Hello all you lovely readers. I am back. All limbs are accounted for, skin is sufficiently tanned, I just received an awesome “Thelifething.com” inscribed red baseball cap for a birthday present and all is right with the world.

I am sure you have all missed me, and even if you haven’t I am going to pretend that you have. Lets get right back into things with a post of some of the thoughts I was jotting down while sunning myself on a beach in Goa regarding the most important lessons I have learn’t in the last 25 years. Its about 2000 words but well worth a gander. Be sure to say hi in the comments so I can make sure that my readers haven’t all died and enjoy.

Also, check out the new resources section which is under development and let me know what you think of the new design direction for the site. Cheers all.

1. There is no greater loss than that of a loved one.

As many of you know, a few years ago my Mum lost her fight with cancer. For those that have never experienced the loss of a loved one then you are truly blessed. For those that have, my heart goes out to you. There truly is no greater loss you can experience in life.

2. Discontentment is a power full motivator…

I love the life that I live but I am not comfortable with it. I want more…bigger, better, faster, shinier things and experiences and thus I am also discontented with life. You should be also. Discontentment will keep you pushing out of your comfort zone and taking on new challenges while you continue to grow and develop.

3. …so is Anger

Sometimes I get angry, not to the extent of turing green, losing the clothes and throwing things around but definitely slightly less than happy. The source of this anger can be many things – situations, problems, a run of bad luck, people doing better than I am. The thing about anger is though that when controlled well it can become one of the most powerful motivators in life and I use it to drive me towards bigger goals.

4. Nothing is ever as important as it seems

Remember back to your old school days and the weekly class test every Friday, seemed like the most important thing in the world – well at least to a geek like me. How about the last school prom or finals? At the time they may have crippled you with fear that failure here will be the end of the world. Seems foolish now doesn’t it but how many of us are currently worrying over situations that will probably be meaningless in a few years time.

5. Generally speaking, the best things in life are unplanned

This little nugget of wisdom was hammered home during my three months in India. I am a great one for plans and vision but even I can’t argue that the very best experiences I have had in life have almost all be unplanned. Leave time in your day, week, month, year just to let everything hang out and see what life brings your way.

6. Happiness is best shared

Traveling around India alone was incredible but there were times when I wished there were people I cared about with me to experience some of the incredible things I was seeing and doing. The very best times in my life in the last 25 years have always been in  the company of others.

7. Being confident in a group is easy, being confident alone is more difficult.

I’m a pretty confident with people and don’t struggle that much in social situations however part of the reason I went to India alone was because I knew it is a lot harder to be confident when on your own and I wanted to develop my skills.

8. Confidence is a state of mind

That being said I have come to learn over the last 25 that what goes on in your head really reflects on how you come to act. The battle with confidence, success, wealth, and happiness is really just a battle in your mind.  If you can win that battle, and it is no walk in the park, the the reality is merely the details.

9. There is nothing more valuable in life than good friendships

This follows on from sharing happiness. Once the mechanics of life are stripped away, jobs , money, gadgets, food, clothes and ice cream the core of what makes us all tick is relationships and the development of those relationships.I would take good friendships over anything else the world has to offer. They are not free, they require investment of time and effort but the rewards are exponential.

10. Usually the prize goes to the one who tries the hardest

From time to time, we have all been guilty of passing off others success as a fluke or undeserved, I know I subconsciously and sometimes consciously do it all the time. If you find yourself doing this then take the time to look into how the person really got there. More often than not, underneath the glamour of instant success lies many years of hard work and sacrifice. Try developing an attitude that everyone successful person deserves what they have achieved. It is very freeing.

11. School doesn’t teach you much

School teaches you to pass exams, life teaches you to live. Though an education is important the biggest danger is that you believe classroom mentality that there is only one right answer and one must not fail. There is never only one right answer and it is through failure that we learn to succeed.

12. You can just as easily create your past as you can your future

Your past is, as they say, in the past but this doesn’t mean that you can’t choose to remember it how you want to remember it and allow it to shape your future in the way that you want it to. Nothing is concrete, not even the past, it is all a matter of what you think.

13. Failure stings

Those that have felt the sting of failure know what I am talking about. Though if one is not willing to put up with the odd sting, one will never enjoy the swim and the more one is stung the less each subsequent sting hurts.

14. The best way of getting over failure is movies and sugar

It’s a personal thing.

15. The best of anything is never done alone

No businessman is an island. It is the collaboration of many great minds that create great visions and achieve great things.

16. Life is all about balance

120 hour weeks might make you successful but you will have no one to share the success with. True success comes from finding the balance in your work, social, family, health and spiritual life. Lean too much to anyone side and the bike falls over.

17. We all know very little about almost nothing

The world has been around a long time, you and I have not. We each know very little about the huge expanse of our own existence so anyone who thinks they have nothing to learn is a dangerous person to be around. Stay clear of them in dark alleys at night.

18. All of us are fallible

Yes, even David Beckham. No one is perfect and we all fail. Those who have never failed have never achieved anything so cut the other person some slack if they slip up from time to time, we are all just trying to live to the best of our ability.

19. Sometimes being alone is the greatest thing in the world

It gives you time to think and reflect so that you can see the world through a fresh pair of eyes.

20. Life is a series of mini adventures

1 day, 1 month, 1 year, it matters not. Life is simply a roller coaster ride of up and downs, in and outs and free falls and emergency stops…let it be this way. Plan the adventure into your life.

21. Control over ones own mind is the most powerful force in the world

It is the most valuable asset you own, the most powerful computer you have…the greatest flirtation device you possess. Be in control and use it and it will MAKE you, lose control and waste it and it will break you.

22. Most things are overhyped

Unfortunately most people over promise and underperform, so take every “new greatest thing” with a pinch of salt.

23. What makes you happy won’t always be what makes the crowd happy

We are all unique so living another persons life is not going to make you happy. KNow yourself, be confident in yourself and follow what makes you happy.

24. People can and will justify any action

Arguing seldom solves problems for this very reason. People will do what people want to do. Save time and stress by focusing on making sure your your own actions are inline with your own principles and let the world decide about the others.

25. You define your own reality

What you think about becomes reality. How you believe your life will turn out or what you think you are capable of generally turns out to come true.

26. Inspiration is more valuable than money

Money can come and go and never seem to last long enough but a spark created in the inspired can light a fire that will burn for many years to come.

27. Sometimes you have to leave people behind

Not everyone you meet is destined to share the journey with you and people will come and go. From time to time you have to make the hard decision to let people go in order that you both can grow. It is never easy.

28. Life is full of surprises

That is the joy of it. The best laid plans, the most well thought out visions, the greatest preparations can all be laid bare by the surprises of life. Sometimes they just crept up on you out of nowhere.

29. Always take expert advice with a pinch of salt, sometimes a spoonfull

Advice is very powerful, both in a positive and negative way. All advice and all advisors are not created equal so it is important to put any new information through your own personal filtering system before you apply it to anything meaningful.

30. Don’t worry about what people think of you…few care that much

If you can have just 10 people care enough about you to give you more than a passing thought on a regular basis then you are a blessed person indeed. People are usually too involved in worry about themselves and their own dreams and desires to spend time worrying about yours.

31. No one is ever wrong

You can never tell some one they are wrong, even if the evidence backs you up. People have very highly developed filtering systems they see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear, feel what they want to feel and think what they want to think, regardless of facts. Save your breath.

32. The whole of your life is ahead of you.

This is the first day of the rest of your life.

33. You should always come first, then your family, then your friends, and then the world.

You can be no help to anyone unless you sort yourself out first, if you don’t you simple end up taking your problems to others. You can also only influence your own sphere of influence. Start small with your family, then your social circle and then take on the world.

34. Occasionally “Fuck” sums it up perfectly.

35. There is nothing better in life than living

So enjoy it every minute of every hour or every day.

It good to be back.