Jumpstart Your Dream Life

8 Reasons to Keep Moving Forward When You Feel Self-Doubt

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Do you ever have one of those down days where you’ve fallen and can’t get up?

You’ve spent all your energy and have none left. You’ve exhausted every avenue you had. You’ve run into obstacles that you can’t climb over.

If this sounds familiar, no wonder you feel uncertain about things.

You’ve put in all the effort, only to yield little results. You started at the same time as everyone else, only for others to leapfrog over you. You realize that your time is limited, and yet you’ve squandered it away.

No wonder you feel doubtful about yourself.

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Should You Suffer Now to Enjoy Life Later?

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We’re stuck in an age-old dichotomy.

Work hard now, reap the rewards later. Enjoy life now, suffer the consequences later. We’re told you can’t have both, especially not at the same time.

When you’re stuck doing something that makes you unhappy, the feeling worsens when you look around and notice other people enjoying themselves. To console yourself, you tell yourself that same line.

You’re suffering now so that you can have a better future down the road. Meanwhile, others who aren’t suffering are going to have to pay the price later. It all evens out in the end.

The question is: Does it?

Why is suffering seen as a prized state of being? Is there something to be gained from pain?

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How to Start Over Again After a Bad Ending

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In 1914, a massive fire burned through Thomas Edison’s life’s work.

The flames engulfed five city blocks in New Jersey, including Edison’s lab complex. Fueled by chemicals, flames licked the sky at 100 feet high. The firefighters fought the fire from a nearby building called the Battery Factory, which had been built with his durable Edison cement and produced batteries for experimental vehicles.

Nikola Tesla, a rival inventor, heard the tragic news. He sent his condolences in a telegraph: “As one of the millions of your admirers, I send you my sympathy. It is not only a personal and national loss, but a world loss, for you have been one of its greatest benefactors.”

Newspapers ran articles on the story, clamoring about how the fire was the worst thing to happen to Edison, who was 67 years old at the time. Was this it for him? Was this how he would see all his hard work go down?

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5 Ways to Prevent Cabin Fever When Working Remotely

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Working from home is the new norm.

What formerly caused eyebrows to rise and stir up feelings of envy has now become not only a benefit, but an expected part of work. People are working from home more than ever. In fact, research shows that remote work has grown by 159 percent from 2005 to 2017.

Companies and employees alike are increasingly recognizing the benefits of working remotely. Remote workers report being more satisfied, less stressed, and feeling healthier than the average worker. When you work within an environment of your own choosing, it’s understandable that you feel happier during the day.

But just as there are benefits, there are drawbacks.

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A Good Night’s Rest: How to Sleep Well and Wake Up Feeling Energized

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Sleep. We know it’s important to our well-being, and yet we do a poor job of translating theory into practice.

We whittle away the hours working on projects, watching late-night entertainment, and talking to other people when we should be calling it a night. Some of us pull all-nighters just to get something done right before a deadline. You might even hear someone brag about how little they sleep.

There are more things to do now than ever before. More obligations, more choices, more opportunities. But with the ever-present constraint of 24 hours in a day, the first thing we cut is sleep.

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The Matthew Effect: Why Small Initial Differences Lead to Large Gaps Later

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How would you help someone who is struggling in school?

Imagine you meet a high school student. The person doesn’t seem particularly enthused about school or learning in general. They struggle with understanding concepts in their classes, and their friends also don’t care much for school.

The sad truth is that a student’s fate is set in stone as early as first grade.

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The Entrepreneurship Myth: Scalable vs. Non-Scalable Professions

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Entrepreneurship. The word itself sounds magical. It conjures up all sorts of wonderful images. You imagine yourself coming up with a brilliant idea, building a great product, and resting on your laurels for eternity. You can earn more income without putting in extra effort.

Employee. What does that word feel like to you? Words such as “bland”, “unimaginative”, and “restrictive” come to mind. You picture someone breathing down your neck, telling you what to do.

Not only does being an employee sound unappealing, but there’s a ceiling to your earning potential. As an employee, your salary is fixed. Yes, you get raises, but they’re fixed and ultimately decided by someone else.

And what about professions that charge hourly rates? A consultant may earn hundreds, even thousands by the hour, but the consultant is still limited by something finite: time. At some point, the person’s earnings are capped by the number of hours worked. The moment the person stops working is the moment money stops coming in.

The relationship between time and earnings is the difference between scalable and non-scalable professions.

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8 Reasons Why Smart, Hardworking People Don’t Reach Their Full Potential

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What does it mean to reach your potential?

We all have different definitions. For some, reaching their potential involves getting recognition for their work. For others, it means creating a balanced life where both work and personal life are equally satisfying.

And then there are others who wish to create something so great, so useful, that it gets used widely. They feel satisfied knowing they’re making the world a better place.

The equation seems simple. Work smart, work hard, and you’ll get what you want. When we see someone fall short of expectations, we assume they either didn’t try hard enough or made poor decisions.

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How to Rewire Your Brain to Perform Difficult Tasks

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Why do some people accomplish so much, while others do hardly anything at all?

How is one person able to exercise, hold meetings, and finish numerous tasks before lunch, while someone else hasn’t gotten out of bed yet? How does someone work on their craft, day after day for years, while someone else can only daydream about getting started?

We all know what we should be doing. We should be learning. We should be staying healthy. We should be working on things that will pay dividends in the future.

But we don’t. You see, those things aren’t easy. In fact, they can be incredibly hard.

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Sylvester Stallone On Fighting for What You Want

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It was the early 70s, and things were looking bad for Sylvester Stallone.

Stallone was broke, out of work, and struggling. To make ends meet, he stole his wife’s jewelry and sold it. He soon found himself sleeping at the bus terminal in New York City for three weeks.

The worst was yet to happen.

Stallone realized he didn’t have enough money to feed his dog. Out of desperation, he took his beloved dog to the local liquor store and sold it to a stranger for 25 dollars. He walked away, crying.

How did things get so low?

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