Read This If You Worry A Lot

worry

The day that I decided to quit my last job and the day that I handed in my notice were almost 90 days apart. In those three months, I worried — a lot. I decided to pursue my desire to become a full-time writer. But shit was getting scary.

Things like “what if I can’t pay my bills?” and “what if I fail?” went through my head. I freaked out, but as it turned out, the solution to my excessive worries was easier than I expected.

Many of us worry about all kinds of things: Work, relationships, money, health. Some concerns are real, but many are unnecessary.

No matter what kind of worry you have, the response in your body is always the same: It increases your cortisol levels.

And an increased cortisol level is something you definitely do not want. Cortisol compromises your immune system. As a result, you will become more susceptible to disease.

Researchers have also found a relationship between cortisol and diabetes, osteoporosis, and heart disease. Also, stress and fear can cause depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, and burn-out.

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What Idiots Can Teach You About Life

idiots

Have you ever met an idiot and thought “What an idiot?” Well, don’t be so quick to judge — idiots can teach you a lot about life.

A few years ago I went to Shangai. When I boarded the plane in Amsterdam, I met a first class idiot as soon as I stepped foot on the aircraft.

When I got to my seat, the overhead bin was already full, so I had to store my bag on the other side. But when I tried to do that, an idiot came from nowhere and started screaming at me. I didn’t understand him, but I got his message: “That’s my seat, and I want to store my bag there.”

I grabbed my bag, walked two rows down, asked the person who was sitting there if it was ok I placed my bag in his overhead bin; he said yes, I stored my bag, walked down to my seat, and sat down.

Was that difficult? No. Could the idiot have done that? Yes. He didn’t have to make a scene.

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Success Is Your Enemy If You Want Happiness

success is your enemy

What’s your plan after you become successful? One person that didn’t have a plan was Casey Neistat after he and his brother had made it.

Casey and his brother Van Neistat sold their TV series The Neistat Brothers to HBO in 2008. But HBO didn’t air that show until 2010. Between 2008 and 2010, Casey did nothing. In his video ‘My Biggest Failure’ he says:

“In those two years, I did nothing. I did nothing because I had “made” it. I sold my show, something I made, to the biggest, baddest, TV channel in the business. I had made it. Then they aired the show. I honestly expected my whole life to be different. But the truth is nothing changed.”

We all have experienced that feeling some way. I remember when I got my master’s degree in 2011. I thought I was the man because I was the first person in my family to get a postgrad.

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25 Things About Life I Wish I Had Known 10 Years Ago

25 things about life socrates

Socrates, considered as one of the founders of Western philosophy, was once named the wisest man on earth by the Oracle of Delphi. When Socrates heard that the oracle had made such a comment, he believed that the statement was wrong.

Socrates said: “ I know one thing: that I know nothing.”

How can the smartest man on earth know nothing? I heard this paradoxical wisdom for the first time from my school teacher when I was 14 or 15. It made such an impact on me that I used Socrates’s quote as my learning strategy.

“I know nothing” to me, means that you might be a wise person, but still, you know nothing. You can learn from everything and everyone.

One thing that I like better than learning from my mistakes is to learn from other people’s mistakes. Over the years, I’ve been blessed to have great mentors, teachers, family, friends, that taught me about life.

What you will find below is a list of the most important things I learned from other people and books. Some of the lessons took me a long time to learn—but if I had to learn these things all by myself, it would take me a lot longer.

We might learn things quickly, but we often forget things at the same rate—and sometimes we need to remind ourselves of the things we’ve learned.

Here are 25 of those reminders that others taught me.

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