it is a gift!