A lesson on belief and taking action

Over the years, I’ve grown new perceptions of how the World really works. In fact, I’ve continuously studied people; how they think, and how they react to the environment around them. My conclusions are astounding. As a matter of fact, I learned that people who are happy; those who find their inner happiness, and those who bring out the positive in negative situations, generally took more action with their lives. They built the courage inside to take charge of their lives, rather than those who constantly fought against their own happiness by always thinking in negative terms. I've realized that those who were generally positive thinkers had a stronger belief system.

Belief and action are two important fundamentals that one must instill in order to achieve success. Far too often I have talked with friends or family members, and as they tell me passions and inspirations, they continue to tell me how lazy they are, or they make excuses as to why they don’t take action. They seem to never experience the fruits of life. In fact, their stories tell the exact opposite. If they were to reach a little further, perhaps step outside of their comfort zones and grasp onto opportunities with a more positive mindset, they would live a joyous life, but no matter what you tell them they remain in a negative state. Let me tell you this; without a positive belief comes zero action.

How do you react when the environment provides you with an opportunity? What beliefs are you feeding your mind? Are your thoughts dragging you down and making you lazy?

All too often, we remain grounded in reality because of the illusion of our limitations. Our limitations hold us back from wanting more. They make us lazy feeling defeated and make us sleep longer. They deplete our self-worth, and we lose our imagination in the process, forgetting what’s truly important. Don't let this happen to you. Create a solid belief system by eliminating your negative beliefs one at a time. Start thinking positive in every situation, and believe in yourself! Doing so will allow you to take action towards your passions without procrastinating.

Giving to others

All my life I’ve fathomed being in the limelight. Since a young age, I’ve been fascinated by celebrity. For some reason I’ve believed that celebrities live better than typical civilians. Maybe it was in the advertisements. The perfection was easy to see. It always seemed like they had something the rest don’t. They had to; it showed in their smiles, through their crafts and passions, in magazines and television ads. I then realized it was all in the hands of marketing gurus that place a synthetic image of what celebrity entails. As a matter of fact, I was so enthralled with becoming a celebrity that I went to great depths trying to learn about it from every aspect. I wanted to see if they truly did live better lives than us. I wanted to see if they truly were happier people. My findings are quite interesting.

I can assure you celebrity isn’t what it seems to be. It’s not exactly how they paint it on your television screen. In fact, in my trek to becoming a limelight sensation I’ve come across numerous celebrities from all walks in the entertainment industry. Back in my twenties my main focus was studying celebrity. I read countless biographies and even moved to Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles to find it. My research showed only more frustration, less privacy and less time to do what you really want to do. I found the majority of celebrities are less than satisfied people. They’re constantly on the watch; every time they leave their household they’re watched. Heck, they’re even videotaped and photographed while they’re in their homes. What I did learn was this; almost every celebrity I came across stated that the most important quality needed to reach true lasting happiness is giving to others.



Exercise: Give to others

There’s a lot of happiness in giving to others. There have actually been studies done on the effects after giving to others. These tests recorded the types of feelings one has when they help another person. The results are quite shocking. In fact, they’ve concluded that endorphins and other feel-good receptors are released into the bloodstream at a rapid rate after doing good for society. I believe giving to others happens to be the most over looked quality in the human race.

In your journal jot down a list of seven things you can do good for society. This exercise will take some visualization. By now you should be a near expert. Think of the things you can do to help a family member in need, or the neighbor across the street, or the friend that’s heartbroken. It doesn’t matter who you’re doing the random act of kindness for, you just need to have a clear idea what each good deed is. Think of the simple things you can do, like shoveling someone’s walkway without telling them, or offering to babysit somebody’s kids knowing they need a break, or simply bringing coffee and doughnuts into the office. Each small good deed will go a long way, especially if it isn’t expected. Try to make them more in depth than just holding a door open for someone. The larger the deed the more you’ll benefit. Once you have your list of seven, assign a weekday to accomplish each of them. This exercise will take some time and physical effort of your end, so be ready for it. Each day for the next full week enlist yourself to accomplish one good deed off the list. This will fill your Karma bank with funds that’ll propel your happiness quickly.



Exercise 2: Build your Karma bank

Karma means action, work or deed; it also refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual. Good intent and good deed contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deed contribute to bad karma and future suffering. Karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in many schools of Asian religions. In these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current life, as well as the nature and quality of future lives.

I like to explain Karma the following way. Each of us has a Karma bank (account). It works the exact same way as your typical bank account however the transactions are in the irony of the decisions you make in your life. For example: if you make a negative decision in life you’ll instantly withdraw from your Karma account. The opposite is true when you do something good for society in a positive way. When this happens you actually make a deposit into your Karma account. The more you have banked in your Karma account the more benefits you’ll reap in life. If you’re in need for positive reinforcement due to a catastrophic life event however don’t have sufficient funds in your Karma account there’s very little the environment around you can help you with. If however your Karma statement shows a surplus in Karma when you’re facing a difficult life situation there’s plenty of possibilities the environment will help you with. Just like your life savings, it’s important to always be in the positive with your Karma account. Life starts to get pretty risky when your Karma account is in the overdraft.  There are plenty of ways you can increase your Karma account. Doing anything good for society or giving to others is the easiest way to increase it.