Tag: personal growth

Posted in Life, Salient Thoughts

Controlling Chaos

Posted on by Joel

In the event that things don’t turn out the way we plan for it to, all hell has the potential to go loose. It is instinctual to want order in our lives. But one of the most dominant things in our existence is the ever presence of chaos, unpredictability, the unknown–in the weather, in the response and reaction of others around us, in the future. We are surrounded by uncertainties and it is normal for us to want to exert control and authority over the things closest to us, over the people around us. It is only human of us to want to be in charge of something, because then, we don’t feel so helpless and useless.

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Posted in Life

Why You Should Fail

Posted on by Joel

You are going to make a lot of mistakes in life if you are intent on growing or not. You are going to fail constantly, you are going to feel pain. That’s one of the costs of living.

However, not everyone sees mistakes and failures the same way. Some will fail and keep failing, moving around in circles and failing at the same thing repeatedly. As it has been rightly said, those who do not learn from the past are bound to repeat it.

You are going to make mistakes, but you are not supposed to keep making the same mistakes. Failures show us the way by showing us which isn’t the way. If you cannot learn from your failures, if you don’t understand why you failed the first time and avoid those pitfalls, you are destined to keep failing at the same thing. And trust me, that’s terrible.

The point of failing is so you can make progress, because then, you know which isn’t the way forward and you take another path. But if you refuse to acknowledge that the path you are on is not leading anywhere, then you keep going in circles and keep coming back to where you started from.

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Posted in Life, Truth

Becoming Grateful

Posted on by Joel

When you consider how everything around looks, how the economy is, the state of the nation, the state of your own personal life and how everything sometimes feel like an uphill battle, it’s not do difficult to lose sight of the important things.

One of those things is gratitude.

I made it a habit to always write down something I’m grateful for in my daily journal entry but after reading a couple of books, I realised that there is a difference between writing down something you are grateful for and actually feeling grateful for that thing.

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Posted in Life, Salient Thoughts

You’re Doing Your Best. Relax.

Posted on by Joel

Lately, I’ve been working hard on myself.

Since late last year, I developed the habit of pushing past my limits, both physically and mentally.

I started working on my body, running miles till I feel my lungs would collapse but going further anyway, working out till my muscles are all strained and feeling messed up, yet I still push myself up.

I also pushed through my mental limits. I began to read outside my domain of comfort. Subjects that require deep thinking and concentration.

I started asking tough questions that have kept me and a while lot of other people boxed up for so long because we are scared to challenge some set powers.

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Posted in Life

18 Life-Changing Lessons I Learnt In 2017

Posted on by Joel

Just 3 more days to go in 2017. And then another journey of 365 days.

This made me think back on the last 361 days of my life– like, really think back. And the conclusion is that 2017 has been an amazing year.

This past year, I’ve done things I’d never tried before–both good and bad. I’ve pushed myself past the limits I’d been too lazy to push past before. I’ve arguably learnt far more in the past 360 days as regards my personal development than I’ve learn in the past 22 years of my life.

Yes. I know how that sounds. But really, 2017 has been a great year. The best part is that it didn’t take me the whole 361 days to learn the most crucial lessons I learnt. In fact, most of the progress I made happened within the last 100 days. Which means the lessons are not necessarily difficult to come by or to learn, but more about availability and willingness to learn.

Below is a summary of the most important lessons I’ve learnt this year that you can also pick one or two from.

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Posted in Life, Salient Thoughts

The Firm Foundation Your Life Needs

Posted on by Joel

Sometimes it will look like nothing is working out in your favour. Sometimes it will feel like the universe is conspiring against you and luck has turned its back on you. Sometimes the feeling of helplessness may become so overwhelming that you are forced to consider lowering your standard.
If you’ve ever felt like that, you are not alone. It is a natural feeling in times of distress.
But there is something that serves like a support system in this trying times that everyone needs to have, and it’s none other than the good foundations provided by correct principles.

Principles are the foundation of anyone’s character. The kinds of principles your life is based on determines the kind of person you are. It also determines the kinds of virtue and skills that can be built on it, virtues that are compatible with the principles. Continue reading “The Firm Foundation Your Life Needs” →

Posted in Life, Salient Thoughts

The Paradox of Our Uniqueness

Posted on by Joel

Sometimes I feel like life is a game put together by supernatural forces and all they do to us is just for their amusement or a mere show of power. But even at that, it still feels like their twisted sense of humour gave us something good to help us cope.

When I observe people, their ways, their likes, their wants and interests, I can’t help but wonder if all is just an intricate web designed to make a person unique. You would never find someone who has something unique to them alone in the whole world, however when you check the combination of the similarities in random orders, it makes a person unique.

But this is what begs the question of ‘nature versus nurture’ in psychology. Are we the product of our biochemical make up or of our environment and things we were exposed to growing up, and every day?

The focus for now however is on the similarities in our uniqueness. What that means in simple term is this:

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