The Seeds You Plant

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” 

We all want the best outcome, the harvest, the crop, the money, the championship, the finished essay, the good grades, the most sales, the best of everything, but are you willing to put the effort in every day & night until you see the result? 

It’s easy to look around ourselves and compare our lives to someone else’s, & to be discouraged or encouraged. 

I’ve heard to not compare your chapter 1 to someone’s chapter 20, yet we are human and we do that. 

We all start at chapter 1 – no matter what it is we are working on. We all start at the beginning. 

Yoda or someone said “You want to know the difference between a master and a beginner? The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”  

Whenever you begin anything, you will almost never be good at it in the beginning. You will fail. It’ll be difficult. You may even be laughed at & feel the humility of attempting something & not being great at it. 

It’s okay. 

No one is great at the beginning. It takes time. 

If you want the results, you have to keep going. 

You try again and again, and again and again, and you get better, slowly. 

It won’t be easy, but nothing is, and as you try again and again – you will be planting the seeds for your success. 

You Need A Stronger Mind

“If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation.”

— Epictetus 

Some miserable people live their life looking for the next opportunity to provoke or bother someone. 

Don’t let it be you. 

Even if they go out of their way to insult you – you can’t get angry if you have a strong mind. 

The easy route is to be annoyed, to be miserable, to be distracted, to be hopeless, to be disempowered. 

And the hard route is to live as an empowered individual. To remain calm, centered, and uneffected by the hate & misery of others.  

Provocation is just another distraction sent by the ignorant to destroy your inner peace. 

The ignorant have no life of their own so they become lifeless parasites, literally like diseased bugs, trying to spread their disease – their hate, misery, violence, ignorance, pain, etc. and they’ll get you if you don’t put your bug spray on. 

And what is your bug spray in this situation? It’s focus. 

You must remain focused on your mind and your life. 

What are you doing with your life? 

Where are you going? 

What do you want your life to be like 2 years from now? 5 years. 10 years. 

Maintain a long term vision, add goals, and act toward your best life, and when other people call you “difficult” it’s because you can’t be provoked or manipulated. 

Stay true to your life path. 

Ignore the haters. 

Focus. Win.

Selective Acquaintances & Friends

“You can die from someone else’s misery — emotional states are as infectious as diseases.”

— Robert Greene 

He also says to avoid the unhappy and unlucky.  

You become similar to the 5 people you are closest to, so who are you around the most? 

Are they happy?

Depressed? 

Negative? 

Positive? 

Optimistic? 

Hopeless? 

And what is your state of mind? 

Are you bringing value and energy to the tables you sit at? 

One of the best things we all can do is decide who we let into our lives – and to be extremely selective about it – since we become similar to the people we hang out with.

Do This To Be More Self-Empowered

“Nature is not mute. It is humans who are deaf.”

Noises surround you daily, keeping you moving, but in what direction?

There really are certain “powers that be” that live to create distracting noises.

They want to keep you in fear, in anxiety, in anger, etc…basically, they want you to be dis-empowered.

They want to control you & your life & they have brainwashed the masses to try to distract you too, and to bring you into their confusion.

What you need to do to begin to get out of the confusion of the conformist masses, is first, recognize this is really happening.

Second, think about your life & what sort of life you would like to be living.

What does your ideal life look like?

Dare to dream.

Dare to step away from the conformists confused masses & live your best life.

Before listening to the distracting noises, listen to yourself. Listen to nature. Go within.

Crabs In The Bucket

There are millions of them, and they’ll pull you into their misery if you let them…don’t.

Look up to people you admire & who inspire you & be lifted up by that small group of achievers.

It takes discipline & effort to remove yourself from the crowds, the conformists, the walking dead, and to walk the path of your ideal life & dreams.

If it were easy, everyone would do it.

Discard Emphatic Trifles

“At times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with emphatic trifles. Friend, client, child, sickness, fear, want, charity, all knock at once at thy closet door, and say,–‘Come out unto us.’ But keep thy state; come not into their confusion… 

…The power men possess to annoy me, I give them by a weak curiosity. No man can come near me but through my act. What we love that we have, but by desire we bereave ourselves of the love.”

—Emerson

Conspiracy.

Was Emerson right?

Do people actually go out of their way to bother others? – To try & bring emphatic trifles into another’s life?

I can’t imagine any decent person doing that to someone, but this world is filled with a whole range of people.

It’s filled with people seeking power, liars, manipulators, greed, ego .. all for what?

People don’t even know…

Some light would be nice. Some truth.

& some encouragement even maybe – rather than discouragement & bothering others… but if you want to be encouraged, begin by encouraging yourself.

Don’t enter the confusion of the masses & of the criminal “leaders” of today…beware of their greed & their shallow ways, and just go your own way.

Love yourself, & don’t ever expect love from a lying politician or any of the criminals in the “upper” class.

Comparing, Thriving

We as humans often compare ourselves to each other – or to people of the past. But the thing we probably do most is compare ourselves to our immediate environments & those there.

Sometimes our environments become boxes and trap us in, and sometimes our environments provide freedom.

When we thrive & strive to improve ourselves, to live our best lives, helping others, we are living in more freedom.

When we are comparing ourselves with anger, hating, envious, offensive & defensive, we most likely stay in a box.

I have heard that winners focus on winning, and losers focus on winners.

You can be a winner & focus on other winners too, just don’t look into the sidelines or crowds too long or you may get lost in them, with them, and you don’t want that if you’re a leader, a person of influence; someone attaining their own freedom.

10 Quotes From Dan Millman’s The Peaceful Warrior To Bring You Happiness Today

1) “There is no need to search; achievement leads to nowhere. It makes no difference at all, so just be happy now! Love is the only reality of the world, because it is all One, you see. And the only laws are paradox, humor and change. There is no problem, never was, and never will be. Release your struggle, let go of your mind, throw away your concerns, and relax into the world. No need to resist life, just do your best. Open your eyes and see that you are far more than you imagine. You are the world, you are the universe; you are yourself and everyone else, too! It’s all the marvelous Play of God. Wake up, regain your humor. Don’t worry, just be happy. You are already free!” 

2) “Reality never matched their dreams; happiness was just around the corner — a corner they never turned. And the source of it all was the human mind.”

3) “Sometimes sorrow, sometimes joy. But beneath it all remember the innate perfection of your life unfolding. That is the secret of unreasonable happiness.” 

4) “And so I awoke to reality, free of any meaning or any search. What could there possibly be to search for? All of Socrate’s words had come alive with my death. This was the paradox of it all, the humor of it all, and the great change. All searches, all achievements, all goals, were equally enjoyable, and equally unnecessary.” 

5) “Act happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.”

6) “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”

7) “‘What do I do then, now? Where do I go from here?’ Dan asked Socrates.

‘Who cares?’ He yelled gleefully.  ‘A fool is ‘happy’ when his cravings are satisfied. A warrior is happy without reason.  That’s what makes happiness the ultimate discipline—above all else I have taught you.’”

8) “Stay in the present. You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you plan or hope for.  The warrior is here, now. Your sorrow, your fear & anger, regret & guilt, your envy and plans and cravings live only in the past, or in the future.”

9) “Like most people, you’ve been taught to gather information from outside yourself; from books, magazines, experts.  Like this car, you open up and let the facts pour in.  Sometimes the information is premium and sometimes it’s low octane.  You buy your knowledge at the current market rates, much like you buy gasoline.  Like this gas tank, you are overflowing with preconceptions; full of useless knowledge.  You hold many facts and opinions, yet know little of yourself.  Before you can learn, you’ll have to first empty your tank.

10) “Wake up! If you knew for certain that you had a terminal illness – if you had precious little time left to make use of your life and consider who you are, you’d not waste time on self-indulgence or fear, lethargy or ambition.  You do have a terminal illness – it is death. Be happy now, without reason – or you never will be at all.”

1 Empowering Message From The Alchemist

“…That’s what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”
—Paulo Coelho

Life can be a mysterious experience, and yet, in one way that life is not mysterious is that when we become better versions of ourselves, everything around us improves. 

This is a Fact of Life.

Adversity is a Gift

“Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.”
—William Shakespeare 

You lost the election.

You bet on the wrong stock.

You missed the game winning field goal.

You fell down face first into a pile of mud.

And it hurt. 

It still does sometimes.

But you weren’t meant to remain in pain.

The pain – the adversity, is an opportunity to grow, to learn, to prosper, but in the moments it happens it’s almost impossible to appreciate.

Adversity doesn’t feel good, but it carries within it a gift.

The gift of experience.

“Experience is the teacher of all things.”
—Julius Caesar

The gift may be hidden, but it’s there, waiting for you to find it, open it, & move forward – stronger, wiser, and ready for the next opportunity.