3 Easy Ways to Focus Your Mind in 5 Minutes

“Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them.

They stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to them.” – Jack Canfield

Your ability to focus in your reality is crucial to creating the life you really want. Your mental, emotional and spiritual health is absolutely essential to your physical health and well-being.

Having the ability to improve your mind, improve your brain, and to be able to easily and effortlessly improve your focus will bring about the positive results you want to achieve.

Let’s face it. Stagnating in your personal growth is not a good thing.

If your’re not consistently growing and expanding towards your goals, dreams, and desires you will feel like a balloon about to pop.

This is because the energetic ecosystem in your body is getting backed up and will eventually affect you health and well-being.

You will only achieve your body’s ideal healing power and optimal physical and cerebral strength when you are appropriately “nourishing” your nervous system and your spiritual and emotional self.

Stress related illnesses are on the rise because we are always on the go. It is absolutely necessary that you take time throughout the day to just be still.

With coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks, and the non-stop onslaught of stress permeating the atmosphere, it’s no wonder most people are one traffic jam away from a nervous breakdown.

Emotional health is built on taking time throughout the day and just being with yourself. Watching TV or web surfing doesn’t count because these things actually drain you.

Mindfulness Meditation is one great way to do this.

Mindfulness Meditation is simply a matter of stilling the mind by having it focus on an object or image or even a thought.

That’s really it. It’s not that complicated.

However, meditation is not about spacing out or leaving your physical body, that would be Astral Projection. Also, meditation is not about spacing out and having your awareness leave your physical body.

You have to remember to stay grounded in the present moment.

Let’s Focus Your Mind

We will use the 3D triangle image below.

Just look at and observe the subtleties of it. Look at the color, see the shape, follow the lines with your eyes. Do this for 5 minutes and you just focused your mind and meditated at the same time. Congratulations. 

Would you like another easy way to be able to focus your mind while at the same time totally eliminating worrisome and anxious thoughts?

Okay, here we go.

Turn off the TV, radio, cell phone, or anything else that might interrupt you.

Get yourself a candle and light it.

Sit down on the floor cross legged with your back against the wall. Place the candle about a foot in front of you and just focus on the flame and observe its movements.

If you like, place some soothing music in the background. Nothing heavy, just something light and relaxing.

Now while you are observing the flame, remember to breath.

Just do this for at least five minutes and see how you feel afterwards.

You should feel more relaxed, lighter and definitely more focused.

Brainwave technology is another great way to focus your mind and relax it at the same time.

I have been using the Brain Evolution System for almost 2 years now and it has helped me to stay calmer, feel more relaxed, and to also sleep better at night.

The progressive audio technology helps you to reach lasting, positive change in your life – simply by listening to a CD recording.

Every state of mind has a distinct electrical signature that can be detected in the brain.

These signatures are known as “brainwaves.” Using specialized equipment, these waves can be measured and recorded.

Using the exclusive 3-Point dynamic entrainment audio process, this program combines inaudible audio pulses with lavishly orchestrated natural sound environments.

As you listen to each disc, the subtle audio effects stimulate the brain to create brainwaves that match a variety of beneficial states of mind, like relaxation.

You get your complimentary copy of the Brain Evolution System Here.

Adding new processes in your life means removing other less important processes like watching TV or websurfing.

You’re worth it.

Take the time each day to nourish yourself with processes that actually benefit you and the greater good of mankind.

Benefits of  improving your focus

• Improved concentration
• More relaxed and alert.
• Better sex life.
• Increased stamina and health.
• The ability to see tasks through to the end.
• Better memory.
• A positive mindset.
• Improved mind control.
• Relaxed breathing.
• Emotional stability.
• Easier to savor the pleasures in life.
• Worry less.
• Better self-esteem.
• Lower blood pressure.
• Improve sleep.
• Reduce gastrointestinal problems.
• Helps with depression, eating disorders, and chronic pain.

Source

Nurse Reveals the Top 5 Regrets People Make on Their Deathbed

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

Source

The 10 Step Process to Solve Any Problem

When you are faced with a problem, how do you go about solving it? Do you let it overwhelm you or do you flex your problem-solving muscles and figure out the best solution?

People who throw themselves at their problems often become frantic and confused. They take a haphazard approach to thinking, and then they are amazed when they find themselves floundering and making no progress.

THE 10 STEP CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

Here is a 10-step method you can use to think systematically. With this method, you develop your critical thinking and problem solving techniques to genius levels.

1) CHANGE YOUR LANGUAGE ABOUT THE PROBLEM FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE

Instead of using the word problem, use the word situation or call it a challenge or an opportunity. The more positive your language is, the more confident and optimistic you will be when approaching any difficulty. The more creative and insightful you will be in identifying creative solutions and breakthrough ideas.

2) DEFINE THE SITUATION OR PROBLEM CLEARLY

What exactly is the challenge you are facing? What is causing you the stress and anxiety? What is causing you to worry? Why are you unhappy? Write it out clearly in detail.

3) USE CRITICAL THINKING TO APPROACH THE PROBLEM FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS

Ask, “What else is the problem?” Don’t be satisfied with a superficial answer. Look for the root cause of the problem rather than get sidetracked by the symptom. Approach the problem from several different directions.Brainstorm different solutions, because there are likely multiple solutions to the same problem, not just one.

4) CLEARLY DEFINE THE IDEAL SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

What exactly must the solution accomplish? What ingredients must the solution contain? What would your ideal solution to this problem look like? Define the parameters clearly.

5) PICK THE BEST SOLUTION TO SOLVE YOUR CHALLENGE

Pick the best solution by comparing your various possible solutions against your problem, on the one hand and your ideal solution, on the other. What is the best thing to do at this time under the circumstances?

6) PREPARE FOR THE WORST POSSIBLE OUTCOME AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT.

Before you implement the decision, ask, “What’s the worst possible thing that can happen if this decision doesn’t work?” If your solution doesn’t work be ready to accept that and try something else.

7) MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS

Set measures on your decision. How will you know that you are making progress? How will you measure success? How will you compare the success of this solution against the success of another solution?

8) TAKE COMPLETE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR DESCISION

Accept complete responsibility for implementing the decision. Many of the most creative ideas never materialize because no one is specifically assigned the responsibility for carrying out the decision.

9) SET A DEADLINE FOR WHEN THINGS SHOULD BE SOLVED

A decision without a deadline is a meaningless discussion. If it is a major decision and will take some time to implement, set a series of short-term deadlines and a schedule for reporting.

With the deadlines and sub-deadlines, you will know immediately if you are on track or if you are falling behind. You can then use your creative thinking to alleviate further bottlenecks or choke points.

10) TAKE ACTION AND SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM!

Get busy. Get going. Develop a sense of urgency. The faster you move in the direction of your clearly defined goals, the more creative you will be. The more energy you will have. The more you will learn. And the faster you will develop your capacity to achieve even more in the future.

CONCLUSION

You can solve any problem, overcome any obstacle or achieve any goal that you can set for yourself by using your wonderful creative mind and then taking action consistently and persistently until you attain your objective. Success is a mark of a creative thinker, and when you use your ability to think creatively, your success can be unlimited.

Source

3 Simple Techniques To Keep Negativity Out Of Your Life

If you don’t control your mind, you will never control your life.

It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, everything that gets inside your mind has a tremendous impact on how you feel, think and act. On what you achieve or don’t achieve. On who you become or don’t become.

Sometimes it’s so instantaneous that a great day becomes a nightmare after you hear a demotivating word or someone looks at you with an angry face.

Your mind starts doing its work, turning the seed that has been planted into something huge and out of control.

Do you feel that this situation is familiar?

This is the natural state of an unguarded mind.

The 2 Keys For Taking Control of Your Mind

You are exposed to thoughts and ideas all the time. Your mind picks the ones that have a bigger impact, positive or negative, and starts working on them until it receives something more impactful to replace them with.

This is one of the saddest elements of human nature I have found, but also one of the most encouraging.

If you are not aware of what’s going on in your mind, your life feels like a roller coaster, and your destiny is at the mercy of external factors.

So, how do you lock out all the negative factors and influences you are bombarded with all day, so they don’t impact you?

Simply put, you can’t.

If someone shouts angrily at you on the street, it’s going to impact you.

But what you can do is DECIDE whether your mind is going to pick that thought and turn it into a monster that ruins your day, or pick something optimistic and inspiring that lets you flow seamlessly through your day instead.

There are 2 key factors for taking more control over your subconscious:

1. Reaction: How you react to your environment. How aware you are of when a bad thought is starting to grow in your mind and how fast you can take action to replace it with the thought you want to have there.
2. Action: Placing in your mind the thoughts you want it to work on. Then letting them repeat, amplify and grow until you soak them up completely and they push you towards the goals you define for yourself.

After years of testing techniques to master my mind, I have collected a few that produce great results.

Here are three of my favorites:

1. Word Amplification

The simplest way to interact with your mind is by repetition of words.

If you detect your mind working on an idea that makes you feel bad, start repeating a word or sentence that makes you think immediately about something that inspires you or makes you smile.

For instance, if you would love to go to Japan on your next vacation, start repeating the word “Japan, Japan, Japan…” or the sentence “I’m in Japan.” It will make you feel better immediately and move your mind and feelings to a different place. .

A curious thing I have found is that using the exact opposite thought doesn’t work as well as using a thought that represents something different and positive for you.

If, for instance, you find yourself thinking that you don’t like your body and start repeating “I’m fit,” it will be harder to make yourself believe it and you will have to struggle to replace the negative thought.

If, instead, you avoid the fight and focus your mind on a different thought, you will forget the original thought more easily and soon everything will start to revolve around the new one.

Whenever you find yourself trapped by a negative thought, stop everything you are doing and repeat to yourself 10 or 20 times the most uplifting words you can find. Let your mind do its magic before coming back to your daily routine with renewed vigor and focus.

2. Painting The Picture Of What You Want To Achieve

This is a habit many successful people have used all their lives. In some cases, it is the only one they have kept after becoming extremely rich.

Write down your goals in the morning, at night, and every time you cannot remember clearly what you are aiming for and realize you are doing something that is not taking you closer to your goals.

After you have them in writing, take a minute to visualize each of them. If it’s hard for you to do this on your own, find some related pictures on the Internet.

This will help you start quickly producing bigger ideas for achieving your goals, what will get you out of your negative mental processes. Remember that the trick is to offer yourself thoughts that are bigger, more inspiring, and more exciting than the ones you are busy with at the moment.

Between two fruits, the monkey in your mind will always pick the one with the strongest flavor.  And guess what, he doesn’t care if it’s sour or sweet.

3. Acting Like the Person You Want to Become (AKA Playing The Part)

You can call this technique “playing the part” or “fake it till you make it.”

Your goal here is to trigger a mental reaction from your physical actions. You have to ask yourself what the perfect version of yourself would be doing if they were in your shoes right now.

Then do it.

Well, you may ask, “What if I don’t know the details about the person I want to become?”

Let me give you some support and ask you a few questions to help you remember how you would like to be, or what you would like to have right now.

• What do you hate about your life? What would you like to have instead?
• What is missing in your life?
• What are the attributes and habits you would like to have?
• What do you enjoy doing but can’t do right now?
• If you had all the money and time in the world, how would you choose to spend your days?

There you have some food for thought to help you describe the perfect version of yourself.

Now forget about money and material things and think only about that human being. What would that person be doing now?

Start acting the part, and soon you will find that your thoughts seem to be more aligned with that person. You may start having thoughts that seem to come from a far more developed person, and that’s simply because you are acting like that.

Source

Vulnerability 101: How to Build Rapport with Absolutely Anyone

“He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away.”

-Raymond Hull

Last week I attended an event called The Founder’s Circle.

Picture 35 founders from around San Francisco all in one place to eat great food, sip great scotch, snack on local dark chocolate and engage in some of the most inspiring chat I’ve had in months, all in the setting of a classic antique shop housed in what felt like a 1920’s barn.

This was a pretty epic event. I talked to two guys back to back who had each founded and sold 4 or 5 companies. They were in their early 30’s. I immediately felt myself thinking about how I could come up with stories to compare to theirs…

Then I noticed something odd. These people were talking as much about failure and challenge as they were about success and accomplishment. Before I knew it, so was I.

Then I remembered how the night started.

As we sat for dinner, the host made a brilliant toast and asked us to turn over our menus to find four questions:

1. When am I not authentic?

2. What challenges me?

3. Where am I playing small in life right now?

4. What has heart and meaning for me?

These were our discussion topics for the night. A room full of people normally required to put off just the right image for employees, investors and onlookers, were given permission to leave all that at the door. And for a night, not have to stack up to anything.

The evening was unbelievably vulnerable. We loved it.

When was the last time you were you?

I mean totally honest with who you are? When did you let it all hang out for anyone to see?

For many it’s been so long it’s become tough to distinguish who we are from who we represent ourselves being. It’s no surprise though. When you ask someone how their business is coming along or how things are at their job, how often do you get a reply like “oh man things are brutal, I think we might have to close the doors?” Instead an inquiry like that is often taken as an invitation to cherry pick the top 5% of what they’re doing.

We hear so much talk of success that we start to feel like that’s all we should be sharing.

The problem is it’s fake.

Nothing goes right for anyone all the time. And anyone representing that it does is full of sh*t. Seriously, we all know the guy who can’t stop talking about his most recent monster deal or sweet new porsche, without ever a mention of challenge or difficulty. How much do you trust that person? How close are you to them? How much time do you want to spend around them?

And social networks are the epitome of it. Sure it’s cool and fun to see all the great things people are up to, but that’s all you see on Facebook, Twitter or most blogs. The wildest country I just visited, the club I went to last night, the business I just launched. It all revolves around promoting your best work.

But by default not all of our work is our best. Some of it is going to suck. You are going to get rejected, you are going to fail, you are going to feel alone. Imagine what would happen if you shared on Facebook, not only the bad-ass raise you just got, but instead the job you are deathly terrified of losing or the call you can hardly wait to get from the doctor. How would people respond? Who of your 2,014 ‘friends’ might reach out and offer a new perspective and unique way to help?

Dinner parties, conversations, social networks, blogs, you name it – these are not venues meant to be exploited for empty self-promotion. They are to connect on a real level – good and bad. The issue is not that we’re sharing all the very best, it’s that we aren’t sharing the rest of what makes up who we actually are. Optimism and honesty are not mutually exclusive.

Without vulnerability there is no connection.

We all have razor sharp B.S. meters. As soon as we sense someone isn’t being genuine, they’re dismissed. Whether you know it or not your subconscious is doing it.

After all, it’s impossible to have a real connection, I’m talking deep and meaningful rapport, without actually knowing who you’re talking to. Sure you may be cordial, find a way to work together or even think you’re friends. But you’ll always be missing something. Something big. The something that makes two people connect as husband and wife or two buddies become lifelong best friends. It’s because at some point they decided to be open. Simple as that.

The world and our experiences within it are all based on genuine personal connection. Without it we miss out on the best parts (and end up being pretty miserable in the process). I challenge you to be more of who you are.

For some real motivation, check out this TED Talk: The Power of Vulnerability, which inspired this post.

Let yourself be seen.

Be human. No one gets it right all the time. No one gets through life totally unharmed. The people you meet want to see you. They want to know you. They don’t only want to know who you are when you’re performing at your top 10%. Sure they want to experience that too, but not at the loss of who you really are. Share your challenges with those around you. The things that terrify you, the hardest parts of life. Watch what happens. For an example, Corbett Barr recently let himself ‘be seen’ in a pretty entertaining post: 33 Things I’ve Never Told You.

People want to help – give them the chance.

My guess is you have one or a few people you genuinely open up to. That’s a good start, but what about everyone else?

People genuinely want to support, help and comfort others. It’s human nature. But they can’t help someone if that person is busy being someone else. If you let more of the world see who you are, who else might end up in your corner? There’s only one way to find out.

Notice how deeply and quickly you connect with almost anyone, even within minutes after meeting, when you open with who you are, your challenges, your fears. Not only will they have your back, but you being you gives others permission to be them. The connection deepens. If that goes on long enough, suddenly the world is operating on a totally new level.

Believe you’re enough – Don’t should all over yourself.

We don’t act ourselves around others because we either want or think we should be someone else. We think we need more money, a better story, a more impactful job, a hotter body.

Well I have some news. You’ll never be anyone else. So stop shoulding all over yourself!

It’s a fine balance – to be excited about working your ass off to get to where you want to be, while staying satisfied with who you are. The only person worthy of comparison is yourself. Everyone else has their own story and their own experience. If we knew at our core that we were enough, we’d never find a reason to represent anything or anyone else. Being yourself comes from knowing yourself.

Be Authentic.

The above questions from last week’s dinner spurred conversations I’d only had with my wife and a few friends prior. It was liberating.

I get scared to death with what I’m doing. I panic that I might blow up what I’ve created. I don’t spend as much time as I’d like around those I love. I get scared of being rejected. I can’t always do all the things I write about (that’s partly why I continue to write them – it’s as much for me as for you!), I get turned down almost weekly. I have days where I can’t get myself to pick up the phone even though making that call is the most important thing on my list.

I have no illusions that I have all the answers, nor that I do everything right. No one does. And that’s fine. As long as you don’t keep it to yourself. The world wants to know who you are. We want to help.

I challenge you to be bold. Be who you are. Embrace vulnerability.

Invest in a relationship without knowing if you’ll get your heart broken

Tell people your greatest fear

Say I love you first

Start a business that might fail

Do something that matters to you, no matter how unlikely the outcome

Share who you really are

Experience what matters

You’re right, all of the toughest emotions in life come from putting yourself out there – fear, loneliness, shame, unworthiness, inadequacy, you name it.

But this same vulnerability is also the only place where you can find true love, connection, creativity, belonging, joy or a life that truly means something.

You can’t have one without the other.

Decide to be open.

Show the world who you really are.

Watch what happens.

Source

A Guide for Young People: What to Do With Your Life

donovangrant.com

I had a 15-year-old write to me and ask about figuring out what do do with her life.

She writes:

‘As a high-school student I’m constantly being reminded to figure out what to do with my life, what career I would like to have and so on. I definitely feel huge amounts of pressure when my teachers and parents tell me to figure out something now. I’m young and I don’t want to make a mistake and ruin my future. I know what I like and what my interests are but when I read about a job related to those interests I always feel as if I wouldn’t enjoy it and I don’t know why.’

What an extremely tough thing to figure out: what to do with your future! Now, I can’t really tell this young woman what to do, as her parents might not like that very much, but I can share what I’ve learned looking back on my life, and what I would tell my kids (oldest is 21 and still figuring things out, but I also have 17- and 16-year-old boys and a 14-year-old girl).

Here’s what I’d say.

You can’t figure out the future. Even young people who have a plan (be a doctor, lawyer, research scientist, singer) don’t really know what will happen. If they have any certainty at all, they’re a bit deluded. Life doesn’t go according to plan, and while a few people might do exactly what they set out to do, you never know if you’re one of those. Other things come along to change you, to change your opportunities, to change the world. The jobs of working at Google, Amazon or Twitter, for example, didn’t exist when I was a teen-ager. Neither did the job of Zen Habits blogger.

So if you can’t figure out the future, what do you do? Don’t focus on the future. Focus on what you can do right now that will be good no matter what the future brings. Make stuff. Build stuff. Learn skills. Go on adventures. Make friends. These things will help in any future.

Learn to be good with discomfort. One of the most important skills you can develop is being OK with some discomfort. The best things in life are often hard, and if you shy away from difficulty and discomfort, you’ll miss out. You’ll live a life of safety.

Learning is hard. Building something great is hard. Writing a book is hard. A marriage is hard. Running an ultramarathon is hard. All are amazing.

If you get good at this, you can do anything. You can start a business, which you couldn’t if you’re afraid of discomfort, because starting a business is hard and uncomfortable.

How do you get good at this? Do things now that are uncomfortable and hard, on purpose. But start with small doses. Try exercising for a little bit, even if it’s hard, but just start with a few minutes of it, and increase a minute every few days or so. Try writing a blog or meditating every day. When you find yourself avoiding discomfort, push yourself just a little bit more (within limits of reason and safety of course).

Learn to be good with uncertainty. A related skill is thriving in uncertainty. Starting a business, for example, is an amazing thing to do … but if you’re afraid of uncertainty, you’ll skip it. You can’t know how things will turn out, and so if you need to know how things will turn out, you’ll avoid great projects, businesses, opportunities.

But if you can be OK with not knowing, you’ll be open to many more possibilities. Read more on uncertainty.

If you’re good at discomfort and uncertainty, you could do all kinds of things: travel the world and live cheaply while blogging about it, write a book, start a business, live in a foreign country and teach English, learn to program and create your own software, take a job with a startup, create an online magazine with other good young writers, and much more. All of those would be awesome, but you have to be OK with discomfort and uncertainty.

If any opportunities like these come along, you’ll be ready if you’ve practiced these skills.

Overcome distraction and procrastination. All of this is useless if you can’t overcome the universal problems of distraction and procrastination. You might seize an opportunity because you’re good at uncertainty and discomfort, but then not make the most of it because you’re too busy on social media and watching TV.

Actually, distraction and procrastination are just ways of avoiding discomfort, so if you get good at discomfort you’re way ahead of most people. But there are some things you can practice — read more here.

Learn about your mind. Most people don’t realize that fear controls them. They don’t notice when they run to distraction, or rationalize doing things they told themselves they wouldn’t do. It’s hard to change mental habits because you don’t always see what’s going on in your head.

Learn about how your mind works, and you’ll be much better at all of this. The best ways: meditation and blogging. With meditation (read how to do it) you watch your mind jumping around, running from discomfort, rationalizing. With blogging, you are forced to reflect on what you’ve been doing in life and what you’ve learned from it. It’s a great tool for self-growth, and I recommend it to every young person.

Make some money. I don’t think money is that important, but making money is difficult. You have to make someone believe in you enough to hire you or buy your products/service, which means you have to figure out why you’re worthy of someone believing in you. You have to become worthy. And you have to learn to communicate that to people so they’ll want to buy or hire you. Whether you’re selling cookies door-to-door or an app in the Apple store or trying to get a job as a cashier, you have to do this.

And you get better with practice.

I worked as a clerk at a bank and then a freelance sports writer when I was in high school, and those were valuable experiences for me.

Protip: save an emergency fund, then start investing your earnings in an index fund and watch it grow over your lifetime.

Build something small. Most people fritter their time away on things that don’t matter, like TV, video games, social media, reading news. A year of that and you have nothing to show for it. But if you did a sketch every day, or started writing web app, or created a blog or a video channel that you update regularly, or started building a cookie business … at the end of a year you’ll have something great. And some new skills. Something you can point to and say, “I built that.” Which most people can’t do.

Start small, and build it every day if possible. It’s like putting your money in investments: it grows in value over time.

Become trustworthy. When someone hires a young person, the biggest fear is that the young person is not trustworthy. That they’ll come in late and lie about it and miss deadlines. Someone who has established a reputation over the years might be much more trusted, and more likely to be hired. Learn to be trustworthy by showing up on time, doing your best on every task, being honest, admitting mistakes but fixing them, trying your best to meet deadlines, being a good person.

If you do that, you’ll build a reputation and people will recommend you to others, which is the best way to get a job or investor.

Be ready for opportunities. If you do all of the above, or at least most of it, you’ll be amazing. You’ll be way, way ahead of pretty much every other person your age. And opportunities will come your way, if you have your eyes open: job opportunities, a chance to build something with someone, an idea for a startup that you can build yourself, a new thing to learn and turn into a business, the chance to submit your new screenplay.

These opportunities might come along, and you have to be ready to seize them. Take risks — that’s one of the advantages of being young. And if none come along, create your own.

Finally: The idea behind all of this is that you can’t know what you’re going to do with your life right now, because you don’t know who you’re going to be, what you’ll be able to do, what you’ll be passionate about, who you’ll meet, what opportunities will come up, or what the world will be like. But you do know this: if you are prepared, you can do anything you want.

Prepare yourself by learning about your mind, becoming trustworthy, building things, overcoming procrastination, getting good at discomfort and uncertainty.

You can put all this off and live a life of safety and boringness. Or you can start today, and see what life has to offer you.

Lastly, what do you do when your parents and teachers pressure you to figure things out? Tell them you’re going to be an entrepreneur, start your own business, and take over the world. If you prepare for that, you’ll actually be prepared for any career.