We tend to get so caught up in our day-to-day activities that we often lose hope in our dreams and passions.

It doesn’t matter what you want to be: an artist, musician, poet, entrepreneur or activist…life is sometimes hard when pursing our dreams and so here are Ten Reminders for the Good Life.

1. Be totally fearless in going after your dreams.

“When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every successful person, no matter who they were had to deal with extreme levels of fear; it doesn’t matter if it was Oprah Winfrey or Mother Theresa. Fear is a natural part of who we are. Recognize it and move beyond it.

2. Be Bold as often as you can.

“Be bold, be bold, and everywhere be bold.” ~ Herbert Spencer

Columbus was bold when he went out to discover new lands; Gandhi was bold when he decided to change a nation through a peaceful movement and the Buddha was bold when he left the palace, in search of a better life. Boldness can start with small steps—if you want to be successful in any endeavor—start making bold moves.

 3. Be Compassionate.

 “All major religious traditions carry basically the same message; that is love, compassion and forgiveness…the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.” ~ Dalai Lama

Life is difficult for many people; you may not know what a person is dealing with when you’re speaking with them, so offer them compassion. All spiritual traditions speak of compassion and forgiveness.

4. Forgive people for what they’ve done to you.

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” ~ Mark Twain

Lets face it: bad things happen in our lives, people will hurt you and you will get upset. The Dalai Lama had his entire country taking away from him by the Communist Government of China. Do you know what he did? He forgave them, even though they took everything from him. How many prior events in our life do we hang on to? It is easier to forgive a person that has harmed us then it is to hang on to that pain for the rest of our life.

5. If you want something—go and get it!

“If one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

No, the world does not owe you anything. If you want happiness, do what makes you happy. If you want a relationship, go out and find it. If you want a better life, go out there and get it.

6. Fail as much as possible.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” ~ Michael Jordan

No one will ever remember you failures once you are successful at something. Go out into the world with the attitude of “Who cares if I fail.”  Most people are not thinking about you anyways…they are thinking about themselves.

7. Laugh at everything.

 “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” ~ Charlie Chaplin

Every day, find humor—we tend to get so busy that we forget laugh. Find moments in your day to have fun and crack a joke. And, laugh at yourself.

 8. Get Rejected.

“I was told to avoid the business all together because of the rejection. People would say to me, ‘Don’t you want to have a normal job and a normal family?’ I guess that would be good advice for some people, but I wanted to act.” ~ Jennifer Aniston

If you’re not getting rejected, you aren’t moving forward. Every person who has ever done anything worth doing has been rejected.

9. Be persistent in whatever you are pursuing.

“A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence” ~ Jim Watkins

If you want to change something, you have to be persistent. If you want better health, you have to formulate a health plan that you persistently pursue. If you want to have a calm, focused mind, start meditating—be persistent with it.

10. You are not your past.

“Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.” ~ Wayne Dyer

You are not what someone told you were terrible at. If someone told you that you were terrible at something in particular, let go of it. You are not your past failures or successes. You are not your past circumstances.

~

Editor: Bryonie Wise

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