Today is my 53rd birthday

Here are 53 lessons, quotes and good take-aways (not in any particular order) I’ve collected over the years.? This list is really meant for my kids but wanted to share it with my Linkedin community:

1. Spotlight effect is real
2. Hedonic treadmill- don’t get on it
3. The meaning of life is to find your gift.? The purpose of your life is to give it away.
4. Confidence is not they will like me, it is I’ll be fine if they don’t
5. If you don’t heal what hurt you, you’ll bleed on people who didn’t cut you.
6. Read Arthur Brooks article- No One Cares
7. The two most important days of your life- the day you are born and the day you find out why
8. Visit another country or state every year.? Traveling leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. Traveling offers you a hundred roads to adventure, and gives your heart wings! Traveling gives you home in a thousand strange places, then leaves you a stranger in your own land.
9. When you are in a bad mood, be graceful…. When you are in a good mood, be grateful
10. The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog
11. Most of the problems in life are because of 2 reasons:? we act without thinking or we keep thinking without acting
12. What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say
13. True humility is not thinking less of yourself.? It is thinking of yourself less
14. I trust that whatever is meant for me won’t miss me and whatever misses me wasn’t meant for me.
15. You’re not rich until you have something money can’t buy
16. Real hapiness comes from a continous effort to become the best version of yourself
17. Find out who you are and do it on purpose
18. You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy
19. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups
20. The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, its the illusion of knowledge
21. The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperationand go to the grave with the song still in them
22. Start-ups don’t fail, founders simple run out of energy and motivation
23. Invest in the jockey, not the horse
24. People are strange: they are constantly angered by trivial things, but on a major matter like totally wasting their lives, they hardly seem to notice.
25. Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.
26. Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.
27. Sell the product you solve, not the product
28. Choose your hard.? Everything worth doing is hard so choose wisely
29. Expect little from people, expect a lot from yourself.? That is the secret to happiness
30. Make something people want.? men lie, women lie…. numbers don’t
31. No matter what people think of you, keep singing your song
32. A dream written down with a date becomes a goal.? A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan.? A plan backed by actions become reality
33. If the words YOU spoke appeared on your skin, would you still be beatiful?
34. Being kind is more important than being right
35. Speak so people want to listen and listen so people will want to speak to you
36. If you don’t make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness
37. Read the poem- The Dash
38. Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it
39. ”Every minute someone leaves this world behind. We are all in “the line” without knowing it. We never know how many people are before us. We can not move to the back of the line.? We can not step out of the line? We can not avoid the line
40. Stop caring what others think of you and start caring what you think of yourself
41. Consistency is the key to progression and improvement and under-utilized
42. Failure is a great teacher and don’t be afraid of it.? Learn and grow from failure an then its a success.
43. Two of my favorite songs because of the lyrics which I could listen to over and over:? Tears For Fears Everybody Wants To Rule The World and Wilson Phillips- Hold On.? Powerful lyrics and songs
44. Let everything happen to you- beauty and terror- no feeling is final
45. Listen more than talking and react with intention and meaning
46. Imposter Syndrome is real and no one actually knows what the hell they’re doing
47. Always ask yourself- “So What?”
48. When you are good at something, you’ll tell everyone.? When you’re great at something, they’ll tell you.
49. Doing scary things- it will make you a better human and never stop learning and growing
50. Stop overcomplicating things and keep it simple and short
51. Plan your work and work your plan
52. Yesterday never happened and tomorrow never will
53. Stop trying to make the world a better place for your kids.? Make your kids better for the world.