Are you living to your fullest potential? Know your psychology...

For the past couple of days, during my walks and the enjoyment of the @actifit experience, I got to think a lot about conditioned thinking and how we have all trained ourselves to think in a certain way. That made me consider writing about human potential and what is stopping us from achieving it. What is holding some of us back and preventing us from living happy and fulfilling lives? Nothing and no one but ourselves.

Everything starts with taking responsibility for your own thoughts and actions. Our actions are triggered by our mind so that is a good place to start. Our emotions are triggered by our mind too so again, a good place to start. Today we will dive together in that endless ocean of human thought and explore how keeping your head above the water and trying not to drown could be replaced by swimming and enjoying the movement.

Life is short and some people act like they will get out of it alive. They won't. No one will. Life is too short to play it safe and stay miserable. You will not survive this life so you might as well enjoy it while you are here.

Not pursuing your goal is committing a slow continuing mental suicide. Procrastinating is a self-destructive behavior, and so is complaining and blaming everyone. Complaining is not an equivalent of doing something. You need to get off your ass. You don't need to live up to other peoples expectations, live up to yours. You are not a jukebox with a mission to fulfill wishes from others, listen to your desires and your needs. Pursue your goals. If you want to be a cleaning lady, be the best fu*king cleaning lady the world has ever seen. It does not matter what job/action/hobby gives you pleasure but it is important that it gives pleasure TO YOU. You are the one living your life, no one can live it for you. Your wishes will not magically come true because dreams do not work unless you do.

Some people are scared of graveyards, I never was. They make me sad sometimes but not because of people who died but because of the ideas that died with them. Who knows how many Teslas and Einsteins we could have had, how many Mozarts and Dalis? How would our world look like and what brilliant new technology would we have if people had enough spunk to follow their dreams. Do not take your ideas to the graveyard with you.

How many times have you wanted to do something and then talked yourself out of fit? How many times has your inner conversation stopped you from responding to some idea or a goal that you had? You know what kind of inner conversations I am talking about, right? Those where you tell yourself that you are crazy and will never be able to do it because of this and that. Inner conversation stops us often, conditional thinking stops us. Every person on this planet is unique and brilliant and every person has something to give to the world. You have something to give to the world and to yourself. Your brain is an extraordinary organ, use it. Some are amazing dancers and some amazing chemists, some sing and some paint, some are writers, teachers, caretakers, and some are explorers. Do not force yourself to be that which you are not. Be what you need to be, that what you want to be and in which success comes as a natural and logical result.

You all know my favorite quote by now, right? Live like you are going to die tomorrow but learn like you are going to live forever." You never know what piece of information will come in handy. There are teachers all around you because every person you meet knows something you do not. Learn. Read. Study. Practice. Always improve and always try to be a bit better than you were yesterday.

You life will lead to many places and things, perfection is not one of them. Your shortcomings are a part of your uniqueness. Maybe you can not play an instrument but you can calculate differential equations. Maybe you are too short and clumsy to play basketball but you are an excellent painter. Perfection does not exist. You may be the best in your field of expertise but you will never be perfect because with each achievement you will want more. That is normal. It is in human nature to want to be better. With achieving your goals, more of them will be born. You will give birth to a new idea every time you make one of them a reality. Practice does not make perfect, it makes improvement. Improve and improve and then improve some more. Learn and then learn some more.

If about nothing else, read about psychology and biology. Learn about your brain and how it functions. Learn about what triggers your behavior. Here is a list of good books to start with: