Articles About Life

who you are

 Life's little things that I underestimated for far too long

Regarding thankfulness, Ralph Waldo Emerson stated this: 

"Make it a practice to regularly express gratitude and to be thankful for all the positive things in your life. You should incorporate everything in your thankfulness because everything has helped you progress. 

It's simple to become engrossed in our everyday chores and obligations and forget to express gratitude for the people, things, and experiences we have. 

Because, as Emerson noted, everything in our lives, both good and bad, shapes who we are and where we are in life. To be honest with you, I didn't realize how important this was until recently.

I reflected, "I'm an appreciative person. I sincerely thank you. But more is needed. I only came to the realization that I wasn't truly appreciative of many things in my life while reading Emerson. I'm happy to have understood it now. 

In this piece, I discuss some of the significant lessons I've been ignoring for far too long and how realizing their value has improved my happiness.

1. Current address and place of birth

North of The Netherlands, in a place named Leeuwarden, is where I was raised. In my class, I was always the only person who wasn't white. Around 5% of the population was non-white in the 1990s.1

There were about 100,000 people living in the city when I was a child and adolescent. I was never happy with our city. Lack of professional prospects, lack of diversity, and too little large business. 

Our city is still a conventional Dutch metropolis, notwithstanding its expansion and a slight increase in diversity. And I'm really appreciating this now.

My upbringing in Dutch ideals has significantly influenced my perspective of the world. People here are honest, straightforward, diligent workers, and frugal. The vast majority of people adhere to these universal principles. I adore that.

Everybody has a unique background and history. It is who you are, whether it is good or terrible. Never elude it. I'm grateful. Use it. But never allow it to confine you.

I am aware of folks who have difficult upbringings yet nonetheless managed to succeed in life. They made a strength out of their adversity. Regardless of where we are from, we can all accomplish that. Simply don't flee from it. The solution is not to run away. Accept it.

2. The capacity of the mind 

I feel much stronger mentally if I compare how I conduct my life now to how I did several years ago. I experience that every year because I continue to develop my thoughts.

Every time something "bad" happened to me, I recall being so easily influenced by my feelings. And I say "bad" because I've never experienced something truly awful.

Like many others, I hardly ever achieved my goals. And we become upset if we don't receive what we desire. When I hit a roadblock, I wanted to give up.

Even my writing career was a struggle for me. I started in 2015, but I didn't start making a solid livelihood until 2018. Before then, I frequently muttered, "Screw this. I'm engaged in another activity.

It happens to all of us. especially because it appears that EVERYONE else is prosperous. I recently came across a piece titled, "How I make $200,000 per month from online courses." I briefly wondered, "What? I want that as well.

Then I said to myself, "Screw that man. I cherish my life.

That is the capability of the mind. No matter how you're feeling or where you are in life, just have faith that things will improve. 

You underestimate the strength of your thoughts. We must always remember to appreciate that.

3. The errors you've committed 

Every single mistake you made and unfortunate event in your life has molded who you are today. What matters is whether their actions benefit you or harm you.

Make the former the case. Allow your errors to teach you. 

I had a hard time accepting my errors at first. Because what I saw to be mistakes was not a mistake. They were actually lessons.

This is not only an inspirational speech. When I launched my first company after graduate school, I believed that skipping a traineeship at a company was a mistake.

When I was employed by a firm in London, I believed I had made a mistake by choosing to work for myself rather than striving to move up the corporate ladder.

When I first began writing, I believed it was a mistake to leave the corporate world in order to concentrate on a project with such a poor chance of success.

But hey, none of those were actually errors. Everything had an effect on me as I studied.

 4. TIME 

The idea of time can be seen in a variety of ways. You probably believe I'll tell you the same old tale about how time is limited. That much is already known.

I've always undervalued the idea that time may be your friend. There are numerous aspects of life that require time.

• developing skills
• establishing a career
• Increasing wealth
• achieving balance as a person

In some instances, compounding has absurd power. Over time, tiny actions add up to HUGE effects. 

Every day for an hour read. Improve your skills at work. Spend at least 10% of your monthly income on savings and investments. Be a philosopher and live a philosopher's life.

If you continually carry out those actions, time will grant you all of your wishes.

Including everything. The issue is that too many people give up too soon. They want to be wealthy and prosperous, yet they believe that success should happen quickly.

For the majority of worthwhile things in life, you need a lot more time than that. You will do better if you give yourself that time without getting impatient.