Principles of Life Everyone Knows, But a Few Follow

In my diary, on the 21st birthday.

I wrote: I will never turn 30!

It defined the principles of life over which a happiness and success was the result.

Yes. I will never turn 30.

I promised myself this and defended it to my last arsenal; not until the foundation I laid my life on a Friday, 3 months ago come to pass.

Before then, I was barely 21, you know. Merely a big boy.

Life tends to move fast and slow at the same moment and space and was merely predicted by what goes around.

Still in college;

The start of the semester, deep pockets (thanks to predatory students loans), no assignment, snap parties everywhere made life smooth.

Life would move fast. Sometimes at a normal pace or slightly faster perhaps. But who cares after all? The tension and adrenaline build-up would follow next.

This time round, the pace was different. It would match the number of days towards the end of the semester.

When all is done and over, long holidays come, and I will be back to my father’s house…

This is not what I wrote in my diary back then!

I wrote the principles of life. My life.

Today, life moves faster than the one I was used to. There is no lie about this.

At one time, I feel left by time.

At one moment, I feel I’m doing life right. The next moment I realize I was being done RIGHT instead.

Worst part of it all, it is at the moment when I thought all is well.

Who remembers the feeling when you realize you are got screwed hard when you thought it is the other way round?

None of you does of cos. Maybe because our brains are made to live in time of the moments… never beyond.

But then, I had to rethink about life principles that guide my life.

Redo my whole life.

Change its base and define the fabric that makes its foundation (…and what the hell is this?).

This was the foundation over which my life should be laid upon.

Five keys came out…. you may call them principles of life, I don’t care.

For I considered them a cornerstone for productivity…. and a life well lived are based on it…

…but then, this was before I turned 30!

1. I will Save to Spend, not Save to Save

My thought on money was to save enough.

Not merely saving to save the hard earned cash from expenditure but saving to spend in my next investment.

I started a couple of them over the years.

None to this far has scaled up.

First was an online class.

I wanted to be a teacher, a coach.

I wanted to teach a foreign language.

I wanted to share to the world.

The world, other me; was to know how to speak Swahili and speak it well.

What the hell is this Swahili thing?

I got your thought Doe.

Its a language you’d probably wish to know. Spoken by half a billion+ people in East and central Africa and still spreading like wildfire.

I got screwed!

All the savings, gone! The student loan, gone!

All happened so fast. How the hell was I supposed to scale up that fast?

In as much I got screwed in my first investment, there was a happy ending.

I learned the value of fat savings before trekking to a new territory.

….and this, was before I turned 30.

I learned to have a reserve of $$$ to last 6+ months. In the event things go south, I’m insured long enough to lay the next Plan of Action and get out.

I will not need to put ‘the family’(future family) at a risk of losing the house.

By then, I will be 30.

2. Invest in Skills and Education

…and I thought again.

What about I constantly boost my education and skills now that I have fewer responsibilities, to the level I’m irresistible to the job market?

I will have solved one biggest hurdle in life.

Well, I will never stay jobless.

No, I will never stay without a well-paying job. I will never go dry on side income, side projects and jobs.

Take this: If having a well-paying job hold true, then I will never be broke again in my life! Yay! (I’m no pro in getting deductions from axioms, that hold true. Elon Mursk does that well.)

All these sounds good, right?

Hey! Before you go jumping around, one thing is for sure.

Education and skills come at a cost.

The cost here is time, not something to be scared of.

Resources are everywhere! If you are able to read this piece then you have the basic resources needed.

All is identify what you want and start doing it.

Over time, you will be that person that declines a job in New York today and lands another(a better one of cos) in Hong Kong the next day.

Back to my diary, before I turn 30…

3. I Have to Make a Family

I promised myself to have a family; before I turned 30.

A people I can rely on.

Somewhere to go to, at the end of the day.

A wife, a daughter, a son or a husband who gives me a higher purpose in life.

Someone that justify the sweat and blood of my hustle for the sake of the future.

Mmmh… this was much of a boyish dream back then. I thought.

But for now…

4. Have Friends Who Add Value to Your Life.

The thought of having friends scared the shit out of me.

I’m an introvert, that’s what “they” told me. I do not believe them. And, I never will.

But for sure, to make new friends can be a lot hell for people like me.

I get the feeling of begging for attention, every time I think of making a move, to say, hi to the friend sited next to me.

It becomes a lot easier when they do it first as opposed to me taking the first step.

Most of my friends are really smart over this. I outsmart them online!

If you are like me, stop feeling miserable.

One thing is for sure, though. We cannot run away from.

Stick to friends that stick to you.

Ones that value your presence over their lives; lest you become miserable.

You will simply be seeking gratification, seeking to fit in where your presence wasn’t welcome in the first place.

Huh! Sounds awkward.

It feels bad, right?

All in all, you have one last thing to accomplish,

5. Improve your Mind and Body Daily

Invest in your body and mind.

We often neglect this part of our lives. We never even think about it.

We often think of activities that strengthen our body and minds are activities that eat into our time; wasting it. That is wrong.

• When last did you hit the gym? If the answer is yesterday, how often do you do that? You know the answer yourself.
• Okay. When last did you read a book? Did you finish it? Do you have a routine that maximizes time spent on books? If your answer is: No, you have a lot to do. What about adopting a book, a week challenge?
• How much coffee do you consume in a day? I’m not an expert on this, but, what I know, people have loaned their brain power and productivity to coffee; without which we are simply zombies. You might be one of them. This ain’t cool for your brain and body health.
• Do you go to bed early and wake up early?
• How often do you do something that terrifies you? Like asking for that salary increment, calling your 1st client, pitching to an investor?
• When last did you say No! Or Yes! To an offer? Was it the right thing you did?
• What about you fasting from Foods and Internet for 24 hours every week? Don’t you see the benefit it will have on your health, digestion, sharpen your thinking and make you more focused?

These principles of life everyone knows, but a few follow it. It’s no surprise that there is always a 1% in every aspects of our lives. They are the few who have and follow their life principles & they control the remaining 99% of the population. You decide where you wanna fall into.

I’m not yet 30 and I have accomplished all the goals that are within my time-line. You can call them principles of life.

The diary is old.

The very page is churned, but still readable.I look at it today, I smile.It was the best thing I ever had in life.

When I’m 30, I will publish it and allow the whole world read it.

What title should I give the book? Principles of Life 101? Principles of Life Everyone Knows, But a Few Follow? Or should I omit these principles of life thing in the title all together?

About the fancy title, I let you decide.

But before then, I will have all I wrote in it when I was 21 accomplished and If I fail… you already have the answer.

I will never turn 30!

Originally Published On the GentleInsight

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