Introduction

Time flies.

That's an idiom that was first recorded around 1800. William Shakespeare, widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language, made a similar comment a couple of hundred years earlier when he used the phrase, "The swiftest hours, as they flew." Alexander Pope chimed in with, "Swift fly the years."

Please make no mistake about it; life goes by rather quickly.

Along the way, you are taught some difficult lessons. Many times, we learn these lessons later in life. We are glad to have discovered them, but what if we could have received this knowledge 10, 20, or even 50 years earlier?

What failures could you have avoided? What successes could you have achieved? If you were given some nugget of knowledge as a child and embraced it rather than discovering it as an adult many years later, how much better could your life be right now? How much better would the lives of your loved ones be?

Take one topic that's frequently on the minds of most people ... money. When did you finally learn valuable budgeting and financial management skills? Do you still need to discover some things concerning money and your financial health?

Most high schools and colleges don't teach budgeting and financial management as required classes. What if you picked up those skills in grade or high school? How much less stressful would your life be right now regarding your financial picture?

Now let's look at a wonderful possibility.

Imagine you can time travel. You're going to go forward several decades in your life. That future version of you has so much to teach your current self. If this were a reality, what a beautiful reality it would be. What could you learn? Think about how much fulfillment, contentment, happiness, success, and achievement you could start experiencing if you had important future knowledge now.

That's what we want to help give you with this e-book.

We'll share some life lessons you may not have learned yet. These are the kinds of lessons that only time can teach you. Some are tough, some are wonderful to discover, and they all enrich you somehow.

They give you knowledge that can improve your life and the lives of the people you love.

Your powerful life lesson session will begin by looking at gratitude's power. You'll also learn that trying and following another person's life path is fruitless. Do you really know as much as you think you know about a certain subject? Maybe not.

If you haven't learned it yet, money will never solve all your problems, and you need to embrace that reality. Start seriously taking care of your physical health now. You can't go back to when you were younger, but you can understand today that unhealthy living will catch up with everyone if we don't change our ways.

Do you fight many battles and defend every one of your opinions fiercely? Sometimes it's better to pick your battles and let the small stuff go. By the way, life isn't a fairytale, regardless of what marketers and salespeople will tell you. You don't always get what you want and must remind yourself frequently.

You should work to live and not live to work. Take a chance, and go after that big opportunity or lifelong dream you have. Finally, the tenth life lesson we'll cover will help you ask the important questions you've been avoiding. You never know what the world can give you until you get the courage to ask for it.

Let's start covering some life lessons many people wish had been taught earlier by looking at a truly powerful practice ... expressing gratitude.

Don't Take Things for Granted

So many of us adults have learned this lesson the hard way. Why didn't someone tell us this when we were children? We might not have suffered so much crushing loss if we had discovered it earlier. You should be grateful for the people and things that make your world wonderful and express that gratitude.

Take them for granted today, and they may not be there tomorrow.

Why is it important to ensure that you give people the credit they deserve and the thanks they've earned? One big issue is that you never really connect with people on a deep level. Take someone for granted, and you'll never say thanks. That person is less likely to help you when you need help because you've never reached out to them and told them you're grateful.

Another thing that you can count on is that the world gives you what you give it. Refuse to give positive feedback to the universe and its people, and you won't receive much positive flow coming your way.

Also, there's this little thing called social reciprocity. It means people are going to respond most of the time to actions in a way that is similar to the action. This means what we just talked about. You get what you give. Be grateful to people, and they'll be grateful to you. Look at the world positively, and the world will look at you similarly.

A Real-Life Example

Imagine that the first job you ever took out of high school was perfect. The hours were great, your manager was awesome, and your coworkers were a joy to deal with. You advanced after a couple of years to a higher level of employment. You took a job with another company. You were again blessed to have a job most people only dream about.

The work was pretty easy. The pay was excellent, and so were the benefits. You just assumed that this is what work was like for most people. This can lead you to take your incredible job situation for granted.

The boss you work with doesn't mind if you come in late and leave early. You get addicted to doing this, especially on Friday when you leave the office three hours before quitting.

You use your vacation and sick time as soon as you accrue it. You do the bare minimum because that's all you've ever had to do to be rewarded handsomely.

Then something happens.

Your boss retires. The new boss lady believes that a new broom sweeps clean. She starts cleaning the house, firing people left and right, and eventually, she looks at your performance. Sure enough, you find yourself called into her office.

You show up with a smile because every interaction you've had with anyone in your work life has been positive. You can only assume you will be promoted or given a raise. That's not what happens, not by a long shot. You're told that your lackadaisical attitude isn't what the company will reward any longer. You discover that your previous boss retired because he was forced out since he wasn't willing to hold his employees accountable. One of those employees was you, and you won't be working for the firm any longer.

What happened?

You took for granted that you would always have a situation where you didn't have to devote much time and energy to be rewarded financially. You almost went out of your way to do as little as possible. That's not a smart move. What you should have done is always work at any job as hard as you can. Do a little more than everybody else. Be grateful that you have this extraordinary situation, and do whatever's required to keep it from disappearing.

Action Steps

It's time to take action. Here are three action steps that will help you stop taking things for granted.

Express Gratitude

This should be a daily practice. Begin and end every day by being thankful for the many wonderful things in your life. You might work very hard to achieve them. That means you may not think you need to be grateful. If that's the case, practice gratitude for the skills that allowed you to create such positive results.

Incidentally, there's a huge difference between expressing gratitude and being grateful. People can't read your mind. They don't know if you're grateful unless you tell them. You should still practice gratitude daily by having a quiet moment and thinking about all the positive things in your life. When you do this, what people come to mind? Make sure you reach out to those individuals as soon as possible and tell them how important they are and how thankful you are for their help or presence.

This includes coworkers and people like your mailman and the man who takes care of your yard work. Anyone who provides a positive experience has earned and deserves your expressed gratitude.

You'll find that you benefit as much as the person receiving your thanks. It feels good to express positive feelings to another human being. Start saying thank you more in your conversations.

Pump the Brakes, Slow Down

You might not realize that you're a person that assumes everything will stay the same. This could be because you're always in a rush. Look, we get it. The world is a busy place. There are often days when you're going a hundred miles an hour, and you still don't get everything accomplished. That's a day when you need to slow down and appreciate the good things in your life.

Rushing through life means you're always trying to get somewhere. You are already somewhere. This present moment in time and all the positive people and experiences in your life are there right now. They aren't guaranteed to be around one minute from now.

That means you should structure your day to include short breaks. These are planned when you schedule your day. You take a few minutes and find a quiet place to decompress. Slow down and think about your life. The person who does this will find that his life is much more amazing than the person who doesn't.

When you slow down, you'll realize you have more wonderful things in your life. You'll also see that it's always possible to find a few minutes to recognize yourself and the people in your life as amazing.

Stop Expecting

When you blindly assume that everything will be a certain way, you expect it. People that take things for granted expect many things. One of the things they'll frequently do is expect other people to do favors for them.

We hinted about this earlier and want to circle back to it. When people do you a solid favor, thank them. Let them know you're grateful. Do something for them to show you truly are grateful. When you don't act that way, and you expect people to reward your life without any positive return on their part, guess what?

They'll disappear when you need them the most.

Stop expecting people and things, and experiences to reward you. Please take the necessary steps to give those influencers the help they need to create the result you want. Stop expecting, start being grateful, and don't be scared to do some work yourself.

Walk Your Own Path

Peer pressure assaults us when we are children. We start doing what all the cool people do, just because they're doing it. We win their approval, and that causes us to continue this behavior. When this happens at a very young age, it can influence our personality and affect our lives.

Sometimes we do what society tells us to do. If this happens to you, you're not entirely at fault here. Your brain is assaulted daily with marketing messages that tell you what you should be wearing, the car you should be driving, why you need to be skinny and sexy, and what you should be doing in every aspect of your life.

You might fall under the influence of somebody you respect. It could be that they have a lot of positive lessons to teach you. They could be a good influence in many ways. Take their lessons and head off on your own path. Copycatting their life will make you a watered-down version of them. Don't use someone else's cookie-cutter pattern for their life to shape yours, or you'll never truly be happy and fulfilled.

It's important to choose your own path for self-fulfillment reasons. You'll enjoy less stress and anxiety because you'll live according to your values and beliefs, not those of another person. When you live this way, people notice. They can spot genuine individuals and people that are walking around in disguises.

Another reason you should walk your own path is that you can damage important relationships if you don't. You may find that you're turning into someone else. The important people in your life see what's happening, and they don't like the person you are becoming. Your relationships may suffer, including the most important one you have - with yourself.

A Real-Life Example

Your morning alarm sounds once again. You yawn, stretch and get out of bed. The coffeemaker is your first destination, then the shower, you brush your teeth and dress for work, and you start your day. You jump into your vehicle and take your regular route to work.

The same old zombies are there to greet you, your identical clones in many ways. Your day is filled with a familiar and mind-numbing routine. Before you even realize what has happened, you're at home with your TV tray on your lap and watching television. Then you work on a project you must complete and hand to your boss tomorrow. You shower, hit the hay, the alarm goes off in a few hours, and you're again off for the 9-to-5 rat race.

Is this really you? Are you just doing what society expects you to do? Don't you want more than this existence? You are just existing and not really living. Other people work at amazing jobs that allow them to express their powerful visions. They live according to their beliefs and values.

Instead, you've decided to live the life of so many other unfulfilled, unhappy, and unaccomplished people. You know that this existence is what the world expects from you, or at least you think it is. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the life for you.

Action Steps

Being yourself is beautiful. You're the only one given that unique opportunity, so why not embrace it? Here are a few things you can do to find your own path and strike out upon it confidently.

Ask Yourself This Question

"Is this me, is this really what I want?"

Regularly ask yourself that question. It should become a mantra you repeat several times every day. Are you doing something because it truly is who you are and an aspect of your beliefs and values? Or is your life largely constructed because of peer pressure, what society demands, or what you feel your parents or some other people expect of you?

Make a List of Your Values and Beliefs

This life lesson should be taught at a very young age. When you're a child, your parents tell you that you can be anything you want. Many loving and otherwise thoughtful parents don't always tell you that you have to embrace your unique values or you'll never be what you want to be, what you truly should be.

What are your values? What do you believe so strongly that you would never imagine betraying that belief? If you had just one day to live, what would you do? What do you strongly feel you want to accomplish in your life? Is there some legacy you want to leave the world or your family?

These are the types of questions you need to ask yourself to determine where you want to go and who you want to be.

Write them down. Look at them regularly and question if your life is going according to those values. If not, change direction. Make your own path and head out on it. When your journey reflects your true values and belief systems, you'll be confident to follow it until the end.

Stop Worrying about What Other People Think

"You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do."

That's a powerful quote from activist and former US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. To avoid living a diluted version of someone else's life, you must take this advice to heart.

Peer pressure is tough, and not just for kids. Adults of every age sometimes worry about what certain people think of them. This keeps them from living their own life. It can get so bad that some automatically and unconsciously engage in behaviors intended to please others.

Trying to please others is a surefire way to keep from discovering who you are. You certainly can't live your own life and travel your own journey this way. When you think about it, who really cares what anyone else thinks? If this thought permeates your life, you aren't allowing yourself to uncover the person that is uniquely you.

You Know Less Than You Think

The self-important individual often gets hoisted with his own petard. A petard is a small explosive device. That saying refers to the person who thinks he knows everything. His delusion that he's an expert becomes the petard that blows up in his face.

We can thank William Shakespeare's Hamlet for that saying. While he wasn't referring specifically to know-it-alls who should be careful not to praise their self-proclaimed genius, the phrase certainly applies here.

You know less than you think, even if the world says you are the end-all, be-all source of information on a particular subject. Embrace this life lesson if you haven't learned it up to now. How humble and successful could you have been had you learned this many years ago?

The smartest man in the world understands that he knows nothing.

You may have years of experience in a certain field. It could be that you're known as a deep font of knowledge regarding that field. That doesn't mean there isn't a lot you can learn.

What's the benefit of embracing the idea that you might not know as much as you think you do? Humility is the first reward. The humble person often avoids looking foolish or making a huge mistake because he never assumes he knows everything. Additionally, when you keep an open mind, you find there is much more you can learn about something. Instead of shutting down and closing your mind off to new knowledge, you embrace novel ideas in your field.

Nothing is as certain as change. Keep your mind open, and you can improve your knowledge base rather than capping its limit.

A Real-Life Example

Galileo was a pretty smart guy. In 1610 he challenged the globally accepted belief that our universe revolved around the earth. Astronomers, scientists, and even the Roman Catholic Church stubbornly refused to look at the evidence Galileo had uncovered that showed them they were very wrong.

Galileo Galilei was an accomplished engineer, physicist, and astronomer. He achieved many things because he kept his mind open and constantly thirsted for knowledge. When he professed the earth was not the center of our universe, he expanded on one of the ideas of Nicholas Copernicus's 1543 book, "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres."

We know now, of course, that Galileo and Copernicus were correct. The Catholic Church and many scientists, astronomers, and physicists didn't keep an open mind. They expressed the belief that the earth was the center of our universe and basically put their hands over their ears and would not hear any contrary opinion.

The church suffered mightily from this and other such occasions. The Catholic Church lost a lot of followers over the years following their harsh treatment of Galileo.

This is a real-world example of how you can lose respect and integrity if you think you know everything.

Action Steps

We mentioned Alexander Pope earlier, one of the most famous poets of the first half of the eighteenth century. He wrote, "A little learning is a dangerous thing." It comes from his poem, "An Essay on Criticism." The phrase reminds us that when we start to think we're pretty smart, we'd better be careful. Here are a few steps to benefit from the idea of keeping an open mind and not being afraid to admit when you're wrong.

Be Humble, Not Full of Yourself

How many times does the boastful blowhard wind up looking foolish? Quite frequently. Humility gives you a chance to learn so much more. You admit that while you've worked hard to develop a lot of knowledge in some areas, there's probably going to be a lot you can learn.

Even if nothing has changed about some subject for a long time, that doesn't mean it will stay static forever. Keep an open mind, be humble, admit when you're wrong, and always seek more knowledge to stay up to date on the latest information.

Never Stop Learning and Asking Questions

The greatest achievers are always asking questions. They don't reach some level of success and then stop. Passionately driven by the subject matter or a problem they want to solve, they work tirelessly to absorb all possible knowledge.

Warren Buffett is one of the richest people in the world. He is a self-made man. He taught himself everything he knew about investing. The financial genius is known as the Oracle of Omaha (his birthplace) for his perceived ability to successfully predict the future of finance.

He'll tell you that he never stops seeking knowledge about investing and finances. If anyone could be justified in saying they know everything about investing, it would be him. Yet he stays humble and keeps an open mind, understanding that he can always learn more.

Think Ahead

This lesson requires recognizing that you have a lot of knowledge in some areas. Then you extrapolate and imagine what the future will be like in that field. You use your considerable knowledge to predict what will happen.

You look at where things were a few years ago and where they are now. Then you use that frame of reference to see if you can create a vision of the future. This is what smart investors like Warren Buffett do all the time.

When you start doing this, you accept that you might know a considerable amount now but that there will probably be a lot more you need to know in the future. It's a great way to keep humble and admit that you need to keep learning. You can also do the opposite and look backward. That helps you realize you were wrong many times in the past, and you're probably going to be in the future as well.

Money Won't Solve All Your Problems

If the answer to all problems was more money, how come governments worldwide always have homelessness, disease, and civil unrest? A country like the United States has limitless financial resources. The US government is constantly throwing billions upon billions of dollars at big problems, and they never succeed.

We would be wise to learn this lesson ourselves.

Getting lots of money might solve your money problems, but it won't guarantee happiness or fulfillment. It doesn't mean personal achievement, great relationships, physical health, and wellness. It just means you have more of a "thing."

Understanding this is important so you can work on those truly important areas rather than obsessing over getting more money, which might not fix the big problems in your life.

A Real-Life Example

You spent your life pursuing the almighty dollar. You brag that 80 and 90-hour work weeks are common occurrences for you. When you're not actively working to make more money, you're studying it, dreaming, and thinking about it.

Then one day, you look up and realize you have more than enough money to suit you. What's missing? You don't have meaningful relationships and are lonely, even in a crowded room. You begin to pursue relationships, but there's a problem ... you only know how to talk about one thing, money.

You have no social skills. You don't understand the give-and-take of healthy relationships, how to communicate your emotions, and how to provide emotional support for others. While you've accumulated massive wealth, much of your life's journey winds up emotionally unfulfilled.

Money can't buy happiness.

Action Steps

There are things you can do to keep money from becoming the center of your life. Here are three ways to put money in its place, so you spend more time on important things.

Practice Minimalism

Own fewer things. The more things you own, the more they own you. Remember that the fewer things you want, the less money you need. This leads you down the path of self-discovery. You begin to realize there are more important things than money, like your friends, wonderful experiences, and discovering who you really are.

You have more freedom when you dramatically limit the number of things you possess. You can spend more time on the values and beliefs that are important to you. A family with few financial resources and possessions might have sky-high levels of love and happiness. While the richest man in the world can be the most miserable.

More money and more things don't automatically mean more happiness and fulfillment.

Stop Trying to Keep up with the Joneses

Just because your friend purchases something doesn't mean you have to. Trying to play a trump card by buying something bigger, better, or faster won't solve your emotional needs. Keeping up with the Joneses, always trying to purchase the things that society says you need, is a never-ending and futile endeavor. It also leads to a lot of frustration and misspent money.

Make a List of Non-Money Needs

What do you need that doesn't involve money? Make a list of these things. These are your emotions and maybe some goals that don't require a lot of money to accomplish. Review this list from time to time. It can keep you from believing that more money will make non-money-related problems disappear.

Take Care Of Your Health Early

Whether you're 18 or 80, today is the day you begin taking care of your health and getting serious about it. This doesn't necessarily mean losing weight. Some overweight people are extremely healthy. Slim, trim beautiful people drop dead from a heart attack every day because they never had their blood pressure checked.

The benefits of looking after your mental and physical health are truly limitless. We're discovering more and more that the link between your mind and body is a two-way street. You must take care of your brain to be physically healthy. You can't be as mentally healthy as possible if you ignore your physical health.

Health and wellness reward you with more energy. You sleep better. You feel better. The healthy individual has well-regulated hormones. This means emotions don't get out of control. You don't look at situations and say, "Why did I do that? That's not who I am. Why did I act that way to that person?" That happens when your hormones and other chemicals in your body are out of whack.

Did you know that taking care of your dental health can improve your mental health? If you embrace physical fitness, studies show that your brain is sharper, and you enjoy less stress, anxiety, and depression.

It's important to start taking care of your health early (and today is early if you haven't started yet) to enjoy the most happiness and more time with the people and things important to you.

A Real-Life Example

When you're young, you feel invincible. Is this where you are in your life right now? Be careful. If you don't start looking after your physical and mental well-being now, your health can go sour. Although you look and feel great, practicing unhealthy habits can become a long-lasting practice that robs you of your health and vitality in the long run.

If you need a real-world example, consider this. How many beautiful and healthy 20 and 30-somethings in Hollywood die because they didn't care for themselves? They don't have a chance to live long and rewarding lives. You see this in the news constantly. Drug and alcohol abuse becomes a habit that leads to neglecting health and wellness. The person becomes sick in mind and body, and self-destructive behavior leads to the end of the road.

Start taking care of yourself today. Be honest. What could you do more to ensure that the people who love you get to spend the most possible time with you?

Action Steps

The following steps can help you become fit and healthy at any age.

Get a Head-to-Toe Medical Checkup

Don't just assume you're fit and healthy, even if you look and feel that way. Get a checkup today or tomorrow. Schedule a complete health checkup as soon as possible. It's much easier to deal with health issues if you know you have them.

Start Committing to the Number 150

Remember the number 150. Tattoo it onto your brain. You need many minutes of moderately intense physical activity to become fit and healthy. It's recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services, the American Heart Association, and other health authorities.

By the way, you can break that number up. Your overall fitness and wellness will benefit greatly if you get 150 weekly minutes of moderately intense physical activity. If you can perform vigorous, intense physical activities, you need 75 weekly minutes regularly to get the same rewards.

Think Fitness, Not Weight Loss

Obesity can indeed be deadly. But we get so caught up sometimes focusing on weight loss when we should think about fitness or wellness. Don't fall for every new diet that's thrown at you. The weight loss industry makes tens of billions of dollars every year because restricting diets don't work long-term. They preach incomplete approaches.

Instead of falling victim to some crash diet, start eating more healthy fruits and vegetables. Make your own healthy meals. You know the drive-through window is not where you will find your best health. Make sure you sleep well every night.

Stay hydrated. Most people aren't. If you sit for more than 30 or 40 minutes, get up and move. Socialize more in person. Studies show that physical socializing leads to less physical and mental stress and better health.

Spend time with your friends who want to become fit and healthy today. These practices can help you reach your fitness goals and enjoy overall wellness.

Be Careful Choosing Which Hills to Die On

Do you fight to the death over your every opinion? That's not smart. You don't want to become known as the argumentative, always negative loudmouth that can't accept someone else's opinion.

We're trying to say that it's futile to try and make every human interaction a battle. There are more than seven billion people on the planet. A lot of them are going to have opinions that are different from yours. Does it really make sense to turn every difference of opinion into a battle you're willing to fight to the death?

This is a lesson some people never learn. That's a shame because it's so important.

You enjoy less frustration and stress when you only fight over what's truly important to you. In some cases, arguing over something that isn't important can cost you financially, emotionally, and physically. You might even wind up in the graveyard because you needlessly forced the issue on something silly. Here's what we're talking about.

A Real-Life Example

Road rage. You've heard about it if you haven't practiced it yourself. You'd probably agree that driving your vehicle can make you crazy sometimes. Go to YouTube and type in "road rage," and spend a little time learning a possibly life-saving lesson.

People are killed yearly because they couldn't accept that someone passed them on the highway and then slowed down in front of them. If someone almost runs you off of the road, the answer is not tailgating them, honking your horn, and chasing them down. That's a great way to get shot or involved in an unnecessary fight.

Road rage that leads to stress, physical fights, and property damage is a real-world example of picking a battle with no winners.

Action Steps

Don't walk through life like you're in a cage fight. It would be best if you didn't fight every battle because you can't win every battle. Here are a few smart ways to choose which battles you're willing to fight and which you need to ignore.

Take a Deep Breath and Count to 10

This is a lesson you can use in all areas of your life. Before acting, and especially before reacting, count to 10. Take some deep breaths and release them. Calm down. You'll often find this is all you have to do to identify situations where you don't need to get emotionally, verbally, or physically invested. This will also help you spot issues where your involvement probably wouldn't have changed the outcome.

Ask Yourself, "Is This Really Important?"

After taking a moment to breathe, ask yourself that question. Is this really important? Is this big enough of a deal that I will benefit in some way by getting involved? You'll find that most times, the answer is no. You'll also discover that when you engage in an argument or difference of opinion, it will be because your core values are involved.

Change Your Environment

If you frequently get home at the end of the day and feel like a Roman gladiator from ancient times that's just been put through his paces, it's time for a change. Changing your environment can create a happier, more peaceful space. If you don't expose yourself to people, places, and things that often have you defending yourself or arguing with others, those problems go away.

Life Isn't a Fairytale

In many fairy tales, bad things happen to the protagonist, the hero shows up, and everyone lives happily ever after. The first third of that scenario happens every day. It's just life. Bad things are going to happen to good people, you included. But there's no guarantee that any hero will appear on the scene and make everything wonderful.

You don't always get what you want in life. That's a lesson we all need to be reminded of.

Terrible things will appear in your life, and you often don't have any control over them. A sad part of life is that things won't always work out for the best. You're going to have to deal with sadness and grief. You probably understand that you will have to weather disappointment, frustration, failure, and emotional hardship.

It's important to remember that life won't always treat you kindly. If you don't, you'll never develop the mental resilience you need to overcome tough times. You might let a single significant and negative lifetime experience keep you from living life to the fullest. It's also important to remember that tragedies happen to all of us, so you can give yourself the resources to deal with them ahead of time.

A Real-Life Example

You've been a true "mama's boy from the moment you were born." You've never had to do anything other than what you wanted. Mama has always been there for you, justifying and rationalizing your bad behavior and habits. She always tells you how special you are.

You graduate high school and college with poor grades because you never make an effort. Mama's always there to take care of everything. Don't worry about what type of job you'll have if you ever decide to work. Mama says she'll always take care of you.

Then the world's worst thing happens. Your mother passes away. Your entire world changes in the blink of an eye.

What are you going to do? How do you know what you need to do? Your heart is absolutely broken. She was the most important woman in your life. You never dated because you knew no female on the planet could be as good to you as your mom.

This is common, even if you haven't seen it play out. People depend on their parents way too much. Then when they lose one or both of their parents, their fairytale existence is over. They don't have the emotional, financial or social skills to get by, and that's a tough pill to swallow.

Action Steps

You should work hard to create a fairytale existence if at all possible. You truly can realize your dream reality, but that doesn't mean ignoring that difficult things will enter your life. Here are some proven methods for preparing to deal with sadness, grief, and the other tough times life will hand you.

Build a Survival Squad

Develop a support team. Talk to the people who are important and close to you about how you will help each other when times get tough. It's much easier to recover quickly when things don't work out for the best if you have a support team to help you through.

Talk to Survivors

Talk to people who have experienced the downside of life. How did they get by? Is there anything you can do now to prepare for these times? What do they suggest you do? You might want to talk to people who are much older than you.

The longer you live, the more hardship and sadness you'll experience. This means that seniors can often give you a lifetime of valuable lessons learned to help you face the realization that life isn't always a fairytale.

Create a Collection of Memories

Having wonderful memories to fall back on can help you heal. This means you should take pictures and record videos of the greatest times in your life. Host get-togethers where you and your friends or family recall the good times. Create a valuable collection of wonderful memories from your life, and this treasure trove of love and happiness can help you when you need it the most.

You Work for a Better Life, Not More Work

We mentioned this earlier, and it bears repeating. You should work to live, not live to work. If you love your job, that's amazing. You're one of the very few individuals that's in that situation. That said, remember what you're working for. Just because you love your job doesn't mean you should ignore other important aspects of your life and devote all your time to working.

This is an important lesson to learn. It can keep you from waking up one morning and realizing that you're nearing the end of your journey and have missed out on many important things. Putting work in its place can also give you more time to create happiness, fulfillment, and success by living according to your values.

A Real-Life Example

Bob has a beautiful wife he loves dearly. He is grateful for her; she means so much to him. She's devoted to him as well. They are the proud parents of a brand-new baby boy. Having grown up poor, Bob doesn't want his wife and newborn son to live that way.

He pours himself into his career. No one works harder and longer than Bob. He begins to advance rapidly up the corporate ladder. There's never enough time for the constantly traveling road warrior to spend with his wife and young son, but that will come later. He's working countless hours and spending most of his time away from his family to give them a better life.

Bob blinks his eyes and realizes that time has passed him by. He and his wife have grown apart. He doesn't really know who his son is. Because he's basically a stranger to his son, the boy grew up with bad habits. There was never a father figure for him to look up to. Bob retires with a lot of money, a divorce, and a son who never comes to visit.

That may sound harsh, but you know, good and well, that's the real world. This exact scenario happens every day. Bob was working for a better life but ignored the people he truly treasured. It's important to work for your goals and be proud of working hard when needed. Just don't forget why you're working.

Action Steps

The following three steps can help you develop a healthy perspective about work. Use them to get more out of life and to avoid missing out on what's truly important.

Have a Regular Work/Life Balance Checkup

Schedule this every month or every three months. Just make sure it happens. Sit down and honestly appraise if you've created a good balance in your life where work is concerned. Get your family and friends involved if you need to. Sometimes they can point out issues you can't see because of your perspective.

See If Your Company Offers Alternatives

The US Census Bureau reports a one-way commute to or from work is 27.6 minutes. That means that, on average, employees who have to travel for their jobs spend nearly an hour each workday doing that. You could benefit from an extra five hours of free time weekly if your company offers work-at-home options.

After the pandemic of 2020, many companies began offering full-time, at-home work options. Maybe your company will allow you to work four 10-hour shifts rather than five 8-hour shifts. This would give you an extra day every week to spend with your family and friends or on other things that are important to you. Look for options if your job takes up too much time.

Take Your Vacation Time. You've Earned It

You're probably familiar with at least one person with hundreds of vacation hours saved. Either their boss constantly tells them they can't do without them, or the employee is too devoted to his job. The same is true with personal time. You have a serious work/life imbalance if you've saved dozens or hundreds of hours of personal and vacation time.

Take your vacation time. You've earned it. If your boss doesn't let you use it, contact human resources. Talk to the district manager. Go higher up in your company if you have to.

Benefits are offered to attract employees. If you can't use those benefits, what good are they? You deserve time to rest, play and recharge your batteries. So enjoy a better life by using the vacation time you've earned at work rather than spending that time in your cubicle.

Take a Chance on a Big Opportunity

They say lightning doesn't strike the same place twice, and it's the same with opportunity. When opportunity comes knocking at your door, rush to answer it. It may not show up again.

This is a valuable lesson to learn. It can help you avoid looking back on life with regret. This life lesson also pushes the envelope on your comfort level. You'll find that you can do much more when you take a chance, say yes to your dream job, or finally start your own business. You can develop skills you didn't know you had, and win or lose, your self-respect and mental toughness grow.

A Real-Life Example

You might not know who Mary Kay Ash is. She's the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, a company she began when female CEOs were about as rare as unicorns. She was denied a promotion at the company she was working for. Instead of seeing this as a sign of failure, she spotted an opportunity.

She could have stayed with the same company. Another option was to get a better-paying position with another company in the same field. She said no to both of those safe and comfortable options. Mary Kay turned her vision into one of the largest and most financially successful multilevel marketing companies ever. It sold for $3.25 billion in 2018.

Action Steps

Stop saying no to opportunity. This is a life lesson we should all tell ourselves regularly. Here's a three-step system that will help you say "Yes!" the next time opportunity comes knocking.

Look Long and Hard at Failure - It Might Be Success in Disguise

Sometimes danger comes hidden as something benign or familiar. The wolf in her grandmother's clothes almost spelled the end of Little Red Riding Hood. Other times, something negative can actually be an opportunity for massive success.

Don't just throw your hands up in despair whenever you encounter some big failure or setback. It could provide the most beautiful opportunity in the world.

It might be scary to take a chance. You might be concerned about being able to provide for people that depend upon you. In most cases, though, embracing fear or procrastination isn't the right answer when you have the time or opportunity to make a big, bold move. A failure might be the universe telling you that you should be doing something else.

Get a Mentor

Everyone should have mentors in some field that can help guide them. You can join a mastermind group. Several people have achieved some success that you want to replicate or even surpass. Regularly interacting with people like this gives you real-world knowledge that can help you live a better life.

It shows that people like you can turn a big opportunity or failure into success. Your mentor can save you years of mistakes, countless stress and frustration, and significant money by letting you learn from their journey.

Start Saving Up

Money isn't everything, but it's a necessity in life. Start saving money. Get a part-time job. Start a business on the side of your regular job. Whatever you need to do, start squirreling away some money. The more significant the amount, the better. Often, a lack of funds is why people give for not striking out on their own or taking a chance that could reward them in many ways.

Ask Them

Are you avoiding having a conversation with someone? Maybe you dread answering your phone because it's probably a bill collector. Perhaps you're scared to ask someone out on a date. Maybe you need a favor or financial assistance.

If you don't have the conversation, only one thing is guaranteed ... nothing changes.

That's probably the biggest advantage of finally opening your mouth and saying what needs to be said. You can potentially change your life in a big way. You'll also be rewarded with less stress, anxiety, and self-doubt. Who knows? Maybe someone's been waiting for you to ask a particular question, and if you do, you'll get the answer you've been hoping for.

A Real-Life Example

You've met someone you think would be the perfect life partner. They're everything you've been dreaming about. They would be the perfect complement to you; your stomach is filled with butterflies when you're around them. You know you would do anything to give them a wonderful life.

There's just one problem ... you're scared to paralysis when you consider asking them out on a date.

You have existed in their world for years as a friend. You never let them know how you feel and how wonderful you think the world would be for both of you if you became a couple. Years go by, and every time you avoid asking that person out on a date, your self-doubt, self-resentment, and self-loathing continue to grow.

Little did you know that your dream partner had similar feelings for you all those years. And just like you, they were scared to ask you out because the thought of being turned down was devastating. The two of you miss the opportunity that some people never get in their lives, finding the perfect partner.

Action Steps

If you're avoiding asking some big questions, we're here to help. Use the following action steps to finally speak what's on your mind. Ask the questions that can help you resolve big issues and create a wonderful life experience.

What's the Worst That Could Happen?

Can we ask you a question? How often did you imagine a terrible scenario with an outcome nowhere near that negative? We do this all the time, don't we? We think of a possible outcome. And for whatever reason, we usually envision the direst of circumstances. In reality, things rarely turn out as poorly as we think.

The next time you avoid asking someone something important, ask yourself a question instead. "What's the worst that could happen?" Visualize that terrible reality. Then visualize the most beautiful outcome. The truth is that we often defeat ourselves before we get a chance to succeed simply because we "what if" our way into taking no action at all.

Improve Your Odds of Success

If you want to ask someone out on a date, get to know everything about that person. Talk to their friends. What are they like? What do they enjoy doing? Get all the information you need and then act on that information. This improves the odds that you will get the answer you're looking for when you finally pop the big question.

Do you need to ask someone for a favor? Do a favor for them first. Do you need help in some area where you don't have the skills or resources to do what's necessary? Find someone that has what you need. Then ask them if you can supply a skill or service they don't have.

These are simple but powerful ways to give you more courage to ask a big question. You recognize that you're improving the likelihood of getting your desired answer, which can help you move forward and ask the question.

Just Ask Them

This sounds like a simple lesson, and it really is. When you find out how often it works to your advantage, you'll wish you had learned it years ago. The longer you put off asking a question, the more angst, self-doubt, and fear you experience. Practice confidently saying it in a mirror first. Then blurt it out.

If there's something you need to ask someone, do it. Don't hesitate. Get it over with. Whether the result is positive or negative, you will be proud that you finally did what you needed to do. You'll also find that confidently asking a question improves your chance of success.

Conclusion

Life is one long, continual test. It's one big experiment. You're constantly discovering what works and what doesn't. If you knew everything today that you will know years from now, you could create a better life for yourself right now.

That's what this book can help you do.

You've discovered that you owe yourself to answer when the opportunity comes knocking. Take that chance, win or lose. If you have some big question you need to ask someone, get it off of your chest. Nothing changes for the better if you don't ask that question and provide the opportunity for success.

You know the importance of walking your path and carving out your destiny. You've also learned that thinking you know everything is a recipe for disaster. While money is important in our lives, it can't solve some of the biggest problems you'll ever face.

Start taking care of your mental and physical health as soon as possible. If you've avoided it for years, start today. If you're fortunate enough to be young and healthy, don't take that for granted. Speaking of which, you shouldn't take anything for granted. You're not guaranteed anything- time, health, wealth, or your current situation.

Practice gratitude and let people know that you appreciate them. Another lesson you picked up is to look at life as anything but a fairytale. You are going to have periods in your life that are truly amazing. Remember that this isn't guaranteed, and you will have to deal with grief, sadness, disappointment, and failure.

Finally, don't work yourself to death. Don't work at the cost of everything else.

There are a lot of benefits to the life lessons you've just learned. It would've been great to come across this knowledge earlier, but we can't turn back time. Embrace these lessons now and create an amazing life for yourself. You should also share this knowledge with the young people in your life. You can help them avoid some of the frustration, grief, and failure you encountered that might not have happened if you had learned these lessons as a younger person.

To your success!