Are you likeable?

Are you strange?  Are you righteous and rigid in your opinions?  Are you angry?  Does your face say “go away” and do you not like many others?  Do you have quirks that only a few understand that make others uncomfortable?  Do you not take care of yourself?  Are you unconfident and unenthusiastic?  Are you unambitious and uninteresting? Are you afraid of too many things?

The more likable you are the greater the probability that you will be happier, healthier and have more friends and success.

Your likability matters (to you), and it IS something you can improve.

You will not be eaten.

Nervous about trying something new, or something old in a new way?  Worried about how the new project will turn out or about meeting some new people you think are key to your progress?

What’s the worst that can happen?

Just go for it.  You will learn something, even and especially if it doesn’t go really well.  That will eventually lead to something that does.

How to be unlikable

There are many ways you can be unlikable.

Be a humble braggart with false humility.

Throw temper tantrums.

Shut down and give the silent treatment.

Be dogmatic – being righteous and closed-minded.

Be all about yourself and never interested in others.

Don’t smile.  Glare, or dirty or suspicious looks instead.

Surely none of this fits our description.  Does it?

Fear is a requirement for courage.

“Fear is a requirement for courage.” – Eddie Rickenbacker

The people who develop courage and overcome fear are the most successful.

Facing fears and overcoming them develops confidence.

What fear can you overcome now to take you to a new level of confidence?

Psychological Billionaire

What you have and have going on outside of you is a manifestation of what you have going on inside of you.

Do you have it all together inside?  Are you clear about who you are, aren’t, and what you want to accomplish? Have you learned and practiced enough to gain a deep understanding?

Do you have your emotional world in order?  Do you want something you don’t have yet and have the self-discipline to go after it?

All success and achievement happens on the inside first. 

What do you need to achieve inside?

All of a sudden – the food changed…

Thousands of years went by.  Ok, it wasn’t easy but we adapted to eat whatever we had.

Then, suddenly, in less than 100 years, the food supply changed.  We have packaged foods, processed foods, and lots of sugar.

What did that do to you?

Mind your manners

There are some ideas that never go out of style.  The reason they never go out of style is because they are rooted in human psychology – yours and all the others around you.

By being polite you will stand out and be the exception in many places.  When you are consistently kind and polite people will notice and remember you.  

Good manners are appreciated by others because they feel respected.  It makes you likable and will give you a competitive edge.  This is an edge you don’t have to earn or be given – you just take it.

Be kind and polite.

Avoiding effort?

Many people try to find happiness by avoiding effort.  But what if effort was the secret to happiness?

Without effort, we don’t get better or stronger.  Without effort, we don’t learn and become who we were meant to be.  Without effort, we don’t make any contribution to others, as many have made for us.  Without effort, there are no real victories and personal satisfaction.

Effort is how we become our best selves, and in that, is true happiness and contentment.

Ancestral Mathematics

In order to be born you needed;

2 parents

4 great grandparents

8 great-grandparents

16 second great-grandparents

32 third great-grandparents

64 fourth great-grandparents

128 fifth great-grandparents

256 sixth great-grandparents

512 seventh great-grandparents

1024 eighth great-grandparents

2048 ninth great-grandparents

For you to be born today from 12 previous generations, you needed a total of 4094 ancestors over the last 400 years.

Think for a moment – How many struggles?  How may battles?  How much ambition and desire?  How many love stories?  How many expressions of hope for the future you are living in right now?  How many years spent working to make tomorrow better?

Invest in your body

When you eat a raw plant instead of a cookie, you are making an investment in your body.

When you work out or get your heart rate up with exercise, you are making an investment in your body.

The body houses the mind and supports one’s life.  

It’s far easier to have a good life when you have a body that works well.

Can we agree on that?