Originally Posted by brent360: Generic "Take Action" Part

World of Warcraft is okay, but it's entertainment--that's it. In life, everyone has two things: needs and wants. Sure, entertainment could be called a "need" to keep you from going crazy. But... the bottom-line is that every living thing in this world needs to fight to survive in some way. For some people, this "fight" is incredibly easy because they have things given to them from birth, but someone, at some point, had to "fight" to achieve that. Either you need to work to be successful, or your forefathers needed to work to be successful--but someone somewhere had to put that work in. Video games come after that, in your free time.

I know this from experience--you just need to muscle down and do the work. This is a really rude way of putting it, but one of my favorite motivational quotes came from a friend of mine:
"Nobody gives a fuck about you or your problems."

And he was right. I can sit here and stay a worthless blob or I can get up and get moving and work on the efficiency of what I'm doing--and that is what will inevitably result in the kind of lifestyle I want. Most importantly, I can do it every single day. Systematically, consistently, efficiently. If I don't do that, nothing is going to happen. And it's not like something "magical" happens in the universe when I change my thinking. It's the cumulative impact of everything I learn and do in my life which changes my life. I am accountable for myself--as should be the case with everyone. It's that simple. Almost everywhere now, people seem to have this mindset that implies that they "deserve" something. It's what I like to call the "entitlement complex"--especially prevalent in Americans now. Beyond "basic human rights" and all of that, you don't "deserve" anything if you don't earn it yourself.

Originally Posted by brent360: My Experience With "Taking Action"

And yes, it's hard to break old habits, but once you do, it's the most liberating feeling in the world. In my life, it feels as if there have been layers of progress. Each time I "break through" to the next one, I can look back and feel like a new person. It's not a "lightning-strike" revelation, but there's a huge difference in retrospect. Honestly, for me, mindset was everything. Well, no--putting in the work was everything, but a proper mindset gives you the foundation for that. That goes for absolutely everything. Although I feel like just telling it to people doesn't help much (it's something you learn through experience), I hope you "stick with it" and stay motivated, and learn what works for you. That's how you'll succeed in achieving your own goals in life.

It's not about self-pity. It's not about getting up every day and thinking you're some tough guy for not being lazy--that's not worthy of respect at all. Surprisingly, that's a shock to some people: simply NOT being lazy is not impressive. I don't know if it's just modern society or where that idea stems from, but that's the truth. What DOES deserve respect is getting back up when you fall down, and not telling anyone about it. Not whining, not asking for respect or attention for your "accomplishment", but getting back up whenever you fall and resuming whatever it is that you were doing--whatever it is that will bring you to your own finish line.

This is described in another favorite quote of mine:
"Climb a mountain, tell no one."

And one more thing: I used to think that the moment I changed my life for the better would be like some sort of internal lightning strike--like I'd just be hit by this overwhelming sense of understanding when I finally achieved whatever it was that I wanted. When I got rid of my old bad habits, when I found my wife, when I got into shape, when I made money online for the first time, when I really began to start true businesses... I expected to be hit by lightning and have some sort of giant revelation, or for things to shift completely. But it's not like that. For me, it was like watching a tree grow. If you just keep your gaze fixed on the tree, expecting it to grow, it will seem like nothing is happening... but if you forget about the tree growing, and just focus on watering it and giving it fertilizer and playing "happy" music for it or whatever hippie crap scientists are discovering nowadays, then you'll end up with a huge tree and you'll look back and say,
"Wow... I did it."

Waiting for the "lightning strike" won't help you get anywhere.

I'd wish you good luck, but it's not about luck. Luck determines where you start from--not where you finish.

Originally Posted by brent360: Generic "Take Action" Part

World of Warcraft is okay, but it's entertainment--that's it. In life, everyone has two things: needs and wants. Sure, entertainment could be called a "need" to keep you from going crazy. But... the bottom-line is that every living thing in this world needs to fight to survive in some way. For some people, this "fight" is incredibly easy because they have things given to them from birth, but someone, at some point, had to "fight" to achieve that. Either you need to work to be successful, or your forefathers needed to work to be successful--but someone somewhere had to put that work in. Video games come after that, in your free time.

I know this from experience--you just need to muscle down and do the work. This is a really rude way of putting it, but one of my favorite motivational quotes came from a friend of mine:
"Nobody gives a fuck about you or your problems."

And he was right. I can sit here and stay a worthless blob or I can get up and get moving and work on the efficiency of what I'm doing--and that is what will inevitably result in the kind of lifestyle I want. Most importantly, I can do it every single day. Systematically, consistently, efficiently. If I don't do that, nothing is going to happen. And it's not like something "magical" happens in the universe when I change my thinking. It's the cumulative impact of everything I learn and do in my life which changes my life. I am accountable for myself--as should be the case with everyone. It's that simple. Almost everywhere now, people seem to have this mindset that implies that they "deserve" something. It's what I like to call the "entitlement complex"--especially prevalent in Americans now. Beyond "basic human rights" and all of that, you don't "deserve" anything if you don't earn it yourself.

Originally Posted by brent360: My Experience With "Taking Action"

And yes, it's hard to break old habits, but once you do, it's the most liberating feeling in the world. In my life, it feels as if there have been layers of progress. Each time I "break through" to the next one, I can look back and feel like a new person. It's not a "lightning-strike" revelation, but there's a huge difference in retrospect. Honestly, for me, mindset was everything. Well, no--putting in the work was everything, but a proper mindset gives you the foundation for that. That goes for absolutely everything. Although I feel like just telling it to people doesn't help much (it's something you learn through experience), I hope you "stick with it" and stay motivated, and learn what works for you. That's how you'll succeed in achieving your own goals in life.

It's not about self-pity. It's not about getting up every day and thinking you're some tough guy for not being lazy--that's not worthy of respect at all. Surprisingly, that's a shock to some people: simply NOT being lazy is not impressive. I don't know if it's just modern society or where that idea stems from, but that's the truth. What DOES deserve respect is getting back up when you fall down, and not telling anyone about it. Not whining, not asking for respect or attention for your "accomplishment", but getting back up whenever you fall and resuming whatever it is that you were doing--whatever it is that will bring you to your own finish line.

This is described in another favorite quote of mine:
"Climb a mountain, tell no one."

And one more thing: I used to think that the moment I changed my life for the better would be like some sort of internal lightning strike--like I'd just be hit by this overwhelming sense of understanding when I finally achieved whatever it was that I wanted. When I got rid of my old bad habits, when I found my wife, when I got into shape, when I made money online for the first time, when I really began to start true businesses... I expected to be hit by lightning and have some sort of giant revelation, or for things to shift completely. But it's not like that. For me, it was like watching a tree grow. If you just keep your gaze fixed on the tree, expecting it to grow, it will seem like nothing is happening... but if you forget about the tree growing, and just focus on watering it and giving it fertilizer and playing "happy" music for it or whatever hippie crap scientists are discovering nowadays, then you'll end up with a huge tree and you'll look back and say,
"Wow... I did it."

Waiting for the "lightning strike" won't help you get anywhere.

I'd wish you good luck, but it's not about luck. Luck determines where you start from--not where you finish.